Originally Posted by !SG
i made the switch from shipping/parts advising to service advising.
ive been thrown into express service advising. as for the course, i did look into it myself, but decided not to at this time as real time first hand service advising has proven more useful. im sure the course will teach some aspects which i havent touched upon yet, but ive had years of experience at small independant shops before and thus, some of that knowledge was transferable. its just learning the computer system, and the dealership rules which make it hard.
ive been at it since the beginning of the year. its a trade off being an express service advisor. you dont have to learn as much, though there is still plenty to learn, compared to the extensive amount the "regular" service advisors have to know, but the trade off being, you open and close twice the number of work orders.
so my company splits it from main shop, to express service shop. express handles all the regular maintenance items, basically anything that can be done within a reasonable amount of waiting time.
normally, on avg, as the newb there, ive been opening anywhere from 5 to 10 work orders a day. ive seen my 2 co workers do easily 15 a day without breaking a sweat.
its been an exponential climb in learning. my parts knowledge helps quite a bit when explaining to customers why they are getting something done. my overall experience in customer service has helped me work with customers a lot better.
in all honesty, ur best bet is to learn off of another service advisor that is willing to teach and be patient. for me, if u explain why, instead of just showing me the key strokes, just a couple times, i will get the idea, and thus learn.
some of my job duties, opening work orders, checking warranty, checking last visits, doing a general visual inspection, price quotes, booking appointments and most important, always ask the customer what their concerns are. even if they arent car-literate, it is their car, and they know if something feels out of norm.
what i noticed different from parts is all the little details that you have to keep track, eg, calling customer when car is ready, writing down notes... etc.
if u get the position, give it a try, its not for everyone as customer service is gotta be top priority, but its also a good overall work experience.
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