Fixed Ops Journal - February 2021 - F19

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

SET UP FOR SUCCESS

Podiums, open desks help connect to service-drive customers

ALEX KWANTEN
foj@autonews.com

ven before COVID-19, service customers wanted speed and convenience, and dealers were struggling
to give it to them. One reason: Their
facilities were already crowded.
Extended hours or facility upgrades can alleviate cramped spaces, but it helps to look at
the entire end-user experience holistically,
says Ryan Stancill, a principal at Praxis3 architects, of Atlanta. Good customer experiences,
he says, are the result of " focusing on efficiency and aligning business processes with better
layouts. "
Nicer lounges and more bays help, but experience improvements are made in the intake and checkout processes, which form first
and last impressions.
" Many popular-brand dealers want to put
service advisers right on the drive, " Stancill says,
as it speeds the intake process and removes
roadblocks to doing proper inspections.
Manufacturers have historically wanted advisers in air-conditioned spaces, as they're
more comfortable for customers and boost
adviser productivity. But those locations are
often set apart from the drive-up area in older
shops, creating a barrier and extra steps. Busy
customers don't necessarily want to walk into
the building to find somebody to help them.
One way to make all parties partly happy is
another relatively new trend: fully enclosed
drives with high-speed doors. " That means
you can air-condition the whole drive, " Stancill says. The downside is that customers see
closed doors from afar.
Once customers are greeted by advisers,
Stancill says, there are differing approaches to
setting up physical space for their journeys.
" Generally, premium cars have slower and
more intimate processes for interacting with
customers, " leading to more officelike setups
at luxury brand stores. Mass-market brands,
however, need a combination of speed and
customer care.
A growing number of dealers, Stancill says,
are using podiums and open-plan desks so advisers can show customers the full process of
putting together their repair order on a screen.
" I've learned that selling from behind the
desk puts a wall between you and the customer, " says Robert Luongo, service director at
Boniface Hiers Kia in Melbourne, Fla.

Boniface Hiers Kia's
stand-up desks allow
advisers to show
customers their screens.

Faster and better

Robert Luongo, service director at Boniface Hiers Kia in Melbourne, Fla., says there are
ways to speed throughput and improve customer interactions even in a constrained
footprint.
 Measure customer interactions and processes in 15-minute increments to make
everyone aware how much time is being spent on each.
 Move pre-delivery inspection and reconditioning work to the end of the day, or to an
extended shift when the service department is closed, to prioritize customer-pay work.
 Condense selling additional services to a single ask, preferably after an inspection
and estimate have been done.
 Promote service pickup and delivery to stagger the times when vehicles arrive,
cutting down on the morning rush.
 Encourage advisers to work together and close tickets regardless of who initiated
them to speed customer checkout.
 Include shop supplies and other small, extraneous costs in the overall invoice to
simplify the transaction.

Last November, the dealership moved to a
new facility with a two-lane drive and open-plan
desks facing the drive behind a glass barrier.
" They can immediately see a customer, and
if they're busy, the customer can immediately
see them, " Luongo says.
In the changeover, the dealership switched
to stand-up desks where customers can be
greeted and monitors can swivel.
" If you can be next to them and show them
exactly what you're talking about, including
taking them out to the shop, if possible, that's
going to build a bond with the customer and
make them feel like they're on a level playing
field, " Luongo says.
Though the facility is still new, the results

were immediate. " On the first four business
days of December, we were able to process a
little over 100 more customer-pay tickets than
we did on those same days in 2019, " he says.
Those tickets also were more valuable.
" We've seen an increase of two-tenths of an
hour per repair order in the new facility, " he adds,
despite having raised prices with the move.
Luongo feels that easier and faster service
experiences for customers will be even more
of a market differentiator in the future.
" We already see fewer major repairs than we
used to, and we'll soon have a line of EVs, " he
says. " The more efficient you are at capturing
the services people need, the more of them
you'll get. " 

FEBRUARY 2021

PAGE 19

Fixed Ops Journal - February 2021

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