Assigning the technician with the most relevant skillset for each job is a great way to maximize efficiency. Join Xtime Performance Manager Joe Hawkins and learn to set skill constraints and guarantee you have techs with applicable experience for each RO.
Join Will Crouch and Matt Warpinksi, Managers of Performance Management at Xtime, for a walk-through of Xtime’s newly expanded pricing tool. Learn strategies for modernizing your service quoting process and labor pricing strategies to help get away from family pricing, maximize service gross, and dial in a consistent process for getting pricing in front of customers, regardless of who in the dealership provides the quote. Using these tools, a team member can give a detailed, accurate, professional, and compliant written estimate from any chair in the dealership, off-site BDC, or even home office.
Auto dealers are a resilient group. From margin compression to high vehicle prices and low inventory, there has been shortage of obstacles to overcome in recent years. But the most forward-thinking dealers know how to adapt and thrive.
As consumer expectations and market conditions continue to shift toward digital, one-size-fits-all marketing and sales strategies are no longer effective. Today’s consumers want personalization, and forward-thinking dealers are adapting to deliver the experiences consumers expect.
What Your Dealership’s Level of Operational Advancement?
When it comes to operational advance, dealers can be categorized into three main groups: static, modern, and forward-thinking. Static dealers have limited technology and take a more traditional approach to sales and marketing. Modern dealers use some digital technology, but still rely mostly on manual processes. Forward-thinking dealers, on the other hand, leverage advanced technology. They use integrated auto dealership software, automation, and data throughout the dealership.
Forward-thinking dealers aren’t only more technologically advanced; they are more profitable too. Forward-thinking dealers use data to implement specific sales and marketing strategies to attract more customers, manage leads more effectively, and advance their businesses. In fact, forward-thinking dealers experience 64% higher net profit than static dealers, according to the 2022 Cox Automotive Forward-Thinking Dealership Study.
Marketing Strategies of Forward-Thinking Dealers
To improve personalization and create messages that resonate with individual consumers, forward-thinking dealers focus on four key marketing capabilities: behavior insights, lead management, content development, and service marketing.
Sales Strategies of Forward-Thinking Dealers
The sales process is complex, bringing together many capabilities from both front-office and back-office operations into one workflow. Forward-thinking dealers focus on a few of the following capabilities at a time to streamline and personalize the sales process.
Front-Office Operations
Back-Office Operations
No matter what kind of dealership you are today, you can prepare for tomorrow’s challenges in ways that pay off now. Adopt the strategies of forward-thinking dealers to evolve with modern consumers and meet every sales and marketing challenge that comes your way.
To learn more about the strategies and tactics uses by today’s top dealers, check out our guide: The Forward-Thinking Dealership: Sales and Marketing.
Most dealerships I talk to are hyper-focused on building a better business for their employees and customers. The most successful automotive groups I work with are always one or two moves ahead. They’re putting in the work to make sure the tools and technology are streamlining workflows so they can focus less on the busy work and focus more on their customers and staff. It’s not always easy. But the tools and capabilities exist to ensure the success of your business—and with the right partner at your side, you can most certainly get there. If you’ve partnered with a DMS who has your best interests at heart, they can help you get there. Here are some of the key areas of focus—in my experience—that will ensure the overall success of your dealership.
Simply put, you need to take a hard look at the number of slow, manual processes taking place at every transaction, payment process, and accounting capability within your business. And then modernize it. Conveniences like point-of-sale and contactless payment in our day-to-day life are normal and expected everywhere else—why shouldn’t they be expected within your service lane? If you can both improve cash flow to your dealership via email billing services and get paid faster, why wouldn’t you? I would take this concept one step further (if you’re not convinced) and explain that automation and digitization of payment processes not only will reduce human error, but also creates digital receipts for all your transactions. Everything a dealer can do to protect themselves and improve accuracy is a major win in my book.
As we’ve seen over the past several years in the automotive industry, compliance and security rules are becoming stricter. In my opinion, this trend will continue to the benefit of both the dealer and the consumer. Protecting yourself as a business is going to require you to become more and more diligent as contracts and transactions are digitized. The good news is that, with the right DMS partner, you should have the ability to sync back your data every time you engage with your customers. Whether you’re capturing signatures automatically within the DMS or auto-filling form during the financing process, you’re not only offering more convenience for your buyer, but you’re also creating a (digital) paper trail that helps protect both parties. A secure document management solution will streamline your workflows and simplify your back-office operations. Compliance and fraud risk are real issues that are, unfortunately, a matter of when, not if, they will occur for most dealerships.
The daily data battle has long been an issue for dealers. I don’t need to remind you that your DMS is a gold mine of information that can help you make informed business decisions now and in the long run. But knowing which reports to run and where to begin to optimize efficiency without wasting your time can save countless hours. First, if you’re not partnered with a business consultant who has your best interest at heart, I feel for you. A Performance Manager with years of real dealership management experience can hold your team to task on things such as data extraction, KPI tracking, and goal setting. Are you tracking your Effective Labor Rate in the Service Department? How are you managing your contracts in transit in the business office? Are you using Dealertrack Digital Contracting to improve your cash flow? While everyone likes to review information differently, your DMS has the data, and your Performance Manager can help you manage it.
