Fixed Ops Journal - October 2019 - F12

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

SPECIAL REPORT

WAR

continued from Page 11

tor Co.'s Global Customer Service Division,
describes efforts by dealership service departments to connect digitally with customers as
"meeting them on their terms where they are."
Ford and its dealers are working to do just
that, he says.
This year, Toney notes, Ford added a rewards program to its FordPass phone app that
gives owners points for buying or leasing a vehicle and servicing it at a Ford dealership.
These points can be applied to service, accessories or the price of a new car or truck. FordPass also provides vehicle service histories,
service alerts, links to online service scheduling and other features for smartphones and
mobile devices.
Lincoln owners can use a similar app, called
Lincoln Way, to pay for service and related
purchases. Ford Motor also offers online service scheduling software to its dealers that
works with different dealer management systems, Toney adds.
Satisfying growing consumer demand for digital
access and online services will help separate
Ford and Lincoln service
departments from competing repair shops that
lack online resources and
know-how, Toney says.
Toney: Meet on
"We have an opportucustomers' terms.
nity to differentiate ourselves from the others if we're good stewards
of that opportunity," Toney says.
Ford also is challenging its rivals on their turf,
Toney notes. The automaker plans to add hundreds of its Quick Lane express service outlets
in the United States over the next several years
to compete with chain quick-lube stores.
Most of the new Quick Lane stores will be
standalone facilities in convenient locations,
rather than integrated with dealerships, Toney
says. Currently, 243 of the 822 U.S. Quick Lane
shops are standalones, and Ford expects to
add 266 standalones in the next three years.

Share, or skip, the ride
Dealerships that need space for their showrooms, service departments and vehicle inventory often are less conveniently located
than independent or chain service providers,
which can more easily fit into smaller spaces
that are closer to where customers live and
work. Addressing that problem requires more
than providing a rental car or a shuttle that
gives customers a lift from and to the service
department, Cox's Roche says.

PAGE 12

OCTOBER 2019

Ford
dealerships in a
pilot program
send techs in
vans to
customers'
homes and
workplaces to
handle basic
repairs,
maintenance.

"Dealers are finding creative ways to overcome that," Roche says. "They will give a coupon for Uber or Lyft. More and more, we're seeing valet services where someone will come to
you, pick up your vehicle, give you a loaner vehicle, and then return your vehicle to you. That
is really the wave of the future for dealers, and
the way to overcome the location barrier."
A pilot program Ford launched in May goes
a step further, sending mobile service vans to
the customer's location to perform maintenance and light repairs. Ford could have as
many as 200 mobile service vans operating a
year from now, Toney says.
"It isn't rocket science," Toney says. "It's
more about designing a model and rolling it
out so that it interfaces with all of our systems,
capabilities and processes, and delivers the
wonderful experience we want to provide."
All American Ford in Old Bridge put a mobile service van on the road in early July as one
of six dealerships in the pilot program. Service
manager Townsend said the dealership has
gotten positive feedback from customers.
"Why would you not want an oil change
done while you're sitting on your living room
couch or at work or doing whatever you need
to do, compared to coming to the dealership
and sitting in our waiting area?" he says.
The dealership dispatches a two-technician team in a Ford Transit van to perform
oil changes, tire rotations and a multipoint
inspection, and replace air filters and wiper
blades. The mobile team also does simple
recall jobs, such as replacing airbag inflators.
"Nobody wants to come in for just a recall,"
Townsend says. "It's an inconvenience, so it
helps a lot in customer satisfaction by coming
to their house or work or wherever they are."
The dealership promotes the mobile service
on its website and in emails and calls to customers.
If the mobile techs discover that brakes or
other components need service, they can
schedule an appointment for the customer at

the dealership.
Mullinax Ford in Apopka, Fla., has had a service van in operation since June. Service Director Susan Padro says the dealership is expanding the scope of the work that mobile
technicians perform beyond oil changes and
airbag recalls.
"We had a customer last week who needed
special-order [warranty] parts on an F-250,"
she says. "Now we have the ability to say, 'Mr.
Customer, I can come to you.' How many bad
surveys are you going to get from that?"
The van helped Mullinax win service business from an Orlando-area cable television
provider that had been using a Goodyear
store for maintenance. The company needed
oil changes for its fleet of Ford vans but didn't
want to take them to a shop during normal
business hours.
"We were able to bring the van to them and
do it right there on their lot," Padro says.
"Since we've developed that relationship, I am
seeing vans from that company in the fleet department of my shop every day."
Padro says the benefits of mobile service are
in customer experience and satisfaction.
"If you're thinking that this one van is going
to be a cash cow for you, no, that's not the story. It does things that you can't quantify. How
about that customer I went to and put his fog
lights in? Does that lock him in for when his
wife is ready for a new car? Does she come to
Mullinax?
"There's a lot more to be done with this," she
adds. "I just haven't thought of everything yet."
Danford of Dealer.com says the big challenge that faces dealership service comes not
just from competing providers, but also from
their customers' expectations.
"We can't just be looking within automotive," she says. "We need to look outside our
industry as to how people are shopping and
how the digital experience has to come forward. Technology enhancements are what
our customers have come to expect of us, and
we need to make sure we're keeping pace." 

http://www.Dealer.com

Fixed Ops Journal - October 2019

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