Research plays a major role in our mission to help dealers negotiate with confidence for their next dealership technology contract. Our goal is to provide dealers with advice they can use in the selection process to get the best price and terms. Surveys are a great way to take our dealers’ pulse on a scale that no other consultant in the industry can control. That makes our advice meaningful and actionable. Over 130 dealer partners (no vendors) accepted our survey invitation for Service technology in May 2017. Through the online survey tool Survey Monkey, dealers shared their experience in three key areas:
- Relevance of Service & Service Technology
- Satisfaction with Service Applications
- Anticipation of the Future of Service tools
Here are some of the key findings:
1. Among all departments, Service was ranked number 1 as most important area for dealership success followed by New Cars and Used Cars.
2. Over 75% of respondents said the dealership’s Service Strategy is primarily driven by Fixed Ops Directors and Service Managers/Advisors in comparison to Owners, Principals, General Managers, and other stakeholders.
3. When choosing one technology vendor over another for service applications, dealers care most about Functionality (67%), DMS Integration (65%), and Ease-of-Use (62%).
4. Less than 7% of dealers do not use an online service scheduling tool suggesting that online appointments represent a ‘me-too’ service for dealers.
5. Only 38% of dealers use a service tablet walk-around solution.
6. Almost 60% of dealers use an electronic multi-point inspection tool.