Picking up service vehicles helps customers, and the shop

Paragon Honda, in New York City's Queens borough, operates its service department around the clock on most weekdays. Yet as many as 96 percent of the dealership's service customers crowded its lounge while they waited for their vehicles to be fixed.

That discrepancy struck Brian Benstock, the dealership's general manager, as inefficient. "The dealership had unused capacity at night," he told Fixed Ops Journal.

So last May, Paragon launched a valet program for the Honda store and an Acura dealership it owns a block over. On most days, it picks up service vehicles at customers' homes or workplaces, returns them within 24 hours, and provides loaner vehicles in the meantime — all at no charge.

"It was an opportunity for us to keep the techs busy," Benstock says of the concierge service. It's part of the dealership's Paragon Direct program, which also allows customers to schedule test drives and buy vehicles online.

"The more we can make business easier for consumers by bringing the product and services to them, the broader our reach," Benstock adds.

Benstock says the concierge service "is costing us a fortune" but would not be more specific. He declined to say how many service customers are using the program.

Paragon limits the valet program to customers within New York City. Benstock concedes that some service advisers initially resisted the additional work the program generated, but adds: "I reminded the service writers of my right to manage my business."

Other luxury dealerships, notably Lincoln stores, offer similar valet service as part of a factory program. But Paragon is among a small number of dealerships that operate such a service on their own.

Paragon Direct uses 60 valet drivers from the vendor RedCap to pick up and deliver service vehicles. RedCap also provides drivers for the valet programs operated by Lincoln and Hyundai's luxury brand, Genesis.

A Paragon valet who picks up a vehicle introduces himself or herself to the service customer, examines and photographs the car or truck, and gets the keys. When the vehicle is returned, the customer is asked to complete a satisfaction survey.

Benstock says the valet program gives Paragon greater flexibility in its service operations by reducing the crush of vehicles arriving on the service drive during the peak hour of 8 to 9 a.m.

"If we were running these [vehicles] through our service department within normal business hours," he says, "eventually something would have to give."

"We don't want people coming to the store if they don't have to," Benstock adds. "We would much rather control the process by picking up their car and delivering it back to them when it's convenient."

Benstock says the availability of valet service "does not mean there isn't a genuine need for a physical dealership — there definitely is." But Paragon Direct gives service customers a convenient option, he adds.

Valet service does more than that, says David Zwick, RedCap's CEO and co-founder. He says service customer satisfaction, as measured by standardized surveys, is higher among owners who have their vehicles picked up and delivered than among those who wait in the service lounge.

Valet customers also are more likely to approve additional maintenance or repair work that a dealership's service department recommends, Zwick says.

Other dealerships have discovered the value of valet service. Bobby Rahal Lexus of Mechanicsburg, Pa., offers a concierge service that builds on a program operated by Toyota's luxury brand.

Rahal Lexus offers not only free pickup and delivery, but also free state vehicle inspections for as long as the customer owns the car or truck.

Scott McCann, the dealership's service manager, says its valet program can handle as many as 22 vehicles a day — about 40 percent of its typical service volume.

McCann says the program has helped the dealership achieve a service retention rate of 78 percent, as measured by the share of vehicle owners who continue to use the dealership for service once their factory warranties expire. That's higher than industry averages.

"Our goal is to make the clients' lives easier," McCann says.