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Top 5 Mistakes SERVICE MANAGERS Make That Hurt Their Dealership

July 14, 2026

SERVICE MANAGER mistakes can quietly hold back even the best dealership service departments. From delaying important decisions to avoiding accountability, these common leadership habits can reduce profitability, frustrate employees, and hurt the customer experience.

The challenge is that some of the most common leadership mistakes don’t seem like mistakes at all. They often sound reasonable—or even responsible—until you take a closer look.

In this episode of Service Drive Revolution #367, Chris Collins, Adam, and Hogy discuss five phrases they frequently hear from SERVICE MANAGERS. While these comments may sound harmless, they often reveal leadership habits that create unnecessary obstacles for both the team and the dealership.

Let’s break down the five biggest mistakes—and what successful SERVICE MANAGERS do differently.

1. “I Need Buy-In From My Team”

One of the most common excuses for delaying change is waiting for everyone to agree before taking action.

While involving employees in discussions is valuable, leadership isn’t based on consensus. A SERVICE MANAGER’s responsibility is to establish direction, communicate expectations, and help the team succeed—not wait for permission to lead.

The best departments aren’t built by committee. They’re built by leaders who provide clarity, consistency, and accountability.

Instead of asking whether everyone agrees with a new process, focus on explaining why the change benefits the customer, the dealership, and the team.

If you’re looking to strengthen leadership within your Fixed Ops department, check out Chris Collins’ article on Fixed Ops leadership for additional strategies on creating a high-performing service department.

2. “I Want to Get It Dialed In Before We Implement It”

Perfection is often just procrastination wearing a different disguise.

Many SERVICE MANAGERS delay improvements because they want every detail finalized before rolling out a new process. Unfortunately, waiting for the perfect time usually means nothing changes.

Successful dealerships understand that execution beats hesitation.

Processes can always be refined after implementation. The important step is getting started, measuring results, and making adjustments along the way.

Momentum creates improvement far faster than endless planning.

3. “The Technician Wanted a Raise, So I Had to Let Them Go”

Losing a productive technician over a relatively small wage increase can become one of the most expensive decisions a dealership makes.

Technicians generate revenue.

Customers pay for technician labor, and productive technicians often produce hundreds of thousands—or even millions—of dollars in labor sales over time.

Rather than focusing solely on hourly pay, SERVICE MANAGERS should evaluate the technician’s overall contribution to the department.

Replacing experienced technicians is rarely inexpensive. Recruiting, onboarding, training, and lost production often cost far more than a reasonable pay adjustment.

Strong SERVICE MANAGERS understand that investing in productive employees is often one of the smartest financial decisions they can make.

4. “I Wish I Had More Time to Recruit Technicians”

The best time to recruit technicians isn’t when you have an opening.

It’s all the time.

Many SERVICE MANAGERS wait until they’re short-staffed before beginning the hiring process. By then, appointments are backing up, advisors are overwhelmed, and customers are waiting longer for repairs.

Recruiting should become an ongoing responsibility rather than an emergency response.

Building relationships with technicians before you need them creates a much stronger hiring pipeline and helps your dealership stay ahead of staffing shortages.

If you’re working to become a stronger SERVICE MANAGER, Chris Collins Inc. has several articles that explore leadership strategies, hiring, and team development that can help build a healthier service department.

5. “I Need to Hold Myself Accountable Before I Can Hold My Team Accountable”

Personal accountability is important.

However, some managers use that statement as a reason to delay holding others accountable.

Leadership doesn’t require perfection before action.

Your team needs clear expectations, consistent coaching, and regular follow-up—not a manager waiting until they feel they’ve become the perfect leader.

Customers also notice when accountability is missing.

Missed deadlines, inconsistent communication, and uneven performance don’t just frustrate employees—they damage customer confidence in the dealership.

Leadership begins by establishing standards and consistently reinforcing them.

Leadership Is About Action, Not Excuses

Every SERVICE MANAGER has probably said one of these phrases at some point.

The difference between average leaders and exceptional leaders is recognizing these habits early and replacing them with action.

