Check-in kiosks offer aftersales boost

If the UK’s aftersales departments are to continue to be profitable as the volume of electric vehicles (EVs) increases dramatically, lessons need to be learned from our Nordic neighbours.

Danish company Tjekvik, pronounced ‘Check Quick’, provides an airport-style quick check-in for service vehicles thereby increasing the aftersales through-put by freeing up dealer staff. The company will form part of the Future Zone at this year’s Automotive Management Live.

With fewer moving parts, EVs require less maintenance so if aftersales departments are to maintain their profitability as ownership becomes more widespread, dealers need to increase the volume of vehicles serviced as well as identify additional revenue streams.

Taking place on November 7th at Birmingham’s NEC, the event, now in its fourth year, brings together the sector’s leading suppliers, a host of masterclass sessions and expert speakers who tackle some of the pressing issues facing automotive retail.

New to the UK but well established in Scandinavia, especially Norway, the leading market for EV where the plug-in vehicle market share is almost 50% https://cleantechnica.com/2019/08/18/ev-tippin-point-in-norway/, Tjekvik can also enable aftersales departments to extend their opening hours by installing a check-in kiosk in an atrium so customers can drop-off vehicles and keys out-of-hours using one of the 20 secure key lockers.

Figures from the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise show service content drops by an average 40% on EVs compared to conventionally powered vehicles highlighting the need to develop innovative ways to protect aftersales business.

The system also digitises the service reception process by asking a selection of key detail questions including the option to mention anything on the car which requires a technician’s attention. Payment can be taken online but most customers pay over the phone with the keys released from the key lockers using a personal, secure code only if the bill has been settled.

The company’s UK business development director Nick Pratt said: “In Norway, the extensive uptake of EVs has already had a massive impact on aftersales and dealers have had to increase the number of vehicles serviced and become much more efficient in their use of eVHC to ensure work isn’t missed.

“The check-in kiosk is familiar to most people as it works in a similar way to airport check-ins or airport parking where car keys are left in a deposit box. It enables customers to drop off and pick up vehicles quickly reducing the queues at service reception whilst delivering an exceptional customer experience.”

A staggering 2,000 customers used the Tjekvik system in the first quarter of this year at one Norwegian dealer group operating five sites where the check-in kiosks are in place.

Tjekvik recommends dealers offer one add-on service as part of the check-in, such as an air conditioning service, which can be tailored to the customer, the vehicle or the time of year with Swedish figures of 75% of kiosk users selecting the add-on being encouraging. With one kiosk able to check in 20 customers a day, some dealers have as many as five situated in the showroom as well as in an atrium to deliver its out-of-hours service.

Delegates to Automotive Live will have the opportunity to test the kiosk check-in for themselves at AM’s Future Zone. Free to dealer and manufacturer colleagues, places can be booked at https://www.automotivemanagementlive.co.uk/online-registration