You’re the Service Manager, your lane isn’t just open from 8 to 6. It’s your profit centre. But if you’re still reacting to drop-offs, you’re leaving hours, labour and gross on the table.

TL;DR

Your mission: turn the lane into a high-performance revenue engine.
Track your key metrics, execute the 3 C’s, run a Daily Felt-Tip Review, and keep tech workflow tight. Do that consistently and you’ll increase gross, improve flow, and eliminate wasted minutes.

1. Know Your Numbers and Own Them

To start, if you don’t know your hours per RO, tech utilization, and open RO backlog, you’re operating blind. These metrics are the foundation of lane performance, and without them, everything else becomes guesswork.

Key metrics include:

• Hours per RO: Many stores target 2.4–3.0 and your job is to continue improving it.
• Tech utilization: Actual paid hours vs. available hours.
• Open RO count/age: Because aging ROs represent lost opportunity.
• Add-on revenue %: Since depth matters as much as volume.

Action:
To reinforce this, start each morning in the tech room:

“We need X hours today to hit plan. We execute, we don’t wait.”

By making the numbers visible and real, you create accountability and direction.

2. Use the 3 C’s: Car Count, Cycle Time, Conversion

Next, once you’ve established your metrics, connect them to the 3 C’s because ultimately, everything you manage flows through these three pillars.

• Car Count: ROs started today. If you start low, the whole day lags.
• Cycle Time: How long each RO spends in the system. Slow movement drains capacity.
• Conversion: Hours per RO + add-on work sold, the true measure of depth.

Manager Word-Track:

“Team, we’re shooting for 45 cars, 3.0 H/RO, and 85% utilization. That’s today’s cash flow.”

By consistently anchoring your team to the 3 C’s, you strengthen alignment and purpose.

3. Run the Daily Felt-Tip Review

From there, improve visibility with the Daily Felt-Tip Review, a quick but powerful discipline. This step ensures the lane never drifts into chaos.

At the start of each shift:

• Mark ROs by schedule, tech, and estimated hours.
• Circle any RO delayed 2+ hours.
• Dot any tech idle more than 30 minutes.

Then, at end of shift:

“Why the idle? Why the delay? What’s tomorrow’s fix?”

Because this ritual is simple, it becomes repeatable. And because it’s visible, it sparks accountability.

4. Optimize Technician Workflow

After that, focus on the heartbeat of your shop: technician efficiency. Since tech time is revenue, you must protect it relentlessly.

Prioritize:

• Start-time discipline: First car on the lift by 8:15 (or your shop’s start).
• Staging: Ensuring parts and tools are ready before the car arrives.
• Lift utilization: Filling open lift time with quick jobs or internal rework.
• End-of-day wrap-up: Last 30 minutes = quick jobs + prepping tomorrow.

Manager Word-Track:

“If a lift sits idle for 20 minutes, I need the ‘why’ and the fix, no blame, just solutions.”

As a result, your presence drives momentum, pushing your techs from 7.0 productive hours toward 8.0.

5. Tighten Service Write-Up Collaboration

Additionally, remember that great production starts with great intake. When advisors hand techs incomplete ROs, everything slows down. Conversely, when advisors collaborate properly, the entire shop accelerates.

Advisors must:

• Ask clear usage questions.
• Complete a real walk-around.
• Capture accurate information using Concern • Cause • Correction.
• Hit 98%+ First-Time-Right Write-Up.

Ultimately, a clean write-up eliminates confusion and keeps techs turning hours instead of chasing clarity.

6. Close the Loop with a Daily Debrief

Finally, end the day by tightening the loop. A short review locks in learning and sets the tone for tomorrow.

In 10 minutes, discuss:

• Did we hit hours/RO?
• Where did idle time occur?
• Which ROs aged too long?
• What add-on work did we win?

Remain focused on coaching, not criticizing. By identifying patterns and assigning small, specific improvements, you build a team that gets sharper every week.

Final Thought

In the end, service management isn’t passive, it’s engineered. When you manage flow intentionally, protect tech time aggressively, and coach your people consistently, your shop becomes unstoppable.

Remember:
You’re not just fixing cars.
You’re building a profit engine every single day.

– John Fairchild