How to keep dropped calls from draining service profits

Two of every three customer calls to the typical dealership are for service and parts. Of those calls, two new studies suggest, one-fifth to one-third don't get connected to the right person.

That number includes callers who hang up in frustration when they get lost in voicemail or are put on hold for a long time. Even when calls reach the service department, analysts estimate that fewer than half lead to appointments.

As the volume of phone calls to dealerships increases by about 12 percent a year, service departments could be losing a lot of potential business.

The studies propose ways to cut down on dropped calls, and to better handle those that get through.

Matt Muilenburg, head of automotive at Marchex, a call analytics company in Seattle, says a new report by his company suggests two steps dealerships can take to improve the odds that service-related customer calls connect: avoid voicemail and simplify the computer-based interactive voice response, or IVR, systems that callers often encounter ("press 1 for ... ").

"If an IVR has more than three options, there's a spike in the number of people who drop the call," Muilenburg told Fixed Ops Journal. "And around half the time people are sent to voicemail, they don't leave a message."

ELEAD1ONE, a software provider in Valdosta, Ga., operates call centers for more than 7,000 dealerships. It logged nearly 9 million inbound calls for service last year, up from 1.8 million in 2011.

Bill Wittenmyer, an ELEAD1ONE partner, says larger call volumes measured by the company in its study began with "click to call" — the rapid switch by customers from landline phones to cellphones and other mobile devices. They also may reflect the increased number of vehicle recalls in recent years, Wittenmyer says.

Many dealerships direct customer calls to a business development center, either on-site or provided by a vendor such as ELEAD1ONE.

But Moore warns that service advisers still need to handle follow-up calls and those that require technical expertise.

"If a lot of calls end up off-site, where they can't answer detailed questions, you end up having them transferred back to the dealership," Moore says. "That leaves a lot of room for long holds and dropped calls."

However a dealership answers the phone, Marchex's Muilenburg warns that long hold times will repel customers.

"People are likely to hold for 30 seconds to a minute before they start dropping off," Muilenburg says. Such drop-offs, he adds, are most likely to occur when service departments are busiest — in early morning and late afternoon.

Service department employees need coaching and practice to develop rapport with callers, says Michael Markette, president of CallRevu, a suburban Baltimore calling and customer service consultant that works with 3,300 U.S. dealerships.

Markette says his company provides e-learning systems, webinars and tutorials tailored to service department workers. It also provides a report card that evaluates how they handle service calls.

"Employees can log in and see the last 40 calls, see what they do well and what they don't," says Markette. Managers can use the data to review workers' performance as well, he says.

Consultants also urge dealerships to make greater use of text messaging to communicate with service customers. A J.D. Power survey this year noted that just 3 percent of customers reported getting service-related texts, even though younger and premium-brand customers tended to say texting was their preferred means of contact.

Texting allows service employees to send customers videos or photos of their repairs. Text communication also adds the dealership to a customer's cellphone contacts.

"Beginning a relationship is more effective via a live call," Stuker says, but adds that "time can be saved and respected by both parties by implementing simple and efficient technology."