Yesterday, my 80 year old mother, took her SUV to the local dealer for an oil change.  Even though it is a lease, she likes to treat it like she would if she owned it and have the oil changed every 3000 miles or so.  So, she pulled into the service lane of the store where she has bought a new vehicle every three years since I was 16 (over 35 years), and where she has had her car serviced every three months since then.  My mom believes that the dealer is the best place to care for her car.

Imagine her surprise when, after waiting in line, she was told by the advisor, “I’m sorry, we do appointments now.”  She asked how long it would take to wait for an oil change.  They told her it would take more than 2.5 hours.  She was instructed to back out of the service lane and line (asking others to move also) so she could drive back home and call and make an appointment for the next day.

Was this how it was supposed to work?  Did someone train this store to tell one of their highly loyal customers to go back home and call and that they couldn’t do a 20 minute job in less than 150 minutes, even though every independent she passed on the way could do it in 30 minutes?  Is it any wonder that people defect?  Is it any wonder that a relatively small percent of customers return when the warranty expires?

The appointment process at dealerships was created for the customer’s convenience, not the advisor.  It was designed so that the customer had predictability around service completion time and so the customer knew the store was ready for them when they arrived.  It is not the fault of loyal customers that a trained dealership can’t do a 30 minute job in 30 or 40 or even 60 minutes.  It is the lack of proper production process and lean process management.  It is not your loyal customers that have to be organized, it is the store.

Over the last several years, I have looked at the service gross of many dealerships.  The data almost always shows that 15-22% of customers represent 55-75% of service gross.  Those are people like my mother, who wouldn’t think of going anywhere else and do not wait until they get a $9.99 special.  Yet some treat them worse, or at best the same as all the other customers.  If you fly you watch those who fly a lot, walk right by you at security and right onto the plane ahead of you.  That is because they are better customers and spend more and are worth more to an airline.  So to for your best service customers.  They should get priority appointments.  They should not wait in line for write up rather go around back through a special entrance and be written up immediately, then driven home.  They should not be told to go home and call for an appointment tomorrow, rather they should go to the head of the line, before the people with appointments.  Capacity planning can make this work smoothly.

It is far past time that dealership recognize their best customers and provide a higher (special) level of service to them and show them appreciation by saving them time and convenience.  You don’t have to change process for everyone, just the best 20%.  I hear people say all the time, “we treat everyone the same…”  To which I ask, why? Some customers make no difference at all to your bottom line.  Some waste your time and the time of your people for little gain.  Why take resources away from the best customers and waste on these others. 

It is far past time that differentiated service levels take root in dealership service departments.  It is far past time that the appointment process is viewed as a customer benefit, rather than a gate or an impediment.  My mom called when she got home and made her appointment for the next day.  But she told me about it, and others too I bet.  If you look at your service defection rate you will see that many customers are not like my mom.  Many of them would just go to Jiffy Lube or Pep Boys or Goodyear, and while getting their oil change, get tires, batteries or brakes too.