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In under 2 minutes, learn how to switch between instances in the Xtime app. For Xtime users overseeing multiple rooftops, this allows efficient overview of several service lane businesses.

Learn a reliable method for securing frontline inventory in this 2-minute video

Did you know that VinSolutions CRM can pull in service appointments as they are set in your DMS? This means you can filter by make, model and estimated equity to ‘shop’ for potential frontline inventory for your dealership. Performance manager Jon Miles shows you how to:

– Pull service appointments from your DMS into VinSolutions CRM

– Filter by make/model to ‘Shop’ for among the incoming vehicles

– Use estimated equity to understand customer’s potential interest in selling the vehicle

– Assign a sales rep to see if customer wants an appraisal done while the vehicle is being serviced

– Transition the discussion to a potential trade-in and vehicle upgrade

In less than 2 minutes, learn a repeatable process for negotiating trade-in valuation.
Trade-in valuation can be a sticking point, and many customers need to be reassured they are getting a square deal. Performance Manager Jon Miles shows how you can reduce trips to the sales desk with proactive objection handling.

Join Performance Manager Daniel Watts as he shares ways to make your service scheduling menus more effective and optimized for your dealership needs.

It’s no secret; personalization is critical to success in automotive retail today. Learn from Mark Vickery, senior director of performance management at Cox Automotive, how today’s most successful dealerships are implementing advanced sales and marketing tactics to deliver the experiences shoppers expect.  

Northtown Automotive, based in Amherst, New York, has always been committed to giving customers the ultimate car buying experience: first-class service, state-of-the-art facilities, and the technologies shoppers want. In the span of a few decades, this customer-first philosophy has helped their business grow from a small used-car operation to include 11 dealerships, representing 20 franchises.

Motivated by these values, Northtown replaced outdated, inefficient solutions with connected, customer-friendly technologies, including VinSolutions.

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.  

• Behavior Insights: Using data from their dealer CRM or website to make marketing more personal 
• Lead Management: Leveraging the CRM to manage leads and communications 
• Content Development: Creating personalized advertising and communications to attract new consumers and retain business 
• Service Marketing: Growing service business through campaigns targeting owners who did not purchase from the dealership  

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  

• Vehicle Selection: Providing search filters or vehicle configuration tools to consumers 
• Trade-in Valuation: Providing value vehicles for trade-in 
• Trade-in Vehicle Inspection: Inspecting vehicles for trade-in 

• Trade-in Offers: Proactively contacting customers related to trade-ins 
• Trade-in Payoff: Paying off or satisfying existing loans on vehicles for trade-in 
• Credit Decisioning: Determining consumer credit worthiness 
• Aftermarket and Menu: Providing search filters or tools for customers to shop for aftermarket products/services 
• Desking: The process used for building deals 

• Compliance: Ensuring all sales comply with state and federal regulations for transaction and consumer information 

Back-Office Operations 

• Contracting/Document Management: How a dealership handles the final sales contract 

• and storage of documents 
• Signing and Vaulting: Signing final contracts (electronic or paper) in a secure, trusted environment 
• Registration and Title Management: How a dealership manages and tracks vehicle registration and the process for title management and storage 

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.