The RVDA Convention/Expo will feature educational seminars highlighting dealerships’ fixed-operations departments.
RVDA said softer RV sales increase the importance of a dealership’s service department, particularly because good service can bring in potential new buyers.
The Convention/Expo will take place Nov. 6-10, 2023, at Paris Las Vegas.
Fixed-operations workshops, including a deep-dive supersession, will instruct dealers about how to encourage their service staff to use the service process and turn the next round of consumers into faithful dealership customers.
Leonard Buchholz off DealerPro RV Training will host a session from 8:15-9:15 a.m. Nov. 7 titled “7 Steps to Increased Profits in Service.”
Buchholz will describe the seven steps to increasing profits in every service department. Just like a repair diagnostic tree, dealers can take each one individually, correct the out-of-line condition, then move on to the next one.
During the workshop, attendees will learn:
- The seven basic steps to profitability.
- What causes out of line conditions.
- The corrective steps necessary to build long term profitability.
- How to build a seven-step action plan to use when they get back to their dealership.
Professional trainer Peter Chafetz will host a session from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Nov. 7 titled “Transform Your Service Advisors into Up-Sell Machines.”
Attendees will explore why service advisors typically fail to maximize necessary service up-sell opportunities, how to change the service advisor’s mindset and effective strategies to jack up fixed ops revenue.
During the workshop, attendees will learn:
- To understand why many service advisors view the act of “sales” as an activity to avoid.
- How to help service writers understand the importance of building customer relationships that ultimately sets the stage for maximizing up-sell opportunities.
- How to encourage customers to act in their own best interest by maintaining their campers and ultimately saving money.
David Spader will host a session from 10-11 a.m. Nov. 8 titled “Solve Service Writer Suffering.”
Spader will teach attendees how to hire, develop and manage a service writer. Attendees will learn what can be taught and what must come from internal motivation. Spader will share the results from an in-depth study looking at the predictors of success and satisfaction in the role.
During the workshop, attendees will learn:
- Why the service writer position is so difficult to fill.
- To identify the required motivators that cannot be trained.
- To use a provided tool (Service Writer “Fit” Tool) that will enable them to evaluate current and future service writers.
Highly rated RVDA Convention/Expo speaker Valerie Ziebron returns to the show to lead two sessions. The first, from 8:45-9:45 a.m. Nov. 8, is titled “Put the Advise in Advisor – Lessons from the Master Advisors.”
During the 60-minute workshop, attendees will learn:
- Why advising on additional service actually lightens your workload.
- How to build loyalty while selling more.
- The two magic “E” words advisors use to build trust.
The second, from 2-4 p.m. Nov. 8, is a supersession titled “Cultivating a Top Performing Shop,”
During the supersession, attendees will learn:
- The areas where your shop excels and that can be further developed to be strong competitive advantages.
- The areas of opportunity that need work and specific do-able ways to turn them around.
- What top performing shops are doing differently than the rest.
From 9-10 a.m. Nov. 9, Buchholz returns to lead a session titled “How to Turn Your Advisors into Sales Experts, Drive Revenue and Increase Customer Satisfaction.”
Discover the service sales process successful dealers use to drive sales.
During the workshop, attendees will learn:
- How to increase customers satisfaction with proven communication strategies and techniques.
- To use a checklist to determine the effectiveness of your advisor and develop a training strategy to address deficiencies.
- How to make a five-step action plan.
