meetings, then two to three times per week, and eventually every day once the practice becomes a habit. The best part is that every meeting only needs to be about 10 minutes. Ted Ings suggests holding them right before the service drive doors open to get staff pumped and focused on the day's goals. FOCUS ON SOFT SALES SKILLS Too often soft sales skills like active listening and relationship building are pushed to the back burner or neglected all together. Yet, these skills are key to relating and communicating with customers. How do you teach them? Through exposure and practice? Take a couple of minutes during your team meeting to role play different customer scenarios. For example: handling an upset customer, greeting a customer, or explaining recommended services as vehicle investments. The last one is key for gaining customer acceptance for recommended services. When staff can position recommendations as essential for vehicle safety, for example, customers will more readily agree to repairs. MARCH APRIL 2023 || FIXED OPS MAGAZINE 45http://admiglobal.com