Great leaders don’t wait for consensus.

They don’t postpone necessary changes.

They continuously recruit talent.

They invest in productive employees.

Most importantly, they create accountability that benefits both their teams and their customers.

Small shifts in leadership often produce the biggest improvements in dealership performance.

When SERVICE MANAGERS lead with clarity, consistency, and confidence, the entire Fixed Ops department becomes stronger—and customers notice the difference.

Feel free to explore the linked articles above for deeper insights into each strategy. If you have any further questions or need additional resources, don’t hesitate to ask!

FULL VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Intro and Live Financial Academy Training

Welcome to Service Drive Revolution, the home for anybody who has a service drive, works in a service drive, and loves service drives; this is the place for you. A little secret I’m going to let everybody in on right off of the top: we actually aren’t live right now. This is pre-recorded. But Hogi is going live after this in Service Drive Revolution Academy teaching financials still. I think we’re going to be teaching financials for a couple weeks, right Hogi? It’s going to be a little while, yeah. But he’s going live after this. I just have a pre-planned commitment filming Books That Changed My Life, the other show we do on YouTube where we talk about books that changed people’s lives.

Countdown to the Upcoming Football Season

This has been on the calendar for a long time. So, we’re pre-recording this, but it’s still going to be a lot of fun. We’re glad you’re here. Today, the subject is the top five dumb things service managers say. And it’s a funny list. It’s meant to be funny, but also there’s always a little truth in the humor. And I think it’ll make you laugh, but it also might hit home. And the boys are here. Say hello to everybody. Adam, hello. All Adam is thinking is there’s 100 days until football starts. That’s all he cares about. Less than 100 days, baby. Let’s go. Bootstraps on. What’s up, everybody? Welcome.

Chicago Bears Relocation and Naming Debates

That’s all Adam thinks about is the Chicago Bears or the Indiana Bears, right? No, they’re going to keep the Chicago Bears, buddy. We know that. But they’re going to be in Indiana, we know that. It’s like that, true. Did your parents ever tell you when you were a little kid, when you were like, “Well, why are we doing that?” and they’re like, “Because I said so.” Oh, yeah. That’s what it is. It’s like we’re not in Chicago, but it’s Chicago because we said so, even though it makes absolutely no sense. It’s funny that they’re trying to say, “Well, it’s still within city limits.” Technically, that’s Chicago city limits, so it’s Indiana, but it’s still within Chicago.

Upgrading to the Royal Blue Sea-Doo 325

Whatever, who cares? Just bring on football. I had a tremendous experience getting a new jet ski. A couple reasons I had to get a new jet ski. One is the color, because I hated the one I had. So, the one I had was like Miami Dolphin teal, and it just was not for me. I couldn’t—like I just wasn’t excited about it. I don’t know, I felt like the Miami Dolphins. Don’t you guys think that when you see teal? Don’t you think Miami Dolphins? Yeah, that’s true. But at the time it was the only color I could get because it was all that was available, as they don’t make that many of them.

Seeking Custom Equalizers for High-End Kits

So they came out with a new one that is the race edition. We’re talking about the Sea-Doo 325. It’s the race one, and it’s in this blue kind of like my Range Rover, which is like a royal blue. It’s really cool, it looks incredible. And then I really wanted an upgraded stereo. So, my friends at the dealership where I buy my jet skis up there in Washington—I don’t know if they want me to say the name of the dealership or not, I just will—Polson’s is their name there. They’re in Olympia, great family-owned dealership. They do a tremendous job, incredible team there, love them.

Missing Mid-Range Frequencies on the Water

I got the stereo upgraded on the thing. And Hogi, I wanted to ask you about this. I got an aftermarket amp and speakers, just two speakers and then an amp that takes it to 160 watts, and the high-end is just so grating and I can’t figure out what—there’s no EQ in there, and I’m wondering if it’s hooked up wrong or if I need to put an EQ in there, but it’s so—like, you know how when the high-end is really prominent, it just feels edgy? There’s nothing built-in that you have, like at least a mid, a treble, and a bass? No. So, I was wondering if you thought maybe it’s hooked up wrong. Is that possible?

