Customer Service as a 'Craft'

As we turn the calendar to the New Year and set aside a moment of peace amid a fresh transition to a new beginning, I find myself reflecting - not just on tires sold or hours billed, but on something much deeper: the journey our customers take through our service experience as much more than a job, but rather as craft.

Previously, I’ve written about understanding the purchase path and the importance of systemizing customer touchpoints.

For the coming year, I’d like to re-frame that journey as an act of being - of service-craft grounded in inspiration, guidance and motivation towards a common outcome.

Vision statements speak to far more than internal culture or mission-based signage. It invites us to consider meaning, individual and collective behind each interaction. When we embrace that vision as operative and actionable, the customer journey becomes more than a sequence of steps. It becomes a creative act.

More specifically, I'm referring to you and your team’s relationship to the world - not just the output. I want you to consider you and your team as artists. Your canvas is your service bays, your dealership's waiting area, the handshake with the customer and the vehicle hand-off. Your mediums are trust, clarity and relief.

In previous articles, I’ve emphasized various touchpoints: meet and greet, write-up, tech inspection, explanation, service delivery and follow-up. Those are important. But thinking of them as a craft elevates how we view those moments. It means that even mundane services - like checking tire pressure, verifying lug torque and providing mid-service updates - carry intention and belief. So let’s walk through how we can apply this craft lens in practice.

First, find inspiration and a purpose in every day. When a customer visits, they're bringing more than a car. They’re bringing trust, expectation and their concerns. Your system of beliefs should be visible. That’s the inspiration.

In other articles, I noted that the satisfaction of customers is influenced by the systems and processes we have in place. Now, I add that the soul behind those systems matters. When your team believes they are doing more than “just tires,” that belief becomes a force the customer senses.

Second, guide your systems with mindset. You’ve likely built processes to handle vehicle inspections, estimates, authorizations, quality control, etc. They’re all essential. But the craft mindset is what elevates them - guiding the customer through the journey with attention, clarity and empathy. What does an exceptional experience look like? We’ve all felt it.

Make sure your people are trained not just on what to do, but how to be during the doing. Calm, transparent and conversational are solid examples. That guidance reduces friction, reveals value and aligns with your vision’s common outcome of creating satisfied, returning customers.

Third, take personal ownership of the outcomes. Here we come to motivation - the motivation of not just your team, but of your customer. The common outcome is safe vehicles, trusted service relationships and profitability. When your team feels part of something larger - that their craft contributes to safety, mobility and life continuity - they find motivation in the purpose.

Consumer-focused cultures have strong staying power. I encourage you to Invite your team members to ask: How can we make the customer’s journey remarkable today? When the question is asked not just once, but repeatedly, culture-wide, personal ownership and motivation grow.

Fourth, view creative application throughout the customer journey as an ongoing and developing state. Creativity isn’t just something you do from time to time - rather, it’s an act of being. By treating the customer journey as a creative act of service, we shift from transactional to transformational.

A customer leaves not just with four mounted and balanced tires, but with a renewed trust in your business, in our industry and in themselves. That’s the craft. That’s the common outcome. And yes, the proverbial magic dust I’ve referenced before is ours to spread - one creative act at a time. 

This coming year, I encourage you to regularly lift your attention from the ledger toward the craft of service you deliver. In our industry, it’s easy to fall into commodity mindsets: tires, alignments, brake service, etc. But under the surface lies something far richer: the journey of the customer, the belief systems we bring and the relationships we build. If we treat that as a craft - guided by beliefs that inspire, guide and motivate oneself and others towards a common outcome -  then every vehicle that rolls out of your service bay becomes a piece of work and a finely crafted experience.

Tire and auto service is not just what we do, but how we are - especially in the independent space. In that sense, our industry is an art form and our service journey is a canvas. So let’s make this year count, not only in sales and profitability, but in the way we serve, the way we believe and the way we live our visions.

From our house to yours, may you craft an unforgettable customer journey this holiday season heading into the new year.