Blog
What’s hurting dealerships more? Lack of technicians? Or lack of determination to avert the crisis?
What’s hurting dealerships more? Lack of technicians? Or lack of determination to avert the crisis? Enough ink has been spilled on reporting, measuring and fretting over the current automotive technician shortage to fill a dump truck. While the solutions posed to address the crisis are many – and growing more far-fetched – very few address the root cause. On the release of WrenchWay’s Voice of the Technician Report, it’s time for dealers to take action on the real solution: Service Lane Technology. The Technician Shortage Gets Serious ...
Is AI customer service the right strategy for dealerships?
Is AI customer service right for dealerships?Machine efficiency can be no match for the human touch. Artificial Intelligence. Unless you are currently residing under a rock, you’ve heard of it. One of the industries boasting the fastest adoption rates is customer service. No wonder. Modern customers want fast, convenient service. Leveraging AI is a potential win. However, as much as customers want speed and efficiency, AI customer service comes with serious drawbacks. Drawbacks that can seriously undermine a dealership’s retention, reputation and bottom line. AI Customer Service ...
BDC Managers: What separates the best…from the rest.
BDC Managers: What separates the best ... from the rest? What are the key traits of a successful BDC Manager? You could likely come up with a few off the top of your head. Upbeat personality. Motivational moxie. Expert time management. Multitasker. Yup, all good. Yet there’s a set of less obvious and more subtle personality traits – and work habits – that only the best BDC Managers possess. Identifying them can be the difference between prolonged success or painful underperformance. There’s a great quote that seems to fit here: ...
BDC Evaluation: The cure for performance anxiety.
BDC Evaluation: The cure for performance anxiety. How expert analysis and recommendations sets any BDC up for success. Performance reviews. For employees, they’re a common practice to recognize exceptional – or lacking – performance. Yet when it comes to a business development center (BDC), many dealerships never conduct a BDC evaluation. Many have no idea how their BDC performs, what needs fixing or how to go about it. They simply turn a blind eye, or worse, shut it down. The smart alternative? A comprehensive – and complementary – BDC evaluation by ...
Service lane software: Only as good as the people behind it.
Service lane software: It's only as good as the people behind it. Why support and training is a critical purchase criteria. After months of leafing through promotional materials and digesting endless demos, you’ve finally selected an exciting new service lane software solution for your business. Hold on! You’re not in the clear yet. The fact is, new software implementation has a shockingly high failure rate that’s often been traced back to one thing: Lack of specialized software support and training. High Failure Rate It’s an all too familiar story. Companies ...
Personalized marketing: How to overcome challenges to win revenue & retention
Personalized marketing: How to overcome challenges to win revenue & retention. Personalized marketing is the buzzword of the day. For good reason. Ecommerce powerhouses like Amazon and Netflix exposed its virtues to a massive, pandemic-fueled online audience. It’s no longer a consumer wish – it’s now an expectation. Personalized marketing offers a huge payoff for dealerships – positive experiences, rising revenues and undeniable customer retention. Realizing these benefits, however, comes with distinct challenges. A total service marketing solution can help you deliver every benefit. What is Personalized ...
Why recruiting is the #1 factor in BDC success.
Why recruiting is the #1 factor in BDC success. Collaboration with a BDC recruiting specialist makes all the difference. Hiring the right people is the foundation of a high performing Business Development Center (BDC). What exactly defines these “right people”? Automotive know-how? Call center experience? Sales expertise? Actually, it’s way less obvious. Deep insight, identification and assessment of essential candidate qualities make collaborating with a recruiting specialist the #1 influence on BDC success or failure. The challenges to BDC Implementation are real Recent studies say the ...
There’s no mystery to customer retention marketing.
There's no mystery to customer retention marketing. The Lifecycle approach is the best way to build relationships. For most products, your relationship with the brand ends with the purchase. A new vehicle, however, requires regular maintenance, updates and more. Every purchase must be viewed as a relationship that requires active and consistent nurturing. Lifecycle marketing is the best way to capture the long-term value inherent in every customer. Lifecycle marketing means business Lifecycle marketing is what the term implies – an understanding that automotive consumers travel through stages ...
