Auto (dealership techs) service manager position. ??

After working as an auto technician for the better part of 15 years, with 6 years in a dealership setting; how difficult would the switch to a service manager be?

There is a dealership near me that is in need of a new service manager. I've been getting urged to apply for the position, but I have never done the business side. I've seen things and have a good understanding of what can be done to keep the wheels turning and increase productivity, handle upset customers, and increase sales, but haven't really done anything more than relay this information to my current management.

Has anyone made the switch? What are your thoughts?

 

Lot more b.s to deal with and lots and lots of baby sitting. Whinners every where and every tech wants to be youre best friend and then will stab you in the back and hate you when you are on there side. Now that being said if you have a good set of tech can get everybody to work togeather on think on the same lines of you, it can be very rewarding and a nice job. Stay clean(most of the time) weather isnt a factor and no more dripping of rain or snow down youre back while working on cars. Fuck rust you wont have to worry about that. lol

Give it a shot. If youre good with people,can put out fires, and calm people down, and make them happy about there car breaking down youll do just fine.

 

What about meeting halfway and becoming a service writer? Still involved with the service side, but, don't have to get your hands dirty and don't have to babysit.
btw...which dealership are you at now?

 

Do you remember playing tug of war..? Well you would be the rope..! Lots of computer work, reports, tons of math, all the employee headaches. You become the janitor, the whipping post, and the person that gets up at 3 AM when the alarm goes off.. Have at it..!

Ron

 

My dad wrenched all of his life. He did a few years as a service manager and open his own garage for a few years. My dad was an awesome mechanic but a lousy businessman... poor organization with paperwork/non-mechanical things. He always suggested that I get in to service writing/management. He hated the corporate politics of working at a large dealership.

Ultimately, I suppose it depends on your personality. Do you prefer to work with cars or people? How are the new shop's systems? (Rigid/dictated or willing to let you run your show) How does the pay compare?

 

Yea, lot has to do with the dealership also. Will let you spend money on tools and stuff youll need to make techs happy and to do jobs right? The dealership Iam at now for freightliner has alot of special tool that they proved so the techs dont have to buy them which is nice.

 

No offense to the op BUT, i have been in a management position of some sort since 1995. I went to a Ford dealership in 09 to be a service manager. I have never seen a bigger bunch of crybaby, premadonna's than car techs. I almost went DaveK and had to leave. Bottom line is, if you are not ready to be accountable for EVERY SINGLE part of the ops of the service department, don't do it. You have much less headache in a tech position. Being a service mgr will take years off of your life.

 

im sort of in the same boat as you op..

i used to be the rental mgr here at my local Bobcat dealership for 8yrs and our service dept sucks when it comes to customer service blah blah-long story short, they couldn't find a decent svce mgr with experience (didn't want to pay) so they moved the current service mgr to our parts dept and "promoted" me to that position. Its my first time managing "union" guys, but i've known these guys for so long that we all see eye to eye and respect each other's abilities.

it's a lot of paperwork and also a lot of fixing the dept's relationship with past customers, but other than that, what I thought would be overwhelming-isnt.
if you already know the mechanics, know how the parts dept work, know the customers-it should be a smooth transition. Just make sure everyone is on the same page with you and u should be good to go

 

I had thought about the advisor position on a few occasions. I know that would help with a transition to the management level and I am considering that if I ever make the move to management it would be an almost required step. However, if the door is open without that step; would it be worthwhile to pursue?

I wouldn't say I'm a people person, but I have no problem talking to customers to explain a repair or even the unhappy customers. I'm just not sure I want to pull the trigger on moving to the management side. I enjoy wrenching, the dirt only bothers me until I get dirty, then I'm good.

However, it seems like unless you move into that position you really don't have much room for improvement and advancement.

I'm currently at a Toyota dealer; Freedom in Harrisburg. Another thing on my mind is that I'm only two months away from achieving "master diagnostic technician" with Toyota. All I need to get there is pass the test by the March deadline.

 

Oh and the worst part is... most likely you won't get (much if any) time off to race....

Ron

 

That's kind of the point to moving into the position, in my eyes anyway. I've been with managers who favor employees and it bites them in the ass every time. I've worked as a lead tech and had four other guys to manage at one point. Sure it was stressful at times, but I found that a fair policy and open communication with everyone helped immensely.

 

Why not? Wont he have vacation?

 

I would think a position in management would require a degree of some kind.
Dealerships are usually "numbers driven" organizations, if you dont have a plan or a clue how to improve numbers your career move may be short lived. I'm not sure about your area of the country but around Chicago and surounding suburbs a Toyota lead tech makes some good coin. Grow the hay while the suns shining. Move up when the sun stops shining.

 

If you're looking to go to a store that rolls the Service Manager and Service Writer job into one, you will have a lot of responsibility and work load. If not, they should be looking to move one of their own Service Writers into the Service Manager position and hire a new Service Writer (you) from outside.

A lot depends on how comfortable you are with the software they use, as well as the manufacturer's flat rate and warranty software. If that stuff is easy for you, the job can be good, and the money can be good. If you hate all the "computer shit" then it would be like life in Hell.

The pay arrangement can be real good or real bad, too. Some dealership owners are real scumbags and will find fifty seven ways to cheat you out of your commission and bonus money. I know one local SW guy who lost all his bonus money for the week because there was a "snow day" when they closed the store. So essentially his boss figured out a way to "pass on the losses." Other dealerships don't pull that kind of stuff because they know that it doesn't take long for ever tech and service writer in the region to hear about it. How well do you know the store and the people there? Are they long-term happy?

 

False. There's 3 managers in our build and not one of them have a degree. I know that the one owner didnt go to collage also. But they are all very very good at what they do and would be happy to work with any one them.

 

Are you willing to lie to people to their face?

 

Try it on but don't sell your tools, It will take all of month to figure out if you made the right move for you. Stand your ground when the factory reps come around for their bi-monthly push.

 

What does the service manager do? Manage the hourlies for a straight salary? Or is it commission based?

Since you have a shitload of experience... you can manage the techs pretty good because you have the ability to twirl wrenches. Set the bar... and be prepared to cut em loose when they fall below the benchmark.

The customer side... well you can use your experience to explain a disaster or give a good idea of time frames. Just don't over promise and under deliver.

 

I guess it all depends on the size of the dealership. With slumping car sales dealerships depend on the service deptartment more to help keep the boat afloat. From a business stand point I wouldn't put the fate of my company in the hands of someone without management experience. I bet those three managers at your store probablly came in with some experience under their belts. I dont think any dealership owner is going to hand you the reins to their livelyhood and let you learn as you go.