Chris Benvie, Director of Marketing and Pre-Owned Operations for McGovern Automotive gives his take on the F.I.E.R.C.E strategy from a new and pre-owned dealership’s perspective on how to grow and scale your business in today’s times.
Tap into specialized marketing templates that have proven to drive higher customer engagement and incremental revenue.
VinSolutions Automotive Marketing Platform lets you engage customers with personalized, relevant marketing and target the customers who are most likely to buy – before they even submit a lead.
Learn how successful dealers use Automotive Marketing Platform to boost sales and maximize ROI in this live webinar.
Learn How To:
Our expert panel includes diverse perspectives on Automotive Marketing Platform best practices and optimizations. We’ll offer two live broadcasts so you can pick the date and time that work best for you.
Our Panelists
Laura Beckley
Lead Performance Manager, VinSolutions
Mike Shean
Director, 1-1 Marketing, VinSolutions
Satisfaction with the dealership shopping experience surged, according to Cox Automotive’s Car Buyer Journey Study, from 69% to 75% between 2023 and 2024. Notably, 42% of new-car buyers stated their experience was better than their prior purchase, with dealership satisfaction reaching a historic high of 81%1.
With service being the money maker of the dealership business, there’s no better time to capitalize on the opportunity to turn happy car buyers into loyal customers who trust you for all their service needs. But how? Here are six solid strategies for turning your service department into a profit-making machine.
1. Boost employee efficiency
The data is clear: people are keeping their cars longer. That’s good news for your shop because older cars typically need more servicing. But an influx of servicing needs can also be challenging for employees who are already at capacity.
This shift in car-buying habits makes it a great time to invest in an integrated service solution, like Xtime, that can bring more efficiency to your business. Xtime lets customers handle every step of their service appointment — from booking online to scheduling approvals and payments. This gives them the flexibility and transparency they crave while reducing administrative work for your employees.
Xtime books 44 million service appointments annually. 2
2. Build loyalty with technology that boosts your bottom line
With car owners hanging onto their keys, you can be their shop of choice for even longer now. Delivering exceptional customer service is one of the best ways to keep your customers coming back again and again… and again. Capitalize on this shift in consumer behavior by delivering exactly what they’re looking for: A seamless, convenient customer service experience that adds value and trust.
Simply put, your customers want to connect with your shop the way they would with their favorite brands — online and on their phones. Deliver that on their first visit, and you’ll probably be seeing their car in your shop in the future.
3. Save time with the right technology
Dealerships capture the greatest share of vehicle service business, but other service providers still account for $214 billion per year.3 That means you have a few billion great reasons to optimize your shop’s capacity so you can grab a share of that business.
When your employees don’t have to worry about scheduling and processing payments, they can do more of what makes your shop profitable — service cars. Time is a precious commodity. Xtime can help you use it wisely.
Xtime has converted $9 billion in service revenue for over 7,500 dealerships.4
4. Reengage customers with solutions that make it easier to say yes
Sometimes customers decline services during their visit. And oftentimes, they just need a little reminder to say “yes” later. With personalized customer engagement technology, like Xtime Engage, you can access critical service information like previously declined services.
Dealers have reported a 3% increase in service retention with Xtime Engage.5
5. Be Proactive with your marketing
There are more potential customers on the streets and Xtime Invite can help you find them. With Xtime Invite, you can filter by service and craft and customize communications through multiple channels to keep your shop at full capacity.
Plus, use the built-in service reminders feature to keep your show rates high. Deliver personalized messaging to give your customers the trust they need to make them feel at ease. And integrate with your scheduling software for a faster, more seamless experience.
Dealers have generated 13% additional new ROs per month with Xtime Invite.6
6. Back up your data
Don’t lose your leads. Make sure your data is backed by CAI First-Party to retain valuable information about who buys from you. Keep that data up to date so you can reach out to customers who have purchased from your dealership within the last 5 years.
In an industry that’s transforming quickly, there’s no better time to transform your shop right along with it. Read Cox Automotive’s Car Buyer Journey Study to get all the insights and data you need to set up your dealership for even more success this year.
