Chandler, AZ – David Swan, Founder of automotive service data provider InteliChek, has launched a new podcast exploring the automotive industry. Hosted by Brandon Barnett, the InteliChek Presents: The Multi-Point Inspection Podcast dives deep into fascinating topics related to the automotive service industry with an entertaining yet investigative approach.

Every episode of InteliChek Presents: The Multi-Point Inspection Podcast brings the listener along for a look inside the industry with current, impactful topics like vehicle electrification, the development of massive automotive campuses, the disruption of mobile repair, and other timely matters. Although the podcast is geared toward automotive professionals in the service industry like managers, directors, and advisors, the format and content are accessible and entertaining for listeners of all backgrounds.

InteliChek founder, David Swan says, “The automotive industry gets a bad rap for being secretive and unapproachable, but more than anything, it’s simply misunderstood. Along with entertaining the listener, our goal is to educate, go deeper into hot topics like the nationwide technician shortage, and talk with people both in the industry and those that interact with it so that listeners get a better understanding of the issues that matter to them.”

The podcast’s host, Brandon Barnett, is a singer-songwriter and producer who resides in Jackson, Tennessee. However, he’s also an auto industry veteran who brings a knowledgeable take on the interviews and conversations for the show with his soothing, melodic Southern voice.

The Multi-Point Inspection Podcast has new episodes releasing monthly on all streaming platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

InteliChek was founded in 1994 and is the leading service data provider for Original Equipment Manufacturers, dealerships, and retailers. A group of automotive-savvy analysts, producers, data collection agents and researchers specialize in delivering world-class automotive service and parts data and promotions to clients within the US and Canada.

Chandler, AZ – David Swan, Founder of automotive service data provider InteliChek, has launched a new podcast exploring the automotive industry. Hosted by Brandon Barnett, the InteliChek Presents: The Multi-Point Inspection Podcast dives deep into fascinating topics related to the automotive service industry with an entertaining yet investigative approach.

Every episode of InteliChek Presents: The Multi-Point Inspection Podcast brings the listener along for a look inside the industry with current, impactful topics like vehicle electrification, the development of massive automotive campuses, the disruption of mobile repair, and other timely matters. Although the podcast is geared toward automotive professionals in the service industry like managers, directors, and advisors, the format and content are accessible and entertaining for listeners of all backgrounds.

InteliChek founder, David Swan says, “The automotive industry gets a bad rap for being secretive and unapproachable, but more than anything, it’s simply misunderstood. Along with entertaining the listener, our goal is to educate, go deeper into hot topics like the nationwide technician shortage, and talk with people both in the industry and those that interact with it so that listeners get a better understanding of the issues that matter to them.”

The podcast’s host, Brandon Barnett, is a singer-songwriter and producer who resides in Jackson, Tennessee. However, he’s also an auto industry veteran who brings a knowledgeable take on the interviews and conversations for the show with his soothing, melodic Southern voice.

The Multi-Point Inspection Podcast has new episodes releasing monthly on all streaming platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

InteliChek was founded in 1997 and is the leading service data provider for Original Equipment Manufacturers, dealerships, and retailers. A group of automotive-savvy analysts, producers, data collection agents and researchers specialize in delivering world-class automotive service and parts data and promotions to clients within the US and Canada.

Working at the service desk or being a customer who brings a vehicle in for maintenance, it’s evident when a service advisor doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Perhaps it’s because I have somewhat technical knowledge of a vehicle’s workings. But I believe that today’s consumers are more educated than the average service advisor gives them credit for. The worst thing a service advisor can do is lose the customer’s trust, and that’s precisely what happens when you sound like you’re speaking from an orifice in your nether region.

Understandably, becoming a service advisor is a profession that pays well where years of education aren’t a prerequisite. But sustaining the career and being successful long-term should involve some training, and this time, I’m not talking about service advisor selling skills or people skills.

Mechanical Knowledge is More Important than You Think

Most trainers in the industry will tell you that you don’t need to know how a car works to be an effective service advisor; that your role is to be a liaison between the customer and the technician. Your main role is keeping the customer up to date on how their visit is progressing and ensuring you can sell as much service work as possible.

