Self-service that resolves 70% of dealer queries without an agent

The challenge

The OEM's dealer network submitted 800 to 1,000 status queries per day to the back-office support team. Dealers needed to open three systems to answer one query: the DMS for PO status, the carrier portal for LR tracking, and ERP for GRN and funds status. Counter staff at the dealer level did not have access to any of these systems - they called the OEM. The OEM's support team spent the majority of their time on calls that communicated information that was already in the system.

Warranty and claims disputes were managed by email with no structured audit trail and no SLA for resolution. Service quality variance across the 400-dealer network was invisible from the OEM head office.

The approach

Interwork deployed a dealer-facing portal connected to the DMS, ERP, and three carrier APIs via a single integration contract. The portal provides a unified timeline view: PO status from DMS, LR tracking from carrier, GRN and funds status from ERP - all on one screen without multi-system login.

Queries that cannot be self-served (disputes, claims, exceptions) go into a structured ticketing model with a named owner assigned on submission and an SLA counter running from the moment the ticket is raised. The OEM head office dashboard shows query volume, type distribution, and resolution SLA by dealer - updated in real time.

The outcomes

• 70% of inbound queries resolved via self-service - no agent contact
• Average dealer resolution reduced to one call or zero calls for standard queries
• OEM support team query volume reduced by 70% in 90 days
• SLA-bound escalation for 100% of structured tickets
• OEM head office: real-time network visibility across 400 dealers

Counter staff at the dealer level stopped calling the OEM for status queries because the portal answered the question faster than the phone call would have. The OEM support team redeployed from status queries to exception handling and claims resolution.