and employee shortages. Currently, there aren’t enough loaner cars because many businesses sold off their fleets to generate needed income and haven’t been able to replace them. Thanks to labor shortages, some auto dealership service departments are understaffed. These are problems you can’t always solve at the dealership level, although many experts are working to remedy them. The J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Customer Service Index Study was released March 9, 2023. It contained some interesting information. For example, wait times for service appointments have increased. It now takes approximately 5.6 days for premium cars one-to-three years old and 4.8 days for massmarket vehicles one-to-three years old. That’s an increase of almost two full days. According to the report, delays are due to the increasing volume of EVs being serviced resulting in the first customer satisfaction decline in nearly 30 years. Why not take that hard truth and make it work for you? Now is the time to stand out from the crowd. Most dealerships work hard for a positive relationship with their customers. People who view the dealership warmly and know from first-hand experience how much it does for its customers and the community will react well when you need patience from them. Friends are good to friends. As the market continues to shift toward EVs, be aware that there’s an opportunity for better service. According to the J.D. Power study, people who own gas- or diesel-powered vehicles marked their overall service satisfaction at 852. For EV owners, it was only 784. Remember, many of those EVs are Teslas coming out of gigafactories in California, Nevada and New York. A lower satisfaction rating might indicate that Tesla’s customers are missing the service they used to get from dealership service departments. Never underestimate the power of keeping customers happy. Communicate Surprisingly, the survey found that communicating with customers keeps them happy. Customer satisfaction improves if service departments are proactive about communication and send texts or emails about unresolved problems. If a dealership problem affects customers, consider being preemptive about it and reassure them that you are working hard to resolve the issues. Increase Productivity Finding technicians without enough to go around can take some creativity. Focus on the following: treat techs well, consider hiring more diversely, and take an interest in programs at local schools. Do what you can to create a pipeline, hire more women and minorities, mentor young techs and help create satisfying career paths for them. Master techs are great, but you don’t need a master tech for every job. Instead, hire “B” and “C” level techs to handle repairs and maintenance. You can increase the work capacity that your service shop has by hiring just one tech. In turn, having one more tech reduces the customer wait time and can generally increase gross profit by about $10,000 per month. Even if you focus on hiring less-experienced techs, they will, in most cases, improve their skills over time. Schedule Appointments Get customers into the shop as soon as possible by scheduling an appointment for them when they call. For the dealership to be as competitive as possible, the appointment must be that day or the next. Until a tech looks at the problem, you can’t expect to provide them with an accurate diagnosis. And, if customers can’t get their vehicle into the shop immediately, they may call the aftermarket competition. Therefore, whoever handles calls — a service adviser, an appointment coordinator or someone else — should have only one primary assignment: scheduling appointments. Make Communicating Easier Many technology channels have made it much easier to communicate with customers than ever before. Set things up so people can make appointments online or through an app. Ease payments by putting that online, too. Send text messages and videos about repair work. People like getting a video or photo that shows them repair work to be done, and when you send some photographic evidence to them, they are three times more likely to agree to the work. Use Valets or Send Technicians People have always liked personalized service. Be willing to send a valet to collect a vehicle. Alternatively, send a technician to the vehicle’s location. Owners who use valet or mobile service rated their overall higher in customer satisfaction. Call No-Shows No-shows are a fact of life. People get busy, and they forget what they’ve scheduled. However, there’s a lot you can do to reduce the number of no-shows. Send a confirmation text Never underestimate the power of keeping customers happy. 17
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