While that’s true, it’s difficult – nearly impossible, really – to increase your gross profit amounts and average dollars per RO if you can’t communicate with the customer accurately.

A recent service visit I made was for routine maintenance on my wife’s vehicle. The service advisor went through all their usual upsells that I politely declined. Then they tried to sell me on a transmission service based on mileage, and on the wrong style of transmission. Rather than trying to sell me a drain and refill on a 6-speed automatic, they thought I should have a CVT transmission service. I politely corrected them, plus indicated that they were trying to upsell something at half its lifecycle according to severe use in the owner’s manual.

This is a soft example, sure. But it shows that when a service advisor can’t get the mechanical details correct, the customer isn’t going to buy the service or repair. Consider this hypothetical instance.

A customer comes in for clunking suspension. The tech recommends new front struts due to wear but when the service advisor speaks with the customer, they say the struts are broken. Perhaps they embellish and say the car is unsafe to drive. An alarmed customer would rightly be suspicious since the noise probably slowly progressed, and they’ll go for a second opinion elsewhere. Worse yet, they’ll want to see it on the hoist, and the technician will say something that completely goes against the story the advisor told.

Bottom line: the customer loses trust. I’ve seen it so many times, and one instance will demolish a customer’s relationship with the whole dealership. The solution?

Invest in Mechanical Knowledge

One of the most important things for a service advisor’s ability to do their job is an understanding of the product. One of the best training programs is from ASE.com, and facilities like Universal Technical Institute do a great job preparing service advisors for their job. I’d encourage employers to make mechanical training mandatory within a period of hiring – two years from date of employment, for example.

And after the training is done, service advisors should spend time shadowing technicians in the shop for at least a week, longer is better. This helps them learn more about how a car’s systems work. This way, they can accurately communicate with customers in a more professional way to give your whole dealership a polished look.

Prior to March 2020, service departments virtually all operated the same. Customers pulled their vehicles into the service drive, a service advisor greeted them and performed a walkaround, they either waited for their car or took a shuttle or loaner, then returned when their car was finished to pay.

Almost all of that has turned on its head. At least, for a major segment of service customers. There was little to no thought of sanitation, no hesitation to shake hands, and shared transportation was totally fine. But it’s a different time.

Dealers have the pre-COVID way of doing business in the service department nailed down. But in the new post-COVID era, it won’t work for much of your clientele. How can you meet customer expectations while virus fears are ongoing?

Offer the Opportunity to NOT Visit

Dealers have reported that pickup and drop-off services are being requested more than they expected, especially in areas hit hard by the coronavirus. But it isn’t just because they’re afraid of getting sick – the service is incredibly convenient. Although high-end manufacturers like Lincoln engaged at a brand level previously, it’s an expectation that every dealer from every mainstream brand offers it now as well.

You should offer contactless pickup and drop-off, but also consider sending out mobile technicians. That can increase customer satisfaction even more as they’re not without their cars as long.

Clearly State Sanitation Practices

Previously, your store might’ve had a cleaning checklist on the back of the bathroom doors. Now, customers expect to know how you’re keeping your whole dealership cleaned and sanitized, and how often. Your cleaning regimen for the service department goes beyond because it includes vehicle cleaning too.

On your website and on the entry doors, post a message detailing the steps you’re taking to sanitize the store as well as service customers’ vehicles. This helps everyone feel safe.

Offer Service Department Financing Options

Another expectation now includes making it easy to pay for repair orders. Of course, contactless payment methods are preferred but there are also customers who need important work done that they can’t pay for on the spot.

Partner with a service invoice financing provider to make repairs more accessible to cash-strapped customers. Options like DigniFi are easy to use for both the dealer and the client.

Be Prepared to Change it All Again

At this point, who knows what’s going to happen next? It’s not only possible that there could be further restrictions and social changes during the next six to twelve months of COVID – it’s likely. Be prepared to throw all your progress into a blender and start from scratch.

Customer expectations are evolving rapidly, and your service department can continue to serve them well going forward if you’re willing to adapt on the fly.