Take the next step with a self-guided Xtime demo. Start here.
sources:
12024 Car Buyer Journey Study
2 Data from all Xtime dealers between March 2021 and February 2022.
3 2021 Cox Automotive Service Industry Study
4 Data from all Xtime dealers between March 2021 and February 2022.
5 Data from all Xtime dealers between August 2022 and July 2023.
6 Data from all Xtime dealers between August 2023 – July 2024.
Vehicle ownership is here to stay! This is just one of the many positive trends from the recent Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study which surveyed nearly 3,000 respondents.
We’ve gathered the top five takeaways impacting your service lane.
Download the infographic to make the best decisions for your service staff and your customers.
Inventory is back—and so is your competition. With sales once again
returning to normal, the car buying journey is also seeing a shift as shoppers
change the way they shop, research, and purchase their next car.
With new insights from the Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study, which
surveyed nearly 3,000 respondents, we’ve gathered the top five takeaways
you need to know to make the best decisions for your business.
Download the infographic to stay on top of changing consumer buying
trends
Salespeople often change roles or rooftops. It’s simple to reassign customers in VinSolutions CRM, with just a few clicks. Watch this short video to learn how to reassign customers – and roll back these changes if the salesperson returns. You can also remove users from select or all stores in your group.
After a wild period of rapid change and shifting norms—both automotive retailers and buyers are beginning to catch their breath.
Despite some old trends becoming new again, there are a few ways the buying journey has changed for good. As dealers have implemented new tools and technologies in recent years to make the car buying experience more convenient, consumers have taken notice and indicated that these new trends are here to stay.
The 2023 Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study surveyed nearly 3,000 respondents who purchased or leased a vehicle in 2023. This gives dealers a glimpse into the minds of modern car buyers and details the trends for the coming years of car sales.
The study uncovered several interesting findings for automotive retailers. To deliver exceptional experiences, attract more buyers, and stay ahead of the competition, dealers should consider the following five key insights.
1. The Buying Journey Has Been Streamlined
With an increase in available inventory at dealerships, it’s probably not a big surprise that consumers are spending less time on all aspects of the purchase process. According to the Study, consumers now spend nearly 7 fewer hours researching and shopping online, compared to 2022. Interestingly, they also spend nearly one less hour talking with others, almost 3 fewer hours visiting dealerships, and almost 3 fewer hours with the actual dealership seller.
This is true for both new and used vehicle purchases and more closely resembles the amount of time spent by consumers in 2020 and 2021. This reduced buying time can probably also be attributed to dealers refining the digital to in-store purchase process, making the car buyer journey more streamlined than ever before.
Take Action: Don’t Lose Your Leads to the Competition
With more inventory available, consumers who get “left on read” will get snatched up by the competition, fast. Your sales team needs to think fast on their feet to meet the needs of today’s buyers, which means you’d better have the right tools, training and technology to keep interested buyers at their fingertips.
Keep building on the gains and momentum you’ve already made to make the car buying journey more streamlined and efficient. No one wants to spend a lot of time in dealerships, and your online to in-store purchase process will be key in giving customers the experience they want.
2. More People Prefer a Mix of Online and In-Person Buying
Auto sales have changed for the better as consumers prefer to buy cars online. Dealers have adapted, and most buyers now prefer a mix of online and offline options.
When compared with their most recent purchase, more people (71%) are planning to buy their next car through a mix of online and offline methods. That’s changed from only 45% of buyers who preferred a mix of both options for their most recent purchase. Interestingly, only 8% of consumers want to purchase their next vehicle all in-person. That’s down considerably from 50% of study respondents for their last vehicle purchase.
Take Action: Be Proactive
Any step your team can take to save time will seal the deal for those car buyers who are looking to simplify the process. Since today’s consumers are accustomed to online purchase options, proactive technology can give you insights into buyers who are simply browsing—and buyers who are ready to come in and sign the paperwork.
Be ready to talk without wasting their time. With features such as Automated Offers from Automated Marketing Platform, dealers can proactively send an offer to a shopper based on their online shopping activity.
3. Consumers Are Keeping Their Cars Longer
An overwhelming majority (91%) of consumers plan to keep their cars as their primary source of transportation for the next five-plus years.
