Latest / Auto Collabs / How To Earn Customer Trust in the Service Drive Before It’s Too Late | NY Auto Forum

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How To Earn Customer Trust in the Service Drive Before It’s Too Late | NY Auto Forum · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  I'm here at the, uh, New York Auto Forum with Liza Borchers, uh, president of Caradigm Motors, or Autom- Automotive, and we're just having the best time. We were just laughing about all the things.
• 0:12
  We were laughing about acronyms and all of this. So I just always love hanging out with you. Thanks for coming and hanging out while we're here. Well, you know, the event this morning was a little serious- Yes...
• 0:20
  but incredibly good data. Yes. So I think this afternoon we need to have a few more laughs, a little bit more audience engagement. You guys are the best at that. I like it.
• 0:27
  Well, actually, that's one thing that I love about this event in particular is, is here and at NADA when they do their auto forum, there is so much rich data- Yeah...
• 0:36
  that whether it's macro at the, at the macro level for the industry or down to the dealer, you can take and use to implement, uh, certain things.
• 0:45
  Uh, let's get to that first then, because you're on a panel this aftern- afternoon talking particularly about service data and how dealers are leveraging data to make customer service better.
• 0:57
  What are you guys gonna cover?
• 0:59
  You know, one of the topics that they asked about, they actually are gonna show a data point that only 26% of customers are receiving a video multipoint inspection when they come to a franchise dealership for service.
• 1:11
  How long have we been talking about this? A long time. Years. I mean, the earliest tools were 2012, '13, '14. And you were way ahead, I think, when you were- Yeah... on the retail side.
• 1:19
  But we've been talking about this for years. And so one of the questions is what is, what is our roadblock? Yeah. And so we, we, we know right now, I think every dealer in that room has had record service years- Right...
• 1:30
  for the last two, three, maybe even four years, right?
• 1:33
  Yeah, well, 'cause vehicle age is picking up because we don't have the, the SAR isn't high enough for the trade, for the new model trade-ins to happen, so we've got vehicle age growth, right?
• 1:41
  It's been incredible growth in our service departments. And sometimes success is our greatest roadblock. Mm.
• 1:46
  And so one of the things that we're gonna talk about is when things are going really well, we tend to say, "Let's not mess it up," instead of saying, "This is the best time to innovate, to create new habits, and to train."
• 1:57
  We can afford to make a mistake here or there and still be moving our dealerships forward so that when we need it, when we need that trust and that relationship with our customers, when it's gonna be more important than ever, when business gets a little soft, we've already built it for years.
• 2:10
  So we're gonna talk a little bit about that this afternoon. Um, I think also the fact that we're still having a technician shortage comes into play. Oh.
• 2:17
  Technicians aren't jumping up and down saying, "Please let me do video multipoint inspections. I love-" Yeah, yeah... "being on camera." And they're going, "You need me," right? Yeah.
• 2:23
  Saying, "You need me, and if I don't wanna do it, I'm not gonna do it." Yeah, interesting.
• 2:26
  And so we've gotta build that case around the why and why it's good, not just for our technicians, for our service advisors, our service managers.
• 2:33
  Because if they don't understand that we're doing this not just for us but for their futures- Yeah... hopefully we get more buy-in.
• 2:40
  So there's gonna be a lot of things we're gonna talk about this afternoon, specifically around how we improve our service experience.
• 2:45
  We're also gonna talk about pricing transparency and, and, uh, AI and how that impacts the customer experience. All right.
• 2:50
  I'm gonna drag back to a conversation that you and I had, but I'm gonna go through two pieces real quick for you. So you're talking now about customer experience and making sure that customers wanna do business with us.
• 3:00
  Was just having a conversation with John Bozella, talking about how the franchise model is the best way to do business for sales and service, but as, as that model, we have to be competitive.
• 3:11
  We have to compete for the consumer, because brands that are going direct to consumer are doing that as well. I remember back a conversation that you had p- you and I had three or four years ago.
• 3:20
  It was in your office, and y- you said that when we, when we were fighting to stay open during COVID, right?
• 3:28
  Y- you were arguing, "Look, we are an essential business, but we have to show our customers that we're an essential business."
• 3:34
  And now that's coming full circle to say, "We're not just an essential business, but we are the best way for you to interact with us," and that takes a fight for the customer, right?
• 3:44
  And it's the, and it's this service model. It's this level of intentionality when times are good that we have to fight for that.
• 3:52
  How are you communicating that downstream to your employees every single day, as opposed to just, like, understanding this at an executive level? You mean pushing it down to w- how- To, to the emp-...
• 4:02
  essential they are- Yeah... and how important it is that our customers are fighting for this to be- Yes... the best way to sell- Yeah, yeah... and service a car? Exactly, yeah.
