4 Tips to Creating the Perfect Service Menu

Written by Mark Podeyn, Mark Podeyn Consulting

2020 and early 2021 has taught us many lessons in business. Those of us in the trailer service sector learned that we are an essential part of modern-day life because we serve both consumers and other businesses.

What I learned is that our customers "do not know what they do not know" when it comes to servicing and maintaining their trailers.  They rely heavily on their service providers to advise and coach them on proper maintenance.  Early in 2020, it became very obvious that consumers were being trained to make more purchases online– from grocery curbside pick-up to meal delivery. You, as a service provider, have an opportunity to take advantage of this new trend and educate your customers, which will build customer trust and loyalty.

The utility trailer and RV service businesses have the same opportunity to make purchasing services easier for the consumer.  Our company added a service menu to our website early in 2020.  We added 15 menu service items in an effort to help our prospective customer learn what needs attention on their rig and to make booking an appointment easier.

In one year of having a carefully structured service menu, we’ve learned:

• We sold more labor hours
• It was easier for our service advisors to book appointments
• Customers were better informed when booking appointments
• Service technicians became more efficient
• Our competitors could not price-match

Here are a few tips when creating a service menu:

• Keep it simple and concise. Avoid using industry jargon in the description.
• Keep it light and fun, as though you are describing something that will be enjoyable.
• Pick one service to be a price anchor. This is the price that all of the other menu items will be compared against.  For example, we have one service that is $2,687.00.  That’s our anchor. Everything else averages in the $300-$500 range.  The anchor makes all the other prices seem affordable. 
• Think of menu items as bundles. Try to incorporate several small services in one menu item or add a unique product.  This makes it very difficult for competitors to duplicate and price match.

If you do it right, the menu items can become very effective stand-alone social media service posts to promote your services.

It is our duty as trailer professionals to teach the customer on what they need to know about maintaining and servicing their trailer and make it ridiculously easy for them to have us do it for them.  The easier we make it for them, the more revenue we generate.

Mark Podeyn Consulting is an NATDA Member Benefit provider.  With over 30 years of hands-on experience in trailer and RV Parts & Service Department management, Mark Podeyn Consulting can contribute to the profitability of your dealership. Visit natda.org/member-benefits to learn more!