Why don’t we train our fixed operations teams on customer service handling?

I have been in the retail automotive industry since 1984.  I have recently taken a step back from managing a dealership and after 39 years, I would share a few things that our industry continues to struggle with, and how to possibly resolve them.

Most of our dealerships provide professional training for our variable departments. Each year we spend thousands of dollars and many hours training strict processes that our sales managers, product advisors and financial services managers follow. These processes start with greeting a customer and continue completely through the entire process, including follow up if a deal is not closed during the customer’s visit.

Why do we not do this for our fixed operations? 

Our sales customers come back to buy a new vehicle if we do everything correctly every 3-6 years. In contrast, our fixed customers should visit us at least twice a year. 

Most of the time when a customer visits a typical service department, they are greeted without a smile, they receive a look over a computer monitor with a “be with ya in minute.”

These processes start with greeting a customer and continue completely through the entire process, including follow up if a deal is not closed during the customer’s visit.

We all understand how busy our service advisors are. However, with some simple customer service training we can easily overcome the initial interaction. This continues on with keeping a customer updated on the progress of their vehicle, regardless if the customer is waiting or has left it with us for the day. 

Phone calls can be equally as frustrating. If you have a BDC, most calls are answered and appointments booked in a prompt professional manner. Trying to get through to a service advisor, however, is another issue. Phones are not answered, and messages are not returned in a prompt professional manner.

Our parts department is not much different, customers are greeted at a parts counter with a look from the advisor like the customer is bothering them. Customers reaching parts by phone are greeted with “parts can ya hold?” or just “parts.” If the phone isn’t answered, most of the time messages are not returned promptly — or even at all.

Most of our fixed operation managers are promoted through the system, and the only training the managers received, if any, was from their managers when they were either service or parts advisors. Bad habits and attitudes are passed down to each generation.

The solution to this problem is to train fixed operations like we do sales. 

I am not talking about training on how to improve your hours per repair order. I am talking about true sales style training on how to meet and greet your fixed operation customers, answering the phone and installing a good sound process on how to open a repair order and follow up throughout the process. 

Doing this style of training will improve your service and parts sales, improve your customer satisfaction scores and most importantly, grow your fixed operations retention!

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BMW Richmond Hill’s

This 13,000 sq.ft. facility is equipped with 120 parking spots, 12 service technicians, three service advisors, two parts advisors, support staff and management, all designed to service BMW customers in the Richmond Hill area.

Canadian auto dealer was invited to take a tour of the facility and learn more about its features.

“We don’t sell cars, we service them with same service quality you will find at any BMW service centre. It’s as good as you can get, and we think it’s the way of the future for other dealerships,” said Paul Roach, Brand Manager at BMW Autohaus in an interview with Canadian auto dealer.

The purpose of creating a service-only facility is to feed the growing demand of customers needing to be serviced, while not having a long wait, said Roach.

“When you book a service appointment, sometimes you wait a day or sometimes in peak season, you can wait a week or two. By adding additional service bays here, it’s almost next day service,” said Roach.

The premium branded BMW elements are all included such as the espresso cafe, the furniture and BMW merchandise, even down to the signage.

“We didn’t want it to be boring or look like a shop — just very customer-friendly,” said Beto Najman, the architect on the project from Weis & Associates.

Although shorter wait times are the obvious benefit, the location sits in a low traffic area, making it an easier location to reach, said Roach.

“Our BMW dealership sells over 2,000 BMWs a year — that’s a lot of customers we need to look after. The other reason why we opened this facility is because traffic and congestion are continuing to get worse, so we’ve given them this option of a less traffic area and shorter wait times,” he added.

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Global auto sales have been stronger than expected, rising five per cent through July, reported Scotiabank.

According to the bank’s latest report, gains reflect a modest acceleration among the G7, especially western Europe, as well as a rebound in purchases across emerging markets. Though gains are expected to moderate through year-end, strengthening labour markets and improving financial conditions suggest the upswing is expected to continue in 2017.

Sales in western Europe advanced seven per cent year-over-year through July, while China also led the way with double digit gains.

North American vehicle sales exceeded 20 million units last year for the first time on record and have increased an additional three per cent year-over-year through July.

Despite talk that U.S. auto sales have plateaued, U.S. sales rose in July to an annualized 17.9 million units — the highest level of the year.

