Advertisement feature: SecretServiceTM moves swiftly to keep franchised workshops utilised as the coronavirus crisis escalates

Advertisement feature from BookMyGarage

BookMyGarage have been impressed with the number of franchised dealers eager to offer a new NO-CONTACT collection and delivery service to ensure motorists can still get their MOT and service conducted.

With a record number of 562,337 cars registered in March 2017 now requiring their first test, franchises wanted to inform motorists that they were willing and able to support those people who are socially distancing themselves, to ensure their vehicles remained legal and roadworthy.

There’s no information from the government as to whether they would waive the normal £1,000 fine for not having the MOT up to date. New freedom of information data shows that more than 68,000 motorists have been fined for not having a valid MOT since new rules came into force in 2018.

Several European countries impacted by the virus have had car showroom operations suspended, but workshops have been recognised as important safety related businesses and therefore not required to shut.

“Our communications over recent days with franchised workshops leads us to believe the majority expect to keep their service bays open, even in the event of a government enforcement of residential lockdown,” said Karen Rotberg, co-founder of BookMyGarage.

As such, we have conducted programming to highlight those franchised garages which are offering ‘NO-CONTACT’ collection and delivery, along with help-notes for the motorist to understand how it works.

The ‘No-Contact’ Collection and Delivery option, as a ‘standout’ on BookMyGarage.com search results, shows those garages that are either offering this, for free or at a fee, along with associated lead-times.

Whilst the convenience factor is attractive to motorists, Franchises are already considering using their sales teams to conduct the collections and deliveries whilst their vehicle sales side of the business is on lockdown.

By consumers simply placing keys in a bag and in a place they inform the garage of, this also limits face-to-face interaction, which of course helps the driver feel safer too, along with wearing gloves, and any other aspects the Franchise themselves want to take such as seat covers, etc.

“During these challenging times our team is fully operational and working hard to deliver the best possible solutions to keep franchised workshops open and utilised to help mitigate some of the financial impact the coronavirus will have on our clients’ business operations while helping them to keep car owners safe,” she said.

“Our real-time reporting shows exactly what bookings and ROI are achieving daily for the franchise, and we act strategically and quickly to ensure each site’s unique requirements are met. For instance, some sites may not be able to take bookings for a period of time, but we can continue to take bookings for post that lock-down, ready for when the site is open again.

Whilst most business are sadly having to take drastic measures to cut costs, we are in quite a strong financial position and are investing in new programmers, marketing and garage support teams. We need to ensure we maintain our 100% efficiency to cater for the new franchises who have been contacting us this week and requesting to join the SecretService™ solution to gaining new conquest customers, and retaining their existing ones.

“We wish all franchised dealers well during these challenging times and are here to help them protect their all-important workshop businesses,” said Rotberg.