Service departments that lack a strategy focused on making sure parts do not sit unused on shelves can quickly end up with an obsolescence issue. When customers fail to come in for a scheduled repair for which a part was ordered, or a part gets ordered twice by mistake and the error is not caught on time, unused parts can start to clutter shelves. It may sound minor, but the cost of this oversight can add up, resulting in a significant amount of lost revenue for your dealership.

Managing the parts you have special ordered for repair work may sound overwhelming given all of the other tasks on your staff’s plate. Fortunately, there is an effective solution that will not take up your employees’ time.

TEXT2DRIVE™ – a full-featured communications platform – offers a parts interface that makes it easy for your staff to manage and minimize parts obsolescence. It pulls data from your dealership DMS in real-time to keep you in the loop about which parts have been ordered and which parts have been received. Let customers know when the parts they ordered have come in and remind them of the work that needs to be done via text message notifications.

Your DMS will reflect all new parts orders because TEXT2DRIVE pulls the data in real-time. When one of your employees receives the part and books it into the DMS as having been received, the communications platform makes note of that, as well. As a result, your service department has a live, updated log of every single part order that has been ordered and received.

The parts interface neatly breaks down each order by repair order number and service order number. It displays the following:

• Name of each part
• The date each part was ordered
• The status of each part – whether or not it has been received
• The date each part was received
• The name of the service advisor
• The details of the vehicle

Users can filter orders according to a date or date range, their own parts orders, open parts orders, partially received orders and fully received orders.

Pre-existing text message templates specific to the parts department make it fast and easy for your staff to notify customers that their parts are in. The templates can be personalized with information including the customer’s name, service advisor’s name, dealership’s name and the phone number of your service department. The notifications are sent via text message, making it convenient for customers to receive and read them.

These parts notifications have resulted in a 54% average decrease in parts obsolescence for dealerships that use TEXT2DRIVE.

Your service department could be next! Learn more about the profit-driven features and strategies that are part of the revolutionary TEXT2DRIVE communications platform.