AutoPoint (www.autopoint.com), the leading platform that drives improvement in auto dealer fixed operations, today announced that Crest Cadillac in Plano, Texas has increased its service department’s average labor revenue per Repair Order (RO) by twenty-eight percent since implementing the AutoPoint platform five years ago, and in the process has added an average of $25,000 per month to the dealership’s bottom line.
“We’ve had to deal with a lot of customer perception issues, so my original goal for AutoPoint was to improve our efficiency and increase the level of professionalism in terms of what we were presenting to the customers,” said James Freel, Parts & Service Director for Crest Cadillac, who implemented the platform in 2009. “Not only did AutoPoint help us accomplish this, but we quickly started to see the ROI. Just one month after installation, we increased the average labor per RO value by $20 and generated an additional $16,000 in revenue. It’s just gotten better since then.”
Prior to using AutoPoint, Crest Cadillac’s average labor revenue per RO was $180. Today it’s $230, an increase of 28 percent. With parts and labor combined, the average RO is $320. The increase in revenue has resulted in an average of $25,000 per month added to the service department’s bottom line.
The AutoPoint PlatformTM is a technology solution that improves best practices and enables streamlined communications within fixed operations departments. Freel utilizes the system for tracking technician and advisor productivity, promoting better communications between employees and credits the Know Your VehicleTM reports with helping to increase credibility with the customers.
“It all starts with the inspection,” said Freel. Service department employees use AutoPoint’s digital form to perform a multi-point inspection (MPI) on every vehicle in the service drive.
Inspections help to increase service department credibility. If a customer calls and tells Freel they were in last week and now have an oil leak, he can easily pull up and review the inspection form and tech recommendations.
AutoPoint’s Know Your VehicleTM report also helps to build trust. The report is printed out or e-mailed to customers after their service visit, giving them a summary of the service recommendations, an explanation of the repairs and an education on why proper maintenance is important. “One of the best things you can have on an inspection form is nothing,” said Freel. “When you tell the customer that nothing is wrong with their car it makes them happy and builds their trust. Then, 30,000 to 40,000 miles later when something is wrong, it makes the upsell so much easier.”
Additionally, Freel has noticed the AutoPoint Platform has increased shop efficiency by streamlining the parts ordering process and communications process. Previously, Crest Cadillac’s employees followed the traditional service model where the tech would walk to the parts department and tell them what he needed. Then the tech would write down the parts estimate and labor estimate on the RO and hand it over to the advisor. The advisor would have to call the customer and sometimes wait for a call back to receive approval before walking the RO back over to the tech. Finally, the tech could begin work on the car.
“Now everything is done electronically; the parts ordering, estimating, contacting the customer via e-mail or text which reduces the waiting time, and giving the tech authorization,” said Freel. He estimates the AutoPoint system reduces tech “walkaround” time by an average of one hour, per tech, per day. “The only thing I really sell is time, and that adds up to a lot of hours.”
The AutoPoint Platform provides extensive reporting capabilities that allow Freel to track just about any metric he wants. One reporting trend he tracks closely is his tech and advisor performance. The system makes it easy to spot missed opportunities for revenue, which in turn can serve as educational opportunities for employees. For example, Freel knows that on a Cadillac CTS the tires are prone to wear out around 34,000 miles. By pulling up inspections on Cadillac CTS’s that were in the shop that month, and looking at all the inspections done on cars in the 30,000 to 40,000 mile range, he can then look and see how many new tire recommendations were given. “I can spot right away if one tech is giving that recommendation on say 50 percent of the vehicles, and another tech only gave the recommendation on 10 percent of the vehicles.”
Crest Cadillac’s service department has successfully used AutoPoint to streamline shop efficiency and increase credibility, and in the process, has seen a nice boost to their revenue. “The ROI is in real dollars and it’s quick,” said Freel. “The longer and more involved you are with the AutoPoint Platform, the better those numbers will be.”
To learn more about Crest Cadillac’s experience with AutoPoint, click on this video link: http://youtu.be/H-0efA71Sto
And to learn more about AutoPoint attend Brent Wosley’s session “Stop Overlooking Your Fixed Ops to Help Drive CPO Revenue,” at the Digital Dealer Conference and Exposition http://bit.ly/1D4tCzU #DD17 or visit AutoPoint at booth #213.
For more information visit: http://www.autopoint.com/