Automotive News Canada - August 2020 - v2 - F20

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

Interview by Richard Truett

minutes with ...

 Tim Turvey, global vice president of customer care and aftersales, GM

It's always good to go out on a high note, and
that's what Tim Turvey, General Motors' global vice president of customer care and aftersales, will do Sept. 1, when he retires after a
37-year career. GM's parts and accessories division is one of the company's most profitable
business units, and all four of GM's brands are
ranked at or near the top of J.D. Power's latest
customer service survey.
Turvey, 57, spoke about what the post-pandemic future might look like for dealership service departments, trends to keep an eye on and
a few of the things he got right - and wrong -
during his tenure working to help GM dealers
boost fixed ops profits and customer retention.
Here are edited excerpts.
On the pace of change and evolving customer needs
The industry is changing at a faster rate than
at any time in history. There's no question
about that. Demands and expectations from
customers are at an all-time high. But some
things that haven't changed are what customers are really looking for - convenience, the
use of their time and the value they get.
On fixed ops directors at high-volume mainstream brands offering pickup and delivery
service
It's certainly more costly to have pickup and
delivery of vehicles. Someone has to pay for it,
whether it's the dealer or the customer. The ability to scale the solution does create some problems, but it is viable. It can be done, and we've
shown it can be done in other markets. It's probably going to require new business models and
potential pricing adjustments to accommodate
pickup and delivery. Likely what we see happening right now is that it is more prevalent with
luxury brands like Cadillac. As we get more and
more capability, it would be scalable to a brand
like Chevrolet. Some Chevrolet dealers are doing it today, and it depends on the consumer's
willingness to pay the price or the dealer taking a
margin reduction to do it on their own. Pickup
and delivery will continue even after the pandemic moderates a bit.
On how certain technologies have transformed fixed ops

PAGE 20

AUGUST 2020

"The industry is
changing at a faster
rate than at any time
in history," GM's Tim
Turvey says. Looking
at service from the
customer's view is key.

One of the things General Motors did a couple years back was offer the ability - through
the infotainment system - to schedule a service appointment in the vehicle. That's been a
big boon. You can actually do a live service appointment scheduling on the center stack of
your vehicle. And that's a major win that will
continue to get traction. Job pricing is another
area that has changed. Years ago, the ability to
quote parts and labor for a specific vehicle
took time. The service adviser had to call the
parts department to find out the cost of the
part. He had to get the labor time. Now, technology allows the service adviser, on a
VIN-specific basis, to go in and do a very rapid
quote of parts and labor, an all-inclusive job.
That's another huge win for service advisers to
have that at their fingertips. It builds credibility with the customer.
On the potential for electric vehicles to
ease the technician shortage
In the short term, the answer is no, EVs will
not help reduce the shortage of technicians. We
are not attracting enough younger people at the
rate we need to who see that this is a viable career. There's no question electrification is going
to reduce the overall need for maintenance and
repair, but when you take a look at the number
of electric vehicles on the road today and the
numbers of units in operation, it is not going to

significantly impact the demand for technicians, in my view, for at least the next decade.
On the one thing he'd do differently
If I could rewind back seven years, when I
took this position, I would more aggressively
go after improvements in dealer profitability
in fixed operations. It has such massive potential. We've started in earnest the last couple of
years, but I would have liked to have started
much earlier than I did.
Some advice to fixed ops directors as they
battle independent shops
Focus on the customer at every step. Look at
service from the customer's view. Really understand how customers are treated at every
step. The dealership sells the vehicle, and so
it's their customer to lose. Every effort should
be made to retain those owners. There are so
many opportunities to improve. There should
be no reason why that customer should ever
defect from that dealership. There are a lot of
tools out there for fixed ops directors to use.
On future plans
I worked at a dealership before coming to
General Motors 37 years ago. I am definitely going to stay engaged. I'm exploring what I am going to do right now. You will continue to see me
in the industry. No question about it. 

Automotive News Canada - August 2020 - v2

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