Fixed Ops Journal - April 2020 - F21

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

"I don't think anyone expects the technology to build a relationship
with the customer. It's just that in today's age, time is so important."
NATHAN MACKENZIE , Storm co-founder

Service advisers are essential, even with kiosks

RICK POPELY

foj@autonews.com

ith the number of self-service
kiosks on the service drive expected to increase, it is natural
to wonder what this means for
the future of the service adviser.
Both GoMoto and Storm say their kiosks are
designed not to replace service advisers but to
help them by giving them more time to focus
on selling and customer service.
"I don't think anyone expects the technology to build a relationship with the customer.
It's just that in today's age, time is so important," says Storm co-founder Nathan MacKenzie. "Dealerships need to be forward-thinking
and ensure they have options for their guests.
I'm a big believer in human interaction, and
you can't beat a top adviser or really good customer service, but there are lots of times when
you would want that second option."

Off-hours convenience
McFadden Honda, just south of Calgary, installed a Storm kiosk more than a year ago
that enables customers to check in and out
and pay without assistance. Service Manager
Bob Fretts says the kiosk does a great job of
serving those who drop off or pick up their vehicle before or after hours, but he says it
doesn't do a good job of persuading customers to buy the additional services offered on
the kiosk.
Fretts estimates that 5 percent or less of his
kiosk users choose additional services when
they check in, so he still relies on his service
advisers to sell to customers.
"There is no way that this thing replaces an
adviser because these machines don't ask the
[right] questions, they don't give explanations
as to why you should have this done and
there's no personal contact between the customer and the machine," Fretts says.

"It's kind of funny because we can hear the
machine speaking to them while they're going
through [the menu], and you can hear them
just hitting 'next, next, next, finish,' " Fretts
says.
Still, Fretts says he recommends self-service
kiosks "as long as they understand that it is not
going to replace an adviser. It's super secure, it
looks good, it's convenient for the customers
before and after hours. But nothing replaces a
good service adviser."

No sale

'Building rapport'

He says he watches and listens as customers, especially young ones, go through the
menus of additional services and quickly reject them.

Steve Ross, service manager at Volkswagen
Pasadena, in California, agrees that service
advisers are an essential part of the business
today but can see a time when dealerships will

McFadden Honda's Storm
kiosk lets customers check in
and out and pay on their own.
rely more on machines.
"You can only look at the writing on the
wall," Ross says. "Eventually, it will [happen].
You've seen kiosks replace airline check-in
desks where you used to line up."
Jim Henne, general manager at Performance Toyota in Sinking Spring, Pa., says service departments will always need advisers to
communicate with customers.
He says he uses his kiosk only to check people in but knows there are kiosks that do much
more.
"There are people that prefer that, but I firmly
believe you have to have that customer interaction with the service advisers," Henne says.
"They're consultants, they're customer service
experts and they're building rapport." 

APRIL 2020

PAGE 21

Fixed Ops Journal - April 2020

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