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Hey everyone,
Exciting announcement!
This Friday at 1 p.m. EST, the Daily Dealer Live show will host it’s first-ever Fixed Ops Friday.
This special episode will feature top industry voices sharing insights and strategies for service, parts, and reconditioning.
You won’t want to miss this one…
— CDG
First time reading a CDG Newsletter?
Welcome to the CDG Fixed Ops Pulse—an inside look at what’s really happening in the dealership service drive and how top operators are adapting in real time.
A lot of dealers are still running service scheduling on systems built for 2010. Their designs may have changed over time, but the logic guiding them hasn’t.
Here’s the reality: 20–24% of service appointments are no-shows. At roughly $450 each, that’s more than $1 million in lost revenue per rooftop per year, according to Solera.
So this week, we spoke with analysts, dealers, and fixed ops leaders to explore what’s really fueling the disconnect, and the three signals dealership service operators are watching closely…
Missed service appointments are caused by bad scheduling practices, not “flaky” customers.
The problem: Most appointment systems still run on outdated templates that assume full staffing, ignore tech skill levels, treat every job like a quick oil change, and fail to account for internals (recon) and carryover jobs.
Without the right oversight, scheduling systems happily book more work than the shop can physically touch, and advisors make it worse by adding handwritten or DMS-only appointments. Customers book online, show up on time… and still wait or get bumped.
The fix: Tie scheduling to real shop capacity—and force everyone onto one source of truth.
For example, Dave Rogers at Piazza Auto Group (30 rooftops) lets each store pick its scheduler, but once chosen, every advisor, BDC agent, and phone rep must use that one system.
Dave Rogers
Piazza Auto Group
No scratch pads. No side calendars. No rogue DMS entries.
Why it works: Rogers backs the system with clear service standards: 48 hours for an oil change, 3–4 days for diagnostic and repair slots with loaners, and daily appointment counts tied to actual flat-rate capacity after internals and holdovers. With everyone aligned to the same rules, Piazza consistently hits ~85% show rates and averages $540 total RO / $651 customer-pay.
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Express and mobile service often run in silos—and they’re choking main-shop flow.
The problem: Most dealerships treat express and mobile service as bolt-ons instead of part of total capacity. Schedulers plan for ~15% walk-ins, but holiday weeks can push that to 35–40% with no way to throttle intake.
Meanwhile, mobile techs uncover repairs that can’t always be fixed in the field, and most systems can’t route those jobs back in a reasonable timeframe. Add a couple tech callouts and the whole day collapses: long waits, delayed ROs, and techs buried under unexpected work
The fix: Put express, main shop, and mobile appointments on separate calendars—and control each lane in real time.
During his 20+ years as a fixed ops director, Kyle Morissette created dedicated appointment lanes with hard capacity limits, real-time shutoff switches, and a rule that mobile techs must rebook needed repairs into the main shop before leaving the customer’s driveway.
Kyle Morissette
Why it works: Separate calendars prevent express surges from blowing up main-shop schedules and let managers shut down intake instantly when volume spikes. Mobile repairs stop disappearing into a scheduling black hole, and shops can guarantee follow-up within 48–72 hours.
And on average, dealers that take this approach see 11–18% faster cycle times and a 9–14% improvement in tech efficiency, per industry benchmarks.
Traditional appointment grids often cap technician output and revenue.
The problem: Tim Pohanka, of Pohanka Automotive Group (21 stores) told me that many shops book out weeks ahead because managers fear overwhelming the shop, even though techs could produce more.
Tim Pohanka
Pohanka Automotive Group
That artificial ceiling slows everything down: advisors sell less, techs work to the pace of the schedule instead of their true capacity, and customers wait weeks for basic services. Over time, the backlog becomes “evidence” that the shop is maxed out, when in reality the scheduler is the constraint.
The fix: Pohanka eliminated set appointments and rebuilt the workflow around real-time demand. He removed the calendar entirely, added lane coordinators to control the drive, and staffed dispatchers so load could be managed minute-by-minute. Advisors stopped chasing time slots and started managing customer flow. And techs received a steady stream of work without gaps or bottlenecks.
Why it works: With real-time load balancing, cars move continuously through the system, techs stay fully utilized, and advisors can focus on selling and communication—not arguing with a calendar.
So far, the group has increased hours per RO by 0.7 in a year, boosted total throughput, and did it all without adding headcount.
Service capacity is a moving target that changes throughout the day based on who's actually in the shop, what work is already in process, and what's realistic to complete. And the dealers still scheduling like it's 35 years ago are bleeding million-dollar losses one no-show at a time. But the ones rebuilding around real-time flow are capturing that revenue and keeping customers.
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