Every service department uses multi-point inspections in come capacity. It’s preached constantly that MPIs are the linchpin for upselling opportunities. According to one automotive trainer, just a .2 increase per work order in a shop that writes 500 ROs a month will result in around $7,500 in revenue per month, give or take. Selling just one worn-out set of tires could be $1,000 or more and open the door to additional upselling when the wheels are off. That’s the power of an inspection.

So then, why are MPIs skipped over? Is it just that service advisors are tired of pushing for the sale, or is it because there isn’t enough time in the shop to add extra service work?

Why Multi-Point Inspections are Missed

According to US Sales Director at UVeye, Bob Rich, the reasons that multi-point inspections are left off repair orders are many. “There’s no singular reason, which is why MPI penetration at dealerships is all over the map. It can include factors such as current processes are manual and dealership personnel have a lot of competing demands, current inspection technologies require people to still perform steps to complete the inspection, lack of training, lack of management bandwidth to ensure standards are maintained, a lot of turnover at the service advisor level leads to misses, and even that technicians have a lot on their plate and bay utilization is important – they would rather do ‘big jobs’ instead of little ones.

“For tires specifically, some dealers believe ‘they can't make money in tires’ so the focus isn't there. Lack of inner dealership operating efficiencies - service lane inspections and used car inspections - unless operating processes are efficient, can see multiple people inspect the same car for different reasons, each consuming more time. Current inspection technologies for tires mainly inspect one item. To inspect more aspects of the tires, you need more hardware, and dealers are space constrained.”

From dealership to dealership, excuses are different for missing MPIs on work orders routinely. That makes it extremely hard to identify and fix the issue. What’s almost always the case is it’s a personnel issue.

UVeye’s USA Managing Director, Glenn Hemminger, says, “For both the initial advisor walk-around inspection and the full multi-point inspection performed by the technician, the time required to perform a manual inspection is the biggest factor contributing to missed maintenance and repair needs. Advisors in busy service drives often have just moments to write a new customer up before the next one arrives, and flat-rate technicians earn more income the faster they work, both of which can lead to mechanical and safety issues that are missed or skipped.”

How Do Service Managers Address Inspection Deficiencies?

Since the problem is almost always a concern about time for service staff, it makes it tricky to deal with the situation without changing something. But it has to be dealt with, since missed sales opportunities and poor customer experiences are directly tied to missed inspections.

Hemminger remarks, “The problem impacts the dealer in multiple ways, including lost labor and parts revenue that can amount to tens of thousands per month in unrealized profit, lower customer retention as drivers go elsewhere for service, and even lower CSI scores.”

Rather than accepting the unrealized income for the service department, automation could very well be the solution. Computerized processes powered by AI have helped immensely with customer engagement, and they can with vehicle inspections too. That’s where UVeye specializes.

“Automating vehicle inspections with UVeye technology fixes this by reducing the time to inspect the tires and wheels as well as the underbody to under 10 seconds. By the time the customer steps out of their vehicle the advisor is prepared with objective inspection results that detail the condition and automatically highlight areas of concern, leading to added lines on the repair order and additional revenue, and technicians save time as many of the points on the MPI checklist have been pre-inspected.”

If your dealership struggles to attach a completed MPI checklist to each and every work order, it’s time for a change. Automate the process and you’ll see increased revenue, improved customer retention and satisfaction, and it might just lighten the workload on key positions in the service drive too.

Dealers did a fantastic job of communicating in-store strategies when the pandemic struck, particularly for fixed operations visits. Websites were updated with banners indicating the precautions staff were taking to keep customers safe. Hours were changed to reflect any differences customers should expect.

But have you looked at it since?

If you’re a dealer that’s stayed on top of the COVID messaging on your website, hats off to you. Unfortunately, there are many stores that haven’t been as diligent at it. The yellow banner across the top from March may no longer have accurate information, but there are going to be customers seeing it for the first time.

That’s particularly important for the service department where they might be seeing a customer for the second or third time since the pandemic started. That’s not to say it isn’t crucial for sales or parts – it’s just probably not as frequently accessed for those customers. In any case, keeping your website message updated is an important task.

Is it Really That Important?

