An interview with UVeye’s Yaron Saghiv.

In today’s operating environment, dealers face a range of challenges. These not only include sourcing inventory, price increases and lower consumer spending confidence, but also staffing constraints and technician shortages. 

On the Fixed Operations side, the latter is proving particularly challenging, since service can be a major profit driver for dealers in both good times and bad.

With many dealers having to contend with fewer technicians and vehicles still requiring servicing, greater efficiency in the back end is a must. 

One way to enhance service operations and the customer experience is through effective adoption of AI technologies, such as for vehicle inspections in the service drive. By leveraging AI, dealers can fundamentally transform their Fixed Operations, streamlining and improving everything from communication to service scheduling and preventative maintenance, including vehicle health checks.

Recently, Autosphere had a chance to interview Yaron Saghiv, Chief Marketing Officer with UVeye, which provides vehicle inspection solutions for dealers. We discussed different ways in which dealers can integrate AI into Fixed Ops, and by doing so, enhance their service business and build long term relationships with their customers. 

Autosphere: What do you think are key factors dealers need to consider when it comes to adopting AI solutions in Fixed Ops, including the service drive and back-end operations?

Yaron Saghiv: A lot of it really has to do with adoption. While it’s important to have good technology and a sound solution, if you don’t align it with your people and hold them accountable with solid processes in place, you aren’t going to see the results you want, whether you’re using AI or not. From our perspective, having a product that’s visual, user friendly and intuitive is important. For example, if it operates via touchscreen in the service drive and the customer can easily access their vehicle’s mechanical health, plus the advisor has it readily accessible at their desk or via a phone or tablet to show the client, it makes a big difference when it comes to engaging with the customer and having a successful onboarding process. Another key part is making sure you’re investing in training, so your staff use the technology properly and incentivizing them to achieve optimal results. We see dealerships that are starting to spiff advisors on things such as tire sales, wheel restoration and paint-less dent repair (PDR), and when you combine quality training, with incentives, and a compelling visual product solution in Fixed Operations, that is where you see really meaningful results when it comes to adoption rates and customer retention.

AS: What do you feel are some of the ways that AI can transform service operations for dealers and drive customer trust, loyalty and retention?

YS: I think there are essentially two aspects to this. One is efficiency and the experience in using AI. Using it tactically in specific jobs, offers an advantage in that with AI, tasks can be done consistently and with fewer mistakes. A good example is vehicle inspections. Today, performing an inspection is task where there is little advantage in a person doing it, compared with AI technology. It’s important to understand that AI isn’t replacing the service advisor, it is just freeing them up to do more critical work, since they don’t have to spend the time walking around the vehicle looking for issues. AI can also help in other ways, such as with customer Net Promoter Score surveys, scheduling service appointments, managing parts inventory—performing those every day, repetitive tasks that can free up staff focus more on things that matter such as engaging and consulting with customers. 

The second aspect revolves around AI becoming increasingly embedded in Fixed Ops. As AI tasks become more embedded, every aspect of leadership becomes much more data driven. A good example is an UVeye scan. Today, we are scanning more than 3 million vehicles each month and over 1000 systems are going to be deployed this year. We’re seeing a lot of repetitive issues when we look at dealerships and what’s happening in their service drives over the course of each day, week and month. The data now enables us to predict certain trends, such as which tires are proving consistently popular with customers and the most popular sizes and specifications. This then provides dealers with the ability to inform their parts departments on which tires to stock and when. Once you start performing repetitive tasks that are recorded with AI, you’re then able to use data for preventative maintenance and that can be a big game changer for dealers in the Fixed Ops space.

AS: As both technology and dealer operations continue to evolve, what should stores considered when it comes to maximizing ROI from the latest in AI solutions?

YS: For us, as a vendor, we want to ensure our dealer customers really benefit from the products and solutions we provide, since their success is our success. If a someone just installs UVeye or any other software or AI solution and only uses some of its capabilities or doesn’t fully adopt and engage with it, then it ends up as just another shiny new tool and the benefits and ROI aren’t realized. For example, let’s say a dealer purchases UVeye and then it only gets used for selling tires and/or for wheel alignments, and it doesn’t get used for other aspects such as loaner vehicles, appraisals, PDR or wheel restoration— it is then going to be difficult for them to really see any meaningful return on investment. We want a dealer to use UVeye and grasp the full extent of its capabilities which is why working with our partners and focusing heavily on training is a key objective for us. It’s not just about having the latest and greatest in tools or technology, but ensuring it’s fully integrated within Fixed Operations and there’s a long term commitment from both the vendor and the dealer customer to ensure it can be leveraged to its full advantage. 

When that happens and the AI becomes fully embedded in the process and staff are incentivized to use it that way, that’s where the dealer can really start to get ROI and by extension, enhance the performance and reputation of their service department, which in times of economic uncertainty is a big plus, since vehicles still need to be maintained and repaired. 

AS: Is there anything you’d like to mention specifically regarding UVeye and its approach to Fixed Operations?

YS: We’re very excited about the Canadian market. We’re already working with dealers, including a group in B.C. and another retailer in Ontario. We already integrate with providers such as Kimoby which have an established presence in Canada, so there is a solid infrastructure in place when it comes to working with automotive retailers here. We’re looking to build upon the success we’ve seen in other markets, including working with dealer groups that have operations in both the U.S. and Canada. Whether it’s increasing rates between $50 to $75 per repair order; sending more services through Fixed Ops, seeing more damage on vehicles being accounted for, or new services like wheel restoration and PDR being added, or even selling accessories for specific vehicles—there are new opportunities that dealers are able to monetize with the help of AI. While our primary focus is on Fixed Ops, UVeye was designed as a full dealership tool, meaning it can be applied to the front end of the store as well. It can be used to perform vehicle appraisals and damage estimates, and it can connect with online automotive retail platforms and websites enabling dealers to fully promote and market the vehicles they have available for retail sale. In Fixed Ops, the big benefits we see are for long-term retention, of initiating marketing and promotional campaigns, coordinating with BDCs and performing those every day tasks consistently such as appointment scheduling and customer follow ups, as well as leveraging data to ensure dealers have the right parts available for their service customers. We’re very excited about the opportunities that lie ahead in the Canadian marketplace and we’re looking forward to connecting with more retailers across the country.