Thursday, October 13, 2005

Local spotlight

Web service connects auto dealers, customers

Troy business builds customized Web pages to show what repairs are being done on a car.

By Neal Haldane / Special to The Detroit News

Charles V. Tines / The Detroit News Grant Repsher set up a Web site for Fred Lavery Co. in Birmingham to increase communication and keep customers in the loop. Servassist Online • Product: Internet service for auto dealer service departments • Features: appointment scheduling and pricing, automotive diagrams, e-mail updates and reminders • Cost: $300 to $800 to establish, $100 monthly fee Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

TROY-- Grant Repsher wants to put auto service personnel and their customers on the same page -- Web page that is. Repsher launched Servassist Online earlier this year to help auto dealers explain what's going on under the hood when a customer brings in a car for repairs.

"No one likes to have their car serviced," said Repsher, an auto writer and blogger responsible for the Grant's Auto Rants Web site. "It's right up there with a tax audit or a root canal. It's because most people don't understand or trust the whole process."

With Servassist Online, customer service personnel can pull up a customized Web page and show customers exactly what needs to be done to their car or e-mail the information to them.

"People are so experienced going into the dealership, spending hundreds of dollars and coming out with a car wash, and if they're lucky, paper floor mats," he said. "They have no idea what they spend their money on."

And when dealing with complex technology and expensive repairs, keeping customers in the loop helps generate positive feelings and return business, he said.

"Customers are really gained or lost in the service lane," Repsher said. "That's where they build customer relationships. It's a crucial area."

Improving customer relationships can reduce the number of people who abandon a dealership and take their cars to independent garages for service, according to a 2005 J.D. Power and Associates study.

Almost one-third of customers take their cars to nondealer facilities after the first year of ownership, and that number exceeds 50 percent after five years, said Steve Witten, executive director of automotive retail research.

The survey found independent garages build strong relationships with their customers and outperform dealers when it comes to scheduling appointments, informing customers when their car will be ready and explaining the work performed.

"While most independents have the advantage of being small operations that offer more personal service, manufacturers and dealers can develop programs that foster personal relationships between service advisors and customers," Witten said.

Servassist Online costs between $300 and $800 to set up, depending on the number of vehicle lines sold by the dealership, and about $100 a month to maintain, Repsher said.

The Fred Lavery Co. in Birmingham signed on and has been using the system since the summer with its Porsche, Audi and Land Rover customers, said Rick Holder, service manager.

"In 90 days, we've almost had a full payback," Holder said. "I'm happy with customer satisfaction and the ability to explain something at the desk. It's a good tool to show people how things function and how things wear in lieu of taking them under the car."

Repsher plans to roll out the service in the next several months to additional dealers in southeast Michigan and eventually take it national and international.

Neal Haldane is a Metro Detroit freelance writer.