In the past year, we have seen a dramatic change in the way service departments operate, and it’s a direct result for demand from customers.
During the pandemic, customers have gotten familiar with business texting and remote forms of payment, and because of this, businesses have had to adapt.
In-person interactions became limited, and customers saw that there were other options to communicate and interact with businesses.
One of the biggest areas of change appears to be in the service department. Dealerships are figuring out that customers like remote payment options, and some are now running 80% of their service revenue through text-to-pay.
Putting Text-to-Pay in Service Departments
Even just a few years ago, business texting was not on the radar for many dealerships. Workers were still calling people with service updates, leaving voicemails or playing phone tag. Now, the entire system has changed.
Many businesses started making changes during the pandemic as a way to keep revenue moving. They needed to be able to allow the customer to pay for things without having to come into a building or meet face-to-face.
Text-to-pay is not only helping customers save time, but it’s also helping businesses cut down on time spent trying to get ahold of customers, which is increasing revenue flow.
How Text-to-Pay Works in Service Departments
The main reason text-to-pay works well in service departments is that it keeps things moving. Customers can use it to pay ahead and pickup their equipment later without having to even set foot inside a showroom.
Also, the customer completes the entire transaction him- or herself, reducing the amount of time employees need to spend on accounts receivable or bill collection. Then the money is deposited within 48 hours.
One of the dealerships that uses a text-to-pay system says it pretty much eliminated lines in its service department and cut down on a lot of wasted time.
It would send customers a text with a link to the invoice, and the customer would fill out his or her credit card information and send it right back. With text-to-pay, the dealership also completed $65,000 in transactions through the platform in the first two months.
Another business using this platform says the text-to-pay system allows it to keep a paper trail of transactions. If customers call in, there is not always a way to verify that they left their information, especially if workers are busy, write something down and then forget about it.
With text-to-pay, they can pull up invoices, show customers what they have paid and when and keep track of invoices for the future.
This is just a small part of what text-to-pay can offer businesses. It’s technology that customers are now demanding of businesses because of its simplicity and convenience. The same is true for businesses, simplifying the communication process and using the convenience of text-to-pay to keep things moving in service departments and keep revenue flowing.
Ben Leighton is a Content Marketing Specialist with Kenect. He previously worked in the journalism industry for over a decade, creating multimedia content on various platforms. You can find Ben on Linkedin and Twitter.
Kenect helps businesses connect with their customers. We build simple texting tools that are elegant and easy-to-use. Thousands of companies across North America use our platform to text their customers, generate online reviews, gather leads from their websites, video chat, and collect payments. Based in the Silicon Slopes of Utah, our team is committed helping businesses improve their customer experience and customer communication. To learn more about Kenect, visit kenect.com or text us at (888) 972-7422.
