Revolutionizing Fleet Repairs: An Interview with Demetra Markopoulos

In this episode of the Mile Marker podcast, we talk with Demetra Markopoulos, SVP of Fleet at Service Up, about innovations in fleet repair. Service Up offers a digital, all-in-one repair platform, likened to “DoorDash for car repair,” streamlining the process for fleets. They discuss the industry's shift toward AI, electrification, and repair management as a service. Markopoulos highlights challenges like EV infrastructure and misconceptions around fleet management software. Emphasizing a back-to-basics approach, she predicts a future where technology enhances fleet management efficiency while fostering trust and collaboration within the industry.

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Transcript

Revolutionizing Fleet Repairs: An Interview with Demetra Markopoulos  

In this episode of the Mile Marker podcast, we talk with Demetra Markopoulos, SVP of Fleet at Service Up, about innovations in fleet repair. Service Up offers a digital, all-in-one repair platform, likened to “DoorDash for car repair,” streamlining the process for fleets. They discuss the industry's shift toward AI, electrification, and repair management as a service. Markopoulos highlights challenges like EV infrastructure and misconceptions around fleet management software. Emphasizing a back-to-basics approach, he predicts a future where technology enhances fleet management efficiency while fostering trust and collaboration within the industry.

Angela Simoes: Welcome everyone to another episode of the Mile Marker podcast. I am your host, Angela Simoes, and today our guest is Demetra Markopoulos, who is SVP of Fleet at Service Up. Welcome, Demetra.

Demetra Markopoulos: Thank you so much. Good morning.

Angela Simoes: Good morning. So tell us a little bit about Service Up and then how you also got into the fleet industry.

Demetra Markopoulos: So I started in fleet in automotive pretty much right out of school.

Angela Simoes: Oh, cool.

Demetra Markopoulos: Okay. It was an accident. Sort of fell into it.

Angela Simoes: His job, that's a theme with fleet professionals sort of fell into it,

Demetra Markopoulos: Right? Yeah, I heard that yesterday. I mean, who goes to school and thinks I'm going to do Fleet? I didn't know what the heck it was, but the company I had started with sounded neat. I liked the founders. They were sharp. It was a startup in remarketing. Okay. And the one founder took me under his wing, taught me all about every facet of automotive. I didn't know any of this even existed. And then I ended up moving into other areas of automotive and then came back to Fleet with Service Op and my prior company as well. And Service Up focuses on repair.

Angela Simoes: So talk a little bit about what the company does and what does fleet repair Encompass, right? Because it seems like a big part of it.

Demetra Markopoulos: Yes. So Service Up is an all-in-one digital repair platform. So think of a DoorDash for car repair. So we manage everything from start to finish when it comes to automotive repairs. So for a fleet, they can utilize the platform to enable their own network of shops and vendors, and that provides them visibility into the whole repair process. Everything from photos to parts estimates to the estimated completion date. All the communication is tied together into one single platform, and then it's all archived. And then we capture all of the data and analytics to help the fleet better manage their whole repair process and drive more efficiency, drive decisions on how they should operate their fleet. And then we also offer a managed repair service as well. So if a fleet, maybe their network isn't as vast or they're looking to offload some of the managed service part from an operational perspective, we offer, we call it 360, where a fleet can utilize the service up network of vetted shops. We also offer logistics. So we'll pick up the vehicle, take it to our network, and bring it back. So we're really handling the repair process like a white glove type service for the fleet.

Angela Simoes: Wow. So there's so much there. And I'm wondering, I mean with ai, electrification, autonomy, even though autonomy personally I think is way far off, but it's still around, people are still talking about it. So how does that affect the repair business, right? I mean, I would imagine there's this renaissance going on about how do you now incorporate AI into predictive maintenance or anything like that. So talk a little bit about, are you seeing that, are customers asking for it or just even asking the question, what do we do with this?

