Customer Service

[SHARRIS]

How many Automobile Dealerships are starting to serve only the customer at the service desk?
How many write internal work away from the service desk say as another business?
And is quick and light work another book of business to be wrote up away from the main service desk?

[tkeery]

We are writing customers at our Nissan store at the desk. At Cadillac, we are still at the car, but with a pre-write.

[GreggT67]

At the first dealership I worked at, we had a separate "get ready" RO printer in the back office for all the RO's the sales department would right for new and used car deliveries. It worked well having a separate person doing the internal billing and a person who ran the new car get ready department.

[Douglas George]

At our seven stores, we write all Ro's at the service advisors desk. The sales managers at each location used to open their own RO's for used vehicle inspections and PDI's, but they were never good about getting the car and keys to service, nor were they helpful at closing RO's. In the interest of control and accountability, we write all RO's at the service desk.

[Kevin Kavanagh]

We have worked with a number of dealers trying to improve the process of opening RO's. We have a number of stores that will have the new or used car manager open their own RO's. You need a couple of things to make this work. Having a "dedicated ASM" to handle the RO's after they have been sent to service is usually one of them. In addition you should be using the automated PO features of your system to keep track of the dollars. You should also have the estimating features turned on in service as it allows for better communications between the departments on the costs being added to the RO's.

As you can see this all part of a process of handling the RO, paperwork and handling the customer. By properly using your in-house system as part of a team wide process, this can be successful.

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[MARY SHERICK]

AT OUR CADILLAC/OLDS/BMW STORES WRITE-UP IS HANDLED BY THE SERVICE ADVISORS IN THE SERVICE LANE FOR CUSTOMERS. IT DOES NOT MATTER WHETHER THE REPAIR IS CUSTOMER PAY, WARRANTY, OR INTERNAL. IF THE CUSTOMER BRINGS IN THE VEHICLE, THE SERVICE ADVISOR HANDLES IT. IF THE VEHICLE IS A NEW VEHICLE INSPECTION, THE SALES SECRETARY GENERATES THE ORDER FROM THE DELIVERY RECEIPT. THESE SHE KEEPS IN A STACK TRAY ON HER DESK. SHE MARKS ALL SOLD ORDER VEHICLE REPAIR ORDERS TO INDICATE TOP PRIORTY. SHE HAS THE SERVICE MANAGER SIGN THEM, THEN GIVES THEM TO THE TECH. WHEN HE IS DONE, HE TURNS THE RO IN TO THE INVOICER. FOR USED CAR INTERNALS, WE HAVE A SEPERATE SERVICE AREA, WITH A SEPERATE WRITER. NEW CAR INTERNALS ARE WRITTEN BY ADVISORS, AFTER OBTAINING AN AUTHORIATION FROM THE SALES MANAGER. THE ONLY EXCEPTION TO THIS SYSTEM IS OUR BMW CENTER. ALL BMW REPAIR ORDERS ARE WRITTEN BY THE WRITER. AS FOR TRACKING OPEN RO'S, R AND R AND ADP BOTH HAVE REPORTS THAT WILL TELL YOU EVERY OPEN RO IN YOUR STORE, HOW MUCH MONEY IS ON IT, AND EVEN WHO WROTE IT. IF YOUR OFFICE STAFF AND SERVICE MANAGER CANNOT RUN IT, CALL YOUR DSP AND ASK FOR THE EXECUTABLE. THE R AND R REPORT FOR RO'S WITH MONEY ON THEM IS 3613.

[Garry House]

It depends on why you are asking the question. If you are having a problem with Customer R.O. "Quality" (Hrs. and Parts Sales per R.O.) or if you are having a problem with Customer Satisfaction (wait times, car not ready when promised) then you may wish to segregate Internal and Quick-Service Write-up, and maybe also the technical function as well. Typically we find that, if the client-dealer's "Main Shop" can be filled with Non-Competitive Customer-Paid and Warranty Work, it is best to Segregate Internal and Quick-Service. Primary Advice: Identify the "True" Problem BEFORE trying to decide on any Solutions!