HOW SERVICE AGREEMENTS PRESERVE YOUR VEHICLE AND PEACE OF MIND

When we were kids, teachers tried to drill into us the value of breaking a task into little pieces: “Do a little homework each day and the deadline won’t seem difficult at all.” Instead, most of us estimated the absolute latest we could start, and sat down to begin about an hour after that. We’ve carried this habit into our working life - putting off our business’s book-keeping, filing and insurance until it’s 3am the night before the due date, and we're chugging Red Bull and yelling at a computer screen. Even critical and cost-saving tasks such as vehicle servicing and maintenance can suffer as a result of this lackadaisical attitude, evident in the fact that up to 14 per cent of trucks in South Australia are being driven with a defect. Service agreements counter this mindset, dividing the maintenance task into manageable portions so you're never overwhelmed. In the automotive industry, this means outlining a schedule for vehicle maintenance at regular intervals of time, allowing you to spread the cost out in predictable instalments and catch minor issues before they become a genuine problem.

The benefits

This method of planning out your servicing – long term and with stable costs – provides many financial, efficiency and safety benefits for any business.

• Peace of Mind You know your day to day mechanical needs are covered, which gives you one less thing to worry about.
• Standardised costs Fluctuating and unpredictable expenditure can wreak havoc with your cash flow. Keeping your maintenance costs constant means no scary spikes on the spreadsheet.
• Regular servicing Your vehicle remains in the best of care. Not only does this mean you catch issues before they have a chance to become a problem, it ensures your fleet is running at optimum condition all the time.
• Efficiency Operating at peak performance boosts your daily productivity. This keeps your vehicle running better, for longer, protects resale value, and allows you to provide your customers with the best possible service.
• Customisable Coober Pedy residents don't buy blizzard insurance. Many service agreements allow you to adapt the specifics to suit your needs and the type of wear your vehicle typically undergoes within its application.
• Expertise In the case of most service agreements, the technicians carrying out the maintenance are experts on your brand of vehicle and its components. They have all the right tools and genuine parts, and they know your truck like the back of their hand. You also know you’re getting 100% genuine parts from a supply line that can be traced right back to the manufacturer. This provides a further dose of calm when you consider the recent growth in the counterfeit parts market.

Prevention

Decreasing stress and simplifying your life has been a regular theme of the preceding paragraphs, and this is at the core of why people embrace service agreements. That's because they focus on preventative, rather than reactive, maintenance. Service agreements aim to fix minor problems before they get a chance to affect your blood pressure and bottom line. Your business vehicle represents a huge investment, so you want to know it’s in the best possible hands and will be running smoothly for years to come. Regular servicing and maintenance allows your mechanic to see problems when they first appear, and make the little changes required to improve productivity and decrease wear. Even little things like regular battery maintenance can help you avoid expensive downtime, and dodging bigger mechanical faults can insulate you against costs you never saw coming. There are also the obvious benefits that come from a machine running at peak performance. A well-maintained engine operates efficiently, saving you fuel and performing at the top of its ability. This means your customers get a better service while you get lower overheads. And there’s another factor to ease your mind – beyond the financial tranquillity and organisational benefits. Safety. A well-maintained vehicle is a safer vehicle. No one wants to contend with the emotional, financial or legal fallout from neglecting the safety of themselves or their employees. In short, it just makes sense.