Today’s automotive retail customers are looking for convenience, clear communication and transparency when it comes to every step of the vehicle ownership experience.

For dealers that means that from the initial sales lead, through the purchase process and to service and maintenance.

Since the Great Recession of 2008-09, and the shrinking of new car margins on the sales side, dealers have been increasingly looking to other aspects of their business as a long-term solution to drive growth and retention. One of the areas where effective communication, convenience and transparency can have the biggest impact is in the service department.

Offering flexibility

According to Greg Uland, Vice President, Marketing for Reynolds and Reynolds, dealer service departments can excel in these three areas by offering flexibility in the vehicle service process. This can include providing pick up and delivery for their customers, as well as a range of different payment options that allow clients to complete transactions digitally as well as in-person.

Uland notes that today, dealers are increasingly focused on finding and selling work for every vehicle. “Video MPIs and electronic approvals are proving increase closing ratios on recommended work, driving up profitability. This dual focus on the customer experience and dealership profitability is having a big impact for some automotive retailers,” Uland explains.

Saying yes

A Mercedes-Benz store we visited has seen big benefits in leveraging modern Fixed Ops solutions platforms to boost productivity by making it easier for its service customers to say yes to recommended repairs. Service bay productivity and service department satisfaction has increased significantly, due to the store offering the ability for customers to schedule a Self-Check-in from the comfort of their own home, and providing service hour flexibility, meaning clients can bring in their vehicle any time during the week or on weekends.

While this is one example, it’s important to understand that every dealership and every service department is unique, which means that often, they are having to face challenges and issues that are beyond their control. Nevertheless, as Greg Uland notes, when dealers focus on following good processes and fully utilizing the tools available to them, the results manifest themselves in higher productivity, service efficiency and overall productivity.

“Regardless of where a dealership is, making sure everyone, from the top down, is onboard with how the dealership has decided to do things is vitally important. And having a partner to help that dealership optimize their processes and tool usage can be highly beneficial,” says Uland.

Selling work effectively

Service department efficiency hinges on service advisors being able to sell work effectively, and for technicians to be able to work in their bays, completing jobs faster and better with the right tools, training and processes.

At Reynolds and Reynolds, solutions such as Technician Dispatching can help speed up the entire service process by ensuring the right Repair Order (R/O) is assigned to the right technician as soon as that RO itself is created.

Additionally, having tools that can provide video MPIs goes a long way in building transparency and trust with the customer and getting fast approvals for the repair or service work. Uland says that in this case, solutions like Service Snap that offer video MPI can make a big difference, particularly when combined with Service Price guides that give the technician complete pricing and parts availability without having to step outside the service bay. The result, fast, efficient and transparent methods that present the customer with the options offered to theme, all of which can be approved lightning fast via e-signature.

Reducing wait times

Uland notes that in the case of Reynolds and Reynolds’ eApproval solution, not only can the R/O be quickly put into action, but the parts department can also be quickly notified of the components needed for the job and in some cases, these parts can even be delivered via Reynolds’ own robot, Relo. This in turn, reduces wait times and ensure the vehicle is serviced, repaired and delivered back to the customer faster and more efficiently.

Uland stresses that when it comes to Fixed Ops, every single communication between the customer and the service department, and every efficiency gain that can be realized, along with every aspect that promotes transparency at each step of the process, will collectively, lead to a better overall customer experience and higher rate of client satisfaction. And long term, this can make a big difference to dealership reputation and profitability.   

Tires and service efficiency  

Earlier this year, Reynolds and Reynolds released a specific Canada report that looked at Fixed Operations metrics. One of the biggest findings from that report was the opportunity that tire changeover season offers for dealers. The report revealed that November showed more total hours sold on average, than any other month during the year. Yet because changing over to winter tires is a relative fast and simple exercise, average hours per R/O plummeted during that period, as did service department profitability. Comparing this with the other seasonal tire changeover period in Canada (April/May), the report showed that dealers tend to sell a higher average number of R/Os compared with the November period, this despite having almost as many total labour hours sold as November. “If additional [service] work can be found and performed in April and May, perhaps the same can occur in November through finding efficiencies,” says Greg Uland. He notes that, “it’s a similar premise to finding efficiencies in high volume stores to increase hours per R/O in those facilities.”