Fixed Ops Journal - June 2019 - F19

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

SPECIAL REPORT

AFTER THE CRASH

New app aims to build business for Volvo's certified collision repair network

JIM HENRY

foj@autonews.com

olvo Car USA is launching a mobile
app called Accident Advisor that is
designed to give Volvo owners, at no
charge, step-by-step prompts about
what to do when they've had an accident. It also
aims to steer customers to the nearest Volvo
Certified Collision repair shop.
In the near future, possibly this year, Volvo
and CCC Information Services, the Chicago
vendor behind the app, also expect CCC to
get live access to telematics data from connected Volvo vehicles if sensors indicate a vehicle has been in a crash.
Since the 2015 model year, all Volvos are
equipped to notify the automaker's Customer
Care Center automatically if an airbag deploys. Adding telematics data from other sensors could be a game-changer for Volvo. Its
call center could tailor its response immediately after a crash, based on a more precise
idea of its predicted severity.
The additional crash data would also help
during the repair process. The new system
would reduce the time required to get a repair
estimate and determine which replacement
parts are needed, the two companies said in
separate interviews.
"That's how we see this thing evolve," Scott
Doering, vice president of customer service
for Volvo Car USA, told Fixed Ops Journal.
"We could, at the moment of impact, know
how serious it is."
Volvo announced the launch of Accident
Advisor last month. CCC says Volvo Car USA
is its first automaker customer for the app.

Certifiable
Accident Advisor is designed to walk customers through the entire process after an accident, including how to take photos to be
used to assess vehicle damage, how to file an
insurance claim - potentially on the spot -
and where to go for repairs.
The last of those steps is important for Volvo
dealers and their affiliated collision repair
centers. Customers could find a body shop on
their own, but Accident Advisor refers customers to the nearest Volvo Certified Collision shop. Those shops are nominated by Volvo dealers, who often have a business relationship with them, Doering says. Fewer than
10 percent of Volvo's 287 U.S. dealerships op-

Emergency aid

Volvo is rolling out Accident Advisor,
a mobile app that guides owners
through the process of reacting to a
crash, filing an insurance claim and
getting their vehicle repaired.
Customers can connect with Volvo's
Customer Care Center in these ways:
 They can call the center directly to
ask for help.
 If the airbag deploys in a crash, the
vehicle automatically signals the
center and agents reach out to the
customer.
 Customers can push the Volvo On
Call button in their vehicle, which
connects them to the center.

erate their own body shops, estimates
Matthew Haiken, chairman of the Volvo Retail
Advisory Board.
Certified shops must meet the automaker's
requirements for collision technician training
and use factory repair parts, Doering says.
"We don't mandate that the consumer has to
choose our shop," Doering says. "But if we bring
that visibility to it, we expect to drive more business to our certified collision centers."
Volvo Car USA launched its certification
program about a year ago, Doering says. Since
then, more than 200 collision centers around
the country have been certified, in markets
that serve the vast majority of Volvo vehicles
in operation.

Dealer reaction
Haiken is dealer principal of the Prestige
Collection in East Hanover, N.J., which includes two Volvo stores. He says dealers he's
talked with like the idea of Accident Advisor.
"As a dealer, we want every single affected
vehicle running through the Volvo dealers
and the collision network using genuine Volvo parts, which come with a genuine part warranty," Haiken says.
Some dealers have had problems getting
their preferred body shop certified by Volvo,
Haiken says. For instance, the automaker
could consider a body shop too far away. But
he says Volvo seems to be willing to negotiate.
"It is something that is still being worked
out," Haiken says. "Some dealers are really up-

A mobile app tells Volvo owners what to do
if their vehicle crashes and it's not a test.

set - they have been using this body shop for
30 years."
Doering says all Volvo owners will be eligible for Accident Advisor. Volvo Car USA will
communicate its new offer to owners using
customer relationship management tools and
digital marketing, he adds.
Customers also will be able to sign up for the
app by contacting Volvo. More immediately,
Volvo plans to offer it to customers who have
an airbag deploy or who push the Volvo On
Call button in their vehicles.
Initially, even without telematics data from
Volvo vehicles, CCC expects the use of Accident Advisor to eliminate some of the time in
the repair process that otherwise would be
spent getting a reliable damage estimate and
then securing parts.
Susanna Gotsch, director and industry analyst for CCC, says the vendor can analyze
crash damage photos, based on its knowledge
of millions of accidents from working with
auto insurers, to produce faster and more accurate repair estimates.
Based on those estimates, Gotsch says, body
shops could reliably order replacement parts
in advance of even seeing the vehicle. CCC
projects that such a step could shave a day off
the average 9.9-day repair process from the
time a vehicle arrives at the shop to when it is
returned to the owner, she adds.
Doering says Accident Advisor is part of a
brand strategy by Volvo to eliminate "complications" associated with vehicle ownership.
That includes "unplanned events" such as a
crash or a call for roadside assistance, he says.
"Those are events in ownership where, if
you handle them right, it leads to ... retention,"
Doering says. "But if you handle them wrong,
it can be a horrible experience." 

JUNE 2019

PAGE 19

Fixed Ops Journal - June 2019

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