Service Advisor in Ipswich

SAGA Truck & Van is the leading Mercedes-Benz distributor in the United Kingdom, with a network of ten dealerships across Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire, and East England, employing over five hundred staff.

This role is responsible for both delivering an excellent end-to-end customer experience. We are looking for a people-oriented individual who can build rapport with a wide range of customers and colleagues. A strong customer-first approach is essential, with the ability to identify and meet customer expectations at every stage. The ideal candidate must be versatile and able to adapt to changing situations, while maintaining consistent communication and professionalism.

Day-to-day responsibilities include:

• Receiving customers and their vehicles, taking full ownership of their service experience.
• Keeping customers informed through every stage of the service journey—upon vehicle receipt, during diagnosis, once authorisation is required, and upon completion.
• Timely and accurate invoicing of retail jobs prior to vehicle handover, ensuring payment or valid order numbers are in place.
• Acting as the primary point of contact for customers throughout the vehicle service journey.
• Attending to customers and vehicles, accurately capturing service requirements and setting clear expectations.
• Managing service bookings, re-bookings, and diary control to maximise workshop capacity in collaboration with the Workshop Controller.
• Making pre-arrival confirmation calls and ensuring vehicles are correctly planned into the workshop.
• Pre-planning jobs by coordinating parts picking at least 48 hours prior to vehicle arrival.
• Liaising closely with workshop staff, parts department and subcontractors on both planned and unplanned work.
• Promoting aftersales opportunities and obtaining customer approval for additional work identified during the service process.
• Ensuring all service activity is accurately updated in internal systems (e.g. Truckfile), including workshop loading and job status.
• Delivering service in line with dealer and manufacturer standards, policies, and customer experience expectations.
• Supporting the wider service team in achieving daily and monthly WIP and sold-hours targets.

Working hours: 45 hours per week; Monday to Friday + 1 in 3 Saturdays (7:00am - 1:00pm) paid as overtime.

Joining SAGA Truck and Van means:

• Representing “the star,” an international luxury car brand.
• Promoting vehicles with the latest technologies.
• Benefiting from career opportunities within a fast-growing group.
• Joining a family-owned group with strong values and collaborating with passionate people.
• Participating in regular internal events that promote team cohesion (seminars, incentives, parties…).
• Enjoying many other benefits:
• Discretionary bonus scheme.
• 24 days Annual leave plus bank holidays.
• Simply Health.
• Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Leave.
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).

Job requirements:

• Excellent customer service skills, with the ability to build rapport, manage expectations and handle queries professionally.
• Clear and confident communication skills, both verbal and written, with customers and internal stakeholders.
• Highly organised with strong time-management skills, able to balance customer-facing duties with financial and administrative responsibilities.
• Attention to detail - accurate processing of repair orders, invoicing, and maintaining compliance with company policies and manufacturer standards.
• IT proficiency in generic software for managing workflows and customer records.
• Service administration, customer service, costing or invoicing role experience within an automotive or workshop environment.
• Ability to manage work in progress (WIP), ensuring jobs progress efficiently from booking through to invoice closure.
• Problem-solving ability - proactively addressing customer concerns and resolving issues quickly and effectively.
• Confidence to challenge inaccuracies and suggest improvements.
• Adaptability - flexibility to handle changing situations and varying customer requirements with ease.
• Team collaboration - working effectively with the Service Manager, Workshop Controller, and colleagues to achieve targets and deliver quality service.
• Experience monitoring labour efficiency and identifying time or cost discrepancies.
• Experience in using dealer management or workshop systems (e.g. Truckfile, Kerridge, Keyloop or similar).
• Knowledge of manufacturer standards, warranty processes and compliance requirements.