Nestor Alvarez works on new ways to stay on top of his game as a 30-year veteran of Warren Henry Automobiles, a Miami-area dealership group.
The service director for Warren Henry Land Rover North Dade makes it a point to focus both on customer and employee satisfaction.
“It's important to have a healthy relationship with both the customers and the service advisors in order to maintain the quality and success of the service department,” Alvarez says.
That attitude is part of the dealership group's philosophy of treating everyone like a family member, “whether you are a customer, business associate or an employee,” he says.
Alvarez and Erik Day, Warren Henry's chief financial officer, have launched a new initiative to sell more extended warranties. In six months, the dealership has sold about 150 policies earning $150,000 in gross profits.
Elements of the campaign include:
Service advisors undergo training on how to sell the plans.
Warren Henry websites list the service manager as the contact person for extended-warranty information. Traditionally, dealership finance and insurance offices handle service-contract information.
Throughout the dealerships, particularly in the service lanes, are posters, hats and buttons promoting extended warranties.
In sales contests, service advisors and managers compete for monthly prizes such as iPads and TVs.
Promotional email blasts go out regularly. Every dealership car buyer receives a quote for an extended-warranty contract.
Day has acquired a link for customers with smartphones, so they can access information on purchasing extended warranties directly from their mobile devices.
“This has not been offered by anyone else,” Alvarez says. “It has put Warren Henry as the leader in extended warranty sales.”
Mike Kennon, aftersales market manager for Land Rover and Jaguar, is working closely with Warren Henry on the campaign designed to boost both profits and build brand loyalty, Alvarez says.
The program offers mutual benefits to the dealership and car buyers, he says. “Customers receive the ultimate reward: insurance on their investment.”