Consider this: a new customer wants to know if your hours are the same today as they were in February before all the shutdowns happened. When they consult your banner, they see a message saying your Express Lane is only operating Monday through Friday from 8 to 5, so they take off work early one day to get there. But when they arrive, they discover that Monday and Tuesday evenings the Express Lane is open again, and Saturdays too. They’re now irritated that they took time off work when they didn’t have to.

That’s one example, and you can expound on it for sales and all the other departments. You could seriously upset customers by having incorrect information on your website.

How to Address Your COVID Messaging

As limited as resources can be at times, your COVID approach is time-sensitive. It has to be updated whenever changes are made, and it should be across all channels.

Dealer Website

The obvious changes are on the website. Update your banner to include any recent changes to your COVID policies, not to mention any service expectations the customer might experience. It can be helpful to date when the page or banner was changed last so customers don’t wonder how old the message is. And while you’re at it, why not update your staff lists to accurately reflect who’s still available in the store?

Google and Yelp

Often, customers are accessing your service department’s hours on Google or Yelp. Make sure any channels that direct customers to your location have the right hours of operation listed.

The BDC

Unfortunately, the BDC is often one of the last departments to know when changes happen. Make sure you communicate COVID updates with your team in the BDC so any inbound and outbound callers get the right info. No one wants an appointment booked after hours, right?

Create Videos

There’s a ton of value in creating short videos to display on the website to tell customers what you’re doing in the service drive and in the shop to keep them safe. Here’s where you can say who will be wearing masks, if masks are mandatory, and what safety measures are implemented. Again, make sure the video is updated whenever changes happen in the dealership.

The resiliency and adaptability of the auto industry is amazing. Dealers have been doing a great job so far, and ensuring COVID information is updated only serves to improve the customer experience and build trust.

The auto industry has always been resilient through challenging times, mainly because of the people. It’s an industry that you just can’t keep down. Second-quarter earnings calls from many of the publicly traded dealer groups showed as much with earnings that exceeded expectations despite an extremely challenging quarter dominated by COVID-19.

Automation and tech made their place well known on those calls, though. Jeff Dyke of Sonic Automotive, Roger Penske of Penske Automotive Group, and Earl Hesterberg of Group 1 Automotive all made mention of automation and innovative tech that have streamlined processes and necessitated fewer team members in their dealerships. Fewer salespeople and fewer front-line service staff.

Overall, Penske is making furloughs permanent for 14 percent of their workforce and others are at similar rates. Is tech and automation in dealerships actually taking away jobs?

Can the Service Experience Be Maintained?

In the service drive, there will be service advisors and BDC staff that won’t have jobs to return to because they’ve been replaced by automation. Examples include online appointment scheduling and service kiosks to check in vehicles for those appointments.

But there’s a problem. Research by Treasure Data as recently as last fall shows that only 1 in 5 customers prefer AI to human interaction in customer service. Only 20 percent. For many, the interaction with AI is only a stopgap for communication while real live people aren’t available.

Eighty percent of customers prefer talking to a warm, friendly body rather than a machine or software. And the dichotomy occurs because the two are not independent, but complementary.

A machine is less able to relate to a customer the benefits of completing maintenance or repairs, potentially resulting in an increase of deferred or declined services. But a human can’t work 24/7. Together, they work well at improving efficiency as dealer groups are saying, but trimming the workforce is not a popular or effective strategy.

It places extra pressure on the remaining staff and reduces the ability to cover staffing shortages due to illness and vacation. And in an industry that drives the US economy, it puts people into the unemployment line.

Need to Strike a Balance

There’s certainly a place for tech and automation in service departments in dealerships. An online appointment scheduler helps alleviate calls to the service desk and BDC. Chatbots can engage customers when the store isn’t open. Increased technology in the shop ensures safer repairs.

But it’s the people that make your dealership what it is. Customers want to interact with other people. The proof is with self-checkout kiosks at Walmart and grocers worldwide – there are always more people who prefer to cash out with a person. I choose a personalized service over automated checkouts whenever possible, and I’m not that unique.

For dealers, it’s as much about social responsibility as it is about generating more revenue or streamlining efficiencies. Embrace the tech, but find other roles or responsibilities for the people it affects rather than trimming positions. Tech is an opportunity to grow with the people you have.

