Pub. 1 2011 Issue 4

9 carried over by manually re-writing all the information onto the next day’s Route Sheet. An RO Management tool per- forms this function automatically. Re-ordering of additional pages or books is not necessary with Electronic Appointments or ROManagement systems. Another advantage of electronic recordkeeping is that a customer’s entire appointment and RO history can be easily accessed, a task which would be virtually impossible with an Appointment Book. With Electronic Appointments and ROManagement, service managers can run a variety of reports, such as ‘no shows,’ for follow up and rescheduling. In some DMS systems, the Electronic Appointment applica- tion allows e-mail reminders to be sent for future appointment confirmation and reminders. At the very least, most systems can generate an instant report for upcoming appointments so that a service employee may call customers. ¡ Many Electronic Appointment systems allow for Tech/Team concepts or Shop Loading principles to be applied, making it easy to maximize shop capacity and sell more labor hours. No matter how resistant they may be, it is hard for service personnel to argue with a single screen that clearly shows any unscheduled time available for any given time slot. Many systems have the ability to forecast shop hours by tech, team and/or advisor by day, week or month, to more accurately predict and report on shop capacity status. ¢ On the lighter side, you cannot spill coffee, ketchup or grease on Electronic Appointment and RO Management systems. If there are so many benefits, why not change? Fear, uncer- tainty, and doubt all contribute to the resistance of trying new things. Before implementing a new system, dealers and service managers may want to encourage its usage by establishing an in- centive. Part of any good communication plan is to tune employ- ees into their favorite station: WII-FM (What’s In It – For Me). If service employees understand how new technology translates into more money for them, they may be quicker to embrace the idea. The core message is simple: more efficient scheduling = increased sales = more money available in the pay plan. Through proper planning, throwing away the outdated Ap- pointment Book and Route Sheets should be relatively painless, while switching to an Electronic Appointment and RO Man- agement system will have an immediate, positive and lasting impact on service operations. Q Greg Vrigian is the Director of Customer Services at Auto/Mate Dealership Systems. Auto/Mate is a leading provider of dealership management system (DMS) software to retail automotive dealerships. Its Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) is user-friendly, feature-rich dealership management software in use by more than 700 auto dealers nationwide. For more information, Greg Vrigian can be contacted at info@ automate.comor 877-340-2677. Visit www.automate.comand follow Auto/ Mate on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AutoMateDMS. Our 10-step informational guide makes DMS data conversion easy A Dealership Management System Designed By Car People, For Car People™ @AutoMateDMS (877) 340–2677 Visit automate.com to download our FREE eBooks to help guide you through the DMS decision making and data conversion process Think converting your DMS data is hard?