Preventing Waiting Lines and Frustration in the Service Department

Every holiday season, I am amazed at how much time I spend waiting in lines. Have you ever thought about what you could do with all that lost time? Do you know how long you spend on average waiting in lines? More importantly, do you know how long your customers stand in lines waiting for service?

A survey conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation found that one-third of Americans get frustrated after waiting in line for 10 minutes or less. In fact, 33 percent will make the most out of waiting in line by bringing other things to do. Perhaps this mentality is why more than half of Americans take the stairs instead of waiting for an elevator.

With time being a precious commodity to customers, take a look around your dealership and identify sources of delays. You will see many examples. Customers are waiting to be written up at check in or to pick up their finished car; also technicians are waiting for cars, parts, and authorization and advisors are waiting for parts quotes. The list goes on and on.

For many dealers, time is a key revenue-generating commodity. Yet, time not only makes money, but can also cost you money. In any given business day, we only have a set amount of time to interact with customers and that amount is reduced the longer a customer stands in line.

Leverage Inbound and Outbound Calls

Consumers today demand convenience and expediency. Does your service department meet expectations? Let’s look at inbound phone calls. A large volume of the calls into a dealership result from customers calling for service updates. Review your phone process. How much time do customers wait for the service or parts department to answer? Do you have direct phone numbers for each department? Is there an employee identified to answer the calls? While a computerized phone systems can help pass the time for a customer it cannot replace a caring, empathetic human on the other end.

To reduce hold times, have advisors make routine update calls to customers. A simple 10 and 2 schedule can work well. Customers are busy during the day and easily sidetracked worrying about their vehicle. Make outbound status calls at 10am and 2pm to each service customer. Even a simple message indicating that “we have no additional news and we will call again” will put customers at ease during the day. It shows them that you care and are responsible with their investment. It also frees them to plan their afternoon appropriately instead of waiting for the “important call from the dealership.” Use technology whenever possible to increase efficiencies and effectiveness. This also applies to email.

Set Appointments to Reduce Lines

As customers arrive to drop off their vehicles, be prepared for the visit. Setting service appointments and documenting repair requests prior to the visit will help expedite check in. While setting the appointment, verify the customer’s complaints and circumstances. Proper documentation not only streamlines the write up process, but it also helps to increase the technician’s diagnosis time. Often out-of-stock parts needed can be identified and ordered ahead of time – saving the customer and dealership time. While setting the appointment take the time to review the customer’s vehicle history and make recommendations. By using this approach, customers are given time to evaluate the need and budget for the suggested repairs. Up-selling maintenance to a customer is much easier to do in advance of a visit than on the day of the service visit when he or she is pressed for time.

Pre-write Repair Orders

Try pre-writing repair orders to reduce waiting lines at check in. Having pre-written orders enables advisors to meet customers at the car and complete the review process and obtain necessary signatures. However, the success of this approach comes down to your shop’s capacity and throughput levels.

In order to determine your capacity, calculate how long a repair order takes to write. Use your DMS or manually track the print times of your repair orders during the morning crunch time and then average the times. If the average is 8 – 10 minutes then my recommendation would be to separate appointments by 15 minutes to allow for additional administrative tasks. When defining your “effective” write up process, remember to include time to capture additional concerns, inspect the condition of the vehicle and build rapport with the customer.

Additionally, when your advisors schedule repairs for “waiters”, have them stager the customers by one hour per advisor to keep an even flow through the shop. This will help reduce the bottleneck for technicians and advisors. To help pass time for the waiting customer, consider showing an appropriate movie or TV channel or providing Internet connectivity in the customer lounge.

Expedite Invoicing

Being prepared for the customer’s visit also applies to the delivery of the finished vehicle. Most service departments experience an end-of-day rush when technicians are finishing jobs and customers are picking up vehicles. Rush times often are a point of pain for customers waiting for invoices. Work with your advisors to document details about each repair order. The more information entered prior to customers’ arrival will expedite the invoicing process.

Payment alternatives present another area of opportunity. If lines consistently form at the cashier window, consider options to reduce it. Just as airlines have developed express lines for travelers, consider offering an express check out that allows a customer to review and pay for the invoice prior to their arrival. Express lines should be a must for any customer which has a zero balance on the invoice. When the customer arrives at the dealership, he or she simply signs the invoice and can be on their way.

Reduce Employee Waiting

In the average week, how much time do your employees lose waiting around for needed parts, repair orders or information? My guess…hours. Reducing wait times in the shop helps increase employee productivity and moral. Most DMS systems have email capabilities or electronic alerts. Use these electronic tools to save time and expedite departmental communications. If the parts counter is notified of needs in advance, parts can be pre-pulled and delivered to technicians. Everyone wins in this approach because it enables the technician to produce additional hours and help sell additional parts. Service advisors also win because more vehicles will be repaired in a day and customers are happier because wait times are a non-issue.

By decreasing waiting at the parts counter by 3-5 minutes per car, your shop can gain two or more hours per week. With this gain, your team can handle more cars and increase service revenues and profits.

In conclusion, reducing lines is a challenge for all dealers. By employing a systematic approach to operational improvements, you can bring about profitable returns on your investment in both revenues and customer satisfaction.