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JuliePetree

Tie Cut
Oct 13, 2015
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Julie
We have a Ford and Subaru store under one roof. We drink the kool-aid and have a ton of Cox automotive products including Vinsolutions.

We have two separate websites for both Ford and Subaru and are looking for a better service scheduling for the consumer side and back-end. We use Ford's Smart program which is a nightmare!!

Refreshers - what do you use and you love (or at least recommend checking out), one that integrates with Reynolds?

Anyone using Xtime and could provide some feedback?
 
We have a Ford and Subaru store under one roof. We drink the kool-aid and have a ton of Cox automotive products including Vinsolutions.

We have two separate websites for both Ford and Subaru and are looking for a better service scheduling for the consumer side and back-end. We use Ford's Smart program which is a nightmare!!

Refreshers - what do you use and you love (or at least recommend checking out), one that integrates with Reynolds?

Anyone using Xtime and could provide some feedback?

You can check out a list of vendors that integrate with Reynolds here
 
We have a Ford and Subaru store under one roof. We drink the kool-aid and have a ton of Cox automotive products including Vinsolutions. We have two separate websites for both Ford and Subaru and are looking for a better service scheduling for the consumer side and back-end. We use Ford's SMARTT program which is a nightmare!!

Refreshers - what do you use and you love (or at least recommend checking out), one that integrates with Reynolds?

Anyone using Xtime and could provide some feedback?


@JuliePetree I was curious to exactly what is included in the Ford's SMARTT Service program since you're looking for alternatives. From what I know, the Ford SMARTT program was broken out into 3 Phases.

Phase 1: Online appointments - Ford introduced SMARTT Appointments, allowing customers to schedule their service appointments online. Ford claims in its first year, online appointment volumes tripled. @JuliePetree, are these the results you have seen?

Phase 2: Mobile Write-Up - Ford dealers place tablets in the hands of advisors in dealership service lanes to help provide a more seamless service experience.

Phase 3: Inspection - Technicians and parts department personnel access tablet-entered information to obtain vehicle service history and more efficiently fulfill service orders.

What I wasn't aware of, CDK is the sole provider of the services and technology behind the Ford SMARTT program. Could this be the reason for your nightmares? :hide:

My concern for you is that you will most likely need a service provider that can cover all 3 Phases.
 
Julie, it seems as if online service scheduling with a robust admin has taken a back seat over the last couple years. However I believe we are on the verge of seeing another increase in the demand for such services. For years I swore up and down that @utoRevenue (acquired by Dominion) was one of the best. They had a one of the simplest consumer facing (mobile too) service scheduler. The admin was decent but the automated retention touch points (email, voice and print) all worked together very well. They provided some nice reporting as well.

I can no longer speak with authority on behalf of @autorevenue/Dominion product since it's been too long. Taking a quick look at their website, I wasn't able to find any information on their service scheduler and retention marketing.

I've worked with a few dealers using Autoloop and I've like what I see. They provide an online scheduler with retention feature. On top of that, they offer their "SmartLane" product that provides your service lane process into the efficiency of of an iPad: iPad Reception, Inspection, Photo Capture, Checklists, Customer Updates and even signature capturing on the iPad. I'm not selling nor do I endorse AutoLoop but from what I have seen, it offers many of the features the OEM's are looking for dealers to adopt.

Elead's autopilot may be another service worth checking out, especially if you're already an eLeadCRM customer.

There are a several services to choose from but most of them don't provide a seamless online service scheduler with a solid retention feature that ALSO offers an Inspection / Upsell component. But if you're not looking for the Inspection / Menu upsell component, then you have more options to choose from.

Here are a few more companies that you may want to reseach:

Dealer-FX
AutoAppoint by CIMA Systems
Service Drive Suite by MOC1 Solutions
TimeHighway
X-Time
 
We are using XTime Scheduling and like it for the most part. However, they have a couple new products we are considering. One is a marketing module and the other is a check-in module that uses iPads. Will also allow 2-way texting for customers from the tool. If you are all-in with Vin, as I am, that would be the best way to go for you...good luck.
 
We used to use the Dealer Socket Service Drive, it was great with appointment scheduling that included tech times and job scheduling...it had an online portion for customers to book their own (actually available) appointments... all of that would push to the DMS for the advisors to use during RO write up etc. After we stopped using it (paper won out) they also came out with a walk around for the advisors on a tablet.