Your service department might offer incredible in-store amenities and customer service, but if your prospective customers abandon the online scheduler and don’t make it in your appointment log, you’re missing the opportunity to capture those visitors and expand the customer lifetime value.
In our National Consumer Survey, we uncovered some of the negative aspects of service scheduling software that customers disliked. Explore our insights to help your service team adjust and improve your online scheduler for a better experience that secures more appointments.
Service Scheduling Software Pitfalls to Avoid
Ensuring customers continue coming to your store for vehicle maintenance (and not your competitor) means that your service scheduling software needs to offer customers a quick and simple way to schedule service. In general, customers are favorable toward booking vehicle service online. However, there are five negative aspects of the online appointment process that could prevent your potential customers from booking with your service team.
1. Limited Available Time Slots
Your service department’s time slot availability is important to your customers, and a limited appointment log could lead to abandonment. The right online scheduler can help you provide the appointment options customers want, boosting customer satisfaction and encouraging a full—but not overbooked—service lane.
Gaining full control of your shop’s available appointment log opportunities requires capacity management across teams, advisors, transportation types, skill groups, and opcodes. This helps you maximize your service lane productivity by defining the intervals needed for each type of service while setting capacity controls for each user to avoid overbooking. By optimizing shop capacity, you’ll exceed customer expectations and win their business (while earning potential referrals as well).
2. Missing Service Prices
Becoming more than just a place to provide vehicle maintenance and sales to your customers means building deeper customer relationships, and it begins with trust and transparency. It’s no surprise that customers want to know the costs when they schedule service—and by presenting your service menu pricing upfront, you’ll help draw more customers in rather than driving them away.
3. Time-Consuming Processes
Do you know how many clicks it takes to book an appointment from start to finish in your online scheduler? If your customers feel like they have to take excessive steps to schedule service with your dealership—or set more time aside to fill out an appointment request online than it takes to call you directly—it’s time to reevaluate your scheduling solution or settings.
Part of the draw of an online scheduler is the fact that it puts the customer in control, so it should also enable them to complete or modify their booking without interruption or interaction with their service advisor. Customers surveyed have expressed they prefer to be able to do it all online, without feeling like they need to follow up with the dealership to confirm their visit, provide details, or change their appointment time if they can’t make it.
The trick is to offer an easy-to-read display and seamless process that gives your team the information they need to prepare for the visit, while ensuring it’s quick and painless for customers to submit (or modify).
4. Vague or Unspecific Service Options
Often, customers aren’t clear on their vehicle maintenance schedule or repair needs, so it’s important for your service scheduling software to include a variety of options to help guide customers through the process.
Position your dealership as a trusted expert for your customers by offering specific service recommendations so customers can select what’s next for their vehicle—these options might include OEM maintenance recommendations, mileage-based services, or general routine care.
For customers who have additional unexpected vehicle needs, include a field for customers to explain what they might need or an issue they’re experiencing. For example, if a customer hears a clicking in their wheel while driving, a comment box offers them the opportunity to describe it ahead of time—this also gives your team a clearer idea of why the customer is visiting so they can prepare for the appointment ahead of time and better maximize your shop capacity.
5. Lack of Service History
Along with transparent prices and specific service options, it’s vital to ensure your customers have all the information they need to move forward with their appointment reservation with confidence. Displaying their vehicle’s service history helps keep them informed on what was completed previously and boosts their awareness of what comes next, avoiding potential surprises when they come in.
If any additional vehicle issues arise during the vehicle service appointment, your techs can increase transparency and obtain quick customer approvals by sending images, videos, and other repair details via text. If the customer declines, attach your notes, recommendations, and images or videos to their record so they can reference it later on.
Is Your Service Scheduling Software Helping or Hurting Your Business?
The right tools make all the difference, and that includes your online scheduling software. To ensure your website technology isn’t preventing your service department from filling your appointment log, test it out for yourself. If you find it’s not meeting expectations, try a live demo of Affinitiv Book.
Our comprehensive online scheduling solution will help your shop increase capacity utilization, boost online conversion rates, and optimize your staff’s time—all while giving customers a streamlined service scheduling experience, along with their own vehicle maintenance portal.
Contact our experts today to learn more.
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