Service Advisor- The job that drives the whole customer experience.

Many people are great at communication and dealing with people but if you can do this in a fast moving and hectic environment as well, then a job in Customer Service as a Service Advisor may be the job for you.

If that sounds like you, then read on for more detail about the Service Advisor role.  It’s a vital job within the whole business because it’s concerned with making sure the customer is dealt with in a speedy and professional manner. If it is not done efficiently – and right first time - then the customer may not return for future business or buy another vehicle from the range. The Service Advisor role is all about understanding vehicle and customer needs, interpreting customer instructions and relaying this information to the service department.  

So the Service Advisor is the person everyone else in the workshop depends upon.

Become a specialist

What will you do?

The main tasks as a Service Advisor are:
_ advising your customers on vehicle needs, time for repair and booking loan vehicles
_ booking in vehicles – workshop loading and parts ordering  
_ controlling and organising work for the workshop staff and parts department
_ customer vehicle handover – after the work is done you will have to explain work carried out and the costs involved
_ ordering - parts for work to be done and needed for stock.

Service Advisor’s do not work directly on vehicles but they need a very good knowledge of them. They must be able to understand basic mechanical operation along with the ability to understand basic diagnostics.
However, this is just the beginning. In fact, the job is a combination of administration, people-management and communications all within the same role.

Most of this work is now done through extensive use of information technology in order to keep track of how vehicles are progressing through the dealership, how long the repair work is likely to take and preparing the car for delivery and handover.  It also involves preparing the invoices.

In many cases, the Service Advisor will be the only employee from the dealership that the customer deals with for service and repair of their vehicle. A very important role.

Skills and talents

To be successful as a Service Advisor you need to be very well organised and be able to cope with a large amount of detailed information.  You will need excellent communication skills and have the ability to pass on information in a detailed manner to customers and your colleagues. It is important to be comfortable with the use of information technology because that is where customer details are stored, along with the workshop management system.
And although you will not work directly on vehicles, you will need to understand basic mechanical and electrical principals to play your part in the efficient repair and service of the customer’s vehicles.

Getting started

To begin a career as a Service Advisor you need to be trained and gain qualifications.
This starts with an Apprenticeship with Peugeot for which you will require good results from school. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland you will need 3 GCSEs at A-C, especially Maths and English, and in Scotland you will need the equivalent Standard Grades at General/Credit level. These qualifications will give you the ability to be able to go on and develop the other specific knowledge and skills you need in today’s retail motor industry.
An Apprenticeship with Peugeot combines work experience with a local Peugeot Dealer and training with Peugeot UK at one of three training facilities across the UK. To satisfy the requirements of an Apprenticeship you will need to gain a Technical Certificate, Key/Core Skills that include communication, numeracy and information technology, together with an NVQ/SVQ in Customer Service at level 2 or 3 that proves you can apply your skills and knowledge in the workplace.

...And once you’ve started you will find that, as you become qualified and more experienced, there are plenty of opportunities to develop your career by moving into supervision and aftersales management. This means there’s a world of opportunities ahead of you.

To find out more about careers and training in other areas of the retail motor industry go to Auto City