In my experience, staff turnover continues to be one of the biggest challenges for dealers, whether times are “challenging” or not. In fact, last time we checked, a dealership will need to rehire and retrain over 80% of its sales team every year. Your back-office team has a difficult job. Hiring and onboarding are only part of their role. If you’re considering optimizing any one key area of your dealership this year, it needs to be your HR and Payroll. Tax laws, compliance rules, and payments get beyond complex the more your business grows. As you add rooftops and expand your business, your needs will grow—and change—consistently. Your investment in this area will pay off immensely if you can integrate the technology you use into your people solutions as you make onboarding more professional.
Technology is never a “set-it-and-forget-it” process. Fortunately, the technology capabilities exist, today, to adapt. My team is constantly learning how to empower our dealer partners and set your dealership up for continued success. If you’re interested in learning how to optimize and streamline, your Dealer Management System for the future, reach out today.
Jade Mitchell is a Sr. Manager of Client Performance Management who works with dealerships to maximize DMS utilization, as well as drive processes and profit improvement. Jade believes that the Automotive Industry is a game of inches in today’s world, so taking a deep dive with our dealers into their financials and processes by using the data that the DMS provides can make a huge impact on their success. Jade came to Cox Automotive in 2019 after working in automotive dealerships for over two decades. He started washing and detailing vehicles when he was only 13 years old which led to him becoming a finance manager at a very young age and spending the next decade in management. In addition to his passion for the Automotive Industry, Jade runs his nonprofit organization: Stay Positive Stay Aggressive Inc, which he established in 2013 to assist local families struggling with medical bills due to life-threatening illnesses. Recently, Jade and his wife Aubrey welcomed their first child into the world so between Dealertrack and daddy duty he is truly working 24/7 these days.
Meeting the high expectations of modern consumers can be challenging, especially considering everyone wants their own personalized, streamlined sales experience.
This guide will help you shift your mindset and implement the sales and marketing tactics of today’s forward-thinking dealers. You’ll learn how to embrace data and deliver the experience consumers want by:
Ready to adopt future-forward strategies and see real results?
Download our guide to overcome today’s sales and marketing challenges.
Join VinSolutions Performance Manager David Basil as he walks through Automotive Marketing Platform and demonstrates how this solution makes it easier than ever to target and track your marketing efforts on a customer-by-customer basis.
What do your service customers expect from you? What kind of experience and features do they require? Today’s automotive consumers prefer to purchase online, so it would make sense your service customers would prefer to interact with you online as well.
Dealers that want to give consumers the digital experience they prefer should look for the following capabilities in their service solution.
Scheduling
In today’s busy world, convenience is currency. When you can save your customers time, you create a more ideal, more attractive service experience — and it starts with the service scheduling process.
Look for a service solution that gives your customers the convenience of online scheduling 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your customers should be able to book an appointment right from their phone with real-time appointment availability.
During the scheduling process, show your customers their previously declined services. With the ability to review pricing information and technician notes, your customers can make informed decisions about what services are needed and which services to approve. While they’re at it, maybe they also want to schedule a Lyft to get to and from the service appointment.
Arrival
In a digital-first service experience, convenience is notable throughout. When your customers arrive at your shop, you’ll want to give them the option to check in for their service appointment using their mobile phones. This simple feature streamlines arrivals and expedites the entire service process. What customer doesn’t want that?
When your advisors do their initial walkaround, give them the tools capture notes and pictures at any time using their digital devices. This data, including tire recommendations, would be automatically uploaded and shared digitally with your customers.
In addition, the ideal service process and solution should empower your service team to communicate with customers more efficiently. Your advisors need to relay information about recommended repairs via text message, forming an immediate advisor/customer connection.
During Service
Your customers want to stay informed. Whether they’re tracking a package on their phone or checking wait times online, anything less than up-to-the-second information won’t meet expectations. Phone calls for status updates have practically become a thing of the past.
The same is true for service updates. Your customers want a service experience that gives them real-time status updates in the palm of their hand. They want to see what’s been completed and what’s in progress, without calling the dealership. When the inspection is complete, they want to view video of their additional service recommendations and approve repairs right on their phone.
A service department that offers customers all these conveniences saves time and increases service department transparency — trust is one of the most important qualities your customers consider when choosing a service provider.
Check Out
It should come as no surprise that today’s service customers want the choice to pay either online or in-lane. The ideal service solution allows your customers to pay as they prefer. If they decide to pay at the dealership, don’t make them wait at a cashier counter. Instead, make it a quick credit card payment on an advisor’s tablet.
If your customers prefer to pay online, your solution should send them a text or email payment request with a link to securely pay through. This option streamlines the entire vehicle pick-up process, saving you, and your customers, time.
As you bring your service department into the age of customer convenience, consider a service solution that will help you meet and exceed your customers’ high expectations. From service scheduling to vehicle pickup and every service state in between, your solution should increase transparency and trust, save time, and allow your customers to complete more of the service process on their time and terms.
Delight Customers to Grow Profits
Ready to create a fully digital service experience at your dealership? Book a demo to see how Xtime can help you give your customers the convenience they want and grow the profits you need.
Stepped away? Your customers still expect speedy communication when they reach out. Join Xtime Performance Manager Daniel Watts as he walks through how to set up and forward out-of-office messages. With this tool, you can stay on top of incoming text messages from your customers even while you’re away.
Connect CRM is an expansive tool, so it’s no surprise that some features and reports can be overlooked. Follow along as Performance Manager Dan Bottino works through how keeping a close eye on communications and active leads can create opportunities for your dealership.
