Fixed Ops Journal - October 2022 - F22

FIXED OPS JOURNAL
"
O
ne solution to the service department
staffi ng woes dealerships
are facing is to hire more women.
But what has it been like for
women working in those departments
? And what can dealerships do to make
women feel more welcome?
Two women answered those questions and
others during a panel discussion in the second
installment of the Fixed Ops Journal Forum.
Panelists were Jen Campbell, service director
at Mercedes-Benz of New London in Connecticut,
and Nicole Cockcroft, parts and service
manager at Headquarter Mazda in Clermont,
Fla.
Here are edited highlights.
The early days
Campbell: I was the only female in this
whole dealership out of probably 35 guys back
here at the time, but they were great. Th ey all
welcomed me. Th ey were super nice - kind
of walked me through what I needed to do
and how to learn quickly on my feet while getting
things done and helping them make
hours and make money. When we all make
money, we're all happy.
Cockcroft: I was very welcomed by the
Mazda customers, so I was very fortunate with
that. My technicians did have a little bit of a
hard time when I fi rst started. None of them
had ever had a female manager. Our CFO is a
female, so that's also been a great thing for me
having her above me [for] support and get
more women into the service department.
What they look for when hiring a
PAGE 22 OCTOBER 2022
service adviser
Campbell: Customer service. Customer service
100 percent. [My new service adviser] has
customer service experience. Th e other adviser
who I just brought on has excellent customer
service skills. [Neither has] any sort of service
advising background. I don't think it's necessary.
If you know how to treat people, you know
how to relay information in a way that makes
sense, [even if] you don't know too much about
cars in general , I think you'll do great.
Cockcroft: Ninety percent of my staff has either
been in restaurants or hospitals or stores.
I told my mentor when he hired me, " I know
nothing about cars. " He told me, " I can teach
you everything about cars, but I can't teach
you how to take care of people. " Th at's what
you go and look for, because you can train
anybody how to do the process of the car and
to deliver it to the customer, but you can't
teach them customer service. It's 100 percent
true. I don't think I've ever hired a service adviser
from another store because they come
with bad habits. And they are usually burned
out. I have pretty much got all of mine fresh
and train them.
Where they turn to for support
Cockcroft: I actually went to the very fi rst
Women in Automotive conference eight years
ago here in Orlando. What a great network
that has been. I'm very fortunate. My CFO of
my company is a woman and my direct fi xed
ops boss is the one that hired me and he has
always promoted women. We have one female
sales representative here and I always
make sure that she knows that there's other
" Ninety percent of my staff
has either been in
restaurants or hospitals or
stores. I told my mentor
when he hired me, 'I know
nothing about cars.' He
told me, 'I can teach you
everything about cars, but
I can't teach you how to
take care of people.' "
Nicole Cockcroft, parts and service
manager, Headquarter Mazda
Women provide a nurturing environment
women around that she can talk to.
Campbell: I have a lot of strong women here
as well. My offi ce manager is female and helps
me with all of the accounting methods. I have
[a woman] in our fi nance department. Both of
those ladies were actually advisers here, too,
so they helped me through everything. I have
a huge network of people through LinkedIn
that have reached out since I've been in this
position. I couldn't even tell you how many
people I could just message through there and
they would help me with anything.
The benefi ts of having women in
your service department
Campbell: I just think women naturally are
more nurturing, like the guys in the shop will
tell you. It's a diff erent vibe; it really is. We care
about them. Th ey'll come to me with their
problems. It's just like creating an environment
where they're comfortable coming to
me for anything. Th ese guys will do anything
that I would ask them to do and I would do the
same for them.
Cockcroft: Defi nitely the nurturing part. For
women, it's just more natural. I worked so hard
on creating that family atmosphere here because
I think that's where women help fi t that
in. We work more here and spend more time
here than we do with our families most times.
My technicians come to me for everything;
they're not scared. I was also going to bring up
the respect. My men respect any woman that
works here. It's almost like I'm the mom. Some
of the technicians are as old as me, but they
still look at me like a mom to them.
- Dan Shine
"
Fixed Ops Journal - October 2022

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