How car valeting can help you engage customers and open new revenue streams

“For service departments, there is a sales opportunity through a bodywork inspection at the time of booking in the car – which is also a useful precaution against unfounded complaints about damage while the car is in the dealership’s hands.”   

The benefits of outsourcing SMART repair

Llewellyn has been involved with SMART repairs since 1994 and in 2004 bought the rights of a Canadian franchise and rebranded it Revive! With 125 vans nationwide, it charges dealers trade price with the two parties sharing the retail margin.

He acknowledges that this repair technique “hasn’t always been viewed in the most professional light”, mainly because of the absence of a benchmarking standard, which is why Revive! was part of a focus group that developed cosmetic repair to standards eligible for the Automotive Technician Accreditation portfolio of skills.

Revive! dealership services include outsourcing of all SMART repair, or the options of having either its own on-site work station or working alongside in-house teams to provide holiday cover, for instance.

It also offers to handle job scheduling, reports and management information back to the dealership. As Llewellyn explained:  “A large dealer group with over 100 sites could be employing 50 different people to handle SMART repairs for used car prep, so we can significantly reduce the administrative burden.”