For many customers right now, vehicle service is top of mind. As reported by Cox Automotive, June vehicle sales are down 7.75% and yearly inventory sales predictions have been re-forecasted to 14.4M, which indicates many customers are making the shift to hold on to their vehicles longer and getting their cars serviced and maintained instead of new acquisitions.
We talk a lot about making a great first impression with car buyers to capture the sale, which is the ultimate goal. Lots of emphasis is directed to appointment scheduling, optimizing the marketing efforts to maximize a return on investment, and ensuring customer calls are being managed appropriately with no call is left unanswered or avoiding missed opportunities being left on the table. No doubt, first impressions can make or break a sale. But once a sale is completed, the real work begins with ensuring the customer’s journey continues to be positive as the baton is passed to service and the fixed operation teams.
For many customers right now, vehicle service is top of mind. As reported by Cox Automotive, June vehicle sales are down 7.75% and yearly inventory sales predictions have been re-forecasted to 14.4M, which indicates many customers are making the shift to hold on to their vehicles longer and getting their cars serviced and maintained instead of new acquisitions.
In a recent CallRevu call tracking data analysis, our reporting shows that dealerships in 2022 are experiencing a 14.8% increase in service department calls per month; and over 38% of calls going unanswered, due to being abandoned, mishandled, or sent to a voice mail. This uncovers the need to ensure every call is tracked, managed, and documented to ensure your customers are getting the proper care they demand. Otherwise, regardless of your best marketing efforts, your customers will quickly recognize they have choices and will take their business to your competitors down the street and you will have missed opportunities and the potential for lower CSI scores that could have been avoided.
How can you avoid these pitfalls? Incorporate a communication intelligence (CI)platform that provides call management for your entire dealership from sales, and service, to marketing and online retail. Here are the best practices to consider.
Communication Intelligence Matters with Service
A CI platform, like CallRevu’s ServiceVision, will help improve your customer engagement which drives customer loyalty and retention. ServiceVision identifies conversations that need immediate attention, helps mitigate customer frustrations by providing insights into call count, missed calls and broken promises that could be avoided, as well as helps fixed ops management identify staffing needs and sales opportunities that contribute to growing profits through service.
On average, fixed ops departments receive 500 or more service calls based on CallRevu data analysis. Being able to track and manage this call volume can get overwhelming thus using a solution like ServiceVision will help make your call volume more manageable. Using artificial intelligence, call summaries, keyword searches and sentiments, ServiceVision sends mobile alerts within minutes of the call coming so quick action can be taken.
With the ServiceVision automated alerts, your team can act quickly and respond to customers’ inquiries, so they feel valued and appreciated. So much so that, in a recent study, dealers have observed that 1 in every 4 customers who were called back because of an opportunity alert, scheduled an appointment to visit the dealership. Service departments have a daily ebb and flow with in-person activity; however, the phones never seem to stop ringing. Remember, your phones are still your number one sales and appointment setting asset.
For long-term success, the goal of any business is to build customer loyalty and maintain strong customer retention. As you know, happy customers equal repeat customers and referrals. For any dealership, your service department holds the responsibility of maintaining customer relations, growing revenue through service and maintenance repair orders, as well as being the internal business partner that facility repeats customers through buyback programs, the introduction of new models etc. With this amount of responsibility, doesn’t it make sense that you have eyes and ears on your customers as to how and why they engage with your service team?
CallRevu offers ServiceVision, the only CI platform customed designed for fixed operations from the ground up. Contact CallRevu to learn more and let us show how you can empower your team with the data they need to ensure every service customer continues to choose you for all their repair orders and future car buying needs.