Dialing the Tech Line for Audio Troubleshooting

I don’t know, maybe. So, you got aftermarket speakers and an amp and it’s doing that. It’s Riva Racing, they’re out of Florida; they make this stuff. It’s their kit that is the amp and the speakers, and it’s loud, like, it’s really loud. It does that part right, but it’s like the mid is completely missing, and it’s just like the mid-low and then really, really aggressive high-end. Is this system matched with the speakers correctly? Well, it comes as a kit. Sometimes I know enough about this to be dangerous. I know a lot about high-end and speakers and sound, but I don’t know when it comes to boats or cars.

Bypassing Jet Ski Governors with Performance Chips

In the kit, did it come with the speakers within the kit? Yeah, speakers and an amp. Okay, and then you loop that into the system that’s there, but then I’m playing the music through my phone through Bluetooth. You mess with the little EQ in your phone? There isn’t an EQ in your phone anymore that I can find. There was for iTunes, but I’m not using iTunes; I’m using Tidal and Spotify. So I was going to see if there wasn’t a way to run it through an EQ that way. But if I’m cutting the high-end on my phone, I don’t know, I guess yeah, it’s a thing, I’ll figure it out.

Driving for Town Gas without Lake Docks

Is there a way to auxiliary connect or hardwire your phone versus just Bluetooth, and does it do the same thing? Yeah. Okay, then I would call the tech line for the people that built the kit. There’s got to be some—can you imagine me not knowing anything calling them? You can give me the number, I’ll call them. But if you just tell them, say, “Hey, I have a pretty good ear for this stuff and here’s what I’m experiencing,” I bet it may not even be an uncommon problem, either. Oh, that’s true. Okay, I’ll try that. But, that’s fun. Glad you got the new one.

Environmental Impact Rules and Extra Fuel Jugs

Oh, it’s so fast. I’m tempted to get the little—so, Riva Racing makes a little chip that you can plug in and it bypasses the limiter. Yeah, but to be honest, I don’t know. I think about doing that, but do I really need to go more than 70? Only until the same reason—I think the real reason you got the new one is just to get the upgrade because you told me at one point, on your old one, someone passed you, so then you knew it was time to get the new one. So I guess that’s when you’ll decide to get the chip.

Adopting California Brake Pad laws in Washington

Well, that was three years ago, Hogi, and nobody’s passed me any time recently. There’s nobody on that lake that can pass me even with the last one, and the 325 is so fast. But I mean, it’s like anything, right? It’s like getting from zero to 70 really fast. But once you’re at 70, there’s nobody even close, and 70 is fast on the water. That is so fast. And I think if you put that little thing in and you bypass the governor, you could go like 80, some 85. I don’t know that I want to go 85, do I?

Brake Squeaks and Corrupt Aftermarket Regulations

You don’t know until you try. Yeah, well, the other thing about going 70 is you can just watch the gas tank just go down. That’s how you know you’re having fun, going back for gas all the time. You got to drive into town for gas every day. Drag racing, you get one quarter-mile strip, just burn. So funny, not to talk about the old days and be nostalgic, even though I am. The lake used to have two gas stations when I was a kid. You could just pull your boat up to the dock and somebody used to come out there and fill you up.

Comparing the Vibe of Indy and Los Angeles

There’s no gas stations on the lake anymore. You got to drive all the way into town because of environmental rules. For real? Oh, it’s brutal. But it’s still blue, though. So, you got all these gas cans to fill them up. I probably have twelve 5-gallon gas cans, and then a full tank is like three of those. So, yeah, I think the tank’s like 15 or 16 gallons and a tank lasts a day, basically. Yeah, they do. I learned recently, too, about Washington State is they have a—and of course, I think California has it, too.

Limestone and Granite War Monuments Downtown

Washington just usually adapts what California has, but whatever they’re doing in California doesn’t work, but let’s do it up here because it’ll work here. Well, I learned they have different brake pads in those states. Did you know that? No. What kind of brake pads? A Chevy store I have in Washington State—a while back, they were trying to figure out problems they were having with the pads and stuff, and this was a few years back when Washington State adopted this “better brakes” law. Do they squeak or something? Oh, all types of issues with them.

