I have been in the motorcycle and automotive parts and service industry for 25+ years both in retail and as a manufacturer's rep. I work with Dealer Principals, General Managers, Service Managers, Service Advisors, and Technicians daily in the quest to improve customer satisfaction. These people live and die by customer satisfaction surveys and their scores are the measurement by which they achieve recognition. Most of the many hundreds of dealers that I know would not condone their employees receiving tips to give better service and they certainly would not tolerate their employees soliciting tips from the dealership's customers. Have I seen this happen? Sure, but despite what the customer perceives as "better service" by giving tips should not have had any bearing at all. Service Managers and Advisors are paid on commission and they benefit monetarily from the customer returning and spending their money at that shop. Technicians are paid flat rate so they benefit by being able to perform the service in less time than what the billable hours are to the customer. It is not unusual to see a Technician get paid for 60-80 hours of work a week even though they only worked 40 hours. When I get people who want to tip me for work that I have charged them for I graciouslly decline and that is one of the reasons people always come back to me for service.
Thank them, let them know you appreciate a job well done and shake their hand without putting money in it. You already did that and they know it. That should be thanks enough.
John
Author
Topic: To tip or not to tip? (Read 4531 times)