Everything Changes When Simple Solutions Takes the Wheel

Cars and Calls That Go the Distance

Test drives, trade-ins, and dotted-line signings happen all day long, six days a week, ten hours a day. For 24 years and counting, this is how it’s always been at Hi-Line Autohaus. Newly licensed drivers buy their very first cars, growing families swap their beloved sedans for roomier SUVs, and locals looking for something different turn to the luxury, used car dealership in Charlotte, North Carolina. The selection of vehicles for sale is expansive. The sales team is knowledgeable. The reputation for excellence is indisputable.

But first, before the pen hits paper and rubber hits the road, customers call. They ask questions like Do you offer financing? Is the 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLE 350 still available? How long will it take to fix my brakes? Can I come by and take the 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee for a spin after work? How do I get pre-approved?

Calls (and questions) have only increased in frequency and volume since 2022; that’s when the Hi-Line Autohaus Service Center opened. If customers aren’t looking for a new ride (and if they don’t book appointments through the online portal), they phone in to schedule tire rotations and oil changes and transmission services and brake repairs, all performed by factory-trained technicians.

Between two buildings and ten lines, phones ring like windshield wipers during a rainstorm: constantly.

Hi-Line Autohaus’ current phones handle inbound calls with ease and reliability. It’s automatic. 150 calls come in each day; 150 customers get in touch with the right people and have their questions answered. Outbound calls are the same. The Hi-Line team provides the right updates and information on time, no stalls, no brakes.

Every connected conversation happens because Simple Solutions is now the engine behind dependable, consistent communications — and the engineer of a much-needed phone upgrade compared to the dealership’s previous system, which ran on fumes on its best day.

Big-Box Phones and Service Fail Inspections

Years ago, a big-box provider set up a very basic system for Hi-Line Autohaus, then disappeared, proving inaccessible when something went wrong. The technology wasn’t good; service and support were unreachable.

“Our previous phones were awful. We couldn’t do anything but answer calls and hang up, and that’s when they worked,” explains Joann Holmes, long-time office manager. “But the worst part about it was that we could never find anyone to help us when we had connectivity or hardware problems. They always sent us to one person, who sent us to another. Or we were on hold forever.”

At Hi-Line Autohaus, phone calls create first impressions, turn interests into visits, and keep customers moving through the buying process. Missed calls mean missed leads and opportunities. If customers can’t get through, they’ll call the next dealership.

So, this masterclass in finger-pointing with runarounds and no real resolutions led Joann, the sales team, and the service techs to unplug their phones at the end of each day. “It helped reset them before the next day started,” explains Joann. This way of troubleshooting worked for a while but never bridged the growing gaps between the outmoded communication capabilities they had, the modern features the business needed, and the absent element of support.

Leaning on Simple Solutions’ expertise and recommendations, Burke Animal Clinic selected the following system and setup:

Shifting Gears: In With Simple Solutions, Out With Big-Box Unreliability

Hi-Line Autohaus offers premium products and punctual, responsive, helpful service. It’s not too much to ask the same thing of their phone provider — that’s what the entire Hi-Line team agreed on 18 months ago: they wanted to move forward with better phones, better support, and deliver better, communications-led customer experiences.

It was a group decision, a unanimous agreement to find smarter phones backed by stronger support. And it was a smooth ride with Simple Solutions. A suggestion from an employee turned into an initial meeting with the local, enterprise-grade phone provider, which turned into a cooperative, ongoing partnership.

“We noticed a difference right away,” says Joann. “Our Simple Solutions rep met with us at the dealership and talked with us about what was available versus what we needed at both buildings before we signed a contract.” No-pressure personalization and modern, Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) phones were there from the start. An install date was set.

“Installation was a two-day process, but only because our rep stayed onsite to answer questions and give each employee a detailed tutorial. The actual unboxing and setup happened fast because our Yealink T54 phones were pre-configured before he arrived,” recalls Joann. Simple Solutions delivered phones that were ready for a day’s work, no downtime required. They just had to be plugged in.

Most calls into the dealership come through Joann’s desk. It’s a good kind of traffic, not the 5pm-rush-hour kind. Speaking with customers and coordinating with the service team next door day in, day out, she became familiar with the new phones fast. She did business faster (and still does), describing the voicemail, parking, and transferring features as “extremely user-friendly” and “much better for the speed and quality of our business.”

Diagnostic and Dependable Service, No Appointment Needed

Then and now, Simple Solutions is available 24/7 to support the dealership and service center. That’s what Joann loves most.

“They are always available when you need them. I never get lost trying to get in touch with someone,” she says. Instead of service tickets and overseas outsourcing, Joann calls her rep and gets an immediate answer when there’s an issue. Two instances come to mind.

“My sidecar went down a while back,” Joann explains. A sidecar is an extra piece of hardware with programmable buttons for quick transfers, speed dial, and better call management, and it’s essential for someone with her call volume. “My rep was on vacation, still answered the phone, and got a replacement to me much sooner than I expected.

” Then, legitimate business calls from the dealership and service center were flagged and misidentified as robocalls. Customers expected to hear from Hi-Line Autohaus, not spam, and didn’t answer. Sales follow-ups were much harder to schedule, service communications were disrupted, and the dealership’s credibility hung in the balance.

One call to Simple Solutions and Caller ID was fixed. “Our rep took care of everything as quickly as possible. I don’t know what we would’ve done without him,” says Joann.

Simple Solutions Has the Keys to Better Business Phones

Hi-Line Autohaus has modern technology, ongoing support, a dedicated point of contact, and a partner that steps up when things don’t work the way they should. They don’t have to worry about missed calls, lost opportunities, or unplugging the phones at night now. They won’t have to for all the test drives, trade-ins, and dotted-line signings to come, either.

Business communication at Hi-Line Autohaus is the most reliable and easiest it’s ever been, because Simple Solutions keeps everything moving in the right direction, at the right speed, all the time.