In my recent travels I went to Tokyo and Kyoto in Japan. A few things struck me: just how space efficient and clean everything was.

I visited the famous Tsukuji wholesale fish market. To my surprise, there was no smell of fish. The local sushi restaurant (where I lined up at 4 am for the 1st seating at 5 am) served their sushi on the countertop. Yes, the countertop was so clean that you could literally eat off the table!

Now onto the infamous toilet seat.

I was training a dealer in the Northeast (and yes, I still do training). I mentioned to my consultant who was accompanying me that he should invest in a $1000 toilet seat to replace his current one. I had caught him off-guard, and he burst out laughing, unable to contain his laughter. He wanted to know why, and I explained to him all the things that this seat did; I decided to tell him the story of visiting a Shinto shrine in Japan.

When I wanted to use the public restroom at the Shinto shrine, they wanted me to take my shoes off. The thought of doing that in the public restrooms of the US would have appalled me! I did it anyway and was surprised to find spotless bamboo tile flooring with no paper towels on the floor. There were also bamboo sandals that we could wear to use the toilets. The toilets had bidets in them too. The cleanliness of the whole affair totally impressed me, to the point that when I got back to the US, I did some research and found this $1000 toilet seat that converts a regular toilet into a bidet.

At the dealership I was training, my consultant had already shared my “story” with all the dealership personnel. For a short while, I became the brunt of their jokes, until everyone saw this promotional video for the toilet seat https://youtu.be/U8KyBlGWI2k.

Now, why am I writing about a blooming toilet seat?? What Toto (the toilet seat company) shows us is that if you step back, look at any product or process, and get rid of the underlying assumptions, you can innovate just about anywhere. This is sorely needed in automotive service. We need to get rid of our assumptions and create innovative products and services that eventually bring convenience and luxury to the customers.

For today’s consumers, time is the ultimate commodity. No matter how much money they have, consumers are always on the go with their busy lives. Whether that means shuttling the kids to soccer practice, or running a bunch of errands, when it comes to fitting vehicle service into their busy schedule it is often viewed as a large and inconvenient time sink.

To help improve the service experience and enable customers to better occupy their time, dealerships across the nation have installed amenities ranging from shuttle service, to in-dealership restaurants, to mani-pedi services -- even movie theaters.

A recent article in Automotive News shares an interesting story about an ultra-luxury dealership; Post Oak Motor Cars in Houston, Texas, that recognizes how customer retention is the MOST important goal for any business.

In fact, this dealership will do just about anything to satisfy a customer and overcome the time objection. Their customer amenities are all based around saving time – and they are quite something! Are you in need a helicopter to bring you to the dealership? Done. How about a chauffeured Rolls-Royce while your car is being serviced? Want pick-up and delivery service? They’ll pick up your vehicle in an enclosed trailer, service it and deliver it right back into your garage – even across state lines.

Yes, this is an ultra-luxury dealership which services brands such as Ferrari, Rolls-Royce and Bugatti (amongst others); and their competitive edge is that they are willing to go to any length to earn (and keep) service business. Of course, given the price of these vehicles, they deal with very wealthy clients. And one of their biggest challenges is communicating with them. A star football player can be very difficult to reach via phone. So, what do their customers prefer? Text messages and emails. And not only does the dealership provide these methods of communication, it also provides each service customer with video and photo documentation of services to ensure the ultimate in transparency, keeping their customers informed and engaged. And it works.

Don’t worry, I am certainly not suggesting that your dealership should run out and buy a helicopter, or drive to other states to service (and return) vehicles. The lesson here is that regardless of whether you’re a domestic or high-line franchise, customers of every income value time over just about everything else, (including service coupons). It’s no longer discounts that motivate customers, but rather time-saving amenities. It doesn’t matter whether the client is a pro-athlete, celebrity, or stay-at-home mom – or whether they own a Ford Focus or a Bugatti.

Next time you’re considering how to improve customer retention and build your client base, instead of looking at things that make the customer’s WAIT AT YOUR DEALERSHIP less boring, try thinking a little bigger. Think about how you can make their wait at your dealership non-existent (or as much as possible.) You might find that saving time is more important to them then providing a free lunch or a movie.

