Do You Want to Increase Service Department Efficiency

A Service department represents potentially the most valuable part of an equipment dealership’s business. Being able to bring in the most revenue through repeat customer visits for repairs and replacement parts is critical. However, building up a strong department requires top-notch technicians, managers, and business owners to keep track of repair statistics and make smart decisions on utilizing the best resources at their disposal. A solid dealer management system with service-focused programs and reports thus becomes a useful tool for service departments in equipment dealerships seeking to improve their performance. HBS Systems offers a service-focused dealer management system with powerful features like Service Connect through its flagship product, NetView ECO software. Service Connect easily integrates with other departments such as Parts and Accounting to give dealership managers and owners full oversight of all service operations at their business, whether managing one location or multiple locations. Here are four ways NetView ECO, particularly NetView Service Connect, can help managers and business owners increase their Service Department’s performance and profits.

Track Costs and Profits to Calculate Labor Rates: A strong service department is setting a good labor rate that ensures a good profit margin and high enough compensation to attract and retain top-rated technicians. To determine and maintain an ideal rate, business owners and service managers need a thorough knowledge of their department’s profits, costs, and related financial trends. NetView Service Connect has multiple standard reports covering profits, labor comeback, and profitability. The NetView ECO ActiveDesktop platform also provides multiple ActiveTile data analytic widgets which focus specifically on service-related financials. The NetView ECO dealer management system thus offers multiple options which together form a comprehensive look at a service department’s financials, providing the business owners with all the information they require to set a good labor rate to ensure technician satisfaction and maximum profit.

Watch Technicians’ Clocks: Maximizing technician productivity is key to increasing service profits, as technicians’ time is the most important resource in a service department. It is also potentially the largest source of lost revenue, like technicians who forget to clock in on a job or do not fully utilize their time cost dealerships for their unbilled time. That is why business owners and department managers need to keep a close eye on their technicians’ time clocks, so they can make sure every moment of a technician’s time is accounted for and spent working on customer’s equipment. NetView Service Connect provides two time clock programs: an electronic time slip program for technicians to clock in and out from when starting or finishing jobs, and an entry program for managers, if the department uses physical time slips instead of time clock software. These programs then feed several technician-based reports, which allow managers to see what their technicians have been working on, for how long, and for how much profit. This way, managers can account for every moment their technicians spend working and get an overall sense of which technicians produce the most in the hours they spend. This information can help managers decide which technicians should work on specific projects to meet deadlines, increase customer satisfaction and optimize the service department’s profitability.

Manage Department Schedule: As time is a precious commodity to a service department, it is key that department managers keep an organized schedule that ensures their technicians stay busy the entire time they are on the clock. NetView Service Connect has a scheduling program designed specifically for service departments, allowing managers to view and manage all of their technicians’ schedules in a single place. The program also updates in real-time as repair orders are created, jobs are assigned, and technicians mark their time, ensuring both managers and technicians stay aware of schedule changes as they happen. This comprehensive view lets managers stay on top of their department’s activities, catching conflicts as they may arise and ensuring every moment of their technicians’ time gets used in a way that best benefits the dealership.

Charge Jobs as Flat Rates: Industry experts such as Bob Clements recommend that dealerships charge a flat rate for most of their repair jobs, especially those standardized processes performed regularly by technicians. If done correctly, this can increase your total billable time and, on average, bring in more revenue. NetView Service’s central program, Repair Order Maintenance, allows dealerships to create and apply any number of specified flat rates to repair orders. This gives dealers complete control over what jobs they want to apply a standard rate to, letting them customize their flat rates specifically to the jobs that commonly come to their department and making the overall process of using flat rates much simpler.

HBS Systems’ NetView ECO software, through its Active Desktop and NetView Service Connect powerful features, can help businesses improve their service departments’ operations and increase overall profitability in these ways, plus so many more.

Contact our team at 800-376-6376 or sales@hbsystems.com to learn more about how our dealership management system can help your business increase service department efficiency and profitability.