Volume 22: Transforming the Experience

We listened and knew that dealerships wanted a better inspection tool that facilitated better customer connections—so we created Inspect powered by Service Pro. Additionally, dealership service departments have been asking for a single, fully integrated platform for quite some time. And Xtime has finally delivered that with Spectrum.

Inspect is the key piece to make Spectrum truly the end-to-end platform to deliver a better overall customer ownership experience and streamline internal service operations.

Inspect positively impacts the customer experience through better communication and presentation of service recommendations.

At the heart of Inspect is the electronic multipoint vehicle inspection – improving processes by ensuring that every incoming vehicle gets a consistent inspection. Inspect’s personalized Vehicle Inspection Report gives transparency into technician recommendations with detailed explanations, benefits and pictures educating customers on why they should approve critical work for proper maintenance. Additionally, online approval tools deliver extra convenience by enabling customers to review recommendations via email or text, as well as approve or decline online quickly.

Customers have more trust in the dealership servicing their vehicle when they are presented service recommendations in a professional and transparent fashion. Customers are more likely to approve recommended work, resulting in additional revenue, and report higher satisfaction with their overall service experience helping boost CSI and retention.

Inspect’s Job Board view gives parts, advisors and technicians the ability to check on a vehicle status at any point in the service process, helping to avoid bottlenecks and confusion. Intra-dealership chat functionality keeps employees efficient by allowing easier communication on a particular customer or vehicle.

For management, robust reporting options also provide insight on each and every repair that was recommended, and subsequently declined.

There are similar offerings, but nothing near as comprehensive as what Spectrum delivers. It’s a relatively new market and Inspect is one of the few options that handles this specific part of the repair process—the actual technician process. The key differentiator of Inspect, however, is what’s called the “closed loop process.” The system is designed so technicians can’t skip steps in the inspection and repair processes.

Xtime Spectrum offers a best-in-class customer ownership experience. By utilizing all of the Xtime solutions, you’re guaranteed to provide customers with a premium service experience from start to finish. If you have other Xtime products, adding Inspect will only streamline internal administration and process management because everything is centralized and designed to work together.

We’ve been an Xtime partner for over three years now and we just recently added Engage. Essentially, we wanted to give our staff a more efficient and effective way to connect with customers. We love the tablets not only because the customers love the tablets, but because it’s a third-party platform that creates transparency for them and convenience for us. We’re able to present service options, do more efficient walk-arounds, communicate manufacturer recommendations and so much more. And just being able to greet the customer by name when they arrive means so much to them—no flustered service advisors rushing to get customers checked in or having to ask, “Who are you and what are you here for?” has made a world of difference.

What Xtime has done for the write-up process is amazing. We were hand-writing walk-around reports and all of the other paperwork that goes along with a service appointment, so we wanted to be able to create multiple opportunities to give customers a positive experience. We can really schedule a way for customers to get in here and get what they need and spend a decent amount of time with them while getting the write-up correct. It sounds so simple but it really does give everyone peace of mind that their questions and concerns will be thoroughly addressed.

I think the best aspect of our relationship with Xtime is being able to plan effectively for service drop-offs so we can better allocate the time we spend with customers. This really is the best thing we can do to build a relationship with them instead of some informal, in-and-out ordeal. So Xtime has really helped create a process of building relationships with our customers and making them feel important and well taken care of while also respecting everyone’s busy schedules.

Xtime’s solutions allow us to connect with the customers while also allowing them to choose what they want for their cars instead of us just talking at them. The tablets interact with the VIN, the car and the manufacturer, so we can tell the customers what the recommendations are so they can make educated decisions about their cars. It lets them be in control.

They’re all pretty excited! People love technology. They love seeing the tablets because it’s something they’re already familiar with. They love being able to sign with their fingers, watch us do the walk-around and in general just be a part of the process. Interacting with the tablet means they’re not at our mercy to tell them what their cars need. It marries us to the customers by letting us be transparent with them.

Our CSI went up, which we attribute to introducing technology and some new processes into our business. The customers no longer have the look of, “Are we done yet?” on their faces. We can actually do better maintenance penetration; in fact, those numbers are up thirty percent. Xtime allows us to do more asking, more listening and fewer sales pitches. It’s still your car and we still take very good care of it. But now, customers are more in control because they want to be. Through Xtime, we’re also able to schedule the first maintenance appointment right on the sales floor. We have campaigns to interact with the customers from all angles.

One of the biggest initiatives we’ve tackled by partnering with Xtime is showing our customers that we are reinvesting back into our business by making processes more interactive and introducing technology that benefits them. We’re now including them in the process instead of just using cool technology—our business goes beyond that. We’re interacting with them the minute they get out of their cars, know who they are, what they’re here for and how we’ll work together going forward.

Being able to educate customers is a major force in our customer satisfaction numbers. There’s more to what we do in the service lane than just changing the oil. The benefit of having a scheduling tool is that we can allocate our time properly. At Autocenters Nissan, we have an eighty-twenty rule—eighty percent of our appointments are scheduled in advance, leaving us with twenty percent to accommodate walk-ins. Being able to accommodate walk-ins is a very important part of our customer loyalty.

I’ve been in the automotive business for 20 years, and in the last decade in particular, manufacturers have gotten a lot smarter. As a result, customers are becoming more loyal. It’s simple—if fixed operations aren’t evolving, they’re devolving. Xtime provides a great way to align processes because it uses smart technology to make dealership service lanes more efficient, less task-oriented and more customer-focused. A good dealership should sell time, not appointments. Xtime allows us to do that.