Blog: Optimizing Your Service Department Using Automation: Payments and Approvals
The following is the third of a three-part blog series from Frank Tamburrini, president and general manager at Integrated Dealer Systems. Part one is here, and part two is here.
Waiting for something is the hardest part. Especially when you’re waiting for approvals or, even better, getting paid.
Not only that, but following up with customers for approvals and payments can add a lot of unece
In part one of this series on automating your service department, I talked about how to streamline communications and cut down on data entry. In this final installment, I’m going to talk about how to automate payment and approval processes.
To jump back to part two, click here.
Service Bottleneck: Waiting on Customer Signatures
Before you can process a work order, you need a customer to sign off on it – and for that to happen, you need them to physically be at your dealership to give their signature.
But you can speed up that process significantly by enabling your service advisors to send work orders for approval using e-signature, directly from your dealership management system (DMS). That way, your customer can sign work orders from anywhere – even if they’re not present at your dealership.
Automate It!
In your DMS, you can create a flow where once a Work Order has been created, an automated email is sent to the customer asking for their approval using e-signature. Once the work order has been approved, it can then be automatically saved to your DMS’s digital document manager. That way, the customer doesn’t even have to be physically at the dealership to approve a work order.
Service Bottleneck: Collect Payments from Customers
Like waiting on customer signatures, waiting on collecting payments can really slow things down. Chasing a customer for money is never fun. But this is another process that you can speed up and simplify using automation.
Automate it!
Stop relying on in-person payments by upgrading to e-payments. You can email invoices to customers and allow them to make payments from their personal computer or mobile device, from the comfort of their homes. That means you can receive your payments in a fraction of the time it would take if you had to wait for a customer to swing by your dealership.
Plus, if you use an integrated DMS, you can link your payments to your accounting module, so your Accounts Receivable (AR) statements are automatically logged and accessible for later.
Service Bottleneck: Tech Time Tracking
Are you concerned that your technicians may be marking jobs as “done” before all of the work is actually complete (a.k.a. “pencil whipping”)? It’s important that your technicians are held accountable for what they say and do – both to help manage costs and to deliver on better customer service.
But with so much going on at your dealership, it can be hard to stay on top of each individual employee.
Automate It!
You can make it easy for your service technicians to clock in and out of jobs – when they’re done – by using a mobile app.
The Bottom Line
If you’ve stuck with me through this series, then I’m guessing the bottom line is already apparent to you: automation can save you time and money. Not only that, but it can enable your team to focus on what matters most: creating a great experience at your dealership for customers.
Customer experience starts from the inside, and when your team is happy, that will be reflected in the service they give to customers.
Click here to read Part One of this three-part series, and here to read Part Two.
Frank Tamburrini is the president and general manager of Integrated Dealer Systems, a leading RV dealership software provider. He has over 20 years of experience helping customers in different industries improve their customer experience and operations through technology but is a firm believer that technology is only part of the solution; it’s the people using the technology, the commitment for continual improvement and being data-driven that makes the real difference.
