Driving aftersales profit: Is your software working hard enough?

Aftersales has always been the backbone of dealership profitability. Yet today, this critical department faces unprecedented pressure.  

We see rising operating costs, severe technician shortages and increasingly complex vehicles converging in the service bay. While demand should work in your favour, many service operations leave significant revenue on the table. 

Industry research indicates that dealerships lose between £900,000 and £1 million in untapped service revenue each year. This isn’t due to a lack of customers. It stems from existing systems that struggle to manage modern complexity. 

It’s now crucial for dealerships to examine their tech stack; asking if your automotive aftersales software is empowering peak performance. With the right digital infrastructure in place, you could be turning these challenges into opportunities for efficiency and growth.  

Workshop capacity: The visibility gap 

Your workshop capacity represents one of your most valuable assets. But it’s also one of the most expensive. And all too often, service departments lack real-time visibility into how they use that capacity. 

We know from industry data that franchised dealerships miss an average of 158 service appointments per month. Inefficient booking and scheduling processes are usually the cause of these misses. In terms of typical repair order values, this equates to over £900,000 in lost annual revenue per site. 

Despite service departments accounting for around 50% of total dealership gross profit, research shows most dealer groups have seen little improvement in service performance over the last five years.  

This stagnation points to structural inefficiencies rather than temporary market conditions. When scheduling relies on disconnected systems or manual judgement, workshops end up overbooked or underutilised. Both scenarios erode profitability. 

The productivity challenge 

While technicians act as the engine of the service department, they are also becoming its biggest bottleneck. 

The UK automotive industry currently carries around 13,000 unfilled vacancies. Vehicle technicians remain the most in-demand role. Looking ahead, the sector faces a predicted shortfall of 160,000 automotive workers by 2031, with technicians accounting for 16% of future vacancies. 

The shift to electric vehicles adds another layer of complexity. Only 24% of UK technicians currently hold qualifications to work on EVs. This introduces longer diagnosis times, rework and additional workflow friction as EV adoption accelerates. 

In this environment, productivity gains cannot come simply from adding headcount. Every wasted hour due to poor job allocation, missing information, or delayed approvals directly impacts labour utilisation. A mere 1% improvement in fixed-cost absorption, driven by technician productivity, can deliver £15 million to £30 million in additional to annual profit for large dealer groups. 

Booking journeys must reflect reality 

The aftersales experience begins long before a customer enters the workshop. But unseen friction at this stage often costs you money. 

Research shows that 79% of consumers prefer to book service appointments online. However, many dealership booking tools remain disconnected from real workshop availability, skills or parts constraints. Customers see slots that look available but aren’t operationally viable. 

We also see peak booking demand fall during the busiest periods of the week. Over 52% of all service appointment calls happen by the end of Tuesday. The highest number of missed calls occurs between 8am and 11:30am when service teams are already under immense pressure. 

This creates a disconnect between customer demand and workshop reality. It costs dealerships revenue before a vehicle even arrives on site. This is where a true 360 customer view becomes essential. You need an aftersales system that understands the customer’s history and the vehicle’s specific needs the moment they engage. Likewise, connected aftersales software that connects with your dealership phone system could reap significant rewards.  

Speed equals profit 

Once a vehicle enters the workshop, communication speed becomes a critical lever for profitability. 

Data shows that 82% of customers expect responses within 10 minutes. Yet average response times across many businesses still extend beyond 40 hours. In a service environment, these delays stall authorisations, extend cycle times and reduce daily workshop throughput. 

Critically, 78% of customers choose to proceed with the business that responds first. This underlines how directly communication impacts revenue conversion. Poor communication also damages long-term loyalty: 43% of customers say they won’t return after a poor service experience, with delayed updates being a key contributor. 

From disconnected data to Fusion 

Most dealerships are not short of data. They are short of insight. 

Service departments generate roughly 49% of dealership gross profit despite contributing only around 12% of total revenue. This makes them the most margin-sensitive area of the business. Yet fixed-cost absorption rates have remained largely flat since 2020. This indicates missed opportunities to use data to drive improvement. 

The inability to connect operational data into a single view means decisions are often reactive rather than strategic. This is why we are building towards Fusion, Keyloop’s Automotive Retail Platform. Fusion is not just a product. It is the end goal where data flows seamlessly between sales, service and parts. It creates a fully connected ecosystem that empowers you to work smarter, drive efficiencies and optimise profit. 

Unlocking lifetime value through connected aftersales software 

Service Hub, Keyloop’s dedicated aftersales software suite, addresses these challenges by unifying the service journey.  

By combining intelligent workshop scheduling, real-time capacity visibility and digital customer communication, Service Hub helps dealerships maximise productivity without adding operational complexity. It provides a 360-degree view of the vehicle and the customer. 

When you use Service Hub, you align your operations with the three critical levers of efficiency: 

• Time: Technicians spend more time on billable work and less time waiting for approvals or parts information. 

• Money: You capture revenue that was previously lost to missed appointments and slow authorisation processes. 

• Risk: You mitigate the risk of technician burnout and customer churn by smoothing out workflows. 

This connected approach allows you to repeatedly pair the right vehicle with the right customer view, driving lifetime value. The more effectively you service a vehicle, the more likely you are to retain that customer for their next purchase. 

Service teams gain control of workflows. Technicians see their productivity soar. Customers benefit from faster and clearer communication. The result is a service department that works harder to drive sustainable aftersales profitability.  

At Keyloop, we’re proud to deliver technology that empowers retailers to adapt faster, serve customers better and drive lasting success. 

Ready to streamline your service department? Get in touch today to discover how Service Hub can help you maximise your aftersales profits.