Demetra Markopoulos: Yeah, absolutely. So in terms of ai, that's something that we're incorporating, but we're still in the early stages in terms of accuracy of say an estimate, generating an estimate through ai. There are companies that exist that we're beginning to work with, but the accuracy is not quite there yet. So I think it's going to be much more impactful in the years to come as the data improves and the accuracy improves. In terms of electrification, that's a whole other bucket of worms. We do see a lot of our customers going that route, but the problem right now with EVs is the infrastructure to be able to handle the repairs. It's one thing to purchase the vehicle. Yes, they're out there, but then what do you do when it comes to repairing the vehicle when it comes to chargers, how the education out there for EVs is minimal, it's limited. So I think that's one of the biggest challenges that the industry is facing, that we're also we're trying to work with and navigate together with the fleets and provide our own advice as best as we can.

Angela Simoes: Are you finding that more repair shops or repair services are working towards being able to repair EVs? And is it like they just can't do it fast enough and are they trying to hire, they're trying to, all that kind of thing?

Demetra Markopoulos: They are, but it's still limited out there. And then it depends on the manufacturer. Some of the manufacturers offer their own training for EVs or certification programs, but there's a cost associated with that. And it's a matter of is the ROI there for the shop? Can they afford to be able to do that? Some of 'em are quite pricey, I would

Angela Simoes: Imagine, right? Because well, the vehicles themselves can be kind of pricey upfront. They pay off in the long run, but they can be pricey upfront. So given all this, where's the focus now and where are you guys trying to get to or drive the repair industry where you're trying to get that to in the next one to three years? Let's say?

Demetra Markopoulos: Our focus right now is really scaling across the country and providing the technology and exactly what the customers need to be able to repair their vehicles efficiently, decrease the downtime, provide the data and the analytics so that they can make the best decision possible for their fleets. Where we're going in the next few years is we're creating an entire marketplace for automotive repair. We want to be the all in one platform, so a fleet can utilize us for whatever their need is, whether it's the managed services portion, whether it's mechanical repair, collision, preventative maintenance. We want to be a solution that's customizable for whatever the fleet needs. Are you finding that customers

Angela Simoes: Are, I was going to say asking for automation in terms of if the car light, the engine light goes on, I want it to automatically signal something that triggers a maintenance log and sets an appointment for this vehicle. Are they asking for that, or do they even know to ask for that? Or are they just saying, I just need to be more efficient and my drivers need to be out on the road more and that kind of thing?

Demetra Markopoulos: Yeah, I mean, generally speaking, most of the fleets are more concerned about downtime. They want the vehicles out on the road, of course, but the more sophisticated fleets, the more forward-thinking fleets are asking about AI and how that can help drive more efficiency in their processes and procedures and how AI can help us help them. Right.

Angela Simoes: So what would you say are some of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to fleet repair?

Demetra Markopoulos: That a fleet management software is complicated or too expensive to implement, I would say, and then that a smaller fleet can't benefit that a fleet management software is more catered toward the larger fleets. I think it depends on what the software provides. Got it. So let's dig into that

Angela Simoes: A little bit because I think you're absolutely right, because they think software system and it's expensive, right? Expensive, complicated, too many people. It's the downtime to learn it, the amount of time to install it and get our systems up and running. But when it comes to the different fleet management systems, are your using, and then I would love to know where service Up falls in this. Are they using multiple fleet management systems that are trying to figure out, okay, I've got data coming from 3, 4, 5, 6, I dunno however many systems when it comes to repair and I just need it all in one place, or I need it, I need help understanding it. Because we've talked about data yesterday with a few people, and by the way, we're here at ala, we're alive at ala, and so just trying to understand how are they downtime's an issue, being more efficient and fast is an issue. So how are you helping customers just better understand the data that's coming in?

Demetra Markopoulos: Right? We're working towards being all in one platform that encompasses all of these data sources and brings it together, makes sense for the fleet to be able to make the right decision. I think that's the biggest, one of the biggest challenges is the industry's fragmented. So yes, they are working with various vendors, but we're here to pull it all together to tie everything together into one single place so that way they can utilize the data to make their decisions.

