We at RedCap were struck recently by a comment from Max Folliard, CEO of Carmax, in his recent earnings conference call to investors:

“We want to keep making sure that our customers have a great experience, regardless of how they interact with CarMax. It could be from a desktop, it could be from a mobile device, a tablet, or in the store and we are very focused on making the transition from their digital experience to the store simple and seamless so that the experience they have online matches up with the experience that they have in the store.” (Emphasis added.)

RedCap lives in that space, the bridge between digital infinity and the bricks and mortar of auto dealerships. This space – perhaps no longer a chasm but still a divide – is being filled aggressively by companies that will change the nature of auto retailing.

The availability and quality of information on vehicles is no longer surprising. With the click of a button (or an audible command to Siri), a customer in market for a car can: search available inventory across the country from their mobile phone and test drive the car at a nearby dealership; read technical analyst reports and individual customer reviews; compare prices by matching cars upgrade by upgrade from across the country; figure out dealer margins and reasonable sales commissions; and determine for themselves which car at what price is right for them before ever stepping into their friendly neighborhood auto dealership.

Seriously? So what? This is so 2014. It’s just basic information, totally not blog worthy. The customer still has to come into the dealership to drive out in their newly purchased vehicle, right? The dealer offers test drives, arranges financing, collects taxes, handles registration, appraises and manages vehicle trade-ins, provides factory warrant service, handles recalls. There is still massive value added by the dealership.

But that digital divide is quickly narrowing. Dealerships blind to online customer experience will be face slapped in due time.

So what’s a dealer to do? The answer is to bridge your digital experience one step at a time. (Permit us one indulgence to humbly submit a brand whose dealers we believe will have soar cheeks: Volvo Looks For U.S. Sales Boost With Showroom Makeovers.)

While RedCap’s platform bridges this divide by offering a number of out-of-store experiences, we’ll only focus on just one in this blog-- test drives -- since the disparity between the digital and the real world experiences are still a chasm.

While Autoblog’s user-controlled 360 degree view of the interior and exterior of a vehicle is cool, it certainly is not a test drive. The customer does not click the key chain button to start the car, sit in plush leather seats, listen to the surround sound system, play with the memory seat controls, feel the torque to 60 mph in seconds, accelerate through turns with stability, brake on a dime. And, oh mama, that new car smell. None of this is happening online.

So what’s missing in our proposition? Customers need to come to the dealership for this experience, right? No sir, not at all. How about bridging the online and dealership divide by allowing a customer to click on a button and have their test drive delivered to their doorstep?

Picture this: Customer clicks on a social media advertisement or a link in an email and is taken to a web reservation page where they select among new car models to take for a test drive. They fill in (a) some basic contact information date, (b) date, time and location of where they want their car delivered, and (c) driver license information. They click send, and shazam, said vehicle arrives at the appointed time and place for a 30 minute test drive.

This can be done today, not some far off day in the future with self-driving cars.

Uber and a luxury OEM recently teamed up to offer free rides in the backseat of a newly redesigned 2016 luxury vehicle. Granted the partnership was only for 8 hours in four cities (unless the partnership was a success and then presumably it will continue), but still, strange bedfellows indeed. Let’s take a look.

In one corner we have Uber (established 2009, $50 billion valuation) whose CEO, Travis Kalanick, has a stated corporate mission of ending car ownership and turning personal transportation into a utility. When Uber launched, its goal was to become "Everyone's private driver." Now it's transportation “as reliable as running water, everywhere for everyone."

In the other corner we have a 100 year old luxury OEM with a similar valuation, manufacturer of some of the best engineered products in mankind’s history, and one of the most respected brands in the world.