Ujj Nath sends a wake-up call to dealers as Amazon enters the automotive service business in his new video blog.

Most dealerships at the very least conduct some form of multi-point inspection and inform the customer about any needed repairs discovered during the inspection. But what happens if those recommendations aren’t properly documented?

Well, failing to document those recommendations can be an expensive mistake – and not just because you miss out on any future revenue as you cannot follow up on declined recommendations. There is a whole other side to the importance of documentation as relayed in a recent Automotive News’ Fixed Ops Journal article, which tells an interesting story about a very expensive lesson a California Ford dealer had to learn the hard way.

According to the article, the dealership purchased a Ford F-250 at auction then sold it to a customer who returned it complaining about “multiple steering problems.” The dealership then resold it and the new owner subsequently brought it into the service department with similar complaints.

The issues were never resolved and, sadly, while towing a van the truck had a blow-out and rolled over twice, resulting in permanent injury to the driver. And, of course, the driver took the dealer to court.

As the dealership could not provide documentation proving that it had, in fact, informed the owner of the worn ball joints, the jury awarded the driver a $7.5 million settlement against the dealership.

If you do not have a good system for documenting your service recommendations, it’s time to update your technology -- you are leaving future revenue on the table and are also at risk for similar litigation.

Many solutions now exist that could prevent this verdict from happening. I recommend having the tech do a video walk around on an iPhone, an iPad or Android Phone, then storing those video recommendations in the cloud.

First and foremost, I don’t believe that any dealer would intentionally withhold service recommendations – especially those that could endanger their customers. And, according to the dealer, they did inform the customer… but couldn’t prove it. That is why it is so important to make a record, AND have it stored in a way that is fast and easy to access. You can then follow up with the customer for future service revenue and protect your dealership from any liability issues.

No court could hold you liable if you recommended service, the customer declined it then unfortunately had an accident due to a part left unrepaired. But only if you have the evidence to prove it!

Amazon is leading the way in convenience. Do you agree? Ujj Nath shares his perspective in his latest video blog.

As an industry, we’re witnessing the largest shift and money grab in history -- from the likes of Carvana, Blinker, and Fair, to the possible entrance of Amazon into car buying.

And now, another huge retail company has decided to jump in… but in a way that dealers may be overlooking.

Walmart recently launched a used-car buying service in partnership with CarSaver, which offers vehicle shoppers a one-price model. Consumers can test drive the vehicle and pick it up at a certified dealership. The test launch was so successful that it is now expanding  to 250 stores. On the surface, it sounds rather non-threatening, as dealerships ultimately still retain the sale as a certified dealer.

However, every used car purchased through Walmart/CarSaver comes with a lifetime warranty. Why is this an issue? Because Walmart is not only a huge retailer, but also operates as an independent repair facility.

There’ll probably be some sort of reciprocity between CarSaver and Walmart to encourage customers who purchased through this program to utilize Walmart’s service facilities. In addition, any large repairs may also be captured by Walmart. The customer isn’t going to think of the dealer as the business they bought the vehicle from – only as the place where they picked it up. They will view Walmart as the “dealership” – even if only in a digital manner.

Disruption will continue to increase as these retailers identify further revenue opportunities. Ally Financial has also joined forces with the Walmart/CarSaver program incentivizing customers with gift cards to finance through Ally. There goes even more potential revenue for dealers. Add in the flood of off lease vehicles coming into the used vehicle market over the next few years and you have a triple threat: lower used vehicle prices, lost financing, and lost sales.

Every bite and chunk of a consumer’s money taken by a disruptor means less money for your dealership. Deeply discounted vehicles sold through Walmart, potentially serviced through Walmart, with Ally capturing the financing, serves to do only one thing… position the dealership as nothing more than a used car storage facility.

And that’s not something dealerships should embrace.

Don’t lose your lease returns to an independent or some new retail giant. As a franchised dealer you have many advantages; highly trained technicians, factory parts, etc. Make sure your used car department is on top of the “end of lease” process, have your service department flag cars that are good for trade-ins, extend your service hours, add a pick-up and delivery service … there are many things you can do to be more competitive in today’s marketplace. Embrace the competition by upping YOUR game!

