Customers Prefer to Schedule Service Appointment by Phone
In an era where almost anything can be done online, vehicle owners still prefer to call ahead and schedule their service appointments than to schedule it online or drop by the dealership unannounced.
According to J.D. Power and Associates’ 2012 Customer Service Index (CSI) Study, 73 percent of vehicle owners call ahead for an appointment while only 10 percent prefer to schedule their appointment online. The remaining 17 percent prefer to just drop by the dealership without an appointment at all.
Surprisingly, even though 10 percent of the customers prefer to schedule an appointment online, the study shows that less than half that actually do so. Part of the hurdle is that most dealerships are still not set up to have a robust online scheduling tool, but rather have customers fill out an email-based scheduling form. Naturally that’s time consuming and cumbersome compared to just giving someone your name over the phone and finding out what date and time is available for a convenient service.
Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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