Patriotic Outdoor Basketball Arenas and Community

And it’s just like, so now when they put brakes on a car and they’re like, “They’re making noise,” they’re like, “Oh no, it comes with it, no extra charge,” like they’re all going to do it. Yeah, it was crazy, I had no idea. I felt I was pretty up-to-date on all the EPA things that are going around in different areas, but it’s so corrupt because you know how that works, right? You know it has nothing to do with the environment. There’s a couple people in a room, and I know this happens because I’ve been in the room when this happens.

Humid Walks on Roundabout Limestone Plazas

They’re like, “Here’s what we’ll do: we’ll say that these brake pads are bad and you can only buy these brake pads that hit this criteria. We’ll start making them now, we’ll be the only one that has them and makes them, so everybody will have to buy their brake pads from us and we’ll kill it. We’ll have no competition for a long time.” And that’s exactly what they do, it’s nuts. And the quality doesn’t have to be good because they don’t have any competition, it’s so corrupt and crazy how they do that.

Sourcing Dummy Financials for Service Managers

When we came back from Indiana, I was so impressed with how Indy was just thriving, right? When we were in actual Indianapolis, Hogi, and we were walking around that evening, all the construction and just the vibe—the vibe and the energy was so different than when I got off the plane here in Los Angeles. It literally just feels like Los Angeles is slowly dying. The World Cup is going on and all this stuff is happening, but it still just feels like it’s dying. Restaurants are closing, businesses are closing, all of my friends have moved.

Running blindfolded as a Department Manager

It’s just an energy thing; you can feel the energy of a city, and it used to be incredible here, and it’s not anymore. I’m afraid that New York will follow the same path, but yeah, the middle is where it’s happening right now: Texas where you’re at, Oklahoma. I don’t know about Illinois, Adam; maybe seems like Illinois is a lot like here, trying to be like there. I think there’s still quite a bit of construction in Chicago, it’s still rough. I mean, at least the highways, bro, they’re always working on something.

Mistake 5: Procrastinating with Staff Buy-In

It was interesting, though; it hit me, I could feel it. Yeah, I agree, there was a lot of construction going on down there. That war memorial was awesome; we walked around that and that roundabout area. Built in what, 1861 or something, so cool. Downtown Indy has this huge memorial that is basically built out of limestone or granite. It has these statues and carvings all around it on all four sides, and then these fountains, it’s just stunning. And it’s so patriotic, too, hard work.

Directorial Leadership as a Benevolent Dictator

It had how many soldiers from Indiana died in each of the respective wars, like the Civil War and the War of 1812, and each one had different statues. Down there too, there’s patriotic music playing and there was a huge sense of community, like kids out playing, ping pong tables, and people were just out and about. And then where we had dinner, over by the basketball arena—some fieldhouse they call it in Indianapolis—there’s a court outside where the community can just come and play.

Consensus Traps and Surrounding Lazy People

Basketballs are there on racks, and you can just walk up and shoot. Which you kept pointing out how bad people were at basketball. The general public isn’t great; we were sitting there watching them a little bit, but yeah, you should have joined in and taught them how to ball. It was so hot, I was dying; we walked for quite a ways and I was sweating, though not as hot as it is right now. It takes me a little while to get used to that humidity, it’s nasty right now.

The Inmates Running the Socialist Asylum

Let’s get to the list of the top five dumb things service managers say. We have a tremendous amount of experience in this. And then after this, Hogi is going to be going live inside of our Service Drive Academy. If you’re not a part of the academy or the community, you can join at chriscollinsinc.com and click the on-demand training and it’ll get you in there. You want to be there, it’s a fun group. There’s been a couple people in the group whose dealers won’t give them financial statements.

Mistake 4: Getting Things dialed In

We price it so a service manager whose dealer or owner wouldn’t invest in them could afford it on their own. And that’s what’s happening; we have people coming in that are investing in themselves, wanting to understand the financials, marketing, and how to hire. They just want to improve and get better, and be in a community of like-minded individuals trying to figure out how to do things at a high level. So we’ve been providing financial statements.

