Changing Customer Behaviour and Business Models

The range of workshop service providers is heterogeneous. This gives vehicle owners the opportunity to choose the format that suits them best: Authorised workshop, independent workshop, workshop chain or fast-fitter. Nevertheless, workshop customers are very loyal. This is not only due to sophisticated customer loyalty programmes that raise the barriers to switching. Rather, successful garages impress with their flexibility, trust, expertise, availability and solution-orientation. The basic values of good craftsmanship must therefore be combined with media that create convenience in customer communication.

In this panel, the workshop will be scrutinised as a central touchpoint. It will look at how the use of technologies such as AI and personalised offers can retain customers in the long term and how digital solutions can help to optimise the service process. What role will online appointments, digital (repair) status updates and networked driving and tools play in the workshop of the future?