Slow Down To Speed Up
I walk into service departments every single week, and almost every time, the scene is identical.
The air is thick with stress. Phones are ringing off the hook, advisors are hammering away at their keyboards like they’re trying to put out a fire, technicians are pacing back and forth at the parts counter, and customers in the lounge look like they’re waiting for bad news from a doctor.
Everyone is exhausted, but if you ask the manager how things are going, they’ll wipe the sweat off their forehead and say: “We’re crazy busy!”
It feels like productivity because everyone is sprinting. But most of the time, it’s not productivity at all—it’s just panic.
When a shop lags behind on revenue, the knee-jerk reaction is almost always the same: pack the schedule. Drop the appointment caps, fill every single slot, and stack 30 cars on the drive at 8:00 AM. The logic seems simple enough: more cars equals more money.
Except it doesn’t. Not when the machine is already broken.
When a department operates in survival mode, everyone loses their peripheral vision. Advisors don't have time to do a proper walkaround or explain a recommendation—they just want to hand off the key and get to the next person in line. Techs rush through inspections, slap oil and a filter on the car, and ship it out because three more are waiting on them.
You end up writing $150 Repair Orders on vehicles that actually needed $1,200 in overdue brakes, worn tires, or maintenance. You’re working twice as hard for half the yield.
Whenever I consult with a chaotic shop, my first move always catches management off guard. I don't give a motivational rally speech to push harder. I tell them to pump the brakes and slow it down.
Depth always beats volume.
If a technician inspects five vehicles thoroughly and an advisor actually has the time to build trust and present those findings, your average RO $ skyrockets. Five well-inspected, properly serviced cars will destroy fifteen rushed oil changes on your P&L every single day.
Trust requires actual time.
When customers feel processed like cattle, distrust sets in fast. Slowing the pace down gives advisors five uninterrupted minutes to listen, perform an active walkaround, and explain why a repair matters. When a customer feels cared for instead of rushed, authorization rates jump naturally.
Chaos is usually just bad planning.
If twenty people show up at 8:00 AM, your drive is instantly in triage mode. Staggering arrival times throughout the day, pre-staging parts before the tech touches the vehicle, and dispatching work based on actual capacity—not panic—instantly takes the friction out of the building.
Busyness is easy. Controlled throughput takes discipline.
If your service drive feels like an emergency room during a surge, adding more cars to the lobby isn't going to fix your numbers. It’s just going to burn out your best advisors, frustrate your techs, and alienate your customers.
Try slowing the pace down tomorrow. Take a breath, execute the process on the vehicle right in front of you, and watch how much faster—and more profitable—the shop actually becomes.