J.D. Power and TrueCar have struck a deal for the sale of ALG, so it’s headed to a new home. Absorbing a company for $135 million that does much the same type of work they do, J.D. Power is showing exactly how important data, research, reports, and analytics are for the auto industry. So the $135-million-dollar question is… are you putting that much weight into tracking your service stats?

Service managers are already held accountable for their department’s performance. Rather, I’m speaking to service advisors. As a sales-heavy role, there is much to learn from the numbers.

Why Bother Tracking Performance?

As a service advisor alum, I would routinely ask myself (and murmur my complaint to others) why I should be held accountable to sales targets when I was supposed to serve the customer. I can promise that the question usually arose when I wasn’t hitting targets and didn’t care to try harder.

Advisors, the cold, hard truth is that selling equals serving. NADA Data 2019 shows that the average customer-pay invoice is $311 parts and labor combined. That accounts for the whole range of services and repairs, from wiper blade changes to complete engine replacements, and everything in between. Maintaining a car is not cheap for customers. If you’re not achieving your targets, your customers are probably missing out on necessary services. Or maybe you’re discounting…

Regardless your excuse why you aren’t achieving target, the better question is how you can get it back on track. I promise you, tracking your numbers will do it.

RO Count

If you seem to be lagging behind on payday compared to your compadres, it could be that you aren’t writing as many repair orders. Compare notes on the RO count between advisors. A seasoned service advisor should be able to write and track 15 ROs in a day, very likely more. I recall busy days with 30-plus ROs, but that’s extremely hard to do well. Find a sweet spot where you can write as many ROs as possible without losing ground in other areas.

Dollars per RO

Whether you track labor and parts together for a target or labor alone, determine where you stand compared to the national average ($311) combined. This should give you a good idea if you’re an average, below average, or above average performer.

Increasing $/RO simply comes down to selling more. More volume. Find out if there’s a way they might agree to a service they declined. Or, more importantly, begin to do a thorough job of explaining the features and benefits rather than just the cost. You’ll see your $/RO go up in no time flat.

Effective Labor Rate

If your ELR is less than the average in the dealership, it should be a red flag. Are you struggling to upsell to one-line ROs? Are you stuck in a rut and can’t sell anything more than discount-rate maintenance? Lifting the effective labor rate is as simple as selling as much labor at door rate as you can. Most services – oil changes, transmission services, coolant flushes, etc., will destroy an ELR but door-rate work will boost it.

The other option is that you’re applying discounts rather than selling at full rate. If that describes you, it’s only a matter of time until your manager discovers it, so fix it now.

Gross Profit

Retaining GP should be relatively easy. However, if you’re consistently needing to offer discounts – poor communication, dissatisfied clients, forgot to send the shuttle for them, and so on – then gross profit will suffer immediately.

There’s more data to track as an advisor, but you get the drift by now. Targets are set for good reason. Rather than fight against them, determine to improve your performance by striving to hit your targets. You’re actually doing your customers a service by doing so.

Flick on the television today and you get cars coming up in two different scenarios. The first is with commercials, telling you all about the new features on models coming out of the Big Three or one of the other mass-market carmakers. The second category are cars and carmakers that dominate the news, and that happens to be Tesla, Rivian, Fisker, and other EV brands.

The reason mass-market brands are advertising is that there’s serious competition, and these models are in demand. But EVs are in the news because they’re up-and-comers, poised to be disrupters in a very traditional industry.

With Volkswagen committing to 1.5 million EVs by 2025, Tesla becoming the most valuable carmaker despite a very limited stable, and everyone else talking about the importance of electrification, there’s no question: it’s happening. But is your service department ready for it?

The 2025 Goal

I won’t wax poetic and about electric taking over. That’s decades away. But by 2025, there may be as many as 10 percent of the vehicle fleet in America that’s hybridized or fully electric. I’d suggest it’s a good idea to be on pace to equip your shop to handle EVs with that level of adoption.

