BDC DIAG: DGA & XTIME

DGA/Xtime Partnership & Shop Loading 101

DGA has shared over 300 clients with Xtime since 2008 when we launched our Virtual BDC service-Inbound Reservation Center. We have found that dealers do not fully optimize the capabilities of Xtime’s shop-loading.
Shop loading & capacities are two words foreign to MAJORITY of dealers. With proper shop loading, a dealership can maximize the number of appointments each day, limit waiters in the morning, and evenly distribute the work from morning to afternoon.  This increases the time your Advisors have with the customers, gives your technicians more time with the cars, and will boost your RO count.
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I’ve met with many Fixed Operations Managers that believe their customers only want morning appointments or believe they have 70% walk-in customers, and this is usually not true. This is an excuse given by Advisors that schedule their own appointments. Customers will allow you to manipulate your shop loading if you simply tell them your first available appointment is in the afternoon rather than the morning. 

Most aggressive dealers will over load the mornings and will run out of work in the afternoons. In the example below, the dealership books one appointment every 15 minutes for each advisor and books 4 waiters every 15 minutes. 90 minutes into this Saturday, the dealerships will have 36 appointments and up to 24 waiters, and this doesn’t include walk-ins. Saturday mornings are notorious for walk-ins, so let’s factor in at least 10 more walk in customers before 9:30 am.
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Now the dealer has 46 cars, at least 30 waiters, and the dealership wants to complete 100 cars on Saturday.
46% of this dealers RO goal is already in the service department, and we’re 15% through the day.

• Majority of appointments are waiters because dealer didn’t limit them
• Techs will rush through services maintenance and won’t complete inspections
• Services will take too long to complete
• Advisors sales will suffer
• Advisors will turn down afternoon work
• Morale is down
• Disorganization will occur

​DGA limits the first 2-4 time slots to allow for walk-in traffic to arrive without creating a traffic jam in the service drive. DGA drastically limits the waiters in the morning to naturally fill the morning appointment times with drop off appointments. (BDC DIAG NOTE: Customers will book drop off appointments and wait, but this is a numbers game. We’re looking for optimized efficiency, not perfection.)

DGA will drastically increase waiters after 1:30 pm to overload the afternoon with quicker maintenance items leaving the morning for major maintenance, brake work, and repairs.

​90 minutes into this Saturday with DGA’s shop loading expertise, this dealer has 24% of their daily goal in appointments 15% into the day, and only 14 waiters.

• 14 techs can get through the waiter appointments within the promise time
• Advisors have adequate time to greet and sell work
• Advisors don’t have to worry about answering phones giving them an extra hour per day
• 12 drop off appointments can be set aside to allow for more walk-in traffic
• Technicians are completing inspections and finding more opportunities for sales 

​This example is a more balanced day. It’s more efficient for the dealership and the customer experience is improved. A dealer should never fear losing their customer because they guide them into an afternoon appointment rather than a morning appointment. Furthermore, DGA’s shop loading will allow for you to squeeze emergency situations into the schedule when they occur. Try squeezing a customer into example 1, and you will end up losing several customers rather than the one.
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At DGA, we love the auto industry. We enjoy sharing our years of experience, and we’re extremely proud to have booked over 4 million appointments.

Please contact us directly to learn how we can help you! www.dgaauto.com/demo 

Thank you! 

Nicholas Lawrenson
COO
DGA 
www.DGAauto.com