Keep Your Service Department Productive and Safe During Social Distancing

Keep Your Service Department Productive and Safe During Social Distancing

No matter what’s happening in the outside world, you have to stay focused and continue to run your business as best as you can. But how do you maintain productivity and functionality in your dealership during a time of social distancing?

It starts by having the right tools in place to put your customers at ease and to minimize disruptions as much as possible. We also believe the best way to get through the current crisis is by coming together as an automotive community. To help you navigate the road ahead, here are a few Xtime tools and best practices to keep your customers safe and your business productive.

Fill unsold shop capacity

With people staying and working from home more often, some customers may not even know your service department is open for business. It’s important to communicate with customers what your store is doing to keep their cars on the road, as well as ways you’re complying with social distancing guidelines.

Through Invite, send email or text marketing communications to keep your customers up to speed. Invite also gives your BDC agents instant access to all the information they need to speak to customers, including vehicle and RO history, privacy and communication preferences, and accurate service recommendations. With all this information at their fingertips, BDC staff can safely reach out to keep channels of communication open.

Capture service customers

Your customers are on heightened alert. They want to stay as safe as possible, and for many, that means minimizing interaction with people and places. Give them options to do more of the service scheduling on their own, without interacting with people. This not only gives them peace of mind, it encourages them to take advantage of your services.

Use Schedule, Xtime’s automotive scheduling software, proactively to adjust your appointment availability to reflect updated hours of operations and capacities. You can also reduce the time your customers spend waiting by offering them safe and convenient transportation to and from the service department using rideshare services. And, with the ability to set the next appointment online and review service updates on their mobile phones, Schedule helps your customers minimize contact with people and places.

Give customers a world-class experience

For the next little while, a world-class service experience includes world-class safety measures and a distanced approach to customer service. This presents somewhat of a challenge when your job requires that you take possession of your customers’ vehicles. But there are ways to make your customers feel at ease.

With Engage, you can leverage self check-in options to give your customers the ability to check-in and sign for services on their phones. In fact, the entire vehicle check-in process can be done outdoors or at your customer’s home with tablet reception and walkaround. You can also use Xtime Texting to communicate with your customers throughout the service process. And you can encourage contactless payment methods like Online Payment, which allows you to send text or email requests to customers to pay for services via their mobile devices.

Keep your service lane productive

Business is anything but usual, but you have to carry on operations and find ways to stay profitable. It’s your job to make service recommendations and to maximize shop efficiency. But you have to do all of this while keeping customer satisfaction and safety a top priority. Xtime has several tools that allow you to boost revenue during a safe, socially distanced inspection process.

With Inspect, you can send your customers their digital multipoint inspection (MPI) and additional service recommendations via email or text, giving them the ability to review and approve estimates electronically. The Xtime Messenger app gives advisors and employees a convenient way to communicate with customers from anywhere. Intra-Dealer Chat allows your employees to socially distance from one another and limit the number of people working on your customer’s car. And with Enhanced Multi-Media, you can give your customers a connected experience by sharing photos and videos of the repair process, while still staying socially distanced.

At the end of the day, you’re trying to keep your customers happy and your business profitable, even amid a pandemic. And we want to help. These tools and best practices for a new normal (at least for the time being) can help you bring in business as you assure your customers that you’re looking out for their best interest.

Learn more about how your dealership can stay productive and keep your customers safe at Xtime.com/Here-For-You.