Sevcik’s Service Center is a family-owned and operated auto repair business and NAPA AutoCare Center in College Station, TX. Founder Leon Sevcik, Jr. built his auto shop on quality automotive service, hard work, and a passion for customer service. In fact, Leon was so passionate about excellent service he knew each of his loyal customers by name and even memorized many of their license plate numbers.
Sevcik’s has always been a true family business. Today, Leon’s son, Pat Sevcik, and Mark Lindemulder, lead Sevcik’s Service Center. Pat and Mark, alongside family members and their team, proudly carry on Leon’s deep commitment to automotive service expertise and customer service excellence. For Mark, “offering friendly service alongside our technical expertise is always our number one priority. We go above and beyond to ensure Sevcik’s Service Center delivers exceptional service to our clients above and beyond anyone else. Service is what makes us stand out.“
A Need for Exceptional Customer Service and Smooth Operations
Local demand for Sevcik’s Service Center is increasing, powered by a reputation for excellence and a strong local economy. As such, Forbes recently recognized the College Station area as one of the top places in the country for small businesses. For Mark, Sevcik’s Service Center’s growth created a challenge for the business. “As we have grown, we discovered that the biggest bottleneck in the flow of business is the timeliness of estimates and responding to customers,” he explains. “We know from experience a consumer will come in when we connect with them. However, our team is often limited in their ability to get back to a consumer quickly.”
Mark sought out a technology solution that could give returning and new customers an instant, personalized service experience and keep operations running smoothly. “When I considered new online technology adoption for our business, I looked for an online solution to meet our customer’s needs,” says Mark. He took into account consumers beyond the student population for his technology solution. “We are a college town and we know our customers. A higher percentage of younger clients are latched to their phones. However, I also thought about my parents. They are in their 70’s and just as savvy.” Mark continues, “The shift to online technology is not just generational, it’s how people operate now, especially since COVID.” Mark is on point. Research from the Pew Research Center shows technology use is almost universal among younger generations, but older generations are increasingly adopting a technology lifestyle.
Advanced Online Chat Designed for the Automotive Service Industry
Mark turned to Openbay Otis to engage his website visitors and improve Sevcik’s Service Center’s operational efficiency. Openbay Otis is an advanced online chat and messaging platform designed specifically for the automotive service industry. Otis installs on a business website and appears like a button, but jumps into action to gain the attention of the website visitor. Otis is available to quickly answer questions and deliver the information they are seeking in a chat-like format. It operates 24/7. It performs tasks such as appointment setting, delivers service estimates, and responds to questions about the business.
Otis, powered by AI (artificial intelligence), supports single-location businesses in addition to service centers having multiple locations. Additionally, Otis includes a tire catalog, able to retrieve tire pricing and availability information, and book installation service appointments. All within chat, in real-time.
Openbay Otis Does the Legwork for Sevcik’s Service Center
Otis transforms the consumer service experience for Sevcik’s Service Center online clients through instant, personalized conversations. In Mark’s words, “Otis creates a user-friendly experience for all our customers, from our 18-year-old student to Sevcik’s loyal 80-year-old clients. More and more, we see our customers – long time and new – using Otis exclusively.” Mark continues, “When a customer gets an instant response that is who they choose to do business with. Otis engages immediately to bring us a constant stream of customers without intervention.”
At the same time, Otis improves team efficiency by taking on tasks. Mark describes Otis’ impact on Sevcik’s Service Center’s business. “Otis provides accurate estimates automatically to our customers who are looking for pricing 24/7. Our team doesn’t have to take more actions because Otis gives instant responses that are shared directly with our team. This prepares our team to deliver a quality experience for clients when they arrive for service. At the same time, our clients have an easy service process from start to finish.”
Mark shares the positive impact Otis is making on Sevcik’s business: “Openbay Otis is exceptional. Otis takes all of our online requests and addresses customer needs in a timely fashion without any hands-on effort from our team. It does all the legwork. Otis is a real game-changer for our business.”
Winning More Business through Instant, Personalized Conversations
Mark offers his advice for automotive service business leaders who are considering an advanced online chat engagement solution. “Think long and hard about how many customers your business is losing because your team doesn’t have enough time in their day to give a new or returning customer proper attention. What if you had someone operating behind the scenes on your behalf? Otis is that for us. It operates on our behalf, automatically, 24/7 to deliver the above and beyond client experience we are known for.”
Mark endorses Openbay Otis. “I’ve subscribed to a lot of software tools that seem great, but end up causing bottlenecks. We find Otis operates differently. Because Otis is designed for automotive service businesses, website visitors get personalized automotive information instantly, all through chat – the way they prefer. In comparison, our old method was not effective. We’d have 5-6 sticky note estimates on the desk. We couldn’t address them quickly and we’d lose the service opportunity. With Otis we win more business because Otis delivers personalized responses instantly, 24/7.”
“Advanced online chat Otis makes it easy for our business to create a seamless experience for our customers, starting online and ending in our shop.” Mark concludes, “I’m not exaggerating when I say Otis operates like magic. Give it a try.”
To learn how Openbay Otis can engage website visitors, create efficient operations, and elevate the customer service experience, contact Openbay today.
Want to learn more about advanced online chat? This article from Openbay founder and CEO Rob Infantino explains the benefits of the latest chat technologies. Or, listen to Rob discuss online chat platforms with Tire Review Managing Editor Madeline Winer.