Polarity of Decisiveness in drive Operations

I have a couple of financials in Excel where I went in and changed the numbers and took off all the identifying stuff, basically making a fake dealership. If you don’t have a financial statement or your store won’t give you one, we’ll give you one, basically. And it breaks my heart that there are companies out there running a department with no steering wheel, where the manager can’t look out the front window—like driving blindfolded. Isn’t that a scene in Talladega Nights with the wildcat?

Executing Speed in Service Department Mottos

Yes, that’s exactly what it is. Great scene, go watch it. But back to the top five dumb things that service managers say. We have a lot of experience in this, and there are going to be people listening to this who have said these things, and we’re very polite when they do. We’re not laughing at them, but we’re going to have a little humor right now. None of these things on this list have only happened once; they are said over and over again.

Eliminating “Try” from Advisor vocabularies

You say some of these things and you don’t even know it. You can’t read the label of the jar you’re in, and that definitely applies here. We have a unique perspective looking at financials, going to the store, and hearing these things, so it’s a fun, funny, and insightful list to unpack. Number five on this list is: “I got to get buy-in from my people.” That is the most deliberate way to procrastinate; basically, what you’re saying is, “I’m never going to do it.”

Mistake 3: Losing Techs Over Hourly Rates

“I got to get buy-in from my people” means you’re never going to do it because the people aren’t being led. If you’re waiting for everybody else to figure out what’s going on, you’re going to be there forever. What are you there for if you need them to figure it out? If they could figure it out, they’d have your job. It’s an odd thing. It just kind of felt patriotic walking around Indianapolis, like America as we used to know it or grew up in, and that’s why it resonated.

Customer Payments and Commission Structures

We get this idea of how grateful we are to live in this democracy, and then we pull that into our professional lives and businesses, but it’s an odd thing. We want to get buy-in from everybody, so should we take a vote from the service advisors if you should be the service manager? Do the advisors and the technicians vote us into office? You have to let go of this thing that you got to get buy-in from the people.

Entitled Technician Attitudes and Manager Resentments

Leadership is more closely related to being a benevolent dictator; you should be caring, but it’s your department. You’re not voted into office, you don’t get buy-in. What they are saying when they say that is, “I don’t have a clear, intentional outcome I’m trying to achieve that I’m committed to, I’m indifferent to it, so let’s see how everybody else feels.” They don’t want to run a profitable department; what they really want is consensus and to be liked more than they want goals.

Mistake 2: Delaying Recruitment of Tech Talent

You end up surrounding yourself with people that like you but don’t get anything done, attracting the wrong kind of people. Anytime I’ve walked into a situation like that, the inmates have been running the asylum, and it feels like socialism where there’s no one actually leading the charge. Techs come in whenever they want, and the manager is just seeing what everybody says to figure it out together, while they’re losing money and nobody knows what’s going on.

Constant Recruiting Cycles as Staffing Insurance

You’re waiting for permission from your people when you should be the one giving permission; you got the permission part backwards, so flip the script. Number four: “I know I need to implement [fill in the blank] in my department, but I just want to get it dialed in first.” What is it when you take magnets and they oppose each other—repel, the polarity of the magnets? You got your magnets backwards; if you just flip them around, they snap together.

Shuffling ROs and Compounding Drive Chaos

Success is tied to decisiveness. We do this thing in fixed ops where we say we want to get it dialed in, but really we could have started it yesterday and seen the results today. One of the things in our motto for new clients coming to boot camp is: “Speed and execution are key.” It’s a great tool to have in your toolbox. You may want to measure twice and cut once, but if you know it needs to happen, get it done.

Holding HR Accountable for Fixed Ops Outcomes

Another one that goes hand-in-hand with that is: “We tried that before.” And I’m always like, “Whoa, we’re going to do it this time, we’re not going to try, we’re actually going to do it.” Watch how easy it is to do when you’re committed to it; it just works. What is “try”? When somebody says, “I’ll try,” they’re basically telling you to go fk yourself. You ask me how to do it and I’ll explain, but when you say try, you’re just trying to get rid of me.

