Let’s face it—many car dealers have implemented mobile services but these implementations are not thriving. That’s not a dig—it’s just the truth. And it’s understandable.
Mobile is not just a new offering, it’s a new business model. One that requires a different mindset, different organizational structure, and a different field playbook.
I’m writing this as an entrepreneur who has spent 10 years building mobile automotive services. My team has delivered over 3.5 million services to consumers and business clients. Along the way, the team has opened over 30 cities. We have done this a few times.
A year ago, we started selling our software, hardware, and van upfit solutions to car dealerships. After numerous dealership conversations, I have identified six key challenges that dealers face in delivering mobile service excellence both internally and externally.
1. Lack of Commitment
Success in mobile demands full organizational buy-in. That means the owner/principal, GM, fixed ops manager, BDC, service advisors, techs, F+I team, even sales—everyone must be aligned and invested. If mobile is viewed as a side project or an experiment, it will die as one.
2. Failure to Recognize Mobile is a Different Business
Yes, oil changes and tire installs look the same whether they’re in the bay or in a driveway. But everything else—marketing cycle, staffing, logistics, customer engagement, safety, profitability—is entirely different. Mobile requires unique goals, metrics, training, tools, and processes. It’s not fixed ops on wheels—it’s a new operation.
3. No Dedicated Mobile Team
Mobile cannot be a part-time job for your fixed ops director. It needs a dedicated owner. Someone whose only job is to build, run, and grow your mobile business. Initially, that might involve a service advisor managing 1–3 vans. Eventually, it’s a director of mobile operations. If everyone owns it, no one owns it—and it fails.
4. No Plan or a Bad One
Mobile isn’t a plug-and-play add-on. It’s a half-million to million-dollar investment that should redefine your service offering to convenience-oriented consumers. It needs its own strategy: why are we doing this? What does success look like? What’s the GM’s objective? The ops team goals? The owner’s? The sales teams? Without clear vision and alignment, you’re just spinning wheels.
5. No Metrics = No Accountability
You can’t win the game if you don’t keep score. From day one, you need mobile-specific KPIs, such as:
- Revenue per truck
- Revenue per technician
- Gross profit per truck
- Customer satisfaction score change
- Retention post-warranty
- Increased fixed ops capacity
Without data, you are driving your car with an opaque windshield. You have no idea where you are going or what you might hit along the way. Driving down a data-less highway is very dangerous.
6. No Implementation Plan or a Weak One
Who’s doing what, when, and how are they being measured? Do they even know the expectations? Are the metrics visible to the full team daily? Execution without visibility and accountability is a guarantee of missed potential.
If you're committed to getting mobile right, the good news is you don’t have to start from scratch. Leverage what the best operators already know. Avoid the pitfalls. And build a mobile business your customers—and your bottom line—will thank you for.
Spiffy is the only vertically integrated, full-stack mobile service platform in the industry today. Spiffy provides software, vans, devices, training, and implementation consulting to take your dealership from full stop to 70.8 % gross profit in 90 days or less.
Posted in Digital Servicing
