Unpredictable things happen. That is what makes them unpredictable. But a business that serves people must have a plan for when they do. Customers will usually understand a delay. What they will not forget is whether you told them up front or let them sit in the waiting room for three hours before mentioning it.
In this special solo edition of Maximum Octane, host Kim Hickey reflects on what it truly means to be at service. Drawing on recent experiences as a customer, she explains how behavior communicates care, why staffing problems are not an excuse, and three simple steps any shop can use to show customers their time matters.
What You Will Learn
- The loop of hiring a “warm body” and “leaving their training for later”
- About my frustrating experience at the dentist
- We state how much we care about our customers through our messaging
- Being understaffed or overbooked is not an excuse for poor service
- A business that provides a service is obliged to deliver quality service, period
- Three simple steps to show appreciation for your customers’ time
The Warm Body Trap
Kim opens with a cycle many shops know well. When a position is open and the team is stretched, owners hire a “warm body” to fill the gap and plan to train them later. Later rarely comes. The untrained employee struggles, service suffers, frustration builds, and the cycle repeats.
Breaking the cycle means treating training as part of hiring, not something that happens when things calm down. ATI’s The Secret to Avoiding a Costly Bad Hire and The Training Effect show how to build both into the process.
The warm body trap is often driven by short-term pressure. When the team is overloaded, any help feels better than none. But an untrained employee can create more work for others, make mistakes that upset customers, and lower morale. Breaking the cycle requires accepting a short period of continued strain in exchange for hiring the right person and training them properly. A structured onboarding plan makes training manageable even during busy periods.
Lessons From a Frustrating Visit to the Dentist
Around the 7 minute mark, Kim shares a frustrating experience at her dentist’s office. Without spoiling the story, it is a perfect example of how a small communication failure can damage trust. Every service business, including auto repair, can learn from seeing the experience through the customer’s eyes. ATI even has an article on What Shop Owners Can Learn From Dentists.
Experiencing poor service as a customer is one of the best ways to understand your own business. The frustration of waiting without information, being treated like a number, or having to repeat yourself is the same frustration your customers feel when service falls short. Kim’s story invites owners to notice their own experiences as customers and ask whether their shop ever creates similar feelings.
Your Messages Show How Much You Care
Kim explains that businesses state how much they care about customers through their messaging. That includes signs, emails, texts, phone greetings, and the way team members speak. “Everything speaks,” as former Disney leader Dennis Snow put it in Providing Excellence in Customer Service Before It Was Cool. A message sent too late, or not at all, says something too.
Messaging includes what is said and what is not said. A shop that never follows up after service sends a message that the relationship ends at payment. A shop that sends a personal thank you and checks on the vehicle a few days later sends a message of care. Reviewing every customer communication, from appointment reminders to invoices, for tone and clarity is a simple way to strengthen relationships.
A useful exercise is to read your own communications as if you were a first-time customer. Look at the appointment confirmation text, the voicemail greeting, and the invoice. Do they sound warm and clear, or rushed and technical? Small wording changes often make a noticeable difference in how customers feel.
Understaffed Is Not an Excuse
Around the 16 minute mark, Kim makes a firm point: being understaffed or overbooked is not an excuse for poor service. Customers do not care about a shop’s internal challenges. They care about whether their car is ready when promised and whether they were kept informed. A business that provides a service is obligated to deliver quality service, period.
That does not mean pretending problems do not exist. It means communicating honestly and managing commitments so the customer experience stays strong, even when the shop is stretched. ATI’s Is Your Shop Too Busy? Why That’s a Bad Thing, and How to Manage It addresses this directly.
When a shop is short-handed, the temptation is to accept more work than it can handle and hope for the best. A better approach is to manage capacity honestly: book appointments realistically, communicate wait times clearly, and prioritize existing commitments. Customers generally prefer accurate expectations to optimistic promises that are broken.
Respecting Customers’ Time
A theme throughout the episode is keeping customers’ time in mind when making decisions that affect them. If a vehicle will be late, call before the promised time, not after. If the schedule is overbooked, tell customers when they book so they can choose. Giving people information lets them plan their day, and they will remember the courtesy.
Time is one of the most valuable things customers give a business. Respecting it means keeping appointments, providing accurate estimates of completion, communicating proactively about delays, and making drop-off and pickup quick and easy. Many customers will pay more for a shop that respects their time, because it reduces disruption to their work and family lives.
