Fixed Ops Journal - October 2020 - F19

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

SERVICE

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and delivery only against alternatives, such as a loaner car or vouchers
for Uber or Lyft. They also should consider how the service affects customer satisfaction, shop workflow and the ability to sell extra services to
customers.
Bozard's Roberts says that after a customer has been sitting in the
waiting area for an hour, it is tough for a service adviser to try to sell additional services - work that will take another hour and a half - because the customer wants to leave. If the customer is at home, they may
be more inclined to agree to additional work, and there's less pressure
in the shop to finish the job quickly.
"There are spikes throughout the day," Roberts says. "You manage
your capacity much better by doing pickup and delivery and not having
[the customers] here."
Bozard picks up 30 to 35 vehicles from customers per day, about 10 to
12 percent of its repair orders, and Roberts says he expects that to increase as more customers become aware of the service. Eventually, he
would like to pick up and deliver 60 percent of his
Lincoln business, which would put him at 20 percent of repair orders overall.

Better traffic flow
Joel Adames, service manager of Honda of Downtown Chicago, says that in late March, he launched
an aggressive offer to customers whose vehicles had
open recalls: The dealership would pick up the customer's vehicle, do the recall work and sanitize the
Harkins: Look at
the whole picture. vehicle, and bring it back at no charge.
That gave technicians the opportunity to find additional customer-pay work on hundreds of vehicles, and the owners didn't risk catching or spreading the virus by coming to the store.
The dealership shares a crowded five-story building with a Volkswagen franchise. The service department for each is on one floor, and parking is on another, which Adames says is a logistical nightmare
when customers are queued up waiting for their veAdames: No wait, hicles to be located and driven down narrow ramps.
Adames says the dealership now picks up "about
better scores
40 to 50 percent" of the vehicles it services - down
from a summer high of 80 percent - eliminating most of the typical
traffic jams.
"My [customer service] scores skyrocketed because I didn't have people waiting at the dealership for their car," he says.
The service was originally free to customers, but Adames now charges
$29.99, with some exceptions.
"People will expect to [still] have the amenity, but you can always
change it to something that you can ask a little more for," he says. "People still pay a premium for great service. That's why Uber Eats is making
so much money right now. It was convenient, it was safe, and they'll pay
for it."
Cox's Foutz thinks pickup and delivery is here to stay.
"We're hearing from consumers that they're using it, and they appreciate it, and we hear it from dealers," he says. "Consumers definitely
have told us consistently that they would choose convenience and a
trusted provider of service over someone they simply perceive as less
expensive." 

Juan Hidalgo of Gus Machado Ford Hialeah near Miami sanitizes
a vehicle after service at a customer's home. Some dealers are
charging for such services that started free with the pandemic.

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OCTOBER 2020

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Fixed Ops Journal - October 2020

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