• 4:09
  You know, um, years ago when you and I were sitting in my office, we were talking about this being essential, and that if customers don't see the value in us being a part of the, the buying and the servicing process, then we won't be here one day.
• 4:22
  Mm. And the problem was, and even back then, we were saying sometimes they may not know until we're gone.
• 4:28
  Well, this afternoon we're gonna talk a little bit about, um, how the Chinese model and other countries and the customer experience that people are receiving for a very low price car, how that could come into play as to what we look at in the US market.
• 4:40
  And if, and if you look out there, the experience is terrible. Yeah. Because they don't have parts. They don't have service processes.
• 4:47
  And, and when the cars have issues, there's, there is no customer experience happening. That, that's what I understand. That's what I've read. It's what I've heard from dealers- Yeah... internationally.
• 4:56
  So when we think about here in the US and think about the future of whether it be Chinese vehicles coming into play or direct-to-consumer models, where we have leverage is we live in our communities.
• 5:06
  Our associates, you said, "How do we talk to our sales and our service associates?" To say the importance of that experience. We live and breathe with these customers. We see them at church. We see them in restaurants.
• 5:17
  We see them on the soccer fields. A Tesla, uh, service center that's an hour and a half from their home and sends a rollback to pick up the car and goes, they're never running into that customer. Right.
• 5:26
  So the best thing that we can do is leverage that. We need to have our ears open. We need to hear the voice of the customer.
• 5:32
  And we need to make sure that we are using that data, maybe AI can help us, to improve our processes, because we get the opportunity to hear them better than any direct-to-sales model could.
• 5:41
  Now, you take that one step further as an organization, and you put, you put your money where your mouth is, your time where your mouth is in the community.
• 5:48
  This morning, actually, uh, a, an organization that's very close, uh, to you all, Giving Words, uh, uh, was highlighted on the Today Show. Yes. And it was so thrilling.
• 6:00
  I was standing there videoing your, your, uh, phone because it's so encouraging for me to see, uh, a, a massive story around, uh, the auto community giving back. Can you talk a little bit about that, uh- Yeah...
• 6:13
  that organization and, and your commitment to seeing that thrive in your communities?
• 6:18
  So philanthropy, I, I wouldI would probably beg to say that dealers in every small to medium-sized community are some of the most philanthropic businesses, period. Yeah. Full stop.
• 6:28
  Now, we've taken a, a little bit different, um, I guess, direction to say, "How much can we tie our philanthropy to transportation?" 'Cause that's what we know, it's what we're good at- Yeah...
• 6:36
  it's where we can really give exponentially. So seven years ago, we partnered with Giving Words Virginia.
• 6:41
  Eddie Brown started this in his driveway, working on cars of single moms whose cars had broken down, and they couldn't get to work. That's where it began. Well, we heard this in 2019, and started partnering with him.
• 6:52
  So cool.
• 6:52
  Since then, for the last seven years, we will get trade-ins that are cars that have a low cost of ownership, but need to be repaired, um, but would be a great car, maybe a bridge car, to get a mom on her feet for a year, get to work every day, get her kids to, uh, both doctor's appointments and s- after-school activities- Yeah...
• 7:09
  and then maybe be able to afford her own vehicle, or maybe be able to get a loan, you know, in a year or two. Yeah.
• 7:15
  So, uh, Eddie Brown and Giving Words was highlighted on the Today Show this morning, and one of the special parts of the program is that when we get a car traded in or donated, el- often we'll take it to a local technical school, and the students work on it at no charge.
• 7:29
  We get parts that we donate- Wow... or other places donate. The students get to learn a little bit about empathy and importance of giving back to their community.
• 7:37
  And if you watch the Today Show clip, you'll see one of the technicians say, "When I thought about this as a career, I had no idea the impact that we have on people's lives." Come on.
• 7:48
  He said, "When we donated that car," and we put big bows on them. He's like- Yeah... "When I see the mom crying and saying, 'Now my kid gets to go play soccer after school, 'cause I can pick him up for practice.
• 7:57
  Now I get to get to go to work, and I don't have to count on an Uber at 11:00 PM to try to safely get me home.'"
• 8:02
  So now these young people in the technical schools are realizing what an impactful career they can have in automotive, and that is wonderful. It's exactly what we all want.
• 8:11
  And I bet you that we've learned to shoot videos. [laughs] Yes. They were on the Today Show talking. Thankfully, they're gonna be able to do a video multipoint inspection. [laughs] Amazing.
• 8:20
  Well, Eliza, thanks, uh, so much for your commitment to the industry and hanging out for, with me for a little bit today. Thanks so much, Cal.