Digital Dealer - October 2017 - 43

By Ed Kovalchick
CEO and Founder,
Net Profit Inc.

// Fixed Operations

The Service
Reception
Process Revealed
- Jaw Dropping
Sorry, just had to do
that in my current
aggravated state - yellow
journalism headlines
everywhere - YUK.
Sit or stand? That is
a pertinent question for
both customers and assistant service managers
(writers). Should the ASM
be standing at his or her
desk with the computer
(or partially seated in a
tall chair or sitting down
at a traditional desk)?
Should the customer be
seated across form the
ASM during some part
of the reception process,
or should they remain
standing? What are the
positives and negatives of
these alternative scenarios? Why is any answer
worth wrangling over?
WHO'S THE DADDY?

I get a sad chuckle
out of some of the newly
designed service department reception digs. Opulent private office space,
sit-down desks and chairs
for both the ASM and
the customer; or maybe
an on-going too-narrow

counter well behind some
nebulous glass wall with
an inadequate number of
man doors, in an obnoxiously loud environment,
far from the vehicle in
question. I have even witnessed newly designed
no-glass walls or windows, blinds, and doors
which can't be propped
open. In fact, I have
had too many "What the
hell?" moments viewing
some ill-trained, unknowledgeable so-called
architect's (or not) idea
of the reception's actual
function or lack thereof.
Consequently, rather than
the facility working for the
staff, the staff works for
the facility or around it in
any event. Sometimes,
tens of thousands of
dollars are lost over just
a few months as a result.
Who's the Daddy here?
Old-time dealer facilities generally featured
a garage door(s) facing
the main street entrance
and the reception process
often took place in the
shop, right in the aisle. Air

tools were used sparingly,
if available, and the noise
wasn't a major factor.
Later separate drive lanes
became fashionable,
most just before the shop
entrance, and still a part
of the open space. Since
daily on-going communication among the ASM
staff, parts, dispatch, and
technicians was vital to
highly profitable production results, locating
everything close at hand
made the most sense.

DON'T NEED NO
STINKIN' VEHICLES

Moving forward, the
service reception process
to some who obviously
never participated, morphed into a more segregated environment, and
the vehicle was essentially removed as the primary
access point. Offices or
off-entry areas became
gathering sites for customers, and even with
elaborate and expensive
service drive add-ons,
many still parked outside
and walked in, seeking
someone, or anyone, to

help them. Without proper
instructional signage,
customer education, and
appropriate greeters, the
drive lanes were often
empty and customers
then perceived they were
to get processed at some
type of isolated desking
or office area. Some
drives became more like
parking lots than busy
reception areas.
All the while vehicles
themselves became less
and less the center of the
transaction, replaced by
multiple forms of computer-generate-type-fed
software and mountainous (almost not understandable) paperwork.
Even actual vehicle mileage became guesswork
by the consumer. The
invented and basically
useless "customer states"
became the mantra of
the description, supplying
very little actual detail for
the dumbfounded tech
trying to locate an uncommon noise, drivability,
trouble light, handling
issue or the like. Worse
yet, amateurs were hired
by the buck load for the
processing, compounding
the entire unfortunate
circumstance.
WHAT'S THE POINT
PABBY?

What are the goals /
objectives / intentions
for constructing a proper
service reception area?
Fundamentally, the reception process and related
facility design should fea-

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

Continued on pg. 44
OCTOBER 2017

43
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - October 2017