Your customers will still need to hear from you to keep them coming in for service opportunities. This motivation to keep cars as a primary means of transportation also gives you the perfect opportunity to keep building relationships with your customers until they’re ready to buy.
Take Action: Use Intelligent Marketing to Personalize Servicer Campaigns
Use an intelligent marketing tool to target vehicle owners to encourage them to come in for service. You can also deliver personalized messages and offers and convert service customers into new car buying leads. This will keep your customers engaged with personalized, helpful content, reminders, and offers that will help you stay top of mind when your customers are ready to service their existing vehicle or purchase a new one.
4. More Cars, More Competition
Inventory is back. While that’s good for the overall buying experience, it also means that consumers can pick and choose from a larger selection of vehicles and a wider range of dealerships. In other words, more competition for you.
As buyers search for the best deal, more are considering both used and new options (78%) and purchasing and leasing (31%).
Take Action: Work Smarter, Not Harder with Automotive Intelligence and a Robust CRM
Stay Competitive with technology that gives you all the insight, tools and data needed to run your dealership more efficiently &and effectively. VinSolutions CRM and Automotive Intelligence enables dealers to accelerate the path to purchase by leveraging Cox Automotive data insights to meet customers where they’re at in their car-buying journey.
5. Online Is the New In-Person Communication
Shoppers are more comfortable submitting leads online. In fact, as much as 60% of shoppers submitted a lead online before ever visiting a dealership in-person. Among these, 9% submitted a basic lead and 51% submitted an enhanced lead, meaning they also included trade, credit, financing or payment information.
Interestingly, this increased comfort level with communicating with dealerships online directly correlates with overall customer satisfaction. As much as 77% of those who submitted an enhanced lead online reported satisfaction with the dealership experience, compared with 65% of those who submitted a basic lead. And, 48% of those who submitted an enhanced lead online reported their experience was better than their last purchase, compared with just 27% who submitted a basic online lead.
Take Action: Provide Assistance 24/7 with Virtual Assistance
No matter where your leads come from or how much information they give, deliver the same personalized experience you’d give customers at your dealership. With a growing number of leads submitted after hours, many businesses utilize advanced digital communication offerings to bridge the gap. With VinSolutions Virtual Assistancet Vinessa, you can engage with interested buyers after hours, schedule appointments and answer questions without making people wait until you’re back on the clock.
The car buying journey has changed in several significant ways, and in other ways it’s returning to the old normal. No matter the state of the industry, understanding today’s consumers is key to targeting the right buyers, staying competitive, and delivering the next-level experiences they expect.
To learn how you can make every contact an opportunity, get started with a personalized VinSolutions CRM demo today. Get Started
The automotive industry has a data problem. Often, sales and service professionals have their work cut out for them untangling a web of customer lists, user info, and disconnected systems that limit their ability to make hardly any sense of your marketing efforts.
Campaigns then become a “spray and pray” type effort where you’re sending anyone who’ll listen (or open an email) your best offer, regardless of what stage of the buying funnel they’re in. No shame; we’ve all been there.
When you’re able to utilize the right data and glean insights at-a-glance, your sales and service staff are better able to overcome some of the most common challenges in retail automotive. When the team at Tynan’s Auto Group partnered with VinSolutions CRM and began using Automotive Marketing Platform to clean up their database, the results were measurable. And impressive.
Accurate Data Leads to Pin-point Messaging
When the Sales Manager and Internet Sales Director, KateLynn Bregar, partnered with VinSolutions CRM, she wasn’t new to the role. With over nine years of experience in retail automotive marketing, she knew just how important it was to overcome the deliverability challenges the auto group was facing.
By working with her Marketing Account Manager at VinSolutions, Jamie Panton, they used Automotive Marketing Platform to narrow and target their audience. They were able to resolve challenges with their database and marketing tactics that had negatively impacted their ability to email customers. The new, cleaner database helped the auto group develop campaigns that resonated with their local community in a way they had never been able to before.
Conclusion
Smart data is just the beginning. With VinSolutions CRM and AMP, the team at Tynan’s Auto Group was able to cut through the noise and address their community with smart messaging that returned real results.
Learn how Tynan’s Auto Group utilized VinSolutions CRM and VinSolutions Automotive Marketing Platform to get the data and insights that made a difference.
