I recently read an article “Robots Ate My Road Trip” in my July Automobile magazine.  In the article David Brancaccio wrote about how he traveled across the United States without dealing with a human, and described the various types of robots that helped him.

Reading this article stirred some thoughts about some shops I have walked into where the humans have become robotic.   You have seen them, they hand you a clipboard, tell you to have a seat, fill out the form and somebody will be right with you.  Am I right!?!

What a perfect time to start the selling process that some are missing allowing the greeting to become routine…robotic if you will.  What about filling out the form for the customer, engaging them in some conversation…learning about them!  What would the customer think about your business then?  Spending some time with the customer at the beginning of the process, gathering information about them and their vehicle will pay great dividends during the closing process.  Providing the information you gathered to the estimator will help with that process move towards a sale as the customer becomes a friend and not just another person walking through the door.

Go look and see what you have, robots or people.