Service advisor shortage
Service advisor shortage: keep the phones answered.
The phones keep ringing while your advisors write up customers at the drive, and every open seat leaves more calls with no one to take them. See the public numbers on turnover and unanswered service calls, and how Cleo picks up the overflow while your team stays first on the line.
The drive-time gap
Where the calls go when no one is free.
The public numbers behind the gap.
Seats open up, callers who reach no one hang up, and most service appointments still start with a call.
annualized turnover for service advisors and writers
NADA Dealership Workforce Study, 2024 data. One-year retention was 78% and median tenure 2.6 years.
of service callers disconnected before an appointment was offered
Pied Piper 2025 Service Telephone Effectiveness Study, secret-shopper calls for 26 large dealer groups. It was 13% in 2024.
service appointments are still scheduled by phone
Fran O'Hagan of Pied Piper, quoted by WardsAuto in 2025.
Industry figures, not Cleo results and not a forecast for your stores. The NADA sample report does not list BDC roles.
Four moments when no one can pick up.
| The pressure | How Cleo handles it | |
|---|---|---|
| At the drive“Can I get in this week?” rings while an advisor writes up a customer. | El Cerrito Honda's case study describes employees who “had to divide their attention between customers inside the dealership and a constantly ringing phone.” | Your team gets the first ring. Cleo picks up after the number of rings you set (up to 6), asks for the vehicle and what it needs, and books an open time in your scheduler.BDC overflow answering → |
| An open seat“Is anyone there?” rings out on a morning when a seat is empty. | NADA's 2024 data shows 43% annualized turnover for service advisors and writers, with a median tenure of 2.6 years. When someone leaves, the seat stays empty until a replacement is hired and trained. | Rings, opening hours and holiday hours are store settings, so the phones are covered the same way whoever is on the desk. Cleo answers and books routine requests; people still take transfers, messages and callbacks.Dealership BDC vs AI phone agent → |
| Before open, after close“Can I book for tomorrow?” at 6:30 pm. | One 8-hour weekday shift covers 40 of a week's 168 hours (24%). Covering all 168 with people alone takes at least 4.2 full-time seats (168 ÷ 40), before breaks, vacation and sick days. | After hours Cleo answers directly, by the opening hours and holiday hours you set. At Stevens Creek Subaru, 30 of the 447 booking-outcome calls were booked while the service department was closed.After-hours service scheduling → |
| A caller who gets no answer“I'll try another shop.” | Pied Piper found that 9% of service callers disconnected before an appointment was offered in 2025. Its CEO says customers who find scheduling difficult “vote with their feet by moving to another dealership or independent shop.” | Reads the open times your scheduler returns and confirms a booking only after it succeeds. When no time fits it offers a callback from your team, and when a person is needed it transfers to a destination you set if that person is open.Cleo with Xtime → |
Sources: NADA Dealership Workforce Study, 2024 data (sample report) · WardsAuto on Pied Piper's 2025 study · Automotive News on Pied Piper's 2024 study · El Cerrito Honda case study
How many calls ring out?
Pull inbound calls by hour and day from your phone system for a few weeks. Count the calls that rang out, went to voicemail or hung up, and note when they cluster: the morning drop-off, lunch, shift changes, closing. Compare shares of calls rather than totals, so the numbers hold as volume changes.
Which seats are open, and which hours do they leave?
List the advisor and BDC seats you are short today and the hours each one leaves without a person on the phone. Then check who covers those hours, and who owns a caller after a transfer or a callback request.
The industry figures here are public and are not Cleo results. Your gap depends on your open seats, your hours and your call volume, so read it from your own phone log.
Proof · Cleo call log
Real results from two Cleo dealerships.
1,678
Calls answered at Stevens Creek Subaru, Sept 21 to Oct 20, 2026
447
Booking-outcome calls at Stevens Creek Subaru in the same 30 days
3.7
Advisor shifts of conversations handled at El Cerrito Honda in 30 days: 29 hours 58 minutes (captured September 26, 2026)
Each figure is one store. A booking-outcome call means a booking succeeded in Cleo’s call log. It is not a completed appointment or revenue. The advisor-shift figure is the El Cerrito Honda case study’s own conversion of call time, not a count of advisors replaced or a cost saving. Your results depend on call volume, caller needs, open capacity in your schedule and your setup.
If a call is not answered within three rings in any department, Cleo steps in.
Sheriff Demitri, General Manager, El Cerrito Honda
Where Cleo fits
Three ways Cleo covers the gap.
01 · Your team rings first
Advisors and BDC agents keep the first ring. Choose how many rings your team gets before Cleo picks up (up to 6), so a call nobody can reach still gets an answer.
02 · The hours stay covered
Opening hours, holiday hours and department schedules are store settings, so they stay in place when staff change. After hours, Cleo answers directly and books into your scheduler.
03 · A person stays reachable
When a caller needs someone, Cleo transfers to a destination you set if that person is open. Otherwise it takes a callback request that becomes a task for your team.
Settings are per store. Confirm your scheduler, opening hours and transfer destinations before launch, and decide who works the callbacks.
FAQ
Still have questions?
How big is the service advisor shortage?
The public data this page uses measures turnover, not open seats. The NADA Dealership Workforce Study (2024 data, sample report) puts annualized turnover for service advisors and writers at 43%, with one-year retention of 78% and a median tenure of 2.6 years. The sample report does not list BDC roles. Cleo cannot tell you how many seats you are short, so count yours.
Can Cleo replace the advisors or BDC agents I cannot hire?
What happens when every advisor is at the drive and the phone rings?
Will Cleo cover the hours an open seat leaves empty?
Contact
Book a demo to hear it on your busiest mornings.
See how Cleo would pick up the calls your advisors and BDC cannot reach, and where your team stays first on the line.
