Increasing Fixed Ops Revenue with Digital Voice Assistants

Would you ever go to the bank, withdraw 30% of your balance, and then put it on your back seat with all the windows down? Picture this - driving down the highway with money just flying out the windows. It’s gone forever. Maybe it’s a tad dramatic, but this is what happens when your dealership doesn’t get to all its inbound service calls. You’re literally throwing money away. 

On average, 30% of calls never make it through. 

It’s not because your team is bad at their jobs. There’s just only so much they can do in a day. We live in a digital world, so it seems fitting to let technology help where humans fall short. The auto industry is getting rather experienced when it comes to technological advances, especially over the past two years. 

Digital Voice Assistants are no different. It’s a new technology that dealers should at least consider. They cover the gaps in your service department’s customer service. No more long wait times for your customers. Like Apple’s Siri, quality DVAs have a humanistic approach to helping customers.

Recently a product called Brook.ai came on the market, making a huge splash as the first DVA specifically for service departments. It can schedule appointments, make reminder calls and answer general questions. 

Services like this free up your employees to take care of things only humans can, allowing them to prioritize more important tasks while the DVA handles the simple stuff - like reminding a customer about her oil change this Saturday. 

DVAs can help new and existing customers, keeping your current customer-base happy and bringing new business into your dealership, especially since robots don’t have a closing time. How many times have you forgotten to schedule a dentist appointment because you’re busy at work during the day? Your customers do the same things with their vehicle maintenance appointments. A DVA can make an appointment with a customer even when your dealership is closed.

Statistics show that a very small percentage of people calling service departments require a live agent. On average, most calls using a DVA can be taken care of within three minutes and need zero staff involvement. In the event the digital voice assistant cannot complete what the customer needs, those priority calls can then be transferred to an associate or returned the following morning. 

Nothing can replace customer service from a real person, but technology like this allows the actual human interaction that does occur to be less rushed and more hands-on and personalized. Using a DVA is a great way to enhance how your dealership operates and serves its customers, making sure no one is left behind. 

DVAs not only increase customer service and employee attentiveness, but it fills the cracks that the inbound calls have been slipping through for years. DVAs in the service department also allow you to increase your outbound calls for maintenance reminders and recalls. All of this ultimately leads to more appointments and more fixed ops revenue, which is everybody’s favorite. Maybe buying into a DVA is worth the investment.