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Web-based service scheduling more effective than phone calls at dealerships, study says
July 2026
Dealership websites handle service requests more effectively than phone calls, averaging a score of 71 out of 100 compared with 61 for phone requests, according to a new study.
For the first time, the 2026 Pied Piper Auto Dealer Group Service Scheduling Effectiveness Study distinguished between the two channels, revealing a 10-point gap that reflects less room for human error online.
Pied Piper sent out 4,163 service requests to every dealership within 31 auto groups across the U.S., and also evaluated four independent service center brands for comparison. They assigned each dealership and service center a service scheduling effectiveness score out of 100 based on more than 40 metrics related to service revenue and customer loyalty. Within the groups surveyed, overall scores ranged from a high of 80 to a low of 47.
"The difference is that top-performing dealer groups remove friction. Customers get where they need to go quickly, schedule service with less effort, and know exactly what happens next," Pied Piper Vice President of Metrics and Analytics Cameron O'Hagan said in a statement. "Lower-performing groups not only make scheduling harder, they fail customers far more often."
One-third of dealership service requests come in through its website, prompting Pied Piper this year to begin independently tracking how well those are handled, Pied Piper CEO Fran O'Hagan said.
Average website performance scores were higher than those for phone service because there is less room for human error — although software can still fail, he said.
