Automotive News - October 25, 2021 - S6

6 | OctOber 25, 2021
FINDLAY SUBARU PRESCOTT, ARIZONA
Promo clears service problems
Offers entice customers
to skip morning rush,
increasing repair orders
Published in Automotive News Jan. 18, 2021
Jack Walsworth
jwalsworth@crain.com
F
indlay Subaru Prescott is giving customers
inclined to show up for an oil
change first thing in the morning incentive
to wait a few hours.
The Arizona dealership has a reverse early-bird
special for routine services.
On weekdays between 1 and 5 p.m., customers
who bring their vehicles in for service
may be greeted with a discounted oil change
or a free tire rotation.
Dave Macfarlane, the store's general manager,
said the special was launched in hopes of
fixing a lingering issue:
morning backlogs in the
service department.
" Our average client is
probably 70 years old, "
Macfarlane said. " The
Macfarlane:
Bays must be
efficient.
problem is, they all want
to get up first thing in the
morning, come in and get
their oil changes and everything
done. So we are
bombed in the morning.
And it's a morgue in the afternoon.
We came up with this reverse early-bird
to entice them to come more in the afternoon
than the morning. "
No coupon needed
Customers don't need to bring in a coupon,
Macfarlane noted, adding that if a customer
shows up during the 1-to-5 p.m. time slot,
they automatically get the discount that's being
offered that day.
Oil change discounts during the reverse early-bird
special vary, Macfarlane said. Sometimes
it's $10 off, $15 off, $20 off or even at
cost, he noted.
For " a lot of senior citizens on fixed incomes,
that's a big deal to them, " he said. " If they can
save 10 or 20 bucks on an oil change, they'll
show up for that all day long. "
Macfarlane said discounts are switched up
throughout the week to keep the special fresh.
The reverse early-bird special became a regular
component of the dealership's service department
last January.
Macfarlane said the store experimented
with the promotion when the dealership
moved to its current location in 2018. The
dealership is around 25,000 square feet, which
is more than double the size of the previous
store, he said.
With the move to a bigger space, expenses
also increased, Macfarlane said. So the dealership
looked for ways to be more efficient
throughout the day.
" Our service bay has to be really efficient, "
he said. " A lot of Subaru dealerships have 25,
30 stalls. Our dealership has 12. Each stall has
eight hours a day, so you've got to keep those
stalls efficient to maximize your dollars in the
shop. "
Roughly one year into running the special,
Macfarlane said the approach is paying dividends
and there's no longer a lull in the afternoon.
" It's
bringing more people in, " he said.
" We're able to help more people during the
day. Our [repair order] count is up 50 percent
By offering discounts on routine
services during the afternoon, Findlay
Subaru Prescott has boosted its
service business, lowered customer
wait times and increased its customer
satisfaction scores.
The reverse
early-bird offers at
Findlay Subaru
Prescott in Arizona
can include
discounts on oil
changes, left, from
1 to 5 p.m.
weekdays. The
discounts are
switched up to keep
the special fresh.
over last year. That's a big increase. "
Findlay Subaru Prescott sells around 110
new and used vehicles combined per month,
Macfarlane said. It's part of Findlay Automotive
Group in Henderson, Nev., which ranks
No. 27 on Automotive News' list of the top 150
dealership groups based in the U.S., with
29,321 new-vehicle retail sales in 2019.
Happier customers
In addition to helping increase service business,
the promotion has alleviated wait times
for customers, Macfarlane said.
Since adding the reverse early-bird special,
the dealership's customer satisfaction scores
have increased. " The less time they wait, the
happier they are, " he said.
Before, when a majority of its customers
would arrive for service in the morning and
thus create a backlog and extend wait times,
the dealership saw its customer satisfaction
scores plummet.
Findlay Subaru Prescott's net promoter
scores have also increased since it added the
promotion. Macfarlane said
" It's not just about getting people in the
door and making money, " he said. " But it's
getting them in the door, getting them out
the door in a reasonable amount of time and
having them feel like it was an extraordinary
experience. " a
those scores
measure whether customers would recommend
the dealership to friends and family.
Automotive News - October 25, 2021

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