Convenience has truly become a currency — or at least a deciding factor on where currency is spent. Your customers demand ease and digital interaction throughout the service experience, and you need the efficiency that brings to your service department. Let’s explore some opportunities for that win-win situation.
Appointment Scheduling
Customer Convenience:
Today, people tap their phone to execute on their needs – from ordering a pizza to booking a flight. They don’t especially appreciate picking up their phones to tap numbers and make a call. To create a fully digital customer experience, start with online appointment scheduling that includes professional and consistent menu recommendations and incorporates recalls and declined services.
Shop Efficiency:
The right automotive appointment scheduling software will help you maximize your service department’s potential by giving you control over shop capacity and facilitating visualization of shop availability. Also consider technology that makes your BDC agents more effective, putting all the information in front of them they need with the right functionality to book appointments with a high show rate.
Service Pick-Up and Delivery Options
Customer Convenience:
In a recent Cox Automotive COVID-19 Impact Study, we learned that customers prefer the ability to choose service pick-up and delivery options when they schedule their appointment online, and it will impact their service choices moving forward. Of those that have tried it, more than 90 percent were satisfied with the experience, and 91 percent said service pick-up and delivery will be a key criterion in deciding where to service their vehicles moving forward.
Shop Efficiency:
In addition to providing a safe, digital, five-star experience for your customers, service pick-up and delivery options give you opportunity for additional revenue. Currently, only about six percent of dealers are charging for the service, which suggests service pick-up and delivery could be a new source of revenue for 90-plus percent of dealers. More than half of the 1000 automotive customers who participated in the Impact Study stated they would be willing to pay $20 for the service.
Service pick-up and delivery can also help you fill less desirable service appointment times. The 8 a.m. time slot demand becomes less relevant when customers can have their car picked up at 2 p.m. and returned to them without interrupting their schedule.
In addition, the convenience of service pick–up and delivery can help you attract new customers and retain them.
Flexible Payment Solutions
Customer Convenience:
Nearly two out of three Americans don’t have the funds necessary for a $500 car repair.1 However, when you provide the right options, they can keep their vehicle on the road — 76 percent of customers say that they are more likely to make a purchase if given a simple, seamless payment plan option.2
Provide your customers with a consistent presentation of your service financing options at every digital touchpoint so they know this option is available to them when it comes time to make the repair decision.
Shop Efficiency:
When you provide your customers with financing options that make saying yes quick and easy, you’re getting the opportunity to drive additional service revenue. To decrease downtime in your shop, look for a solution that is connected to your service lane technology, so you don’t have to use separate systems to facilitate the financing.
Summary
When you create the digital service experience your customers want, you’re also creating opportunities for your dealership. Explore the efficiencies you can develop for your dealership with Xtime, now with Rideshare powered by Lyft, FlexPay, and Service Pick-Up and Delivery, an Xtime and Clutch integration.
1 Bankrate.com
2 Business Wire
