Who doesn’t find at-home service appointments from cable companies, contractors, or others annoying? You take time off of work, only to wait for a technician who arrives late, never shows up or doesn’t resolve your issue. Safelite AutoGlass, the largest provider of vehicle glass repair and replacement services in the U.S., sees at-home service as an opportunity to deliver positive experiences to customers. With the help of its Mobile Resource Manage (MRM) technology, Safelite’s mobile appointments are delighting customers and getting industry accolades.
A focus on looking at the business through the eyes of the customer was what lead Safelite to launch the innovative MRM software in 2007. Dedication to the customer continues today. Safelite was recently recognized as a Mobile Productivity Award winner by software company Pega, for its customized MRM technology that supports its mobile appointments.
Safelite’s MRM is a proprietary software that is loaded onto technicians’ smartphones. It provides daily work order lists, driving directions, the ability to communicate with customers and secure payment capabilities – all things needed to deliver exceptional customer experiences while on the road. Since launching, MRM has been updated and enhanced over time. The latest new feature gives techs the ability to trigger a text message to be sent to the next customer before they leave a job, providing an estimated time of arrival, among other things.
Renee Cacchillo, Safelite’s Vice President of Customer & Brand Strategy, shared some insights about Safelite’s customer strategy and the success of the MRM technology with Loyalty360.
Why do you think Safelite’s customized technology was recognized, and what do you think sets it apart or differentiates it from competitors?
Unfortunately, at-home service appointments (e.g., cable companies, contractors, etc.) are not known for an easy customer experience. It can be a challenge to coordinate the customer’s schedule with the service person’s availability made all the more complicated by weather and traffic implications.
No one likes to take an afternoon off work to stay at home and wait for the service provider, especially when outside forces can prevent the service provider from showing up within the promised four-hour window timeframe.
With that in mind, Safelite’s Mobile Resource Manager (MRM) software was developed and is continuously updated to improve these at-home service appointments scenarios. Not only are we leading the vehicle glass industry in this aspect, we’re partnering with leading software companies to create cutting-edge solutions.
What does this technology do for customers?
Imagine for a few minutes a day in the life of a Safelite AutoGlass mobile technician. In the morning, he arrives to the Safelite shop to pick up his work orders and glass parts for the day before hitting the road. Many changes may pop up to interfere with his day’s schedule… perhaps the customer could no longer be available at his appointment time, perhaps the customer changed the service location from his home to his office… perhaps an afternoon storm prevented work from being done on the car.
Safelite’s Mobile Resource Manager (MRM) software creates a better mobile vehicle glass repair or replacement experience for customers. It’s not something they interact directly with, but it helps coordinate the behind-the-scenes logistics. For example, it helps the technician arrive to the right customer location with the right part for their car at the right time. It helps the technician communicate any changes between Safelite’s dispatcher and the customer.
How has this impacted customer engagement/experience, and when did these technologies launch?
Safelite continuously listens to customers and to technicians to improve the customer experience so MRM has evolved over the last seven years into what it is today.
Our IT team first developed its proprietary Mobile Resource Management (MRM) software, which is loaded onto technicians’ smartphones, in 2007. Beginning in 2011, the IT team set out to 1) enhance the software for better functionality and 2) update the handheld devices to a more user-friendly model. The third iteration of MRM (MRM3) and the new smartphones (Samsung Galaxy Note II) were rolled out in 2013. On-My-Way text alerts began with a pilot program in 2014.
With the latest iteration of MRM, customers will experience:
- Higher Quality – Technicians have quick access to tips and tools of the trade to address the nuances of different vehicle styles.
- Enhanced Communication – Customers can receive an integrated email and text for appointment status, updates and ETAs.
- Security – Fully PCI complaint payment processing with onscreen signature.
How as the “On My Way” text alerts been received by customers?
The “On My Way” Text alert pilot customer feedback has been positive: 72.5% said they liked knowing when they needed to be available to meet the technician at their car; 69% said the “On My Way” text impacts the likelihood of choosing Safelite again; and on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being extremely valuable, 60.7% rated it a 9 or 10 within the entire Safelite customer experience.
How do you define customer loyalty and what does it mean to your company?
Because the average person does not routinely need reoccurring vehicle glass repair or replacement services, we aim to provide a customer experience that is worthy of a referral or recommendation.
So, we strive to always look at our business through the eyes of the customer; make it easy for them to do business with us; and thereby ensure their experience is memorable.
How do you stay on top of the latest technology offerings, and what role do they play at Safelite?
Safelite’s strategy to be customer-driven requires us to 1) listen to customer feedback, 2) focus on where we can have the greatest customer impact, 4) create new solutions based on customer insights and 4) delight each and every customer.
Every department and every person within Safelite understands this strategy. The Customer & Brand Strategy department and the I.T. department work closely together on a daily basis along with close collaboration with our field – including CSRs and technicians – to identify the needs, both today and tomorrow, of our customer and to research and develop solutions to meet those needs.