Agero Insights

Automotive mishaps that leave a vehicle disabled take place thousands of times a day across the United States. And every single time, it knocks someone’s day off course. With Alternative Transportation, we help drivers get their day back on track, quickly and easily. While offering customers a ride after a breakdown or collision may not seem like a big deal, it has a measurable impact on their overall experience.

Vehicle events are often disruptive

Unfortunately, there’s simply no getting around the disruptive nature of a motor vehicle breakdown, accident or other event that leaves someone stranded on the side of the road.

One minute you’re driving to work, or on the way to pick up some groceries, or running some errands, taking the kids to the park, or any of a million other things. An instant later, your plans are foiled. In addition to having to deal with whatever is wrong with your car, you are also now going to be late to wherever you were going – and wondering how you're going to get there.

Help drivers get back on track

While we can’t prevent disabled vehicle events from happening, we can make them a little less disruptive. When a customer calls roadside assistance, we can arrange for a pre-paid ride that will meet your customers at the scene of the event and take them home or to their preferred destination.

Alternative Transportation is now available in partnership with Lyft, the fastest growing ride share service in the US, for both our Accident Management and Roadside programs. This service gives our agents the option to arrange for a pre-paid pick-up at the customer’s convenience while we’re arranging their roadside assistance – the customer’s ride might even show up to get them back on their way before the service provider or tow truck arrives at the scene.

Our goal is to make things as smooth and as easy as possible for the customer. When we arrange Alternative Transportation, they don’t have to worry about payment, and they don’t even need the Lyft app. They can simply accept the offer from the agent, at which point they’ll be sent a text message confirmation that their ride has been requested. The customer will then receive the standard alerts from Lyft, including a notification when the ride is on the way, details about the driver and vehicle, and a link to track the ride’s progress in real time.

And whether they’ve left the scene or not, the customer will continue to receive status updates about the service being provided to their vehicle. They’ll know when the tow truck will arrive, see where their car is being taken, and be given direct contact info they will need to reach the service provider and discuss next steps.

The Flex Ride option

If the customer isn’t ready to be on their way just yet – if, for instance, they would prefer to wait with their disabled vehicle until the service provider arrives on scene – we can set them up with a Flexible Ride. This option is pre-paid and arranged by our agent, just like the agent-assisted ride. However, instead of an immediate ride dispatch, we send a text message link to the customer, who can then click that link to request the ride at their convenience. Once the customer initiates the Flex Ride dispatch, they will then receive additional text notifications with car and driver details, as well as a link to track the ride’s location. A Flex Ride link is valid for 24 hours.

Increase Customer Satisfaction

Simply offering Alternative Transportation to someone who’s dealing with a disabled vehicle has a significant impact on their perception of the service that’s being delivered. From a metrics perspective, we see an average lift in Net Promoter Score of more than 4 points when Alternative Transportation is offered.

Notably, that NPS boost occurs whether or not the customer accepts the ride. Simply offering a pre-paid, hassle-free ride helps the customer understand that their safety and wellbeing is your first priority and servicing their vehicle comes second. This  small gesture sends a powerful signal about your brand values – that you value your customers' time and will go the extra mile to resolve an unfortunate situation in a way that is as convenient for them as possible. 

Get up and Running in no time

If you’re interested in adding Alternative Transportation to your Roadside or Accident package, we can get you up and running in moments. Some clients use this service to augment their car rental provisions in their coverage. Others see it as a standalone perk to offer their customers. In either case, we have a range of options to help get your customers back on track in a way that aligns with your program goals and objectives. And no matter what options you choose, there's no heavy lifting involved. You can begin reaping the benefits of a roadside experience that assures your customers they won’t ever be left stranded on the side of the road. 

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