Fixed Ops Journal - February 2020 - F19

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

FEEDBACK
Walkarounds are considered important,
but customers often don't notice them

walkaround inspection of a vehicle by
a dealership service adviser in the
owner's presence is an especially
effective way of promoting service
customer satisfaction, research suggests. Yet a
new survey indicates that even when advisers
perform such multipoint inspections consistently, customers often fail to notice them.
In December, DealerRater polled for Fixed
Ops Journal more than 19,000 consumers who
had recently taken their vehicles to a new-car
dealership for service. Asked whether the adviser did a walkaround inspection of their car
or truck in the service lane, 47 percent of the
respondents said yes - but 43 percent said
they didn't remember. Among those who did
recall, more than four-fifths said the adviser
had done a walkaround.
Service advisers at luxury-brand dealerships
were slightly more likely to make walkaround
inspections than their counterparts at mass-

market stores, according to survey respondents.
Luxury customers were also more likely to
remember whether the service adviser had
done a walkaround, the survey reported.
A walkaround inspection enables an adviser
to assess a vehicle's condition, listen to the customer's concerns and recommend maintenance and repairs before a technician begins
service work. Vehicle walkarounds improve
customer satisfaction scores, numerous industry studies conclude.
According to a separate report in October by
J.D. Power and Survey Monkey, vehicle
walkarounds are second only to fixing a car or
truck right the first time as a key performance
indicator determining service satisfaction. Although the Power study addressed customer
attitudes toward aftermarket providers rather
than dealership service departments, its basic
findings apply generally to all service shops. 

Walk and talk

Q: The last time you took your vehicle to
a new-car dealership for repairs or
maintenance, did the service adviser
perform a walkaround inspection of your
vehicle in the service lane?
ALL
MASS-MARKET LUX-BRAND
CUSTOMERS CUSTOMERS CUSTOMERS

Yes
47%
No
10%
Don't
remember 43%

46%
10%

54%
9%

44%

38%

Source: DealerRater survey of 19,129 consumers who
recently visited a franchised new-vehicle dealership for
service, conducted Dec. 19-31

ROUNDUP
Dealer Tire acquires Dent Wizard
The January acquisition of Dent Wizard by Dealer Tire, supplier of
millions of tires each year to dealership service departments, has created one of the leading aftersales dealer services platform in North America. Dent Wizard provides automotive reconditioning services and vehicle protection products to about 5,000 new-car dealerships. Terms of
the deal were not disclosed.

Changes at the top at Dealer-FX

Service technology provider Dealer-FX has elevated COO Bill Lucchini to the CEO role, replacing founder Gary Kalk who announced in January he was leaving that role to become executive chairman, effective
immediately.
Lucchini joined Dealer-FX in July 2019 from a global cybersecurity
firm, where he was senior vice president and general manager.

Uber, myKaarma team up on rides for customers
Dealership service departments using myKaarma software can now
use the platform to arrange rides with Uber for its customers. For dealerships, this could potentially cut the cost of shuttle services, decrease
reliance on loaner vehicles and reduce customer wait times.
The integration among the myKaarma and Uber platforms enables
communication between the transportation manager, the driver, and
the customer, and provides service advisers real-time ETAs keep them
connected with their customers.

Reduce tire changing and
balancing times by 25%
Fully automatic Revolution with Walkaway operation:
™

% Autonomous bead breaking & demounting performed
without operator
% Eliminate experience gap between techs
% Simplify training

FEBRUARY 2020

PAGE 19

Fixed Ops Journal - February 2020

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