Kelowna Infiniti Nissan With Spectrum

With Spectrum, Kelowna Infiniti Nissan manages shop load and offers customers a premium service experience

John Hughes, Service Manager at Kelowna Infiniti Nissan in Kelowna, British Columbia, understands what consistent and honest communication with customers does for retention and brand loyalty. Having been familiar with Xtime’s solutions since 2005, John implemented Xtime products—starting with Schedule, then Engage and Inspect—when he came to Kelowna Infiniti Nissan one year ago.

“We were trying to solve booking issues with [our DMS],” said John. “The dealer management system we had at the time didn’t allow us to do what Xtime does, such as shop loading, which helps us plan our day better. Stretching out the duration of time between appointments instead of being able to book multiple appointments in [one time slot] created a chaotic environment. Xtime [products are] way more user friendly and allows us to accommodate clients better.”

Starting with Schedule allowed Kelowna Infiniti Nissan to allow customers to book online, as well as give the dealership’s staff to communicate with customers in a timely and consistent manner, and customers take notice—the dealership has increased retention by 32 percent¹. From sending appointment reminders to service recommendations, vehicle owners appreciate being able to connect with the dealership online at their own convenience.

Engage, according to John, was a logical next step for the business. The tool has not only delivered $18 in additional revenue per check-in², but created a better relationship between advisor and vehicle owner.

“We can perform a vehicle walkaround and process a customer more efficiently with clients and advisors,” said John. “It allows us to have complete transparency with our customers and our advisors are more engaged and out from behind their desks. They can walk around the vehicle, check in customers, take robust notes and everything is so much quicker than before.”

The latest Spectrum solution to be adopted, Inspect, has helped Kelowna Infiniti Nissan to provide its customers with consistency in their communications in every aspect of the business, from recommendations and quotes to vehicle inspections.

“Since Inspect lets us be consistent in our message to our clients, the whole inspection is better from the service lane to the front end of the dealership, which helps our sales and our general bottom line,” said John. “Our technicians love Inspect because it’s the one tool they’re in at the same time—our parts department can text our technicians from their location without running through the dealership to find anyone. We can stay with clients, which they appreciate. It’s just so much more efficient than before because no one is standing around waiting and no one is overwhelmed with work. It helps us strike a balance.”

The utilization rate at Kelowna Infiniti Nissan is nearly 100 percent. According to John, using Xtime’s solutions is a non-negotiable part of each person’s role, each and every time, to cut down on paperwork, interruptions and inconsistent communications with customers.

“Xtime [products] keep us accountable and we hold each other accountable,” said John. “Everyone knew the advantages [of Xtime] early on, such as how easy a client can get in and out of an appointment when you use the platform. The fact that everything has a footprint to refer to is a great feature. Technicians can look at old walkaround photos and inspections, which holds us accountable for anything that happens in the shop and helps us with repairs, dent repair, wheel conditioning and more.”

RESULTS THAT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

According to John, if a dealer considers Xtime Inspect, it’ll affect the business in all the right ways. The dealership has not only seen a revenue uptick with $387 in recommended services per inspection², but better and more efficient processes.

In the time that Kelowna Infiniti Nissan has been a loyal Xtime partner, the dealership has realized*:

• 99.5% utilization rate³
• $424 per repair order³
• Appointments scheduled in 30-minute increments for better shop loading and low no-show rates
• 20% increase in hours per repair order (RO) immediately upon implementation of Inspect

“One thing every business appreciates is gross profit, and we saw a 20-percent jump immediately from when we brought Inspect on,” said John. “Prior to that, we were at lower hours per RO, sometimes as low as 1.1 on any given month, and now we’ve increased that number to 1.7 on average. Everyone communicates better, fewer mistakes are made, and if they are made, it’s easier to identify what went wrong and fix it quickly.”

From the implementation to ongoing training and online classrooms and webinars, Xtime continues to help Kelowna Infiniti Nissan become experts with the software and programs, as well as keeping the managers apprised of new features available to them.

“I’ve taken basic and advanced training with Xtime to learn about service and scheduling setup, creating menus and developing online content such as web booking,” said John. “We’ve done this with Schedule, Engage and now Inspect. It helps to understand the components and know how to better use Xtime such as shortcuts and troubleshooting.”

XTIME INSPECT KEEPS THE DEALERSHIP RUNNING SMOOTHLY

Since introducing Inspect into the dealership, John has heard consistent feedback from customers how much they enjoy having information at their fingertips. With the printed booklet of vehicle health and recommendations, customers can review car details at their convenience—and it helps plant the seed for future service.

“We added Inspect to the business because the competitors couldn’t offer anything nearly as robust and customizable as Xtime could,” said John. “The fact that Inspect integrates with our database and scheduling platform makes it the perfect tool. It fills in the gaps—essentially, we’d have to use so many products to do all of what Xtime does.”

John reiterates that an overall favorite of Inspect across the entire dealership is the ability to load the shop properly.

“That was a feature that really sold me [on Xtime],” said John. “We needed it to control the 8:00 rush and the quiet remainder of the day. It makes the day better, the shop load better, time allocation better and virtually eliminates downtime. We work all day with no lull in action.”

Inspect helps Kelowna Infiniti Nissan for:

• Consistent quotes to customers. “Technicians can quote the same prices from a robust list of extra services that they can recommend while knowing whether we have the parts available—and they don’t have to run all over the shop to find out.”
• Reduced friction. “We can text our technicians at their stations instead of walking to the shop or calling our Parts desk. We used to have a technician run back, wait at the Parts counter, get a list and a quote then walk back to the front desk. There used to be a lot of inconsistency and hardly any records outside of greasy pieces of paper with quotes stapled to them. Now, we punch in a repair order number and make the recommendation without pausing with the customer to run somewhere.”
• Increased brand loyalty and retention. “Everyone in the shop is now singing the same song, so to speak. Everything is electronic for consistency and convenience. Our customers are more likely to come back to us because they can trust us, and at the end of the day, that’s what manufacturers want. This type of experience does wonders for the brand imaging.”
• Better shop loading. “Walk-ins made our days chaotic. The chaos really settles down with Xtime because you can control you flow of work, your sales, everything. I tell people that Xtime is like a switch you turn on to control your day.”

Overall, John and the Kelowna Infiniti Nissan staff believe that each and every dealership should incorporate software and technology into their businesses if they want to thrive.

“If all of the dealers of the world could have the same solutions, it would do wonders for the brands,” said John. “That consistency would allow you to go from dealer to dealer and have the same experience, which is what the brands want. Xtime allows dealerships to offer a top-notch, consistent experience every time.”

¹Based on vehicle identification numbers with a visit in Q3’2016
2Based on results October 2016 through September 2017
3Based on results September 2017
Photos courtesy of Kelowna Infiniti Nissan