Why a BDC is indispensible for growth.
Why a BDC is indispensible for growth. Leveraging your CRM to build business. In the “good old days”, automotive dealerships could grow merely by waiting for the next customer to darken the doorway. Today, it’s nothing more than a quaint memory. Dealerships now understand the need to consistently engage target audiences to grow. Not just any audiences, mind you. They’re shifting focus to existing customers, rather than chasing new ones. It’s a job perfectly suited for a high performance business development center (BDC). Shifting Growth Strategies Did ...
Hello? Your profitability is on the line.
Hello? Your profitability is on the line. How expert BDC phone call handling drives dealership growth. Today’s modern dealership spends a whole lot of time and money to communicate with customers through online channels. Add to that investments in software to track, personalize, and optimize the consumer digital journey. It’s smart. In the process, however, the one critical channel that drives growth gets overlooked: The phone call. That’s where a professional business development center (BDC) comes in. We Need to Talk Customers want the human touch when ...
The Great Fixed Ops Self-Reckoning
The Great Fixed Ops Self-Reckoning The real barrier to improved customer experience lies within Friedrich Nietzsche, the renowned German philosopher once said, “you yourself will always be the worst enemy you can encounter.” Exterior challenges like new market disruptors and rapidly shifting customer expectations clearly indicate the need for change in Fixed Ops. The hard truth? Recognizing the need for change is one thing. Committing to it is another. The Obstacles are Real The pressure on dealership Fixed Operations has never been greater. Supply chain snafus, microchip ...
Breaking the Barrier to Fixed Ops Change
Breaking the Barrier to Fixed Ops Change Does the real obstacle to improving customer experience lie within? Friedrich Nietzsche, the renowned German philosopher once said, “you yourself will always be the worst enemy you can encounter.” Exterior challenges like new market disruptors and rapidly shifting customer expectations clearly indicate the need for change in Fixed Ops. The hard truth? Recognizing the need for change is one thing. Committing to it is another. The Pressure is Real The inertia in regards to affecting change is understandable. The pressure on ...
Hidden Benefits of Online Scheduling Software
Hidden Benefits of Online Scheduling Software Selecting the right fixed ops solution depends on understanding them. With stretched shop capacity, staffing issues, increased recalls and more, it's natural for Service Department Managers and Advisors to view appointment scheduling software as simply a mechanism to manage daily workload. Yet there are hidden benefits to automotive service software. Being aware of them is critical to selecting the right solution for your dealership Fixed Operations. Online Booking Growth New technology has accelerated shopping behavior and expectations of today's customers. A ...
How to Optimize Fixed Ops Workflow
How to Optimize Fixed Ops Workflow The right solution provides a powerful competitive advantage Fixed ops workflow. It’s a challenge that every Service Manager acknowledges, but very few address. Make no mistake. Ignoring the impact of poor fixed ops workflow has immediate and long-term negative consequences. Customer retention. Staff morale. Revenue growth and profitability. The time has come to rethink the way your fixed ops goes about everyday duties – and invest in a proven workflow management solution. Is Your Workflow Really Working? Most Service Managers understand ...
Service Status Updates: Why Today’s Customer Craves Them
Service Status Updates: Why Today's Customer Craves Them Powerful emotions make this feature a fixed ops must-have. The fear of the unknown. It’s one of our most basic and primal emotions. Researchers define it as being afraid of something we have no information about or no control over. Conversely, knowing details about a process or specific situation reduces anxiety and doubt. That’s why Automated Service Status Updates is a must-have feature for today’s digital service drive. Dude, where’s my car? According to industry reports, a leading complaint among service customers ...
Discover why thousands of dealers have chosen Dealer-FX:
*Results represent multiple product configurations across thousands of North American dealers.
**J.D. Power 2019 Customer Service Index (CSI) Study based on a 1,000-point scale.
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