If your service department ran as smoothly as a well-oiled machine, there’s a great chance that you could improve upon your Repair Event Cycle Times and get more boats in and out of your shop while also reducing the stress on your staff and driving greater levels of revenue.
The path to getting to that point is quite simple. It’s through the creation and refinement of a service department process map.
Your service department requires great coordination, several contributors, the right parts inventory and a little bit of luck … all just to get a single boat repaired, let alone navigating a whole day’s, week’s or month’s worth of ROs.
There are several key elements of every service department’s success, and if any one step doesn’t go well, it can create a domino effect, hampering the entire system, delaying repairs, agitating customers, hurting your smooth system and reducing your potential.
Mapping those activities allows you to get more clarity on your processes, identify places for improvement and become more efficient. Your service manager and your service team should take the time to write down each step, from initial customer inquiry to post-service follow-up, as well as the details of what goes into each step.
If you haven’t yet process mapped your service department, here’s an initial set of steps you can start with:
- Initial Customer Inquiry
- Scheduling
- Write-Up
- Dispatch
- Parts
- Repair
- Quality Control
- Detail & Delivery
Note: To help MRAA Members further, view this page of best practices for downloadable recommendations and best practices that other dealers have offered and MRAA has compiled for your benefit. Check them out and implement them into your processes.
After you’ve mapped out your shop’s unique approach to conducting business, including those details mentioned above, you should go back and ensure each step is accounted for, and that you are taking the customer’s experience into account along the way.
While it takes time to create a process map that works for your dealership, the time spent working on your business will be worth the effort. If we can help you shorten up the time commitment or provide any guidance, you should enroll in the Marine Industry Certified Dealership program, which offers you a sample service process map as well as guidance from a Certification Consultant to make the process work perfectly for your dealership’s unique circumstances.
With a service process map in place, your dealership will become more efficient, you’ll be able to service more boats, and you’ll drive greater revenues at the same time.
Note: MRAA has an entire library of resources available to help you reduce the amount of time it takes to get customers back on the water. Check it out here.
