The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated consumers' preference to do a number of everyday tasks — from shopping to ordering takeout — without dealing with a person.

For all of its challenges, 2020 provided some enduring lessons in how to improve service department operations. Just ask Jim Henne of Performance Toyota in Sinking Spring, Pa.

When COVID-19 hit, John Hiester wondered if his techs, when things got slow in the afternoon, would want to pass the time turning wrenches on old cars. Soon, it snowballed into a competition and having the winning car auctioned for charity.

I completely understand the sentiment to put last year in the rearview mirror. But there were remarkable turnarounds, too.

Service managers played untraditional roles in leading their departments through the pandemic, including cheerleader and sanitizer-in-chief.

The Carlisle & Co. Automotive Technician Survey in the fall of 2020 had more than 17,500 responses representing 17 brands across the U.S. and Canada. The survey shows the challenges the industry has with technician satisfaction.

Dealership service managers weighed in on mobile service vans and finding efficiency amid a pandemic during Automotive News' Fixed Ops Journal Forum.

How far has business climbed back from the depths of the pandemic? What's being done to win customers from independent repair facilities — and keep them? And how about the perennial challenge of recruiting and retaining technicians?

Carlisle & Co. data show dealership service departments get troubling customer retention and satisfaction scores, and any increase in customer-pay sales per repair order is likely the result of higher prices, not growing demand. But there is an opportunity for improvement, too.

Franchised dealerships constantly strive to boost customer service rankings by doing things such as minimizing wait times and improving communications. To achieve this, some stores have their service advisers put down their pencil and pick up a computer tablet.