Aiming to redirect customer traffic from aftermarket stores to his dealership, Chris Skinner, fixed ops director for Granbury Nissan in Texas, went to his advisors and staff to make changes.
Driving the news: Skinner said they really wanted to attract customers back, and part of that involved speeding up visits, including in the service lane.
"The car would sit in the shop for 10 minutes before anyone would touch it," Skinner told Daily Dealer Live host Sam D'Arc. "Why does it take so long for the technician to see an RO? Why does it take so long for parts to see an RO?"
Because of this, Skinner rebuilt the service lane around three changes, all aimed at earning and keeping customer trust.
Shift one: The group installed clocks on every tech's wall, with timers that start the moment a car pulls into the shop.
The techs and the parts department can see the timers, so when an RO is written up, the parts are already on notice.
Advisors are trained to set proper time expectations with customers at drop-off, so the clock effectively starts before the car arrives.
Informal competitions, not for who finishes fastest, but tracking what times they're running, help create accountability.
Skinner also raised the same-day parts fill rate from 72% when he arrived by cleaning up parts returns and ensuring the right inventory was automatically stocked.
Granbury Nissan now averages 38 minutes per oil change.
"I can't tell you to do anything faster than what you can already do it," Skinner said. "My plan—I gotta create processes that create speed."
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Shift two: Skinner thinks, contrary to popular belief, that transparency helps keep visits speedy.
Techs with iPads begin inspections the moment a car enters the shop, sending video walkarounds directly to customers.
They are targeting a 95% video MPI send rate via Xtime, and are at about 85% now. That change has resulted in $150 more per RO over the last three months, Skinner said.
"A lot of times when I'm spoken to certain technicians in the industry, they feel as though sometimes transparency slows things down," Skinner said. "But what we've actually seen is it actually speeds things up. When you're fully transparent... it reduces friction."
Shift three: Another Skinner retention strategy is a free lifetime warranty offered through Presidium on every completed repair.
It covers parts and labor for the life of the vehicle, including brakes and batteries.
In some cases, customers who initially declined repairs have returned after getting outside estimates, because they found nobody else was offering a lifetime warranty.
"Not only are we appreciative of the business that you brought to us," Skinner said, "we're gonna back up everything we stand for by giving you and offering you a lifetime complimentary warranty with that."
By the numbers: The group's current 43% retention rate is above the national average, but they're targeting 48% or 49%.
Skinner says they often lose customers in year four, when factory warranty coverage and free oil changes expire.
They come back around years seven to ten, but that gap costs the store.
The lifetime warranty is his bridge.
Bottom line: Dealerships looking to lure customers away from aftermarket stores can succeed by tweaking processes and better highlighting services shoppers won't find elsewhere.
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