For fleet managers, time is money. Taking a unit out of operation for routine maintenance or repairs means a productivity and profit loss and, more importantly, an inability to meet the needs of their customers. A number of Ford dealers have seen this service gap as an opportunity to bring routine maintenance and light repair services directly to the fleet customer.
“We have quite a few dealers now growing their fleet business through mobile fleet maintenance services,” said Erik Strom, manager, Fleet Sales & Marketing, Fleet Service Operations. “It’s all about delivering the best service that also is the most convenient. This is just one more tool our dealers are using to build their business while also improving the customer experience – it’s a win-win.”
Capital Ford has been serving the Raleigh, North Carolina community for 32 years and recently added mobile fleet maintenance to their roster of services.
“We have two trucks and they are busy three to four days out of the week providing mobile maintenance to our growing list of fleet customers,” said Ron Lumley, director, Fixed Operations, Capital Automotive Group. “I would say we have grown our oil change and quick repair business with fleets by 10 to 15 percent since we began the program six months ago.”
Lumley says there is a certain charm in taking the service to the customer.
“We need to understand we are in the service business,” he said. “Taking routine maintenance and light repairs to our fleet customers so they can reduce down time for their vehicles, it’s just the right thing to do.”
Tim Reynolds, dealer principal for Peach State Truck Centers, a commercial truck dealer group dedicated to selling and servicing trucks - including F-250 or larger Ford trucks - in Alabama and Georgia, agrees.
“It’s not the most profitable part of our business, but it’s all about customer service,” Reynolds said. “If we are there when customers need us, they will come back for future sales and service needs.”
While Peach State Truck Centers do offer mobile routine maintenance and light repair services, Reynolds says roadside service also is in great demand.
“We provide roadside service for class A trucks including school buses, highway maintenance contractors and many other on-the-go business fleets that can’t risk being inoperable for any length of time,” Reynolds said. “Our goal always is to get them moving again in an hour to an hour and a half from the time of the request.”
To do this, Reynolds operates seven hub locations in northern Georgia with a total of 16 repair trucks ready to roll out and save the day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, with on-call service available to cover off-hours and weekends.
For Reynolds, adding mobile service to his business nine years ago was a given.
“You cannot put a dollar amount on the value of being there when your customer needs you most.”
