Service Advisor Training · Chris Collins Inc.
Need Service Advisor Training? Good!
If Service Advisor performance is holding back your service drive, let’s find out where the opportunity really is.
Automotive Service Advisor Training is structured professional development that teaches dealership advisors to manage the complete customer and repair-order journey. Chris Collins Inc. trains advisors to build trust, uncover legitimate opportunity, communicate proactively, understand the business and take ownership of the customer experience in Automotive Fixed Ops. Looking for free lessons first? Start with our service advisor training resources.
Automotive Fixed Ops Experience
Fixed Ops Pros Trained
Training & Systems
What We Commonly See
Advisor Problems Rarely Look Like Advisor Problems.
01 · ORDER TAKERS
Waiting For The Customer.
The advisor writes down what the customer asks for instead of investigating the customer’s needs, vehicle history and legitimate service opportunity.
02 · REACTIVE
The Customer Runs The Day.
Customers call for updates. Promise times move. Advisors spend the day reacting instead of controlling the service experience from write-up to delivery.
03 · WRONG TRAINING
Scripts Instead Of Trust.
Traditional sales tactics may teach an advisor how to respond to objections. They don’t necessarily teach the advisor how to create trust in the first place.
The Advisor Training
Here’s What We Actually Build.
The goal isn’t to create aggressive salespeople. The goal is to develop professional advisors who know how to control the experience, create trust and make the most of every legitimate opportunity.
01 · INVESTIGATE
Stop Taking Orders.
Understand the customer, the vehicle, previous service history, driving habits and what the customer actually needs.
02 · BUILD TRUST
Become The Advisor They Believe.
Create credibility through communication, consistency, expectation setting and recommendations that make sense to the customer.
03 · CONTROL
Control The Experience.
Frame what happens next, establish communication expectations, manage promise times and call customers before they call you.
04 · PRESENT
Present Real Opportunity.
Confidently explain maintenance, MPI findings and recommendations without becoming a high-pressure salesperson.
05 · UNDERSTAND
Know The Business.
Understand Hours per Repair Order (HPRO), Effective Labor Rate (ELR), gross profit, Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI), Net Promoter Score (NPS) and the numbers the advisor can personally influence.
06 · OWN IT
Own The Outcome.
Develop intentionality, emotional resilience, accountability and the discipline required to perform consistently.
View The Service Advisor Training Curriculum
The Chris Collins Inc. curriculum follows the complete customer and repair-order journey. These chapter summaries show the scope of the program while preserving the proprietary lessons, exercises and dealership implementation tools.
The advisor’s role, trust and the Customer Experience Timeline (CET).
Lead handling, phone communication and Practice, Drill, Rehearse (PDR).
A consistent, professional process for vehicle intake and drop-off.
Inspection workflow, diagnostic communication and testing strategy.
Ethical estimating, gross profit, Hours per Repair Order (HPRO) and Effective Labor Rate (ELR).
Professional presentations, maintenance recommendations and declined work.
Parts coordination that supports workflow, productivity and promise times.
Managing communication and expectations while repairs are completed.
A repeatable final review before the vehicle is returned to the customer.
Clear repair explanations and a professional customer handoff.
Follow-up that supports retention, Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) and Net Promoter Score (NPS).
Workload control, prioritization and consistent daily execution.
The Chris Collins Philosophy
The Service Advisor Is The Little Hinge That Swings A Big Door In Fixed Ops.
Your service advisor sits where the customer, technician and dealership business meet. A better service advisor can change the customer experience, the workflow and the economics of the entire service drive.
For Service Managers & Fixed Ops Leaders
What Would Change If You Didn’t Have To Rescue Your Advisors All Day?
✓ Customers are updated before they have to call.
✓ Advisors understand what they are tracking toward.
✓ Legitimate maintenance is presented confidently.
✓ Advisors understand HPRO, ELR, CSI and NPS.
✓ The process works even when you’re not standing there.
Real Dealers · Real Results
Better Systems Create Better Numbers.
Advisor development is one part of a complete Automotive Fixed Ops system. Here are examples of results reported by Chris Collins Inc. coaching clients.
Toyota Dealer · New England
ELR increased from $125.06 to $175.03 in six months.
Cadillac · East Coast
ELR increased from $152.72 to $177.50 in 60 days.