If you’ve been in the retail automotive industry for any length of time, you’ve seen how inaction is thought to be the best course of action. With today's evolving retail world where consumer’s can order oil and battery changes on Amazon, I’m sure there are many more changes that Amazon is hatching for the automotive industry. If your attitude is that you are making money right now, so why change, it could lead you down a path of no-return!

Consumers are changing -- these days they not only vote with their wallets, they use their new-found megaphones of social media and rating sites to hit back HARD when they are not satisfied. Industry disruptors know this and are entering the space with new technologies in communications, payments, marketing, sales processes, financing, and overall experience improvements that leave any dealerships which continue to do it “like they always have” in the dust.

I advise you to pay attention to the trends that are happening in the retail world because, inevitably, those trends migrate into the automotive space. Even Tesla stole their “showrooming” practice from the retail furniture industry. Consumers are all about using technology nowadays. How many people do you know that DON’T have a smartphone? And yes, they’re not afraid to use that smartphone to price shop your competition while standing on your lot – or in your parts or service department. And they’re certainly not afraid to leave if they are dissatisfied with the experience they are having.

So, by continuing to do “things like you always have,” all you’re doing is telling consumers to take their money elsewhere. A large American retail icon, Toys ‘R Us, just went down in blazing flames because it failed to adapt to retail industry changes. Instead, it counted on its brand name to carry the stores. But it didn’t. And it’s sad. They had an opportunity to make their stores a toy adventure place for kids and parents, making it a destination of experience, excitement and hands-on fun for their visitors. How many toys would kids have left with if they got to play with other kids and experience 20-30 toys while visiting? Instead, Toys ‘R Us remained a warehouse of boxed toys customers could look at but not touch, while competing with online toy stores that show detailed pictures instead of sterile boxes and provided hassle-free delivery.

Change is happening all around us. Businesses that have failed to adapt to consumer needs in experience, convenience, efficiency and transparency are going away, right before our eyes.

LONG BEACH, California –April 5, 2018-- --myKaarma, the leading communications and payments software provider for automotive dealer service departments, today announced it has received a $15 million investment led by Kayne Partners, the growth private equity group of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P., an alternative investment firm managing $26 billion in assets. The investment will be used to accelerate product development and further myKaarma’s goal of improving the overall customer experience, efficiency, and profitability in automotive dealer service departments.  

“We are impressed with the company’s rapid growth and success within the automotive industry, which is clearly driven by its unique technology that solves major pain points in dealer service departments. This investment will allow myKaarma to bring its innovative and highly effective technology to market faster and further extend its position as a market leader,” said Nate Locke, a Partner at Kayne Partners. 

myKaarma’s software runs on mobile phones, desktop and tablet computers, offering two main features: end-to-end customer communication, and payments. The communications tools are designed to blend seamlessly into a service advisor’s daily workflow and can be used across various mediums of communication, including voice, text, and email. Service advisors gain new capabilities, such as sending photos and videos of vehicles to customers to contextualize new repair recommendations and receiving real-time authorization from customers for additional work. Once the service process is complete, customers have multiple options for paying their bill, including online, which allows them to avoid waiting in line at the dealership when they pick up their vehicle.  

After implementing myKaarma’s cloud-based software tools, service departments enjoy an average lift in dollars per repair order of 37 percent, a 50 percent reduction in voicemails left with advisors, a 100 percent reduction in authorization disputes, a 33 percent decrease in loaner car days, and a boost in CSI scores. Dealers also gain access to a comprehensive real-time record of communication with their customers and a bird’s eye view of the service department that allows them to more efficiently manage their operations. 

“We are excited to team with Kayne Partners,” said Ujj Nath, myKaarma Chairman and CEO. “Today’s consumers’ view of service has been dramatically transformed. They have come to expect and demand a high quality user experience because of market leaders such as Nordstrom, Amazon and Uber. One bad service experience can result in a customer being lost as a future sales prospect. This partnership allows us to accelerate market growth and speed up technology development, so our dealer customers can keep up with the current level of service and technology consumers demand. myKaarma will continue to lead the industry with our technology platform and laser focus on the success of auto dealer service departments.”  

