Halliwell Jones solved its biggest challenge ‘overnight’
30 Jul 2021
Tjekvik’s first-ever UK customer, Halliwell Jones, solved its biggest challenge ‘overnight’, according to Group Aftersales Manager, Lincoln Delve.
For years, the largest problem the group of 11 BMW and MINI dealerships located in the north west of England and north Wales – much like many other dealers - has been reducing the time that customers spend waiting to speak to a service advisor.
The arrival of Tjekvik’s digital service reception software and premium kiosks across all 11 of the group’s sites significantly reduced waiting time and has freed up time for dealership staff, helping them enhance their productivity.
According to Lincoln, the impact of the implementation of the Tjekvik software and hardware was instant.
“We weren’t really looking for a solution at the time but we were aware that BMW was doing some research with suppliers and, after we had the demonstration, we were hooked,” he said. “Our MD, Philip Jones, passed one of the kiosks on demo and was able to use it within seconds, without instruction, and simply said that we needed these machines for our customer journey.”
A flexible check-in solution
Tjekvik’s innovative system allows customers to check in their vehicle for service and maintenance procedures from home on their own devices or via check-in kiosks at the dealership site. This minimises waiting time for the consumer, increasing customer satisfaction as well as improving efficiency for the dealer staff, who can free up time normally spent dealing with customers for other tasks.
Lincoln said: “The biggest challenge we faced as a business was time. Customers do not have time or want to be stood around waiting to speak to a service advisor. We had long queues in the morning with people waiting to see an advisor and we fixed this overnight. Immediately, we were able to create customer appointments and provide customers with a solution to ‘drop and go’ securely.”
Lincoln admits that the new technology has not been for everyone, but that uptake from both a dealer staff and a customer point of view has increased steadily. “At first, dealership staff didn’t all embrace the system but, once they realised the benefits of it, they upped their game and started working with the software,” he said.
“For customers, the system has been a bit ‘Marmite’ – some love it and some still want to talk to a human. That’s fine as we now have more time for those who want to follow that journey.”
Strong take-up and additional revenue
Since the partnership between Tjekvik and Halliwell Jones started in 2019, data collected by the system shows clear and tangible benefits for the group.
In 2021 alone, the group generated £67,908 in added value sales via the Tjekvik kiosks and took 1,088 extra requests for service plans. On average, a third (32%) of customers used the home check-in function to check vehicles in remotely, although Lincoln reports that, at points, this surged as high as 50%.
Meantime, nearly half (45%) of customers used the premium Tjekvik kiosk to check in on-site and the check-out function usage was as high as 20% during the height of the pandemic.
The Halliwell Jones Group reports that the greatest benefits of partnering with Tjekvik to deliver a digital service reception has been the impact on customer satisfaction through the reduction in queues, plus adding nearly £70,000 in the last 12 months to the bottom line of the business. When coupled with the smooth relationship with Tjekvik, this has made for a painless and profitable process.
Nearly £70,000 in added revenue
32% checked in from home
45% checked in at kiosks
Looking forwards, Lincoln said further integrations would only enhance the benefits of Tjekvik to Halliwell Jones: “More interaction with our Keyloop Drive DMS would be welcomed, as would the use of video images. And if we were able to connect our system to number plate recognition (NPR), I would like for the machine to recognise this and welcome the customer by name as they approach the kiosk.”
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