If you’re a service adviser, you’re a salesperson. Yes, you do many jobs other than just selling, yet at the end of the day if you don’t sell, the shop doesn’t make money. Some people are naturals at selling, some struggle with it, and many sit in between these two. Most service advisors I meet in the industry are average salespeople.

You might ask me why I consider them average. They are average because they have learned to take orders and sell when feel like selling. Most neglect to ask for the sale. They will give a customer the information regarding diagnosis and cost of repair only to leave it at that. Many, many (if not most) sell from their own wallet. They judge a customer on what they can afford, what they’ve spent in the past, or maybe even how they are dressed or the section of town they are from. Don’t do this!

If you want to set yourself apart as a salesperson my advice is to forget about selling first of all. Be yourself. Learn to incorporate the elements of selling in your daily conversations. Listen to people. Present and explain options. Ask for feedback. Ask for the sale. And lastly, mange the customer relationship.

If you can focus on these 5 areas (and get good at them) you will set yourself apart as a salesperson. You need to be yourself while performing each of these steps though! Never try to be someone you’re not. Take each of these five steps and make them your own. Post them next to your terminal as a daily reminder. Set up a calendar reminder on your phone with these steps. Repeat them to yourself before you do to sleep and when you wake up in the morning. Over time, with very little effort they will become part of how you talk to people in your personal life as well as your professional life!

As a subscriber to the Service Sales Academy you have the ability to review all of the Virtual Instructor Led Training programs. Use these recorded programs to practice incorporating these selling elements in your presentation. The VILT programs use specific scenarios to help connect you to this process whether its selling preventative maintenance, batteries, or check engine light diagnosis.

By getting good at utilizing these five steps you will be connecting to the psychology of the buying process without you realizing it, or your customer (or spouse, kids, friends, etc.). Each of these steps addresses how we as a human makes a decision. Learn them and you will become an exceptional sales person!