Saying that vehicle odor is one of the first signs of germs being present, mobile vehicle care company RideKleen has introduced a new antimicrobial solution that it says can deliver guaranteed odor control for up to one year.
The product, called PureProtect 365 by RideKleen, features an XMicrobe solution from Xzilon.
That solution, according to the company, offers a lasting biostatic layer that punctures the thin lipid exterior of odor causing germs, viruses and bacteria.
That helps neutralize threats that land on treated surfaces, RideKleen said.
RideKleen said the PureProtect 365 product also protects against stains from spills, grease, dye transfer and UV fading. It also leaves the surface easier to clean, the company said.
PureProtect 365 by RideKleen includes a one-year warranty. If the user notices an odor inside of the vehicle within one year of application, he or she can make a warranty claim. Xzilon’s expansive mobile network, which can reach anywhere in the United States, will conduct reapplication.
RideKleen in May introduced PureProtect, which it describes as an eco-conscious hospital grade cleaner and disinfectant from Caring Brands. It sanitizes and disinfects the entire vehicle, including the interior cabin, A/C ventilation system, trunk and cargo areas.
A Cox Automotive brand within the company’s mobility group, RideKleen said odors can often linger by becoming trapped in the vehicle. That can especially take place in upholstery carpet, fabric interiors and air conditioning systems.
That is why 63% of rental customers and 59% of rideshare users request a new vehicle, according to a Cox Automotive Consumer Odor Poll from October. That can create more work for operators and have a negative effect on the customer experience.
RideKleen president Pratik Patel said the brand is working to “rethink clean,” and that extends beyond the current pandemic.
“With a focus on the customer experience, we’re equipping vehicle owners, fleet operators and other mobility service providers with the now-essential sanitization and disinfection solutions to drive consumer confidence and overall vehicle safety,” Patel said in a news release.
Forty-seven percent of vehicle shoppers are willing to pay for extended sanitization services, according to the Cox Automotive 2020 COVID-19 Consumer Impact Study. That could mean more revenue for auto dealers and car wash operators.
RideKleen said the on-demand economy shows no signs of slowing, meaning fleet owners and operators can reap the benefits from PureProtect 365 by RideKleen.
The Consumer Impact Study showed the number of those willing to pay for long-term vehicle protection increased substantially with gig drivers. Eighty-one percent of ride-share drivers and 75% of food delivery drivers are willing to pay for long-term vehicle protection.
Software company AutoMobile Technologies has released its newest vehicle reconditioning software product, noting that dealerships, auctions, recon companies, rental car companies, and any organization bringing multiple vehicles through reconditioning can use the product to manage and control every aspect of their operation.
The product is called Repair360, and the company describes it as a single system for managing all components and contributors to automotive reconditioning. The product integrates every facet of reconditioning into a single digital platform, according to AutoMobile Technologies.
Repair360 manages all facets of reconditioning, including workflow management; repair planning; repair execution; parts ordering and inventory management; team collaboration; vendor and employee management; service requests and scheduling; accounting, billing, and expense tracking; and reporting and analytics.
“We’ve found many operations are using multiple systems to facilitate reconditioning — different systems for workflows, parts management, vendor management, timekeeping, work approvals, service requests, and more,” AutoMobile Technologies executive vice president of operations Eric Meahan said in a news release.
Meahan continued, “This kind of setup can be exhausting as managers have to 'swivel-chair' from one system to another just to complete the process for each vehicle. Repair360 puts it all in one software system accessible to all stakeholders, so teams and departments have access to real-time status for every vehicle from acquisition to frontline-ready."
AutoMobile Technologies says 400 North American clients are using Repair360. An additional 200 are scheduled to go online soon.
A new feature upgrade from The Next Rapid Recon is a no-charge enhancement to Rapid Recon's time-to-line reconditioning workflow software for current and new Rapid Recon users.
Called Vendor Advantage, it is part of the Next Rapid Recon user interface upgrade. With a vendor-only portal into their Rapid Recon workflow system, it connects dealers with all their vendors. Those vendors see and manage only the vehicles and assignments that the dealer assigned to them.
Vendor Advantage completes what the company describes as the accountability circle: All events affecting time-to-line, or T2L, have 360-degree accountability. Dealers control sublet performance. The company says that ensures proactive management that supports the dealership’s speed-to-sale objectives.