We won’t get into whether Kalanick’s vision is feasible, or the economics of ride sharing vs. car ownership, or even the wisdom of the (short term) partnership. We understand the benefits to both companies. Uber gets to promote its brand alongside a luxury OEM implying that ride sharing is good even for the affluent market, not to mention capturing some of the OEMs well-heeled customers. We’re not entirely sure what the benefit is of asking loyal customers to download a ride sharing App. Ostensibly, the OEM believes there is value in getting its soon-to-be released luxury automobile into the hands of prospective customers to experience – not a test drive, since they are sitting in the back seat of the car – that new car smell and the back seat. And let’s be real, for the subject luxury vehicle it is one delicious scent and may indeed inspire sales. No, we want to explore the message the partnership sends to the market, especially franchise dealerships.

Underlying Uber’s tagline is Kalanick’s dream and stated corporate mission to “make car ownership a thing of the past”. He tweeted:

"Our intention is to make Uber so efficient, cars so highly utilized that for most people it is cheaper than owning a car."

Here’s another Kalanick quote from an interview at the 2014 Code Conference in Southern California when talking about self-driving cars:

"The reason Uber could be expensive is because you're not just paying for the car, you're paying for the other dude in the car. . . .  So the magic there is you basically bring the cost below the cost of ownership for everybody, and then car ownership goes away."

Stated bluntly, Uber is anti-automobile industry. Uber wants to turn transportation into a commodity, as free flowing, as ubiquitous and as bland as water. Kalanick could care two wits about the beauty of the automobile, the freedom it affords, the individuality it symbolizes. Car ownership is inconsequential in his future. You don’t need to own one of these machines, just hail it, push a button and it’s there. Get in, go, get out.

Even worse for the OEM than partnering with an anti-auto industry heavyweight is the message teaming with Kalanick sends about drivers of cars, whether they are Uber drivers or the cargo they transport. It’s not about the car, nor is it even about the “dudes” in the car. Uber cares about efficiency, economy and utility. Granted Kalanick’s quote about “dudes” is in the context of the driverless automobile but the point remains. Uber stands for nothing but faceless convenience.

The messaging it sends to luxury car owners, and to the people in their lives, couldn’t be more awkward. Luxury automobiles are all about individuality, distinction and emotion. The whole purpose of owning a luxury vehicle is to make you FEEL special. You don’t even have to drive the car, just get in it and you feel good (again, that new car smell).  You could be sitting in your kitchen, and the car could be parked in your driveway, and you still feel special. Of course high line OEMs want people to buy their cars, and teaming with Uber could perhaps advance that goal in the very short term. But luxury buyers  don’t purchase expensive cars just to get from point A to point B, they pay for luxury because it is manna for the soul.

Few and far between is the pairing of messages and symbolism this contradictory. But so what? Why does this matter and who should be concerned? Getting customers in the new model is the important thing... right?  They’ll experience the car, and they’ll want to buy one. Not so fast.

Other than the contradictory message it sends to the market, the partnership matters because the OEM bypasses their real partners, the franchise dealers. Instead of summoning a car through a faceless app to take a ride in the backseat, why not give the opportunity to show off the vehicle – AND EVERTHING THAT COMES STANDARD WITH THIS VEHICLE, SUCH AS COMPLIMENTARY SERVICE VALET – to a real salesperson or product specialist from a real franchise where the car will likely be purchased. Not only will the branding stay consistent, but the OEM would be delivering a much more appropriate, if not the quintessential message, to prospective customers: “We care about you -- your safety, your time and happiness. We drive to you.”  Not some Uber Dude who really could care less about the experience as long as he gets his pay.

OEMs should give the opportunity to the hard working folks at the franchisees to provide the experience. Definitely not Uber which is trying to demolish the industry in the long run.

It seems easy: a clean, fueled and available loaner vehicle parked in the lot; a service advisor who understands the value of excellent customer service; an employee with spare time; and a customer with no spare time.