“The health of the U.S. consumer is the main driver of the North American sales outlook, and most indicators continue to point to ongoing gains,” said Carlos Gomes, senior economist and auto industry specialist at Scotiabank, in a written release. “U.S. job growth is advancing by nearly two per cent year-over-year, vehicle affordability remains near record highs and there is no evidence of deterioration in the automotive finance market,” he added.

In Canada, sales have also gained momentum this year, advancing in seven of 10 provinces.

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Birchwood Collision

Being the only certified repair facility means Manitoba vehicle owners can comfortably get serviced at Birchwood Collision Centres, said the company in a written release. The centres carry the proper training, tools and equipment to fit each different vehicle accordingly. Birchwood Collision Centres also carry certifications for Volvo, Honda, Ford, Acura, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, MINI, BMW and Scion.

“Our exclusive Mopar certification means that Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep and Fiat owners can trust Birchwood Collision Centres to repair your vehicle to the highest safety standards,” said Arthur Crawford, Director of Birchwood Collision Centres, in a written release.

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Being the only certified repair facility means Manitoba vehicle owners can comfortably get serviced at Birchwood Collision Centres, said the company in a news release. The centres carry the proper training, tools and equipment to fit each different vehicle accordingly. Birchwood Collision Centres also carry certifications for Volvo, Honda, Ford, Acura, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, MINI, BMW and Scion.

“Our exclusive Mopar certification means that Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep and Fiat owners can trust Birchwood Collision Centres to repair your vehicle to the highest safety standards,” said Arthur Crawford, Director of Birchwood Collision Centres, in a written release.

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The service tool provider said its new digital route sheet uses predictive analytics to measure and benchmark key service processes, with the ability to anticipate issues before they occur.

It can track things like the time taken from check-in to customer payment and departure, overall dealership performance, sales and penetration metrics and customer satisfaction metrics.

Dealers can also identify where bottlenecks are happening during service processes, resulting in more seamless workflow, and ultimately, better customer service and more retention, said the company.

“We are excited to add this new dynamic route sheet to our product suite,” said Gary Kalk, President & CEO of Dealer-FX, in a written release.

“Customer confidence in traditional service departments has been eroding over time, driven by the impression that advisors are hiding information behind “black box” terminals. Now OEMs are determined to reverse these perceptions and create an improved customer experience.”

Dealer-FX said the new route sheet has been added to the company’s service drive platform, One Solution 3.0.

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“Auto body paint repair requires many skills — problem solving, troubleshooting, critical thinking and time management,” said the company in a written release.

Six “Celebrity picks” chosen by Axalta’s celebrity judges will receive a number of prizes including a $250 gift card, a complimentary pass to the 2016 SEMA Show with access to Axalta’s VIP area and lunch.

Axalta’s celebrity judges are:

• Ron Coan, one of the leading painters in the automotive industry known for his show-stopping creations with Mobsteelat SEMA and his groundbreaking OEM concept cars;

• Rachel De Barros, chief marketing officer, host and executive producer of Gearhead Diva, a DIY car-building community and network that produces edutainment style videos for today’s social media generation;

• Ray Evernham, three-time NASCAR® champion crew chief and host of Velocity’s hit series AmeriCarna;

• Danny “Danny D” Galvez, a well-known custom automotive painter and pinstriper;

• Dave Lane, one of the top traditional-style car builders in the United States; and

• Paul Quinn, a respected airbrush and pinstriping artist and custom paint instructor.

Six “Fan favourites” chosen based on the number of “likes” the photos receive on Axalta’s Instagram page will be awarded the same prize.

There will also be one “Best-in-show” grand prize winner selected from the celebrity picks, who will receive a $500 gift card, hotel accommodations for two in Las Vegas, Nev. through Nov. 1-5, 2016, and two complimentary passes to the 2016 SEMA Show, among other prizes.

Winners will have their submissions displayed at custom car shows and automotive events throughout the U.S., including at the 2016 SEMA Show.

To enter, visit the Axalta website. Contest closes on September 16, 2016.

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WITH SO MANY vehicles reporting open safety recalls, it can be tough for dealers to know the status of all of the vehicles sitting on their lots.

