Andy Baldassarre | BG Director of Marketing and Training
Every day, hundreds of cars roll into dealership service drives like they’re pulling up to a fast-food window. Oil change? Check. Tire rotation? Check. Need fries with that? But here’s the problem: While your customers are lining up for the items off the value menu, your service department may be missing out on serving a three-Michelin-star meal—the opportunity to recommend additional needed maintenance, increase revenue, and build long-term customer relationships.
The reason? Many service lanes are still treating maintenance like it’s the late 1900s, handing out printed charts and dusty brochures reminiscent of a game of “Choose Your Own Adventure,” but with fewer dragons and more transmission flushes. Today’s fixed operations teams need to move beyond static forms. A well-structured, digitally supported maintenance menu is one of the most powerful tools in a service manager’s arsenal.
While customers are ordering off the value menu, your service department may be missing out on recommending additional needed maintenance, increasing revenue, and building long-term customer relationships.
The Age of Modern Menu Selling
Menu selling is simple in theory but powerful in practice. It’s the art (and science) of offering a clear, structured list of recommended services based on mileage, vehicle history, and manufacturer guidelines. Think of it as a tasting menu for your car, only instead of wine pairings, you recommend brake fluid exchanges with a side of peace of mind.
When done right, menu selling:
Educates the customer without overwhelming them.
Builds trust through transparency.
- Boosts revenue by packaging preventive services in an easy-to-understand way.
Service departments that integrate a structured menu-selling process see measurable performance boosts:
Hours per RO (HPRO) jump to 1.8–2.5 when menu selling is implemented consistently. That’s like going from a single-serve bag of peanuts to a full-course meal overnight.
Gross profit rises, particularly with such high-margin maintenance items as fluid exchanges and filter replacements.
CSI scores improve because customers like knowing you’re not just spinning a wheel of services and hoping it lands on “coolant flush.” Customers value transparency. A visual menu builds confidence that your recommendations are based on manufacturer and vehicle-specific data.
Success Stories: Dealerships Hit the High Notes
A Toyota store in California rolled out a digital maintenance menu with SmartVMA® and saw a 20% bump in customer-pay gross profit in under 90 days. That’s not a tune-up. That’s a turbo boost.
A luxury dealer in the Midwest added menu selling to post-warranty visits and saw retention improve by 15% between years 4 and 7 of ownership. That’s often the time customers start seeing other service centers.
Even in quick-service lanes, dealers using tablet-based menus saw increases in future bookings—just by showing customers what’s coming up—kind of like a cooking show trailer but for tire rotations.
Building an Effective Service Menu: Not Just for Chefs
Want your menu-selling strategy to hit Michelin-star levels? Follow these best practices:
- Start With OEM Guidelines: This is your main course. If the manufacturer backs it, it holds weight. Don’t reinvent the wheel—just rotate it every 6,000 miles.
- Offer Value-Added Services: Fuel induction cleaning, brake fluid exchanges, cabin air filters: These are your tasty and profitable side dishes.
- Segment by Mileage or Vehicle Age: Create menus for mileage intervals (e.g., 15K/30K/60K). Nobody wants to be handed a 90K-mile menu when they bought the car last summer. Highlight what’s due now and what’s coming up (think seasonal specials). Like restaurants with daily specials, a kids menu, vegan selections, and gluten-free options, catering to a wider audience via segmentation is smart business.
- Present Packages: Who doesn’t love a combo platter? Give them good–better–best options. People like choices, especially when they feel in control of the selection process.
- Use Visuals and Language That Sell: Make it easy for the customer to understand why each service matters. Use color codes and diagrams. Think red-yellow-green visuals with simple benefits (e.g., protects engine from wear, extends tire life, keeps the AC cool) that entice.
- Train Your Advisors on Presentation: Every experienced chef knows that presentation is key. Even the best menu in the world falls flat if your advisors don’t recommend it with gusto. Train advisors to explain services with confidence, transparency, and a customer-first approach. Get them comfortable and customer-focused.
Menu recommendations presented via tablet or desktop, simplify workflow and ensure consistent presentations.
Menu Selling Tools That Take You From Good to Great
Leading platforms that offer real-time VIN decoding, OEM-specific recommendations, dealer custom packages, and integrated MPI tools should all be accessible via tablet or desktop. They simplify advisor workflows, ensure consistent presentations, and make it easier to track results. These tools reduce guesswork and give your team everything it needs to close the deal.
Final Thought: Don’t Let Profit Roll Out With the Oil Change
Today’s customers aren’t naïve. They Google everything, check reviews, and have trust issues. Present services with transparency, relevance, and a dash of professionalism, and you’ll not only make the sale, but you’ll have a lifelong customer and a top-rated (and recommended) service drive profit center.
So, stop handing out laminated service menus like you’re in a school cafeteria. Upgrade your process, empower your people, and start serving services befitting a top-performing dealership. Because the only thing worse than realizing a missed service opportunity as it exits your service drive is watching that customer go elsewhere for their automotive maintenance needs. Get it right, and the results in profitability, retention, and customer satisfaction will speak for themselves.
About the Author
Andy Baldassarre leads the marketing and training departments for BG Products, Inc. He has more than 23 years of experience in the automotive industry with an emphasis on adult learning in the automotive workplace.
