Full Name I Company I Job Title I Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Digitalization of the service drive, where do you draw the line! What works and what doesn’t

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Auto Business and especially service department is about people! People solving problems that can be quite disruptive to the lives of others

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I In most of this country and for that matter the world, Cars are a mandate A Broken car can be a disaster for a family

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I

In most of this country and for that matter the world, Cars are a mandate An improperly fixed car can be a disaster for a service department

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Research indicates that actually the statistics are on the side of the dealership service departments As the score of “Dissatisfied with Service” stands at 0.5% of all service customers visiting a franchised dealer service department!

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Don’t be so happy with these results those numbers can add up quickly to a large number of customers!

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I The saying goes that you can’t please everyone! Well in this case you might have to; as these “every ones” grow exponentially overtime and as becoming vocal on the Internet and Social media is “child’s play” for everyone The only way to gain control and precede issues and intercede issues is to join the crowd and become “digitalized” as well!

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I This “digitalization” is no longer just about service drive but the whole service department.

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I The whole department you ask? How is that possible? What is the cost? Well that is what this workshop is about!

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I We must also realize that digitalizing the service department could greatly improve profitability as A great deal of time proper digitalization can help improve efficiency of advisor and technician. So This is not just money out of pocket It can also bring great results

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I BUT! Just as any major change this also requires a change of culture A great deal of training And Management holding employees accountable to adhering to training and usage! If you are not willing to do that Then do not waste your time in starting this project as it will lead to more headache and loss of money and wasted equipment

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Please don’t add to the “heap” of wasted electronics! 

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Definition of Digitalizing an automotive service department Is NOT just! Handing service advisors and technicians a tablet!

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Before we start a project of this magnitude we must first define the “actors” involved! They are. 1- OEM 2- Customer 3- Dealership people

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I However the order of importance is the following 1- Customer 2- OEM 3- Dealership people

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Focus must be first and foremost on the customer’s needs Research done of many dealership management staff indicated the following As important to customer

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Most important to Customer 1.Facility 2.Transparency of information 3.Communication 4.Service done properly the first time 5. Availability of transportation 6.Ability to pay on line if wished 7.Time spent in service drive

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Most important to Customer As Dealership Employees see it In the order scored 1.Communication 2.Service done properly the first time 3.Time spent in service drive 4.Transparency of information 5. Availability of transportation 6.Facility 7.Ability to pay on line if wished

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Most important to Customer As Customer see it In the order scored 1.Service done properly the first time 2.Communication 3.Transparency of information 4.Ability to pay on line if wished 5.Time spent in service drive 6.Facility 7.Availability of transportation

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Most important aspects of Digitalization are 1.Save customer’s time 2. Assure addressing all issues needed the first time and properly 3.Easy methods of communication 4.Transparency of information

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Most important aspects of Digitalization SAVE CUSTOMR’S TIME What aspects of digitalization saves time most? Lets inspects the aspects!

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Requirements for service drive digitalization 1.Allow usage of tablet to initiate a repair from the drive, rather than forcing the customer to come into the dealership. 2.Allow true appointment setting in form of “shop Loading” from the web by customer and import and append appointments into DMS 3.Using tablet search VIN and identify the customer vehicle 4.Using tablet take photos of vehicle and upload to customer profile 5.Have ability to text message client during visit and keep record within customer profile 6.Using tablet allow technician to use and complete VHR, Vehicle Health Report, which then gets properly priced and communicated with customer 7.Be able to communicate warranty information to the customer via text or post or 8.Pay on line, provide customer ability to pay on line prior to vehicle pick up.

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Time Savers 1.Allow usage of tablet to initiate a repair from the drive, rather than forcing the customer to come into the dealership. 2.Using tablet search VIN and identify the customer vehicle 3.Have ability to text message client during visit and keep record within customer profile 4.Pay on line, provide customer ability to pay on line prior to vehicle pick up. 5.Have requested transportation ready

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Perform service right the first time You can only fix it right if you have diagnosed the problem right. Make sure you know all issues before you start. 1.Allow true appointment setting in form of “shop Loading” from the web by customer and import and append appointments into DMS 2.Using tablet take photos of vehicle and upload to customer profile. Which should be accessible by all including technician 3.Using tablet allow technician to use and complete VHR, Vehicle Health Report, which then gets properly priced and communicated with customer Document all issues properly at onset

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Communicate Open lines of communication between service drive and customer! 1.Have ability to text or post message client during visit and keep record within customer profile 2.Be able to communicate warranty information to the customer via text or post or 3.Allow a way for customer to communicate easily at anytime, not just have to call through the operator

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I

A great deal of the solutions in “Digitalization” of service drive hinges on Change! That means accepting a different way of doing our daily work and adhering to this change. As a manager you must “require” this change and adherence until it becomes second nature. Without it the project will fail and a lot of time and money wasted.