But a new app from Rapid Recon, which provides time-to-market reconditioning software, can help U.S. dealers recall verification data and ease the stress of dealing with recalls.

Dennis McGinn, CEO of Rapid Recon, said one in four vehicles today have open safety recalls on it but traditional recall reporting data shows a 30 per cent error rate.

McGinn said that’s because OEMS and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports such a high volume of safety recalls, that a vehicle classified as recall-free in the morning may be reported as having one by evening, said McGinn.

“We’re seeing 10 to 11 per cent of inventory on dealers’ lots change like this in a day,” said McGinn.

What Recall Management does is pull open safety recall data from OEMs, NHTSA, vehicle history reports and other sources, and then provides a clean and verified list twice a day or more to a dealership.

The company said the Recall Management app is meant to help dealers reduce recall exposure, increase warranty revenue, improve customer safety and CSI, enhance market differentiation, optimize service bay use and reduce overhead costs.

“To be completely certain about its inventory’s safety recall status, a dealership can assign an individual to enter each vehicle’s VIN one at a time into one of more systems or automate the verification process in batches multiple times a day through Recall Management,” said McGinn.

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CASTROL HAS DEVELOPED

The system is called Nexcel, and it allows a vehicle’s oil to be changed in around 90 seconds. That’s more than 13 times faster than a conventional 20 minutes oil change.

Oil cells are collected after use, avoiding waste from used oil, said Castrol. This oil can then be re-refined into high-quality lubricants, added the company.

The Aston Martin Vulcan track-only supercar will be the first vehicle to feature Nexcel technology. Castrol expects vehicles equipped with the Nexcel system to go into production within five years.

“We believe this is the biggest leap forward in oil change technology in the history of the combustion engine,” said Paul Waterman, CEO of Castrol, in a written release.

“Castrol’s engineers are leaders in their field and have come up with a really innovative piece of technology. It’s the result of almost three years’ work but as soon as people see the benefits in emissions and servicing as well as the substantial environmental benefits, they will ask why it hasn’t been done before,” Waterman added.

Castrol said the Nexcel system has been tested on a range of engines, from small city cars to cutting-edge high powered racing engines, in the most extreme of conditions. The technology functioned smoothly even under severe braking.
Additionally, the system’s oil flow has been tested up to 600 litres a minute — 10 to 20 times more flow than seen in a conventional passenger car engine.

Castrol said it’s currently in discussions with several other vehicle manufacturers about the new product.

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This provides assurance that the program conforms to vehicle lift safety standards currently in place and all conformity assessment requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services, according to ALI.

The accreditation is the result of a detailed analysis and evaluation by ANSI auditors that examined the Lift Inspector Certification Program’s materials and processes, as well as ALI’s policies and procedures.

The ALI Lift Inspector Certification Program qualifies and certifies inspectors who demonstrate they are capable of properly inspecting any type of vehicle lift.

Since the program was launched in the fourth quarter of 2012, more than 350 inspectors have earned certification. More than 400 additional inspectors are said to be currently working their way toward certification, according to ALI.

The Lift Inspector Certification Program is the second ALI initiative to be accredited by ANSI. The Lift Certification Program earned accreditation in 2001, and it continues to be regularly evaluated by ANSI. Both accreditations are valid in Canada and in the U.S.

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VEHICLE LIFTS

With this in mind, Rotary Lift put together a list of essential safety tips for lift buyers and operators:

1. Take Automotive Lift Institute (ALI) the online Lifting It Right course. Once purchased, technicians can complete this lift safety training class online at any time within 90 days.

2. Train every technician on the proper operation of all the lifts in your facility.

3. Perform daily safety inspections before using any lift.

4. Have your lifts inspected annually by an ALI Certified Lift Inspector.

5. When buying a new lift, always look for the gold ALI lift certification label. It’s proof the lift has been independently tested and ALI-certified to meet industry safety and performance standards.

6. Make sure the lift’s locks are engaged before starting vehicle service.

7. Always match the vehicle and job to be performed with the appropriate lift.

8. Use jack stands when removing heavy components. Removing heavy parts can cause the vehicle’s centre of gravity to shift, and may make it unstable.

9. Use a wheel lift to prevent back strain when removing and installing heavy wheels.

10. Insist on OEM replacement parts when maintaining your lift.

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