The company says Vendor Advantage also clarifies and expedites communications. Immediate workflow update and communication tools are placed into the vendors’ hands. Vendors access their dealers’ Rapid Recon workflow to synch work-in-progress status, communicate vehicle prioritization, and send estimates. Vendors, via mobile or desktop, can also enable two-way messaging about a specific vehicle.
Vendor Advantage can improve progress tracking. With integrated T2L, both parties can track and manage workflows to enhance cost control and vendor productivity.
Also, Vendor Advantage verifies vendor value. With integrated T2L, the used-car manager gains the necessary data to confirm vendor contribution to the dealership’s time-to-line objectives.
With Vendor Advantage, Rapid Recon users can add vendors with restricted access to Rapid Recon on desktop and mobile. That means vendors can manage, track and report work in progress, through completion. The company said that is like the process used by internal reconditioning.
In addition, with the Vendor Advantage product, Rapid Recon users can explicitly assign and notify vendors when work is available, even outside of steps. A dealer, with one click, can communicate to the recon team and vendors a vehicle’s priority in the vendor’s workflow. That can eliminate missed phone calls, texts, emails and other miscommunications.
With Vendor Advantage, Rapid Recon users can also:
• Receive notifications on pending approvals: Vendors know immediately when repair needs are approved. That can prevent false starts, delays and frustration.
• Receive updates when work is completed: The transfer of vehicles back into the internal recon flow is enabled, and that takes place without the delays that the company says can reduce time-to-line efficiency.
• Request and manage work estimates: That helps eliminate paperwork and estimate-tracking complications, and it helps expedite vendor payments.
• Hold the vendor accountable to the agreed price: Dealer approvals will lock in the approved repair price, which the company says eliminates unexpected invoices or additional charges. Vendor Advantage automatically moves the vehicle status to “Needs Approval” and immediately notifies the decision maker if other costs are requested.
• Message back and forth with vendors directly outside of notes: Vendor Advantage executes assignments and directions instantly, which the company says improves communications.
For dealers’ vendors, Vendor Advantage provides:
— Access to only the vehicles and work items assigned to that vendor. The company says that focus spotlights their workflow, including vehicle categories, completion priorities, quality control recheck and needs estimate communications and notes.
— Vendor and dealer accountability for obtaining estimate approvals. Vendor Advantage automatically updates both systems at the time an estimate is received, which the company says eliminates guesswork and downtime.
— Precise data, but the company says not too much data. Examples of the data are the vehicle image, stock number, VIN, vehicle description and Work Step. That can help eliminate clutter, distraction and details that do not need immediate attention, which can keep vendors working on priority units.
— Immediate and direct time and data stamp. The accountability and verification can result in elimination of guesswork and miscommunications.
Rapid Recon has more than 20,000 monthly users, and the company says it has data and dealership experts necessary to deliver benchmarking and best practices for improvement of vehicle reconditioning by design.
Many business practices and processes that were common for automotive reconditioning businesses just weeks ago are no longer advised, and they may not even be possible.
For those businesses such as PDR, wheel repair, paint, glass, interiors, detailing or SMART repairs, the current global health crisis is unsettling, says auto reconditioning software company AutoMobile Technologies, or AMT.
To ease that unsettling feeling, ReconPro by AMT allows technicians to deliver complete estimates for approval via email.
That means the customer can use an email quick-link to respond with an approval, allowing the technician to get on with the work.
The software allows delivery of invoices and other documents via email. ReconPro said that allows technicians to keep business going without being in the customer’s physical presence.
With digital management, technicians can track that the information is delivered to the right person, or they can resubmit as needed. The company says that is a more efficient method of getting the approval or payment authorized.
It also means technicians and customers can “work together while being apart,” the company said.
Also to connect business digitally, on ReconPro’s Client Portal, each wholesale customer can log in to see and transact with each repair in process. That means instead of sending an email for each approval or invoice, the technician can provide a link allowing customers access to any of their open estimates, invoices or other materials shared with them.
A unique link for each customer can provide them access to only their work, and they can provide approvals and gain access to all available estimates and invoices on a single dedicated web page.
When work requires a customer’s attention, the technician no longer must print out forms or deliver them in person. While maintaining a safe distance, everyone has efficient access to the information they need.
Client Portal is normally a premium add-on to ReconPro, but to help keep technicians and customers safe and productive during the current challenging times, AMT is activating Client Portal on all ReconPro accounts at no additional cost for the rest of the year through December.
An overview video on setting up email deliveries and client portal is available.
