This is the Way: 4 Lessons for Fixed Operations

With the Star Wars universe releasing another season of The Mandalorian on Disney+, we are all ready to binge all the episodes at once. We love watching our hero fighting for his people and protecting The Child. But, did you ever think you could take real-world life lessons from it? It’s time to hit pause and apply what we’ve learned from The Mandalorian to fixed operations:

1. Rely on Training

Are you and your employees able to count on training to get through tough situations? From his fighting strategies to his tracking, accuracy, and overall knowledge, we see the main character Mando rely on his training from the creed to get him through dilemmas in every episode.  Fixed operations relies on in-depth reporting and training to make sure employees are able to make it out of tough situations unscathed. Make sure you know if advisors have a hard time selling big items or if technicians aren’t recommending enough work. Then, use this information to train them for their next confrontation.

2. Protect What You Care For

Our hero consistently focuses on protecting the ones he cares for even if it means putting himself in harm’s way. In the service department one of our biggest threats isn’t bodily harm, but rather customer disputes. To help protect your department, make sure you’re using a digital process with RO information automatically attached to the customer record. Also, multipoints and walk-arounds need to be completed on each vehicle with all information automatically stored in the DMS. If danger ever tries to sneak its way into your service department, you can easily bunker down and ward off the threat.

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Find Trouble

Alongside protecting what you care for, sometimes doing the right thing means being brave and jumping into an uncomfortable situation. As we’ve seen in The Mandalorian, Mando always finds trouble, jumping into situations left and right to provide for the child. Your technicians should also be brave when looking for recommendations and providing information for the customer. If they become a little wary (or, let’s be honest, if they want to rush to the next RO), then management needs to step in and guide them back. For example, if a car with over 80,000 miles comes in and it’s checked all green on the multipoint, chances are, your technician wasn’t upholding the code. Managers should receive an alert so another tech can inspect the vehicle and find those big repairs your shop could have missed. By doing these things, your dealership will have the bravery and guidance it needs to efficiently handle every repair order.

4. Have Trustworthy Technology

From hating technology to being proven wrong about its intentions, our armored hero learns to trust more than his spaceship to complete his missions. In this same way, it’s important to have trustworthy technology to aid technicians, advisors, managers, and everyone else at the dealership. If your technology requires rekeying, working outside the RO, or a manual process, then you are putting more effort into your technology than what it can give back. Instead, use technology that will have your back and create less work at your store.

In conclusion, your service drive can drastically improve by bringing these lessons from The Mandalorian to life.

I have spoken.

¹ Dealership Workforce Study

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