Customer Experience

Automotive Service Excellence and Exceptional Interactions

One thing is needed to achieve Automotive Industry Service Excellence: Exceptional Interactions. Create Exceptional Interactions with customers. Here's how.

myKaarma Team
Aug 7, 2020
Automotive Service Excellence and Exceptional Interactions
There are many measures a dealer can apply to claim they have achieved automotive service excellence.  Also, there are many industry and OEM awards that enable dealers to make these claims. myKaarma believes only one thing is needed to achieve automotive industry service excellence: Exceptional Interactions.  
 

If you can create an Exceptional Interaction with your customer then service excellence is achieved.  It is a natural outcome, and it brings with it a better quality of life for both the customer and the dealership service team during these trying times.  

Excellence Makes Life Easier

As you make life easier, you create a cycle that translates into ongoing performance improvements.  The easier a process becomes, the better it will be performed in future iterations. Better performance means happier customers and increases in service revenue.  

9 Components of an Exceptional Interaction

There are 9 components that make up a better service experience in today’s environment.  When done right, they deliver a happy customer. They deliver convenience, transparency, and feedback that builds trust. As a result, trusting customers spend more.

All 9 components of an Exceptional Interaction hover around the need for a centralized mobile-first customer communication hub.  Let today’s mobile-first society communicate with your dealership through text, email, or phone calls using their mobile device.

A comprehensive approach to these 9 components brings together the entire exceptional service experience and delivers automotive service excellence.

1. Business Development Center (BDC)

Use single number calling and a universal inbox to allow customers to connect with their advisors 100% of the time.  They should not have to know multiple numbers and extensions. Also, they should not have to wait or be transferred.  Send them directly to their contact.

2. Scheduler

You need to have an intuitive scheduling tool for making accurate appointments. Also, you need to track your capacity to prevent overbooking and timely performance.  Make sure you can access customer history and open RO data to be able to respond accurately, knowing your customer needs before they have to ask.

3. Pick-up

The new normal means that many customers require a touchless experience with the dealership.  The need for transportation options is often part of the service experience.  You should be able to schedule valet, loaner, shuttle, or Uber rides for customers.  Tools offering real-time driver tracking for both the dealership and the customer add transparency and peace of mind. Customers know where their car is, and/or the status of their pick-up.

4. Video Walkaround

Mobile technology makes video walkaround technology easier to use, and it is a proven confidence builder.  Use this to check in or check out a car at delivery. Customers love transparency, and it protects the dealer from mistaken liability claims and fraud.

5. ServiceCart Video MPI

ServiceCart™ Video MPI allows vehicle owners to easily build their shopping cart of dealer-recommended work and services. ServiceCart™ also includes a video explanation of recommendations and upfront pricing, giving customers the choice to accept, reject, or postpone service, while recording declined services. This type of solution reimagines the traditional video MPI. You can no longer settle for providing customers with just a digitized form.

6. Payments

Allow payment options for every scenario, whether online or in-store.  The opportunity to pay online saves the customer time and avoids lines at the cashier.  The ability to provide accounting reconciliation and payments settling directly to your DMS keeps dealer personnel efficient as well.  Everyone is happier. 

7. Delivery

The delivery completes the pick-up cycle. Make sure to use the same touchless tools for delivery that are part of the pick-up process.  Offer convenience, transparency, and integration to complete the transaction. 

8. Follow-up On Declined Services

Contact customers at the right time with the right offer based on their identified service needs. Think of your last retail experience where the associate knew what you needed and was able to respond promptly. What could be more efficient than anticipating your customer’s needs?  

9. Insight Reporting

To keep your Exceptional Interactions on track, you need to know what is working, and what is not, and benchmark your performance.  Know your numbers with integrated real-time reports on your dealership that can drill down to an individual RO.

Implementing Automotive Service Excellence

There may be a number of ways dealerships can go about implementing solutions for these 9 components of an Exceptional Interaction. However, there’s only one integrated approach: myKaarma. By using our solution, dealerships realize an average 30% lift in RO dollars.
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