Xtime Adds Real-Time Mobile Service Status Tracking

We live in a “now” age. Waiting days – or hours – for most things is generally unacceptable to twenty-first century Americans. We want to know what’s going to happen and when, and what’s happening right now. In the past, poor communications between vehicle owners and dealership service departments have led to misunderstandings, poor customer relationships and quite a few four-letter words. (Not to mention a ton of phone calls.) This lack of communication becomes even more urgent as dealerships are now banking on service to keep their margins workable, and for those dealerships looking to get an edge on competitors.

Real-time updates on a mobile device would go a long way toward reducing misunderstandings. To this end, service appointment booking platform Xtime is adding a new Service Tracker feature to help dealerships eliminate communications problems and build greater trust and loyalty by offering customers mobile access to real-time vehicle status updates. (You can see a demo of the feature here.)

“As service revenue continues to play an increasingly dominant role in dealership gross profits — 49.6 percent according to NADA Data 2018 — Xtime’s Service Tracker provides the advantage necessary for dealers to compete in a crowded market,” said Tracy Fred, vice president and general manager for Xtime. “Service Tracker’s core purpose is to bring trust, communication and transparency to the automotive service industry and ultimately, to keep dealers and their customers happy.”

A side benefit of the solution is to eliminate high volumes of calls to the dealership’s main phone numbers, which takes up advisors’ time when they could be doing more revenue-oriented work and helping customers with more complex problems than “When will my vehicle be ready?”

“About 70 percent of inbound phone calls through the service center are customers checking the status of their vehicles,” said David Hult, CEO of Asbury Automotive Group, an early user of the Service Tracker feature. “We clearly needed a solution that could simultaneously enhance our flow of information with customers and reduce demand on staff. With the introduction of Service Tracker, customers can independently check the status of their service in real time, allowing advisors to concentrate on the customers in front of them and provide higher levels of service.”

The Service Tracker feature will be available to all franchised dealers in the U.S. as an add-on to the Xtime Inspect platform.