Page 18 - GIADA-April-2018

Mobile Devices Help

Dealership Service

Advisers Do Jobs Better

By Jim Roche, Senior Vice President-Marketing
& Managed Services at Xtime

Today’s consumers are surrounded by customers about what services their cars Car check-ins have sped up considerably,
great technology-enhanced experiences. So need while also showing them on-screen solving a key customer concern of waiting
dealers need to connect with customers and recommendations. at the dealership. Service reps now can
deliver a more robust technology-enhanced seamlessly integrate vehicle details from
experience. Employees at a Volvo the tablet to the dealership-management
dealership in Kansas now system and other systems.
We need to look beyond the walls of the
dealership to understand what consumers meet customers with Customers become more involved and
like and expect. computer tablets in hand right educated in the process, and they don’t feel
when they arrive in the service time is wasted in the check-in process.
In fixed operations, this probably is even
more important, as customers see the lane. It completely changes the Employees now meet customers with
service side of the business more often than customer-service dynamic. tablets in hand right when they arrive in
the sales side. the service lane. It completely changes the
This growing use of tablets at dealerships is customer-service dynamic. Because it is
Yet, perhaps more than anywhere else in improving the customer experience and the an integrated experience, employees can
the dealership, the fixed-ops experience is customer’s relationship with the dealership. see online appointment information, know
where today’s technology may fall short. why each customer is there and greet them
Using tablets to interact with customers by name. Customers appreciate this.
Too often, when a customer wants to allows for instant access to every car’s service
have the undivided attention of service history and previous recommendations, “When you change from greeting customers
advisers, their attention is stuck looking at provides quick check-in and check-out and with a hat tag and walking them to a desk,
a computer on a desk, typing in data and adds transparency to cost estimates. to now greeting them with a tablet in
reading back to the customer what is on the your hand, customers think that’s really
screen. Using customer engagement tools to cool,” says Mike Stone, service manager at
provide updates on vehicles, including text Premier Volvo.
These impersonal interactions lead to messages, status updates and in-lane and
missed opportunities with customers and online payments, can also aid in providing “There is a cliche in the industry of service
can impact satisfaction and retention. an efficient and more-satisfying customer managers staring at the computer creating
experience. a barrier between you and the customer,”
For years, the industry has been looking Stone says. “Used correctly, technology
for a better way to work with customers An example of how quickly customer removes that barrier and allows you to
at this point in the process. Fortunately, perceptions and experiences can change at engage with customers and involve them in
the introduction and progress of mobile a dealership can be seen at Premiere Volvo the write-up process.”
devices over the past decade now enables a Cars in Overland Park, KS.
mobile-device-equipped service adviser. Times have changed. Using a great
It began a pilot program in 2017 that allows technology-enhanced experience builds
Now, instead of being inside a cubicle or for easy service write-ups on tablets. This loyalty in an age when everything centers
stuck in front of a computer, service advisers has made the walk-around process more on the customer. n
can meet their customers at their vehicles accurate and enables the team to record
with a computer tablet. They can quickly customer questions and vehicle history in
complete a walk-around and converse with real-time.

16 | GIADA Independent Auto Dealer APRIL 2018