Audi Cam process
Audi technicians will use it first to visually and verbally identify a customer’s car on film after conducting an initial inspection. They will then pinpoint and explain any problems found, and then propose solutions to those problems.
Each problem identified – for example brake pad wear or illegal tyre tread depth – is filmed as an individual clip to minimise file size and reduce ‘buffering’, and can then be incorporated into a web page that is exclusive to the customer involved.
A secure link to that page is then emailed to the customer, who has sole access to it using a unique PIN number which is sent separately by text message to their mobile phone.
The page is optimised for compatibility with home computers and smartphones, so its full functionality is available ‘on-the-move’.
The page contains the relevant film clip or clips, and grades each problem as either ‘urgent’, ‘advisory’ or ‘for info’ to give the customer a clear idea of its severity. It also provides a VAT-inclusive price quotation for each job, along with action buttons that enable the customer to authorise the dealership to proceed with it at the price quoted, to reject the work or to request a call back to discuss it.
Once the customer has added all the jobs he or she wants to proceed with to the ‘shopping basket’, they can authorise the dealership to begin the work by re-entering their unique PIN number. Before doing this, they can even gain some insight into the team which will be working on the car by viewing personal service team profiles posted on their page.
SENOR - 07/08/2012 15:19
As a customer and previous manufacturer employee, what a fantastic idea for those customers who have a sometimes well founded suspicion of dealer service departments. No mention of cost, however, but with the need to retain franchise service business this has a very good chance of becoming the norm, even allowing for those self interested dinasaurs who will say this will never work.