For more information, or to schedule a product demonstration, visit www.mykaarma.com,     

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About myKaarma: 
myKaarma is the communication and payments platform of choice for the nation’s top automotive manufacturers and groups alike, enabling a consistent high-quality service experience for their brand’s customers. myKaarma's platform is backed by its “crazy good” customer service and gives dealers the ability to offer their customers 21st Century technology through digital conversations and smart payment systems. myKaarma was named as an official communications and payments partner for Mercedes-Benz USA. 

About Kayne Partners 
Kayne Partners is the growth private equity group of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P. Kayne Partners is a leading provider of capital and connections to rapidly growing companies in North America. Since its inception more than a decade ago, it has invested over $600 million in platform investments and add-on acquisitions. Kayne Partners seeks to partner with driven entrepreneurs as a non-control minority investor and provide transformative capital to these high growth companies.   

For more information, visit www.kaynepartners.com 

About Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P.: 
Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P., founded in 1984, is a leading alternative investment management firm focused on niche investing in upstream oil and gas companies, energy and infrastructure, specialized real estate, growth equity and both private credit and diversified liquid credit. Kayne Anderson manages $26 billion in assets and employs over 300 professionals in eight offices across the U.S.  

Kayne Anderson is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Houston, New York City, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Atlanta and Boca Raton. 

For more information, please visit www.kaynecapital.com

LONG BEACH, Calif.,-- April 2, 2018-- -- myKaarma, software that helps dealerships communicate better with their customers at every stage of the service process, right from check-in through to payment, today announced that Mercedes Benz of North Palm Beach stopped using their regular phone system in service and now puts every call, text and email through myKaarma. The system keeps a record of every customer interaction, is fully searchable for seven years, and records all incoming and outgoing calls. This has helped build trust with customers, improved customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention.

Two years ago, Service Manager Shawn Potsander heard about myKaarma at a National Parts & Service Managers’ Meeting.  Impressed with the results, he decided to try it at his dealership. Potsander runs a pretty busy shop, writes around 1,200 Repair Orders per month with 20 techs and 6 full time service advisors running 36 bays. At first, he was met with a lot of pushback, raised eyebrows from his employees and insecurity about recorded phone calls and the automatic tracking of every customer interaction. However, he could see a huge benefit as he was looking from another perspective -- not to spy on employees, but to document and check on what has been promised to the customer.

“As a manager there is no way to sit in and listen to 50-60 calls per day. At first, the staff was very reluctant. A couple embraced it more than others, but a couple were dead set against it,” said Potsander.

According to Potsander, there was one customer service incident that was a pivotal point. “An elderly gentleman came into the service department and I was standing right there. He apparently had some memory issues and said to the Service Advisor, ‘I know I spoke with you about the expected amount of my bill, and you told me that the call was recorded. I am not questioning you, please don’t take this the wrong way, but these days I tend to forget a lot. Can you please play back our call as I need to feel good about my decision, but don’t remember what we discussed?’ This was very interesting as we never expected this from a customer!” said Potsander. “We played it back and the amount he had in head was the original, but not the total with some required add-ons. As soon as he heard it he smiled and was literally ecstatic. He shook our hands and told us he was so happy as it reassured him that he had made the right decision.”

Seeing the impact this simple recording had on this customer, Potsander decided to have all service calls go through the myKaarma system every single time. He called the phone vendor and had them restrict all calls other than 911. Now, every direct dial number goes through the myKaarma application, so employees have no option but to use it.

“It is a great tool for customer satisfaction,” said Potsander. “Just yesterday a customer in urgent need of their vehicle came in upset as he said he had not received any notification from us that it was ready. However, we had spoken to someone in his office who told us they would relay the message to him but failed to do so. We were able to play back the conversation and he recognized the voice of his employee, it was like a mystery shop of his own office, as he knew exactly who it was. This saved us a CSI issue as the customer knew what really happened -- he was able to hear it with his own ears. This reaffirmed that this is where the value is. It is all about efficiency and trust between the customer and the dealership. Trust leads to profitability as it builds loyalty – this is a long-term loyalty build,” Potsander added.

Potsander has also seen an increase in efficiency, as advisors can spend more time focusing on multiple customers. He can also quickly refer back to any customer interaction, which helps on customer service issues, as the texts and calls are all easily searchable threads.