Rapid Recon, which describes its services as accelerating and streamlining how dealers get used cars sale-ready, announced two areas of improvement to its recon workflow software.
Advanced Bluetooth locator technology for outdoor, indoor and multi-level facilities for auto dealers is one of those features. Called Live Locate, it detects location elevation in multi-story facilities and showrooms.
Rapid Recon says Live Locate solves what it describes as a challenging annoyance: “Where are my cars and where are their keys?”
Vendor Advantage is another improvement, and Rapid Recon says that feature extends T2L workflow accountability, communications and cost control functionality to sublets and vendors.
According to Rapid Recon, Vendor Advantage allows dealers to assign work and receive work status notifications from in-house and vendors including mechanical sublets, body shops, PDR and wheel repair.
Rapid Recon said it marked its 10th anniversary of educating auto dealerships on applying time-to-line (T2L) speed-to-sale principles to their used car reconditioning processes. That, according to the company, helps improve vehicle turn and per-vehicle revenue.
The company also announced the release of Rapid Recon founder and chief executive officer Dennis McGinn’s second book, titled, “Inventory is a Waste — Why Recon T2L Speed to Sale Matters More Today than Ever.”
The book follows McGinn’s 2018 release, “RECON T2L—The Starting Line for Reversing Margin Compression.”
The new book includes “dealer success interviews” for improving turn and profit per sale.
Rapid Recon will make the announcements at NADA ’20 this month.
The company says T2L data from 6 million vehicles and across 40,000 dealership and vendor users validate Rapid Recon T2L’s “contribution to dealers’ ability to fight margin compression.”
Also according to the company, Rapid Recon is used across 20,000 mobile and tablet users supported by its on-site onboarding and user training and support.
Noting a “new wave of growth” in the auto reconditioning industry, Mobile Tech RX made three announcements in the area of its “recognition and adoption.” One of those announcements is that the company has invoiced $1.7 billion through its app by Mobile Tech RX users.
Mobile Tech RX describes itself as an “all-in-one business management software solution for modern auto reconditioning businesses,” and its second announcement is that it secured a $4.2 million Series A funding round led by Silverton Partners this past June.
The third announcement: The company plans to launch what it says is the industry’s first detailing solution in the first quarter of this year. Mobile Tech RX says the launch will help small business owners make more money with estimating technology.
Regarding the first announcement on the $1.7 billion in transactions processed through its platform, Mobile Tech RX said that represents “a momentous shift in the auto reconditioning industry” toward digital estimating, invoicing, and payment processing.
The company said not being able to charge customers for what their skills and services are worth is the most pressing issue that auto reconditioning technicians currently face.
Most dent, detail, interior, paint, and wheel repair businesses still operate mostly on pen and paper, Mobile Tech RX said. That has resulted in stagnant prices and nonstandardized service rates.
Many consumers want to barter and drive down prices when they enter an auto reconditioning business. That practice is a “detriment” to the industry, the company said.
Mobile Tech RX said it is on a mission to change that through its mobile app and business software.
Helping auto recon businesses consistently make up to 30% more revenue per job by using its variable-based estimating and invoicing technology is the company’s goal.
Mobile Tech RX says that for many of its customers, that goal is already coming to fruition.
One of those customers is Daniel Gromm, who is chief executive officer of Dent Dynamics in Santa Rosa, Calif. Gromm said that one year after starting to use Mobile Tech RX, the company raised its income by $93,000.
Mobile Tech RX chief executive officer and co-founder Eric Garves is a former PDR professional, and he and business partner Daimen Simmons spent years looking for a method to help them professionally estimate and invoice and earn more money for the business.
They could not find one. So after deciding to create their own, they launched the first version of Mobile Tech RX in 2015.
“Mobile Tech RX was built by auto reconditioning business owners who know how the industry works and what technicians need,” Garves said.
Garves continued, “We provide the entire industry with the tools to help them make more money and grow their businesses. The sheer number and amount of transactions that have been processed through our platform — $1.7 billion — speaks not only to the health of the auto reconditioning industry but also to the need for a solution like Mobile Tech RX.”
Regarding the second announcement, Garves and team secured a $4.2 million Series A funding round led by Silverton Partners last year to catalyze the company’s goals of expanding its head count, growing its customer base and use, and launching products into new markets.
Mobile Tech RX says that since the funding announcement this past June, its headcount has increased by almost 50%. Customer expansion has increased by almost 15%.
And regarding the third announcement, the company has started a wait list for its new detailing product set for a spring 2020 launch.