Angela Simoes: Got it. So I just mentioned we are here at ALA in San Antonio, and so as you've been speaking with people here, it's very heavily networking focused. What are you hearing from people when it comes to repair? Are they talking about things that they want to do or haven't been able to do, or I wish there was this magic wand that did this kind of thing. What are you hearing from people here at ala? So

Demetra Markopoulos: Ironically, this year, I felt like I heard more back to the basics. I think the topics were more relevant to multiple industries, not necessarily car repair. Yes, AI has been a topic of conversation. What do we do with ai? When do we implement ai? Should we go the AI route? I think there's also fear and anxiety attached to it, which in all transparency, it makes me a little bit nervous. And then in terms of electrification, again, the infrastructure to handle electric vehicles. Yes, we can purchase the electric vehicles and add them to our fleet, but how do we service them? What do we do? How long do we keep them? There are a lot of unknowns. Are we going to have the chargers? Are we going to have the whole infrastructure to support our fleet with electric vehicles? The other thing that I heard a lot of yesterday was how this organization is such a family and how people support each other. And I always knew that. I mean, it was one of the first conferences I came to when I started in Fleet and that I left fleet, stayed in automotive and came back and I see a lot of the same faces. So it felt a lot more back to basics this year with some of the topics the keynote speaker talked about, trust and billing trust, and that's so important. Regardless of the industry you're in, regardless of the service that you're providing,

You need to build the trust with whoever you're working with in that partnership for people to want to work with you and continue to work with you.

Angela Simoes: Yeah. No, that's so important. It's interesting that you mentioned the back to basics conversation because sometimes it feels like a new technology comes on the scene, everybody gets really excited about it, and then we run with it and we're just off to the races and we want to do so much and forward, forward, forward. And the idea behind it can work, and there's certainly the potential, but the kinks really need to be worked out. So you then have to slow down and kind of get back to the basics, as you said, right? And like, okay, listen, yes, we are moving forward, but we're not going to be a fully autonomous society in 10 years, right?

Demetra Markopoulos: It's going to take time.

Angela Simoes: Let's be a little more realistic about this. Even with electrification, we're not going to be a fully electric society in 10 years, right? Yes. It will continue to grow, but as you mentioned, charging infrastructure, repair, infrastructure, driver behavior, and education, there's just so many things to get right, and that takes time. So the back to basics, you're the first one to mention that, but it makes a lot of sense.

Demetra Markopoulos: Yeah. I thought that during the award ceremony yesterday when people were talking about their experience with ALA and how their colleagues in the industry really support each other and how they got to the places that they are because of that support. And then, like I said, the keynote speaker when he was talking about trust and communication and transparency and what that does for your company or for the service that you're providing. And it really made me think, yeah, I mean, these are fundamental philosophies that we need to look at regardless of what we're doing and AI and electrification and the technology that's out there, you need the fundamentals first.

Angela Simoes: Absolutely. Absolutely. So when you think about the fleet industry as a whole in three to five years, I don't go beyond that because it's just so hard to gauge. What would you like to see or what do you think we're going to see when it comes to the

Demetra Markopoulos: Fleet? I think we're going to see a lot more repair and management as a service. We're going to continue to see that. I think AI, of course, is going to help drive more efficiency in the industry. I don't think it's going to replace fleet managers. I know there's a lot of skepticism and fear of that. I think the technology is going to help make their jobs more efficient. Some of the things like what we're doing, we're not out there to replace the fleet managers per se. We're out to, our technology is there to help make their jobs easier, more efficient, drive decisions, better decisions. And in any way, we can incorporate technology and automate, it'll help the fleet be more proactive and more efficient overall.

Angela Simoes: I mean, it's getting rid of the mundane tasks of you really want to be entering data in a spreadsheet. Would you much rather be making decisions about this vehicle should go over there and actual business decisions rather than some of these menial tasks? Right.

Demetra Markopoulos: And then it helps their bottom line. I mean, it helps them save on costs for their fleet, but then overall for whatever their company is doing. Right, right.

Angela Simoes: Well, and then even just from a joy of work standpoint, who likes entering data in a spreadsheet? I would much rather be making a difference wherever I work. Right,

Demetra Markopoulos: Right. That's something that they can offload or automate, and that's what a lot of us are out there to help do.

Angela Simoes: Absolutely. Well, this has been a lovely conversation. Thank you so much for joining me. Thank

Demetra Markopoulos: You for having me.

Angela Simoes: Of course. And I hope you have a great rest of the show. Thank you so much.

Demetra Markopoulos: Appreciate it. Thank you.