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Do not try to service a fleet of autos and trucks when this is not your business. Assign that contract to a local dealership which has a lot to gain when you are ready to trade in vehicles. They will give you a better deal when you are ready to trade because they know the fleet and have its service record.
Steps for a dealership to service all of your company’s vehicles:
- Select a dealership. Give the selected dealership or auto service shop a complete listing of the vehicles and those drivers assigned to these vehicles along with their telephone numbers.
- Make the dealership the bad guy. Make the service center round up your employees for service checks. In exchange for getting this work, force the service center to contact your employees when it is time to service the vehicle. Make it the service center’s responsibility to round up all respective parties and have the vehicles serviced. You also now get to know vehicle abuse as it is occurring and not when you are ready to trade in the vehicle.
- Free up managers; deal with HR. When the service center does not get a call back from your employees after they have called repeatedly, they can simply call your HR department. Your employees assigned to a car do not want this. Employees won’t want the whistle blown on them by a car dealership. Their supervisor or purchasing is much less likely to complain when the sales representative says, “Do you want me to make a sales call or get the car serviced?” The dealership will shrug their shoulders; it is not their problem.
- All problems automatically forwarded to purchasing. The service center can also call back to Purchasing when a respondent does not call back and the vehicle is due for service. Purchasing can intercede at that point to take the vehicle if necessary in order to take care of company property. The outside service company can also note and report immediately other problems, excess mileage, evidence of wrecks or accidents, missing parts or obvious abuse to the company vehicles to the company purchasing department.
- Dealership enforces proper timely service calls. Make it the responsibility of the service center to round up everyone for safety inspections, recall notices, new car registrations and giving notice when there is evidence of accidents and damage to a car. Have the auto shop take photos when the vehicles are first purchased which puts the onus on the employee to take care of the vehicle.
Get out of the vehicle service business and run the business you know.
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