Constant Ad Refreshes for Better Store Culture

Number three: “The tech wanted a $2 an hour raise, so I had to let him go.” Let me ask you: who pays for the technician, you or somebody else? The customer pays for the technician. The $2, $4, or $8 is paid by the customer; it’s relative to your cost of sale, so you would never lose a technician over $2. If your effective labor rate is 50% of your door rate, that’s where you raise your rate, but it can be 90% and then these things aren’t even an issue.

Boomer Tech Departures and the Trade Correction

We see this with publicly traded stores during COVID, where accountants looked at a tech making $150 grand and said to cut that expense. They don’t understand that techs aren’t making $150 grand; they’re getting paid a commission on the millions of dollars in gross they produce. Also, managers who were techs get upset that these techs come off entitled, saying, “When I was a tech, I made $18 an hour and was happy, and these guys just want this and that.”

Mistake 1: Holding Yourself Accountable to Hold Others Accountable

Number two: “I wish I had more time to recruit techs.” We’ve had this happen so many times, and our viewpoint is that you are recruiting all the time. If you are waiting to recruit people until you need someone, you’re so far behind and you’ve already experienced being understaffed for six months. We’re sitting in the service manager’s office having that conversation, and an advisor busts in saying, “Hey boss, we lost this customer’s keys and they’re here to pick up.”

Enforcing Non-Democratic Department Standards

If you don’t have your people math dialed in to be staffed up with the amount of techs you need, it’s a race to the bottom and chaos at best. Appointments get booked out, advisors shuffle ROs around, and it compounding the chaos in the department. You never get out of that chaos until recruiting is a priority. A lot of times we end up wanting to pass hiring techs off to HR, but HR is never held accountable for the results; you are.

The double Negatives of Servant Leadership

When things don’t work out as they planned, they just kind of give up. Just because an ad isn’t working like it used to, keep refreshing it. I was talking to a dealer who said she had the ad up there for four months and it stopped pulling. I said, “All right, then it’s time to refresh it, put it back in there. Why would somebody want to come to you?” Bring a collective group effort as to why you are a good store.

High Performers Suffering under Lack of Accountability

Tech recruiting is a section coming up in the SDR Academy, and that subject is getting bigger all the time, with eight techs leaving the field for everyone coming in now as the boomers leave. It is your advantage in the marketplace to be good at that. Number one: “I need to hold myself accountable to hold my people accountable.” What? Riddle me this, this is a riddle. Why don’t we just do it, why do we have to complicate it?

Shifting over to SDR Academy Live Session

That sounds like somebody who needs therapy, but I’ve heard that quite a few times and it doesn’t make any sense. Can we just do it? The customers are the victims of all this. Usually, when people are this far down the rabbit hole, I start with one thing, like a simple shift meeting 15 minutes before we open where everybody is here on time, putting a murder line in place with one thing.

People will perform to the level you tolerate or allow. It’s not a democracy, you weren’t voted into office; it is as simple as being intentional about leadership and setting a standard. Also, people who talk about “servant leadership” make no sense; it’s a double negative, like “fake it till you make it,” which basically means lie until it’s true. If I don’t know something, I’ll just tell you I don’t know it and ask you to explain it because I want to learn.

There’s nothing worse than people pretending they know what they’re doing. Ultimately, who suffers from this lack of holding people accountable is the customer, and a close second is the high performers of your department. High performers are the ones going, “What in the world, can we figure out what we’re trying to do?” It is torture for them, and they’ll be the first ones to tell you this is nonsense.

Final Questions and Outro Links

We’re going to take a break and switch over to Service Drive Revolution Academy where Hogi’s going to be going through financials. You can sign up at chriscollinsinc.com, and we hope everybody has a great week. We’ll see you next time. Make sure you subscribe and click the bell icon, call 833-3-ASK-SDR with questions, and visit offers.chriscollinsinc.com for special deals. I’m Chris Collins and I’ll see you in the next video.

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