An Electronic Field Day

Three different companies turned to technology to solve their specific problems.

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Technology means profits when your services hit the road

Driving Up the Profits
Problem
Improving efficiency and customer loyalty

Solution
Interactive manuals on CD-ROM

Payoff
Expanded customer base and increased revenues from faster service

A spark plug drenched in oil for no obvious reason? Worn-down tires on a car that was driven only 17,000 miles? Boomer Kennedy, owner of Chicago Auto Inc., in Cambridge, Mass., used to spend up to 10% of her time trying to diagnose mysterious car ailments, only to end up sending her unhappy customers back to their original dealerships to find the underlying causes. Not only was Kennedy mystified by the unexplainable problems, but she estimates that she was losing about $17,000 a year in revenues because of time lost in useless exploration.

Now when a customer comes into the shop, Kennedy scoots in front of her pentium processor and launches ALLDATA. She enters the customer's car make, model, engine size, and year -- and all kinds of information about the car becomes accessible. She can click on any of several categories to find out everything from whether the car was manufactured with a defective axle to how much time she should quote for installing new brake pads.

In 1994 when Kennedy wanted to overhaul her shop, she spent $3,500 on a Packard Bell pentium processor and another $4,500 on an interactive CD-ROM program from ALLDATA (Elk Grove, Calif., 800-829-8727). She pays $142 a month for the ALLDATA service, which includes CDs that are updated every 90 days. The CDs contain detailed labor manuals, technical-service bulletins, and labor-estimate guides, for all imported cars.

The spark plug that was drenched in oil? "I thought for sure we were going to have to take apart the top half of the engine," says Kennedy. She went to ALLDATA and clicked on "technical service bulletins" -- factory information that is available to dealers but not usually shared with independent mechanics and customers. She discovered that the manufacturer, Toyota, had issued a warning that the car might have defective sealant compound around the spark plug. The problem was easily fixed -- in far less time than would have been wasted had Kennedy taken apart the engine.

"We don't waste time the way we used to," says Kennedy. "In the past only one of two hours of work would have been billable. The other would have been diagnostic. Now we are fixing problems for both of those hours."

The worn-down tires on the car with barely 17,000 miles on it? The car had been brought in for an oil change, but out of curiosity Kennedy checked the technical-service bulletin -- and discovered that Honda had put defective tires on the car. The bulletin also invited customers to bring the model back to the dealership for new tires, free. "The customer loved me for that," says Kennedy. "God knows how many people he told that story to."

Kennedy's garage also relies heavily on ALLDATA's labor-estimate guides. Mechanics used to spend much more time consulting printed guides put out by new-car manufacturers to quote accurate estimates of how long any repair job should take. They find that ALLDATA's estimates are more accurate than the printed estimates were, too.

Kennedy says the computer program helps keep her mechanics alert. ALLDATA has a built-in driveability work sheet that prompts mechanics to ask customers important questions about their cars and their driving habits. "Mechanics know they're supposed to ask certain questions," says Kennedy, "but the driveability sheets ensure that we are always on our toes."

Kennedy wouldn't trade her CDs for a new set of lug wrenches. She anticipates that ALLDATA will help boost her 1994 revenues of $425,000 to more than a half million in 1995. And she maintains that by satisfying more customers in a shorter time, she adds to her bottom line in ways she may not be able to calculate. "We can get the 20% of business that used to escape -- and who knows how much business that 20% will help to create in the future?" she asks.

Are You Being Served?
Problem
Tracking customers' service-repair history

Solution
A customized database that includes past repairs and who made the call

Payoff
Quicker response to service requests

Garland Heating and Air Conditioning Co., a $3-million company specializing in the installation and repair of heat, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems (HVAC), in Garland, Tex., held off automating its service-repair department for as long as it could. Now service coordinator Rick Kelley wonders why he waited so long.

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