Why not save the customer a time-consuming trip to the dealership by delivering a loaner to them and bringing their car in for service? All the elements are there for the taking, and all the industry statistics suggest customers desperately want this:

     ►  J.D Power Survey: 35 point (3.5%) average increase in CSI for customers using pick-up and delivery

     ►  DrivingSales Survey: 56% of customers said they would buy cars more often if the experience at the dealership were better

     ►  RedCap RESULTS: More than 70% of customers use pick-up and delivery when offered (with an average of 20% in additional RO value for customers who use pick-up and delivery but that’s a different blog post on the DrivingSales website, "Psychology of Service Valet and the RO Value Increase"). 

It’s the old cliché’: If it was so easy, everyone would be doing it. Before going it alone, consider some of the things we’ve perfected with our Uber-like platform that delivers personalized out-of-store experiences:

     1.  How do you communicate the offer, not to mention the logistics of the transaction, with the customer? Over the phone when taking an appointment? By email, text, postcard? When they’re already in the store?

     2.  How do you route the order to a driver? And what happens if they are not available? Is the customer left hanging out in the wind?

     3.  How do you deliver instructions to the drivers that are specific and unique to the customer and their relationship with you?

     4.  How are you going to collect driver’s license, insurance and credit card information before releasing the loaner? Are they stored in a secured place? (Someday, we’ll blog about the service advisor who was stealing customer credit card information and the six figures in restitution it cost the dealership. We won’t disclose names, of course.)

     5.  Does the loaner paperwork need to be signed? Does the driver need to confirm the identity of the person taking control of the loaner? What if that person is the customer’s spouse or employee?

     6.  What happens if a driver gets lost driving to the customer location and will be late for the drop-off time? Does she call the service advisor to get directions? Does the driver call the customer to notify her that delivery will be late?

     7.  How do you track your driver and make sure they are executing the trip as efficiently as possible?

     8.  Are your drivers driving safely? Are they texting and driving? What happens if they get into a fender bender? A serious accident?

     9.  What happens if the customer is not on location at the time of the pick-up or drop-off? What if the location is in a downtown area, how is the driver going to handle parking and the key exchange at a high rise office building?

     10.  Do you want just any employee delivering a loaner vehicle? What if the customer doesn’t recognize the driver? Are they going to turn over their keys to someone they don’t know?

     11.  How do you coordinate a consistent service across all service advisors? Across other functions or departments, such as the BDC, loaner desk and cashier?

     12.  What’s the ROI? Are you considering loaner turn time in the ROI calculation? RO value? Employee efficiency? Are you even able to report on these metrics?

     13.  Is there a service to sale opportunity with pick-up and delivery? What’s the best way to capitalize on it?

These are just some of the issues we’ve thought through before releasing our platform, and some we’ve experienced (unpleasantly) through trial and error. You can benefit from our experience, go it alone, or not offer out-of-store experiences at all. But, without doubt, dealerships will have to grapple with the trend. Consumers want the same level of accommodation and convenience they experience in other aspects of the consumer economy. After all, any consumer item can be purchased in the comfort of your home and delivered to your door step (soon within 30 minutes by drone for many items).

The thought leaders at RedCap spend every waking moment on how to improve the customer experience through a combination of technology, workflows and training. We’re happy to share our knowledge (and even happier to demo our technology or design a pilot for your store). You can stay current by reading our Out-of-Store Experience blog at the DrivingSales website. 

It’s probably getting more mainstream press than any other auto recall in history.

Defects happen, and not just in highly engineered products. But consumer fraud effecting 11 million vehicles worldwide with total cost estimates as high as $87 billion is quite another story altogether. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen, one of the world’s largest companies, resigned in disgrace. (Ironic feature story: How Volkswagen Will Rule The World, Forbes, May 2013).

There’s no need to elaborate on how customers feel. Let’s just make the auto dealership the white knight. Dealers have an opportunity to gain new business and help rehabilitate a damaged OEM brand, but they have to be organized and aggressive.

