How to earn more from your service appointments with Recommended Repairs

Imagine this scenario: A customer receives a reminder about their upcoming maintenance visit at the workshop, along with tailored recommendations for additional services their vehicle might need. Having noticed that the air conditioning unit hasn’t been checked for over 2 years, the customer adds A/C service to the appointment.

By the time they arrive, the workshop has already planned the work and capacity in advance, ensuring all services and repairs can be completed in a single appointment, and eliminating the need to schedule a new one.

3 out of 4 workshop customers are interested in hearing about recommended repairs from their workshop.

The hidden potential of Recommended Repairs

In over a decade of experience in the automotive industry, we have spoken to hundreds of car dealers across Europe. What we’ve learned is that nearly three-quarters of their workshop customers are interested in hearing about additional recommended repairs when they bring their vehicle in for service.

This insight highlights a significant opportunity for workshops to enhance their aftersales performance. By automating the process of offering tailored recommendations for additional services, workshops can better meet the needs of each vehicle, improve workshop planning, and enhance aftersales performance.

What are the main benefits of Recommended Repairs?

Recommending additional repairs and services to aftersales customers with an upcoming appointment not only increases the revenue generated from each appointment but also allows the workshop to plan work and capacity in advance, thus minimising return visits.

In summary, offering additional repair recommendations to workshop visitors helps dealers:

• Increase the revenue generated from each customer visit
  Customers are more likely to agree to additional services when they are informed in advance, leading to higher sales per visit. Thus, by offering additional services, workshops can maximise the value of each service appointment.
• Plan work and capacity in advance
  Knowing what services will be required ahead of time allows workshops to manage their resources more effectively. This means having the right parts and technicians ready, reducing downtime and ensuring a smoother workflow.
• Minimise return visits
  When all necessary work is identified and planned before the customer arrives, it eliminates the need for return visits. This not only enhances customer satisfaction but also frees up workshop capacity for new appointments.

65% of customers who receive a reminder about their upcoming appointment review recommended repairs and 15% add extra services and products to their visit.

A real-world example

Car dealers who offer additional repair recommendations are seeing impressive results. Marc Bauer, Partner at ag analytics, reports that “On average, 65% of customers review their recommended repairs before the visit, with 15% adding extra services and products — such as A/C service, brake service, wheel alignment, etc. — to the existing work order.” This translates into a significant increase in both revenue and customer satisfaction.

Martin Færch, Head of Aftersales at MTH Biler, a Toyota dealership with 8 locations in Denmark, shares his experience: