McCarron: Understanding Emotional Impact

Often when emotions are mentioned in the tire and automotive industry, pictures of angry customers appear in our minds, along with the satisfying images of relieved customers who found trust in your shop because you fixed a problem correctly, on time, and within the budget discussed. 

These are the visible emotions most people project when immersed in number one, a particular environment and number two, among other people involved in the environment. Visible emotions are easily identifiable and most people do not make mistakes when identifying them, unless the other person is intentionally shielding their emotions.

While there are varying words to describe visible emotions, the most often associated ones are anger, sadness, disgust, happiness, surprise and fear. These are also called primary emotions because they are the first ones recognized by both the affected person and the viewer involved.

Primary emotions are important because in our industry, interactions between customers and service providers can be emotional experiences and powerful emotions are associated with personal, independent transportation. 

In North America, transportation is tied to freedom, socioeconomic status, independence and of course, mobility. Our vehicles get us to work to earn money. They provide enjoyment like travel for vacations and holidays. They help us fulfill family obligations like taking kids to soccer practice and karate lessons.

When the car works, customers aren’t driving around thinking about your dealership and how great your team is. The expectation is that their car should always work. A sudden noise, vibration or dash light invokes immediate fear. If the repair is quick and free, we get praise because the customer returns to “happy.” If trust with the customer is broken, we can get a mix of fear, disgust or anger, along with general bad feelings.

Moving beyond primary feelings into secondary emotions is where we get a better understanding of where a customer truly is, mentally, and the degree to which they are feeling happy, sad, angry or fearful or surprised. Secondary emotions usually carry weight. It’s the transition of feeling into thought and soon, action.

Why is this the topic of discussion this month? Because understanding the problem with the vehicle is only half the story. Good service advisors probe the vehicle problem and also the customer’s problem, which creates the story that’s used to present solutions to the customer and improve the outcome.

A service advisor who does not address, probe or simply avoids the customer’s side of the equation will have an uphill battle getting the customer to agree to any solution. Incorporating an understanding of the customer’s secondary emotions into the presentation of solutions is what separates the excellent, gifted advisor from average advisors.

This is no easy feat. It is not the gift of gab that makes advisors successful. Listening is a crucial skill, but then returning that listening exercise back to the customer through empathy usually seals the deal. Empathy cannot easily be faked. Attempts to do so often result in buyer’s remorse or worse, an angry customer in your shop the next day questioning every single line-item purchase.

There is not a sales script in the world that will teach an advisor to be able to say to the customer, “If we take care of this issue with the vehicle, I will include you in all the updates. I won’t let the issue overwhelm you. It’s my job to break the complex into simple. We’ll go step-by-step.” Saying “You look scared” may move them to anger. So may “I know this is complicated, but I know what I’m doing.”

The good news is that empathy can be taught - just not through scripts .You can't robotically recite words and elicit a satisfying emotional release. It takes connection of the surrounding environment and the people involved in the situation.

It also takes skill, motivation and attitude to create the right kind of empathy. As an owner, you only control one lever. You help the employees who show signs of capability and expose them to proper education. If you want a customer for life, you educate your employees to understand and act on the idea that every purchase is a promise of trust.

Knowledge isn’t power, It’s potential energy. And like heat, that energy is either used or lost. Putting knowledge into action is kinetic. It creates things.