Operations Update – Alpharetta
Compliance
On the registration front, we completed 92% of the planned renewals before expiration in November. The largest opportunity to drive compliance is obtaining completed vehicle requirements in a timely manner. This is critical for Wheels to complete the renewal before expiration. In November, 14% of the renewals needed a vehicle requirement. Our goal is to have 75% vehicle requirements received 45 days before expiration, this month we received only 33% from drivers.
Acquisitions
Looking at out of stock acquisitions, we continue to focus on timely vehicle deliveries and saw a decline in Vehicles Waiting to Be Delivered. The total number of vehicles at dealerships increased by 15% in November. Our delivery status team is focused on the oldest outliers (defined by vehicles at dealers for more than 30 days) and these increased by just 2% this month. The total number of open orders not yet received at the dealer increased by 2% for Wheels in November.
We are continuing to see vehicle availability across the U.S. improve. In November, our Alpharetta operations purchased 665 out-of-stock vehicles. Over the last three months, we have seen out-of-stock purchase cycle times improve by 25%. Vehicles such as the Ford Ranger still prove to be a challenge (impacted by the strike), but we are seeing more availability from cargo vans and hybrids. Recently Ford announced that they will allow dealers to reinvoice stock inventory with an end user’s fleet Incentive / agreement number.
Maintenance
Our maintenance team continues to work hard to increase vehicle uptime. For November, our advisors answered a total of 109,641 calls and achieved an average speed to answer of 78 seconds. We continue to monitor call patterns and weather-related incidents so that we can staff to support the needs of our drivers and repair facilities.
Remarketing
Our remarketing team continuously monitors the wholesale market to assure our clients are receiving the highest market value for their vehicles. November’s market results finished at 101%, slightly higher than our YTD at 100%. November Days to Sell elevated slightly from 28.4 days in October to 29.1 days in November due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Driver Care
Our Alpharetta Driver Car Center had their 8th consecutive month of exceeding resolution goal. Resolving driver requests accurately, effectively, and quickly is a priority. Wait times also decreased, with an Average Speed of Answer of 40 seconds. This reduced wait times by 23% and increased the percentage of calls answered in 30 seconds or less to 79%. Driver Care is focused on improved accessibility while ensuring that they can assist and support all driver requests as they are presented.
It is important to remember that drivers can access and enter their personal mileage via the ePlan driver portal or through the mobile app. The app can also assist drivers with fuel PINs, registration renewal status, fleet policy information, repair shop locations, and more.
Customer Insight
A top priority for us is to improve the way we manage you and your drivers’ requests. Our goal is to deliver better response times and more quality resolutions to your inquiries. Earlier this year, we initiated a survey to gauge your satisfaction with Request Resolution. Each month the results are reviewed with department leaders across the company to provide insight and identify opportunities on how we can improve. Thus far, Q4 has shown improvement with a 5% increase in overall satisfaction compared to Q3. Most notably is the increase in satisfaction with resolution of Requests – up 10% over Q3. Another benefit we have seen since implementing this survey is the real-time follow-up with you and your drivers if dissatisfaction is expressed. The feedback you’ve shared through these surveys has provided us with the visibility and insight we need to continue to improve our service levels. Thank you for your participation!
