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Pick Up Additional Service and Deliver Improved Profits and CSI

Written By: GEORGE GOWEN
POSTED ON October 03, 2019

As a Moderator of NCM 20 Groups, I see and hear great ideas from many dealers. One of my favorite benefits of 20 Group membership, is the ability to share and learn new ideas with proven results from your peers and fellow members. Recently, a dealer presented to the group an idea that dramatically improved their service profits while simultaneously improving their CSI.

Offer Pick-up and Delivery for Service Customers

There are a few universal truths about dealerships, and one of those truths, is that customers don’t want to be in your dealership if they don’t have to. Although all dealers work tirelessly to create the best experience as possible, customers do not want to be there when it is not necessary. It is from this truth that spawned the idea to offer pick-up and delivery. Think about it—if you ask the guests in your lounge if they would prefer to A) bring their vehicle to your dealership or B) have the dealership come pick it up and deliver it back when completed. What do you think they are going to say? You already know the answer. 

After identifying this desire in your customers, ask them what they would pay for this service. Depending on your market, the pricing of this service can vary. The desire for this service, however, is very universal. 

Additional Perks:

  1. It is what customers want. They do not want to spend 2-3 hours bringing their car to your dealership for service. Plus, many customers will need to either rent a car, or schedule an Uber/taxi if they aren’t going to be waiting around the dealership. 

  2. It will help shop productivity. Instead of having the morning rush and slow afternoons, you will be able to control the flow throughout the day. Schedule pick-up and delivery for the times you need to fill the shop.

  3. Eliminates complaints on the time it takes to get vehicles serviced. 

  4. Because there are less people in the dealership waiting on service, you won’t need as many of the premium amenities. This will help reduce the amount of refreshment costs.

  5. If developed correctly, electronic service menus can help Service Advisors sell recommended services easier. I’ve seen these menus produce tremendous results when sent to the guests prior to their scheduled service with dealer/factory recommended maintenance.

  6. Take it up a notch and send the customer a video MPI of their vehicle. Seeing really is believing, and once a customer can physically see the issues on their vehicle, you will see an increase in purchased services.

  7. Utilize electronic invoices to reduce time for guests and service advisors. 

Next, I’m sure the sceptics of this idea already have their big objection: “without service customers in the dealership, aren’t we missing out on showing them our new inventory?” Great question, and I’m happy to say the answer is no. To combat this issue, you can use a dealer-trade driver or Porter to take the customer a new car that’s similar to the one they own, or a loaner car to their home or office and pick theirs up. Office delivery and pick-up is preferred, as this is an additional opportunity to show their co-workers why they should do business with you. 

If the cost of a driver is $10-$15 per hour, and at the most it takes one-hour each way, the total cost is around $30. You can either offer this service for a fee or provide it for free. Additionally, based on the documented results from the dealer running this service, their concierge service tickets will average at least $80-100 higher than service tickets of waiters in the dealership. 

Do The Math

If you provided this service for just 10 customers per day, it would generate an additional $1000 in sales or $600 of fixed gross. If you do not charge for this service, paying a driver $12.50 per hour for 8 hours will cost $100, for a net gain of $500 per day. Take that $500 and multiply it by 22 days a month, and multiply by 12 months, and you can see that this idea provides you with $132,000 in additional gross annually for only 10 concierge customers per day! 

In this age of instant gratification and convenience, businesses need to get onboard or they will get left behind. Which type of dealership do you want to be?