Fixed Ops Journal - February 2021 - F18

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

CENTER OF ATTENTION

Service-only BDC aims to grow business via outreach, efficiency
hen veteran fixed operations
director Nick Latino joined
Parkway Toyota in November
2020, he set two priorities -
grow service volume at least 25 percent and
gain efficiency. The best way to achieve these,
Latino felt, was to establish a service department-only business development center.
" The service department BDC is the backbone of the service department, " says Latino,
60, from his office at the Englewood Cliffs,
N.J., dealership.
From his desk, he can see the service reception and customer waiting areas. Likewise,
customers can see Latino behind his desk -
when he is not out circulating.
" I like to let customers know we're there to
do the right thing for them, " he said.
The BDC handles inbound customer calls
for things such as service appointments, and
also initiates calls, emails and text messages to
drum up business from customers who, for
instance, declined recommended service on
their last visit.

Making contact
Previously, employees who worked in the
dealership's business development center
served multiple departments and wore many
hats, including file clerk.
" There were people making calls, but it was
not a dedicated service BDC, " Latino says.
For now, the new service BDC occupies a
windowless conference room that was used
for training. There are three employees, and
Latino hopes to add two more.
" We service about 80 cars per day. My goal is
to get it closer to 100 or better per day, " Latino
says. The service BDC is an important tool to
get there, he says, especially by maintaining
contact with existing customers.

Customer retention
" Research shows that after 36,000 miles,
people start to defect, " Latino says. " My job is
to keep them from defecting. " The Toyota
brand is helping by providing free service visits to new-vehicle buyers for services such as
oil changes, tire rotations and multipoint inspections for the first two years or 25,000
miles of ownership.
" Everything starts with a purchase, new or

PAGE 18

FEBRUARY 2021

Nick Latino set out to create a service-department-only
BDC when he arrived at Parkway Toyota. He is flanked
by BDC Manager Nadia Cruz, left, and Dithi Shreya.

JIM HENRY

foj@autonews.com

" Research shows that
after 36,000 miles, people
start to defect. My job is
to keep them from
defecting. "
NICK LATINO, Parkway Toyota

used, " Latino says. " They get a welcome letter
from the service department, and we make
the first service appointment for them, for five
months out - five months after the purchase
- and then after that appointment, for 12
months. "

More work, shorter hours
Early in the pandemic, Parkway Toyota cut
back its service hours for lack of business. It is
open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday,
and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Before the coronavirus hit, service was available until 8 p.m.
on weeknights.
Latino decided to stick with the shorter
hours he inherited, even though business has
recovered a lot and pandemic-related restrictions in New Jersey aren't as tight as they were
in the spring.
" Even though we shortened our hours,
we've still been able to satisfy customer needs.
You have to be efficient, " he says.
The dealership has 15 flat-rate technicians,

plus three express-service teams of two technicians each. Latino says he is constantly
looking to hire more techs - both experienced and entry-level.
Despite his desire to add techs, Latino says
he is not sure service traffic will return to normal levels anytime soon.
" People are not commuting as much,
they're not driving the same miles, they don't
need service as often, " he says. " With the pandemic, people have realized - the customers,
and we have, too - that there's more to life
than working these long hours. "

Location, location, location
Parkway Toyota is on the main commercial
strip in Englewood Cliffs, directly across the
Hudson River from New York City. The New
Jersey end of the George Washington Bridge is
nearby.
The proximity to New York attracts a lot of
corporate headquarters to the small, upscale,
suburban city. It's not exactly automobile row,
but there are other dealerships in the neighborhood, including a Chrysler-Jeep-DodgeRam store next door. Headquarters for Ferrari
North America Inc. is right down the street.
LG Electronics' new North American headquarters is across the road from Parkway Toyota. For now, LG employees are working remotely because of the pandemic, but Latino is
already thinking about prospecting for customers when the building reopens.
" There are bound to be some Toyota owners
over there, right? " he says. 

Fixed Ops Journal - February 2021

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