Service advisors can communicate from their desks via text, email or voice. “It simplifies and adds huge value as we can thread the communication. We recently added sales and parts functionality too. Technicians can upload photos and use RO search function right in the service bay. If a customer calls in to dealership anyone can pull up the RO, see the thread, including the picture the technician uploaded of a dirty oil filter and all the pieces that tied into that story or thread. They can then talk to the customer with some intelligence, without having to hand them off to someone else. It’s a fabulous tool as any manager can go in and see any part of the conversation thread and add data as needed. Now I almost always start any phone interaction in the myKaarma system,” said Potsander.

Potsander also likes the integrated online payment system, which automatically sends payment requests to customers once the vehicle is ready. “It’s a real time saver automating this part of the transaction. We advise each customer that when their vehicle is ready they will receive an email or text with an invoice. This eliminates calls about their vehicle status. The service advisor role has a lot of multi-tasking, a lot of interruptions. So, the more you can automate for them, the more efficient they are. And, you can follow up and say, ‘hey I sent your invoice, do you have a minute to review it?’ The customer is prepared and already has the invoice, so it minimizes any dispute,” Potsander continued.

According to Potsander it’s also a simple matter to issue any refunds or make changes, such as if the customer forgets a coupon or parts are charged for twice. “It is very simple as a manager to go and issue credit, which is another great CSI point as the customer does not have to bring in their card. It is simple and efficient,” said Potsander.

The process of capturing mobile phone numbers is vital to the success of the program and the dealership does a great job at this. “Once the service advisor sees the value there is no push back. In fact, one employee who did not want to use the system at first, now tells me he will quit if I ever get rid of myKaarma,” Potsander noted.

For more information, or to schedule a product demonstration visit: www.mykaarma.com.

# # # # #

About myKaarma:

myKaarma is the communication and payments platform of choice for the nation’s top automotive manufacturers and groups alike—enabling a consistent high-quality service experience for their brand’s customers.

Service departments enjoy an average lift in dollars per repair order (RO) of 37%, a 50% reduction in voicemails left with advisors, a 100% reduction in authorization disputes, a 33% decrease in loaner car days, and an increase in CSI scores.

myKaarma's platform backed by its “crazy good” customer service gives dealers the ability to offer their customers 21st Century technology through digital conversations and smart payment systems. myKaarma was named as an official communications and payments partner for Mercedes-Benz U

According to a recent article in Automotive News, Motorcars Honda in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, believes that the future of franchise dealership profitability lies in efficient vehicle service, and as a result it’s service department is bustling.

So, what did they do? The dealership created an assembly line for quick-service that not only allows it to perform MPIs, but also an oil change in under 30-minutes. Every time. In fact, the dealership can service 71 vehicles in just two hours!

And they’ve put their money where their mouth is to the tune of $700,000. That may sound like a lot, but they forecast express servicing 30,000 cars per year. And, the innovative and efficient assembly line has the capacity to service 60,000. Not bad considering they aren’t limiting services to Honda customers, but to any vehicle owner.

The dealership feels the key elements to its service department’s success are speed, transparency and price. That’s what consumers want in today’s world.

But, speed and transparency apply to more than just how quickly you can service a vehicle. They also apply to how efficiently you communicate with a consumer, how detailed you are in the multi-point inspection, and how much trust is established with the consumer to enable them to agree to complete the transaction.

Efficiency drives revenue. Sure, most of you probably don’t have a cool $700,000 sitting around to establish such an operation. However, there are a lot of process improvements that CAN be done with software that makes a significant difference and doesn’t require a huge capital investment. Review your processes and find areas that can be improved. Perhaps it can be as simple as setting up shuttle service for your customers. Or improving your phone processes so the customer’s calls don’t always go to voicemail. Or adding a video inspection to ensure transparency for the customer. Using software to update any of these customer pain points can add efficiency and increase satisfaction with the service experience you provide.

Forward-thinking dealers such as Motorcars Honda understand what consumers want and are preparing themselves for a future filled with a service capacity that’s unheard of. Just as automotive manufacturing was transformed with assembly lines, this innovative initiative is sure to pay off as consumers in the local market start to realize that it doesn’t have to take long to get their vehicle serviced at a dealership. Once that perception changes, dealerships will have an incredible advantage over their competition. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.