We outline below a four point action plan targeting highly segmented recall opportunities (e.g. based on, among many factors, (i) size of recall in the dealership’s market service area, (ii) profit margin of recall repair, (iii) shop capacity, and (iv) vehicle ownership longevity and equity) for customers who literally could complete the vehicle recall with no cost, no absence of transportation and no hassle whatsoever. (Read this blog post to learn how our action plan includes an 18% revenue lift on each RO.)

Usually, getting customers into the store takes a lot of money and effort. In the face of a recall, customers are “supposed to” bring their car into the store to get repaired.  If handled well, there is an opportunity to upsell other service while the car is in the shop. Nothing novel here, but don’t move on just yet.

If handled extraordinarily well there is not only additional revenue in the upsell but an opportunity to conquest new customers who take advantage of the recall and have a likelihood of purchasing a new car. Consider these statistics in the Automotive Warranty & Recall Report 2015: Road Map for a New Era:

1.    According to the study, completion rates for recalls are effected by a number of factors, which can be used to segment a discrete recall market best suited for your dealership:

      ►   Component Part: Completion rates for powertrain, steering and engine component parts are higher than completion rates for structural components, air bags, lighting, and speed control. This statistic ties in with the alarming finding that nearly 90 percent of the U.S. vehicles recalled because of faulty Takata air bags were not fixed as of the end of 2014, according to NHTSA.

      ►  Vehicle Age: Completion rates for recalls involving older vehicles are generally lower, sometimes significantly.

      ►   Recall Size: Completion rates for larger recalls (>100,000 units) are often approximately 5-10% lower than for smaller-sized recalls

2.    With intense pressure from lawmakers and government agencies, especially NHTSA, and with the overall increase of recalls in the past few years (record breaking >60 million recalls in 2014 and trending higher in 2015) OEMs are seeking to improve on the industry recall completion rate of 70% to 80%. While this percentage sounds positive, it still means there are millions of defective vehicles on the road. In fact, a study by Carfax, Inc. estimated that 46 million vehicles had unfixed defects at the end of 2014 which represents 46 million opportunities for dealers or nearly 3,000 per franchised dealer.

3.    There’s one more aspect, albeit obvious, that bears on our action plan. The information in the report is based on at least 6 quarters of data. Not all consumers bring their vehicle in for recall service immediately upon announcement. In the best case scenario, it takes at least 18 months for the most successful recalls to reach the limits (70% to 80%) of consumers who will take advantage of the recall repair. The graph below illustrates this point based on vehicles that have reached the three year tipping point where the widest disparity of completion rates was found.

There are many other nuggets of information in the recall reports and analysis that we will explore in our forthcoming white paper on the subject. But let’s take what we have now and bullet-point an action plan.

1.  Identify a Refined Market Opportunity: There is a clear opportunity for dealerships to segment a market opportunity based on (a) OEM franchise, (b) availability of recall parts, (c) size of recall market opportunity in the dealership’s market service area, (d) profit margin of recall repair, (e) shop capacity taking into consideration availability of technicians and component parts, and (f) customer’s ownership longevity and ownership equity. There are plenty of other factors that can be taken into consideration to refine the market opportunity. Keep in mind the opportunity is so large that the challenge is not size of the opportunity but the narrowing into a highly refined target market based on your dealership’s specific capabilities.

2.  Implement a Multi-Channel Target Marketing Campaign: Don’t rely on the OEM to inform consumers of the recall and their rights. The report states that the methods OEMs use to reach out to consumers lags substantially behind consumer media consumption:

“dramatic changes in how people receive and process information illustrate why OEMs need to rethink their outreach model: (a) first-class mail volume has decreased from 98.1 billion in 2005 to 63.6 billion in 2014, (b) newspaper circulation has plummeted over the years, (c) about 58 percent of adults own a smartphone and 42 percent own tablets, (d) an estimated 74 percent of adults use social networking sites.”

3.  Deliver a “To Good To Be True” Message: Inform your market segment of the recall, explain the scope of the repair, and obviously let them know that the manufacturer picks up the tab. They will have no cost in the transaction. And the best is yet to come.

