HOW

RUN BACK SHOPS

Three female dealership service directors
explain their management styles.
It's part of our fixed-operation speoial
that inoludes the Ward's Servioe 150.
By Cynthia Leman
vary, from surprise to full acceptance. Male customers challenge her daily.
rminology like soothing,
Sometimes the surprise begins when Because of that, she has to constantly
feelings, compassion, empa-
the phone rings, Salinas says. prove herself, she says.
thy, unity and family may not
"When a call gets transferred to me in "The difference between a woman and
he typical words used in a car
service, if it's a man on the other end, he man as a service director is I have to prove
dealership, especially the service area.
asks to speak to the service director," she every day that I know what I am doing,
Yet according to three women who are
says. "When I reply, 'That would be me, even after 33 years in the business."
service directors in dealerships around
how can I help you?' he'll often respond, On the flip side, how do their service
the country, these words describe hoth
'No, I want to talk to one of the guys.'" technicians - often the epitome of tnale-
their management styles and approach to
She says the general response to her ness - react to working for a women boss?
citstomer service.
position from women is, "Wow, a female Salinas laughs when asked that, then
"The challenge in service is reten-
service director; good for you!" The describes her appearance at work: nice
tion of customers," says Regina Salinas,
younger males respond, "Really? Cool!" dresses, jewelry and makeup.
service director at Midlands Honda,
Older men usually are decidedly unde- "Very girly," she says. But she knows
Columbia, SC.
cided about the situation. her stuff in the service department, as
"As I build close relationships with my
"The older male customer sometimes new technicians and customers soon dis-
customers, they know I care about more
has an issue with me being a woman, but cover. "Let them doubt me by my appear-
than just fixing their car. I am investing
for the most part, it is not a challenge for ance, but once I get undertieath a car, I
in them, so they will trust me and invest
me in our dealership," says Lacy Schwab, know what I am talking about."
in my department."
parts and service director for Porreco Salinas and Long say mechanics respect
A softer approach to service translates
Nissan, Erie, PA. them for their hands-on approach to
to better bottotn-line performance," says
Asked if she'd ever lost a customer for managing the department.
Robbie Long, service director at Liberty
being a woman service director. Long Both women say listening to ideas and
Atito City, Libertyville, IL. The dealership
says she wouldn not let that happen. feedback from their teams make their
controller, Stacy Ellsworth, confirms that.
"The art of my job is to be able to departments stronger.
"We have proven results that the trust
identify when someone, usually a man, "It's a team environment," Long says.
we develop with our customers, through
will not accept my gender in my posi- "We function as a unit. If anyone gets out
our overall presence, works," Long says.
tion," she says. of line, I just give them the evil eye like I
"Trust translates to retention. It's a
"1 am smart enough to know when I do with my kids."
calmer, less-aggressive approach; it's
need to step aside and bring in my dealer Salinas builds her team by setting clear
being a straight shooter and being honest.
principal, when the guest needs a male expectations, having regular meetings atid
And immediate follow up has resulted in
influence. This disarms the customer. rewarding her technicians for extra effort.
increased profit for the dealership."
Sotne guys and a few women need a "Recently, I needed my techs to pull
So how do customers react to a wotnan
man, not a woman, in my position." some extra hours for a couple of weeks.
ill the "garage"? Customer responses

12 WARD'S DealerBusiness
Robbie Long, here with master technician Dar
Petty, says women customers at her dealer-
ship sometimes breathe a sigh of relief when
they see she's the service director
 so I knew their wives and girlfriends
were probably not too happy with me,"
she recalls.
"I wanted to make sure they knew
how grateful I was, so I went out to Bath
and Body Works and bought all my techs'
wives and girlfriends gifts," she says. "I
put them in bags with big bows to show
my appreciation to each of them."
A male service manager might not
think to do that.
Women in many other types of busi-
ness are rewarded for fitting into a man's
world, which dealerships, despite signifi-
cant advancements, largely are.
Long, Salinas and Schwab all have
extensive experience in service. They do
their jobs the best way they know how: as
women. None of them tries to run their
department as would a man.
They know they bring different char-
acteristics to their businesses because of
Dealer Group Activities Include Longer Hours, More Shifts
S
ome of the nation's largest
dealership groups are increas-
ing hours and adding work
shifts in their back shops as
they place a renewed emphasis on their
fixed operations.
AutoNation Inc., the country's largest
dealership chain, is stepping up service
operations at its 246 stores, says Michael
Maroone, company president.
"We are expanding our service offer-
ings and offering seven day a week ser-
vice," he says. "We are doing a lot more
prospecting and training. We are getting
aggressive, innovative and testing the
organization."
It's not clear yet how many Americans
will actually buy alternative-fuel vehicles
when they eventually make their way
into dealership showrooms. But vehicles
powered by the likes of electricity and
hydrogen may offer a boon to back shops,
says AutoNation CEO Michael Jackson.
That's because maintaining and fixing
those complicated powertrains will require
auto technicians of the highest level, such as
those found at dealerships, he says.
"As a retailer, the complexity of these
vehicles will be good. Who will be able to
fix these things? Your authorized dealer-
ship network."
Dealership service jobs are increasing
14 WARD'S DealerBusiness
their gender, and they leverage that to run
their shops successfully.
Although the dealership world statisti-
cally has been male-dominated based on
employment numbers by gender, women
customers make the most car- buying
decisions.
Women influence 80% of all vehicle
purchases and buy half the vehicles sold
in the U.S., according to Ask Patty.com, an
automotive website for women.
Yet women customers have not always
felt comfortable in the service area of the
dealerships.
Asked how women respond to a
woman service director, Salinas says,
"Many women want to work with a
woman service director. They feel vehicle
concerns will be explained better to them
and they will not be taken advantage of."
Long agrees.
"When a woman walks into Liberty
Earl Hesterberg:
Add shifts, not space.
as people keep their cars longer and sub-
sequently require more maintenance and
repair work.
The solution to the increased work
is to add more shifts, not enlarge facili-
ties, says Earl Hesterberg, CEO of Group
1 Automotive dealership chain with 9S
stores.
"You don't have to build new service
bays and buy more land; you add a
second shift," says Hesterberg, a former
executive at Ford Motor Co., which, as a
manufacturer, knows something about
work shifts.
Yet, he says, it is necessary to "get auto
makers to acknowledge" that increases in
dealership business need not automatical-
ly result in building-expansion projects.
Master technician Duane Langiey checks out a
car with his boss. Regina Salinas.
Auto City and sees there is a female
service director, controller and 11 other
women working in here, they breathe a
sigh of relief," she says.
"When a customer tells me they
bought their new vehicle from our deal-
ership because of my service department,
I know I'm doing something right." •
Tammy Darvish:
Life in the service lane.
"You can't avoid physical representa-
tion," Hesterberg says. "But in Europe,
they are much more important for ser-
vice. People will travel to buy a new
vehicle, but not to get that car serviced.
DarCars, a Maryland-based 26-store
dealership group, heavily relies on its ser-
vice departments "and always has," says
Tammy Darvish, one of the dealer princi-
pals at the family-owned enterprise.
A well-oiled service department begins
in the service lanes, she says. "We make
sure the advisors in the service lanes are
sales-oriented but credible."
She cites success by employing female
service advisors. "Sixty percent of our
service customers are women." •
- By Steve Finiay
August 2010
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