Run the Numbers...

• Average monthly service and parts revenue: $250,000
• Percentage increase in RO value through better upselling: 4%
• Revenues increases by: $4,000 per month

I've been the service manager here for ten years. I was attracted to eScheduling mostly because I thought that it would be interesting for my customers, and my service advisors would spend less time taking appointments on the phone.

After a few months, I noticed that my service revenues were higher than expected, so I took a closer look. Here's what I found:

eScheduling gave my service advisors more time with each customer in the service drive, so they were doing more complete walk-arounds, they had a ready list of scheduled maintenance, and they were simply upselling better. So my average RO amount had increased by 4%, and that means my service revenues were up by 4%. I give credit to eScheduling. First, eScheduling keeps my service advisors in the drive more, because are on the phone less. Secondly, because my service managers are scheduling appointment times more precisely, at comfortable intervals, each service advisor has time to speak with each customer in depth about his vehicle and its service history, and offer the services that are most appropriate to the vehicle's history and the customer's needs.

Lastly, my customers were actually upselling themselves with eScheduling. As they made appointments for themselves online, they took time to think about other services that they needed, and they scheduled those services themselves. In fact, Web-based appointments can be worth as much as 25% more than phone or walk-in appointments.