4.  Exploit the RedCap Secret Sauce: From the customer’s perspective, there is no hassle whatsoever in getting the vehicle into the shop for the repair. RedCap software coordinates the pick-up the customer’s vehicle at a time and place of their choosing, exchanges it with a loaner, and returns their vehicle to them and brings the loaner back to the shop, again whenever and wherever they would like. The whole recall takes place without the customer ever leaving their home or office. The consumer literally can complete the vehicle recall with no cost, no absence of transportation and no hassle whatsoever.

The dealership has an opportunity to generate new business from a customer segment that offers opportunity to profit from three possible transactions: (1) the recall service paid for by the OEM, (2) the upsell for other service while the car is in the shop, (3) the sale of a new car to a new customer who has just benefited from an “over the top” customer experience.

Here is just one example of the dealership becoming the white knight by taking advantage of what many would mistakenly consider to be a relatively obscure opportunity that could yield extraordinary results. A Honda dealership markets a “no cost, no hassle whatsoever” recall repair to customers subject to the safety risks of the Takata air bag recall (literally millions of vehicles in need of recall repair). The dealership narrows the target market to prime candidates for the sale of a new car based on ownership longevity (vehicle > 3 years not under warranty) and vehicle equity (new car financing available with an equal or less than current monthly payment). At the same time, the dealership prepares shop capacity – technician and parts and parts availability -- to manage the flow of business efficiently.

Results: Unsafe vehicle off the road. Customer serviced with no cost, no hassle. OEM reputation rehabilitated. Service department benefits from regular flow of high profit transactions.  Dealership sales personnel served up highly qualified leads.

Kapow: Who is the white knight here? Be Driven.

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Why do customers who do not visit the dealership spend 18% more on auto service? Evidence and armchair psychology support our analysis.

I recently published a case study about the effects of service pick-up and delivery (service valet) on loaner turn time.  You can read the paper . (Spoiler alert: Loaner turn time was reduced by approximately 1.2 days, or over 40%.)

The study had a few other gems.  Among them, analysis showed customers who used service valet had RO values 18% higher than those who did not use service valet. Theoretically, these service valet customers  could have had more expensive repairs but that is not likely given the large sample size.

Instead, our longstanding experience shows service valet customers purchase more recommended services. So this begs the question:  

Why do customers who do not visit the dealership spend 18% more on auto service?

Evidence and armchair psychology support our analysis.  Consider the psychology from the customer’s viewpoint.

The dealership saved the customer a few  hours by not requiring them to visit the store to service their car. Result: customer saved time, feels valued.

Customers expecting to wait in the customer lounge for an hour are less likely to purchase additional services if it requires more time at the dealership and less time where they were planning to be (i.e. work, family, golf).

Customers in the comfort of their home or office, with a loaner, have no time constraint and are more likely to say yes to a suggested repair as the car is already at the dealership, the repair is likely needed, and there is little sense is saying No only to bring the car back at a later time.

Many customer segments (females and non-automotive savvy males) are more likely to say no to an “in person” pitch, when the suggested repair is outside the realm of what they were expecting. This is a natural reflex, especially in the automotive sector.

The median annual income of a luxury car owner in the United States is $99,364 or approx. $50/hour. The average luxury car owner would equate two hours of savings to $100. A customer is more likely to make additional purchases if it’s directly connected to a savings or discount in the same transaction.

The pick-up and delivery service sets up the sales concept of reciprocity. Now that the dealership has given the customer something (time, less pressure, more convenience), the customer will feel better about reciprocating.

Is another explanation for the increased RO value that a service advisor could be a better salesperson over the phone? Granted, service advisors like to have a direct (emotional) connection with their customers but there is a valid explanation as to why service advisors who offer pick-up and delivery show higher RO values.

We’ll look at the upsell transaction and service valet from the viewpoint of the service advisor in the next blog post. Stay tuned. Be driven.