Saphura Safavi Long I Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Good Intentions !

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Culture of dealership Requirements of employees How do you govern? Democratic? Authoritarian A mixture of both? How do your employees respond? Not sure, take the test!

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I

16 Personalities test is free and takes 12 minutes The URL is 16personalities.com Then you can have “somewhat” of an idea as to the success of project

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I So you say what is the fuss? Of course my guys can easily adapt to this stuff Don’t be so sure about that Road blocks are! 1.A physical change, by having to get out of chair and go out 2.Use a tablet, much smaller interface 3.Have to work with a lot more information 4.Learn a totally new technology 5.Learn to adhere to the requirements of that technology

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I How Do we now choose a system? Now we know 1.Requirements of customer 2.Requirements of Employees 3.Requirements of OEM 4.But! What is the BUDGET?

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I BUDGET$ Prior to defining the budget, first we need to get a gauge of what these systems cost? This is quite varied, and the higher the price has nothing to do with quality! Usually has more to do with the overhead the vendor has to cover! You should not be responsible for that!

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I BUDGET$ DMS Companies Two primary DMS companies which I am sure you know are also quite hostile to any interface other than their own and charge exorbitant prices for certified interface! It is your decision to start communicating your displeasure or not. But their services are in no way improved. It is that they gouge because they can!

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I You have the power, you hold the purse strings

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Remember the most important aspects of this technology to the customer, your most important asset are! 1.Save Time 2.Fix it right the first time 3.Communicate!

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I These directly point to 1.Texting 2.Online payment systems 3.On line appointment setting systems 4.On line appointment management systems 5.Technician VHR communication systems 6.Parts communications systems 7.Customer communication made easy! 8.General tracking of all communications! These systems in order to work well all require direct communication with DMS! And that is becoming very expensive $$$

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I The Plan! With “requirements list” in hand visit different systems make a chart such as following. Score each item Add Price Voila! you have your chosen system!

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Feature/ Time Savers Interface FeaturesYes/NoVendorUpfront Fees Monthly Recurring Time Savers Appointment setting Appointment push into DMS Appointment management Shop Loading Uses Labor Opcodes Labor Opcodes have time assigned Labor Opcodes have Price associated Appointment retrieval interface On Line Payment System On Line Payment System security Payment thru merchant services Payment thru PayPal Payment thru Other DMS Interface

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Feature/ Fix It First Time Fix It First TimeYes/NoVendorUpfront FeesRecurring Fees Vehicle health report (VHR) Technician interface Multi recipient VHR Customer Profile Data is kept for how long Data saved includes VHR? Appointment to VHR relations Is VHR used only for future services? VHR as tool for present communication

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Feature/ Communications CommunicationsYes/NoVendorUpfront Fees Monthly Recurring Texting Text broadcast Text notification post Where is data saved? How long is data saved for Texting has easy to use transparent opt-out options

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Features/Hardware As this system must be mobile, tablet becomes a mandate. However, if you have to use legacy products such as DMS and OEM sites with this tablet and those systems mostly only use explorer; You might want to reconsider usage of Apple Products! Advantage COST IS FAR LESS! Just as fine a tablet!

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Last Decisions In choosing the final winner! 1.Can I use this system myself? 2.Does it fit the culture of my dealership and the capabilities of my employees? 3.One size does not fit all.

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I Last Decisions In choosing the final winner! 4- Choose a vendor that is accessible, reachable and capable of changing the system to fit your needs 5- Remember that you Must manage this system and your employees MUST! Use it.

Saphura Safavi LongI Gratis Technologies I CEO/President I

Share an important takeaway you received from this session using hashtag #DD20 for a chance to win an iPad Contact Info Full Name: Saphura Safavi LOng Company: Gratis Solutions/ autoWALL Job Title: CEO/President