SERVICE SHOP EVOLUTION

Greg Paul added Handy Industries lifts to his service shop to improve efficiency .

But removing paper from the service process , from triage to estimate , improves efficiency and communication for Paul ’ s business .

“ Texting is on the rise with our dealers ,” said Tim Berman . “ This completely revolutionizes the communication with a shop because customers can pause what they ’ re doing briefly , the dealer can read and respond on their own timetable . Asynchronous communication , other than email , just works because nearly everybody texts .”

Putting these conversations “ in writing ” keeps them legally enforceable and defensible , according to Berman . “ I haven ’ t heard of a case where it needed to go to litigation ,” he said , “ but I have heard plenty of cases where a dispute at the service counter ended promptly when the service advisor pulled out their phone and showed the customer where they agreed to have the work performed .”

Text messaging is not new , but it is highly efficient . “ Still , many dealers don ’ t text . What an opportunity to stand out ,” said Berman . So many service businesses use text messaging for communication , and many dealer-management systems enable automated communication this way . A dealer just has to turn it on .

“ Dealers can get more approvals more quickly because customers can see every text message immediately , and they don ’ t listen to voicemail ,” said Berman .

“ Customers are demanding a better customer experience ,” said Sara Hey , and she said that includes good communication about pricing and the service work through the process .

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