Human Intelligence to Exit Schedule
Rounding out our Redefining CRM series, this final piece looks at where Client Relating Capability meets the moment a client walks out the door.
Autoflow has long allowed for an automated means of sending reminders for inspection related findings that were not approved. This core feature of the platform is called the Rainy Day Folder, titled for the slow days it aims to prevent. The Rainy Day Folder requires human inputs, on purpose. Chiefly, we want a ticket reviewed accurately, so we know whether an item on a DVI was or was not addressed during the visit when the inspection occurred.
For a busy advisor, this is a large ask. In the future, this is a task perfectly suited for AI to assist with. The importance of the human interaction here is clear.
What happens if you send a reminder about outstanding inspection items that a client already took care of in their recent visit?
Another question: if your advisor did not estimate all the findings on a DVI, would the deferred work on the invoice encompass all the vehicle’s needs?
Another question: if your advisor uses deferred work for good, better, best options and leaves the other two options as deferred, would automated messaging be accurate?
The simplest method for shops to retain clients, proven successful in dentist offices everywhere, is to structure things so our staff at the counter schedule the next visit while the client is there. With automated reminders already a core element in Autoflow, the client receives an appointment confirmation by text, as well as a reminder 24 hours ahead of the appointment.
If a client declines to schedule their next appointment while checking out, which is more common than not, there is a softer approach in Autoflow. You can set a custom reminder, with an appointment link to your scheduler, to go to the client close to the time their next appointment should be scheduled. “Mr. Client, how about I schedule a simple text in our current thread to remind you four months from now to get in touch with us for scheduling? Sound good?”
In Autoflow, that custom scheduled message is visible in the text manager, front and center for an advisor to clear out if the client comes in sooner.
Even if custom reminders are not set, the marketing module or other automated reminders will show up as a failsafe. Staff then only need to communicate to the client when they will hear from the shop. This is a key human touch. Set clear expectations for how the shop will keep in contact and how best the client can reply.
Technology Is the Tool
There is so much more to say on each one of these topics, but what I want to be very clear for our readers is this: having a human in the loop who is engaged and caring for our clients is still the most effective way to relate to and retain clients. Automation, digital marketing systems, and AI will come in, but they are there not as the primary ability. They are a failsafe for when our Client Relating Capability is, for whatever reason, diminished.
Technology cannot do it for you.
Technology will not do it for you.
Technology should not do it for you.
Technology is simply a necessary tool to help you do your job.