CDJR · West Coast
Profit margin increased from 21.2% to 27.8% year over year.
Individual results vary. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Chris “Bulldog” Collins
Built In The Service Drive. Not In A Sales Seminar.
Chris Collins has spent more than 25 years inside Automotive Fixed Ops as an advisor, operator, coach, author and creator of dealership performance systems.
Automotive Fixed Ops
Millionaire Service Advisor
Service Drive Revolution
Fixed Ops Pros Trained
Service Advisor Articles
SDR Podcast Episodes
More Than A Training Page
13 Years Of Service Drive And Advisor Training Content.
Service Drive Revolution is the Chris Collins Inc. library of more than 400 podcast episodes covering Service Advisor Training, Service Manager leadership, technician productivity, customer communication, dealership profitability and Automotive Fixed Ops systems.
The Chris Collins Inc. website contains hundreds of Service Advisor-related articles and episodes, collected in our service advisor training resources library. Together, these resources give dealership leaders and advisors practical explanations, real Service Drive challenges and years of instruction from Chris Collins and the Chris Collins Inc. coaching team.
Your Next Step
Book Your Opportunity Analysis.
Let’s look at where your service drive is today, where you want it to go, and what may be standing in the way.
We’ll Talk About:
- Your current advisor team
- Advisor performance and consistency
- HPRO and ELR
- CSI / NPS and customer experience
- Communication and promise-time problems
- Maintenance and MPI opportunity
- Management and accountability
- Where we see the biggest opportunity
This isn’t about forcing a predetermined training package into your dealership. It’s a conversation about your operation and whether Chris Collins Inc. can help you improve it.
Service Advisor Training FAQ
Questions Dealership Leaders Ask.
What is Automotive Service Advisor Training?
Automotive Service Advisor Training is structured professional development for dealership advisors who manage the customer and repair-order journey. It develops communication, trust, estimating, presentation, workflow, financial understanding, accountability and customer-experience skills.
What does the Chris Collins Inc. curriculum cover?
The curriculum follows the complete customer and repair-order journey: appointments, vehicle intake, inspection and diagnostics, estimating, the buyer process, parts procurement, repair, quality control, delivery, follow-up and time management. Individual lessons and implementation tools remain proprietary to the training program.
Who is the training designed for?
The program is designed for new and experienced automotive Service Advisors, as well as Service Managers and Automotive Fixed Ops leaders responsible for coaching advisor performance. Chris Collins Inc. works with dealership groups, franchised new-car dealerships, heavy truck groups and large independent dealerships with Service Drives.
What makes Chris Collins Inc. Service Advisor Training different?
Chris Collins Inc. treats Service Advisor development as an Automotive Fixed Ops discipline rather than generic sales training. The program connects customer psychology and communication with workflow, Hours per Repair Order, Effective Labor Rate, Customer Satisfaction Index, Net Promoter Score and repeatable Service Drive systems.
How is Service Advisor Training success measured?
The relevant measurements depend on the dealership’s goals and starting point. Common indicators include Hours per Repair Order, Effective Labor Rate, gross profit, maintenance presentation, declined work, Customer Satisfaction Index, Net Promoter Score, customer retention, communication consistency and advisor accountability. Individual results vary by dealership.
Is Service Advisor Training always the complete solution?
No. Advisor performance may be a symptom of a larger Service Department problem. Pricing, dispatch, technician capacity, management, pay plans, appointment flow, menus or customer communication may also affect results. That is why Chris Collins Inc. begins with an Opportunity Analysis before recommending the next step.
Need Better Advisors?
Let’s Find The Opportunity.
Tell us what’s happening in your service drive. We’ll help you identify where better systems, better coaching and better advisor performance could move the numbers.
Chris Collins Inc., provides fixed operations training, service department coaching and dealership performance systems across the United States & Canada. We take dealership owners, fixed ops directors, service managers, general managers and service advisors from REACTIVE to WEAPONIZED. We improve fixed absorption, RO count, effective labor rate (ELR), customer retention, technician productivity and service lane profitability. Our coaching programs include service advisor training, service manager coaching, BDC appointment process training, leadership development, profitability KPI coaching and onsite training designed to create stronger process accountability and measurable growth.
