Fixed Ops Journal - June 2021 - F18

FIXED OPS JOURNAL
SANITIZING STAYS
There's value in pandemic protocol, even as crisis eases
ALEX KWANTEN
foj@autonews.com
A
t the outset of the pandemic, most
dealership service departments began
sanitizing vehicles not only to
set customers' minds at ease but
also to protect their workers.
But in May 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention clarifi ed that touching
surfaces that might have the virus on them
is " not thought to be the main way the virus
spreads. " And as the nation begins to slowly
reopen and more people get vaccinated, the
unease and fear that gripped much of the
country the past 15 months is subsiding.
Regardless, many
service departments
don't plan to stop sanitizing customers' vehicles.
" We
still sanitize every car that comes into the
shop, " says Mark Williamson, service director at
Love Chevrolet in Columbia, S.C. " It's just become
the new normal. "
Williamson says that
while some customers
were casual about the potential
dangers of the pandemic
and others became
more willing to visit the
shop post-vaccination, many
still have plenty of anxiety
about indoor spaces.
" Most people are somewhere
in the middle, and
Williamson: It's
" the new normal. "
they like the reassurance that everything is
sanitized, " he says.
Also, customers have become used to it.
" We've been at this for a year now, and after
customers have seen you do it, it becomes
more of an expectation, " Williamson says.
Lee Harkins, CEO of M5 Management Services,
a fi xed ops consulting company , says
Williamson's experience is common at most
dealerships nationwide. He says continuing to
sanitize is both a necessity and an opportunity
for service departments.
" Th e strongest positive of sanitizing is doing
it with the customer standing there, " Harkins
says. " It speaks volumes to the level of service
and the detail work that you provide to them. "
But once customers are used to that service,
as in Williamson's example, they expect it.
" It's like adding a free car wash, " Harkins
says. " If you get used to having them, the fi rst
time you don't get one, you feel slighted. "
PAGE 18 JUNE 2021
Juan Hidalgo of Gus Machado Ford Hialeah near Miami sanitizes a vehicle after service. The practice
" speaks volumes " about retailers' level of customer service, says fi xed ops consultant Lee Harkins.
At Scott Clark Auto Group in the Charlotte,
N.C., area, Service Director David Blackburn
says about 70 percent of customers - down
from a pandemic high of about 95 percent -
approve the complimentary sanitizing.
" Customers just feel more comfortable
knowing their vehicle has been sanitized, " he
says. " But we don't just do it; we ask fi rst. "
Blackburn and Williamson agree it's a small
investment to demonstrate that they value
their customers.
Williamson says it probably costs about
$600 a month, excluding labor time, to sanitize
both the building and vehicles. In addition
to customers, Williamson also has his
employees in mind - especially those who
work on the cars - when sanitizing vehicles.
" Technicians are too hard to come by, " he
says. " I want to keep all of them healthy, working
and happy - and not taking anything
home to their families. "
Lisa Chang, CEO of GTech - which supplies
about 200 dealerships with sanitizing
disinfectants - says she has not seen a noticeable
drop-off in demand from those clients.
Th e company, based in Northern California
and founded in 2015, also supplies
health care facilities, hotels, casinos, college
campuses and professional sports franchises.
" Dealerships are a new business for us, "
Chang says. " We did some demos [at dealerships],
and that business really took off . I'd say
95 percent [of dealerships] are still going as
strong " with GTech products as they were
during the pandemic.
Some GTech products are even sold in dealership
parts departments, Chang says. Dealerships
like the products because they are
non toxic and environmentally friendly, dry
quickly without any residue and won't damage
leather car interiors, she says.
Jason Yates, fi xed ops director for Hudson
Auto Group, says its 26 dealerships are still following
coronavirus protocols and off ering
sanitizing. " Customers are starting to not care
as much about sanitizing as before, but we're
still doing it, " he says.
Sanitizing is complimentary at all of the
group's stores and is done in front of customers
when they pick up their vehicles.
" Th ey really appreciate it, " Yates says. " And it
says to them their safety is our fi rst priority. "
Harkins says sanitizing vehicles addresses
the concerns of those who are still nervous
about the virus but reluctant to say anything.
" Just because more people are coming in
without masks these days " doesn't mean service
departments should stop the practice,
Harkins says. " It still sends a message that
your shop is looking out for them. " 

Fixed Ops Journal - June 2021

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