Equip the Shop

EVs have high-voltage systems that won’t just hurt someone if a mistake is made – they’ll kill. Shops should have the safety equipment nearby every stall so techs won’t wander around looking for it before skipping it and getting into dangerous territory. That includes high-quality lineman’s gloves, protective suits, grounding equipment, insulated hand tools, and more.  

Train the Techs

No matter what anyone else says, the most important safety equipment is knowledge. Technicians should be trained on general EV and hybrid safety for OSHA purposes. That goes hand in hand with the direct training they need for any EV models your brand currently has and will have soon.

Ideally, all qualified techs should be trained on EV servicing with a minimum of half. EV customers are discerning and should not have to wait longer than any other car owner to have their vehicle maintained or fixed.  

Get the Message Out

If your service department is one that has prepared for electrification more than the average shop, make your customers and neighborhood aware. Wear it like a badge of honor. Become the recognized EV service facility in your area – not just for your own brand, but for any EV on the market.

It might only be 10 percent of the cars five years from now that are electrified, but that’s a stepping-stone to 20 percent, then 50 percent, and then higher. Stay ahead of the curve to be the dealer everyone chooses for EV servicing, and you’ll be the one they look to for their EV purchases as well.

As a service advisor, one of the most consistent complaints I ever received was not about fixed first visit issues, nor was it about being overpriced. There were occasionally concerns about how long it took to get an appointment, but that was an ebb-and-flow situation. The concern I saw routinely was about invoicing. Particularly, the invoice didn’t match the quote – or so it seemed.

Looking at it as a consumer, the complaints are completely founded. I think service invoices are unnecessarily complicated even if it isn’t maliciously so. Partly, it’s an effort to collect a little extra money from customers but in most cases, it’s a minor discrepancy or a communication issue.

What would solve it? A simplified invoice.

Why is that even important? For one reason – customer trust. When a customer thinks they’re being charged one amount and it ends up being higher, they think they’re being either lied to or nickel-and-dimed. The moment you offer a customer a chance to mistrust you, your chances of retaining their future business decrease.

Problems with Invoices

Let’s look at a few problems with invoices and how they can be corrected.

Shop Supplies Not Disclosed

Personally, I hate charging shop supplies on an invoice. When someone asks how shop supplies are charged, the answer is, “They’re a portion of the labor cost up to a maximum of XX. It covers things we use only a portion of like cleaner, lubricant, blah blah blah…”

As a consumer, alarm bells sound. They think, “Wait, you’re charging me for things you might or might not have used? Aren’t they the cost of doing business?”

I agree. Cost of doing business. In business, we understand that costs are passed along to the end user, but why separate it out? I prefer an increase in labor charges and eliminating the Shop Supplies line from the invoice.

Taxes Not Included in Quotes

It’s a fair assumption that taxes are extra for all prices. If a customer receives a call for an added service or repair, though, it’s a good practice to let them know how much it will be, taxes included. A customer is more likely to take your quote at full value over the phone. For example, if you call and say that an add-on will be $100 extra, they believe their total will be $100 more, not $100 plus taxes. At least, there’s a portion who think that.

It's easily corrected. When giving quotes, provide the amount and tack on the words “Plus taxes, coming to $XX altogether.” Now they know the base price AND the extended, tax-included price.

Minor Differences Between Advisor and Booker

This concern will depend on how your service department is structured, but I assume it’s a similar situation in many places. The advisor gives the customer all the pricing and the work gets completed, but lines are booked by someone else before it’s invoiced in the cashier’s office. Somehow, little discrepancies sneak through like an extra .1 or .2 hours or a few extra nuts and bolts charged out. Those little things can add up and contribute to mistrust in the service department when a customer picks up on them.

I believe service advisors should always review each line on an invoice. Extra parts not quoted should be tracked to the tech responsible and reviewed monthly – plus the cost should be internalized. Any labor differences should be flagged as well, and customers only charged what was quoted.

It usually isn’t the booker’s fault (assuming it isn’t the service advisor). But when service advisors aren’t reviewing their own invoices, it leads to disparities that frustrate and repel customers.

The goal is simple – build trust with customers. Accurate, simplified invoicing practices are a great way to uncomplicate the relationship in a meaningful way. At least, that’s my opinion.