Three Steps to Show Appreciation for Your Customers’ Time
Kim closes with three simple steps to improve service when you are short-staffed or overbooked. Listen to the episode for her specific approach. The spirit of the advice comes down to a few practical habits:
- Communicate early: let customers know about delays as soon as you know.
- Offer choices: give options such as rescheduling, a ride, or a later pickup.
- Acknowledge their loyalty: thank customers for their patience and show it in a tangible way.
ATI’s How Do Our Customers Know We Care? and Why Communication Is Key to Building Customer Trust expand on these ideas.
Appreciation can take many forms. A sincere apology for a delay, a small discount or gift card when the shop falls short, a loaner car or ride when possible, and a personal follow-up call all communicate that the customer’s time matters. These gestures are often inexpensive compared with the cost of losing a customer.
Service as a Competitive Advantage
In a market where many shops offer similar repairs at similar prices, service becomes a key differentiator. Customers remember how they were treated long after they forget what they paid. Shops known for reliable communication, respect for time, and genuine care build loyalty that competitors struggle to break.
Delivering that kind of service consistently requires training, systems, and leadership. It also requires honesty about capacity, so promises can be kept. Kim’s reflections in this episode are a reminder that service is not just a department or a script. It is the sum of every interaction a customer has with your business.
What This Looks Like for Service Advisors
Service advisors are where Kim’s message becomes real, because they deliver both the good news and the bad. Consider a common situation: a part that was due by noon will not arrive until tomorrow. An advisor who waits until the customer calls at four o’clock has already lost trust. An advisor who calls as soon as the delay is known, explains what happened, and offers options, such as a ride, a rental, or a guaranteed time tomorrow, turns the same problem into a moment that shows care.
Shops can make this easier by building it into the process. Set a rule that any change to a promised time triggers an immediate call or text. Give advisors simple, honest wording they can adapt rather than a rigid script. Decide in advance which make-it-right options an advisor can offer without asking the owner. And track promised times against actual completion, so the team can see where commitments are slipping. Customers judge the shop by how it handles the moments when things go wrong.
A Quick Audit of Your Service
- How do customers find out their vehicle will be late?
- What happens when the shop is overbooked: do you warn customers or hope for the best?
- Is every new hire trained before they interact with customers alone?
- What message does your waiting area send?
For more on how the first impression on the phone sets the tone, listen to The First 20 Seconds: What Your Phone Is Really Telling Customers. Mary Kelly also explores the customer’s mindset in How to Make Your Clients Forget the World Is on Fire.
Frequently Asked Questions
How should a repair shop tell a customer their car will be late?
Call or text as soon as you know, not when the customer calls to check. Explain the reason briefly and honestly, give a new realistic time, and offer options such as a ride, a loaner, or a later pickup. Apologize for the inconvenience without making excuses about staffing or workload. Follow up if anything changes again. Customers are usually understanding about genuine delays. What frustrates them is being surprised, being left waiting without information, or having to chase the shop for an update.
How can a shop maintain good service when it is understaffed?
Be honest about capacity. Book only the work the team can finish when promised, and tell customers about realistic wait times when they schedule. Prioritize existing commitments over squeezing in more cars. Use simple tools, such as text updates and digital inspections, to keep communication flowing with less phone time. Cross-train team members so absences do not stop work. In the meantime, continue recruiting and invest in training new hires properly, so the shortage does not become permanent.
Why is it a mistake to hire a “warm body” to fill an open position?
An untrained or poorly matched hire can create more work than they remove. Mistakes need to be fixed, coworkers have to cover gaps, and customers may receive inconsistent service. The pressure that led to the rushed hire often prevents proper training, so problems continue and turnover follows. A better approach is a structured hiring process focused on attitude and fit, followed by a defined onboarding plan, even if it means tolerating the shortage a little longer to find the right person.
What are simple ways to show customers you value their time?
Keep appointments on schedule, give accurate completion estimates, and update customers before they have to ask. Make drop-off and pickup quick by preparing paperwork in advance and offering options such as after-hours key drop or online approvals. When the shop falls short, acknowledge it sincerely and consider a small gesture, such as a discount, a gift card, or a ride. Each of these actions tells customers that the shop understands their time is valuable.
What does “everything speaks” mean in customer service?
It means every detail of a business communicates something to customers, whether the business intends it or not. A clean waiting room, a friendly phone greeting, and a prompt update say the shop cares. A cluttered counter, a full voicemail box, or a late call say the opposite. The phrase, associated with customer service expert Dennis Snow, encourages businesses to look at every touchpoint through the customer’s eyes and make sure each one sends the message the business wants to send.
