National Roadside Assistance patronage fluctuates without a post-COVID trend
What’s the day when car owners are most likely to break down and require roadside assistance? Historically, the answer to this question was easy to answer based on data and categorically – Mondays. Vehicles were often out of rhythm at the end of their preventative maintenance cycle or hadn’t been used much over the weekend or after a holiday, leading to a flat battery. Maybe they picked up a puncture close to the left-hand curb in the rain while shopping or taking the kids to see family and friends.
These days there is no pattern. The time of day, location and day of the week are in question for forecasting. Volumes of motorists on the road appear to be stronger due to the post-COVID trend of avoiding public transport.
The new normal doesn’t reflect post COVID work from home (WFH) trends found in the public transport system that seem to dictate less patronage on Mondays and Fridays.
Data from a range of industries and client brands indicates that remote or hybrid working arrangements are not the only cause. Roadside case volumes are fluctuating with unprecedented irregularity, adding a further challenge for providers, including tow truck driving partners.
One theory indicates that drivers are more likely to travel throughout the week with increasing average annual distance travelled, however this is still unproven. Assumptions on the return to ‘normal’ cannot be made any longer, which impacts staffing levels, certainty, processes and margins in the roadside business.
The Digicall business has noticed this change early and remained agile to flexibly adapt to an unprecedented change towards spikes and lulls in phone calls at differing times of the week.
At Digicall Assist we continue to take proactive steps to combat the unpredictable flow of roadside cases. These include;
- new hires on the local staff team
- comprehensive process and brand training for all new team members
- separate cancellation and case update calls routed to a dedicated team
- online cancellation possible after a case is dispatched
- cases can be pre-booked 1 week in advance
- flexibility for the unprecedented spikes and lulls in phone calls
Digicall Assist will continue to provide roadside assistance at an incredibly high service level with Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in place around the average time to answer customer calls, call percentages answered within 1 minute and Customer Satisfaction metrics (CSAT).
Should you wish to navigate the new normal for roadside assistance cases for your large fleet of customers, please get in touch to ensure coverage is available 24/7 for 365 days a year.
