Dealer.com and Cartender Introduce New Digital Video Advertising Services to Dealers

Burlington, Vt., October 16, 2019 – Dealer.com, a Cox Automotive brand, recently teamed up with Cartender, a provider of digital marketing technology, to announce a new opportunity for dealers to leverage video advertising to more effectively communicate and engage their car shoppers. With the growing shift away from television toward smartphones and tablets, Dealer.com and Cartender deliver high quality video advertisements to an engaged audience at scale for dealers across these digital platforms.

Video advertising is a consistently undervalued channel, especially given 20% of the population is no longer reachable through television as people continue to obtain information elsewhere and find other forms of entertainment[1]. A major hurdle for dealerships is finding a scalable creative solution, to turn over new video assets every month. With this enhanced technology, Dealer.com seamlessly provides the details that dealerships want to highlight, such as their incentives, vehicle imagery and branding. Cartender will then take that information and transform it into compelling video templates.

“Dealer.com takes pride in finding undervalued modes of advertising channels for our dealers and removing barriers of entry to those channels,” said Mark Bernstein, associate vice president of advertising, Dealer.com. “We’re thrilled for this new venture, as video advertising gives dealers the ability to build brand and inventory awareness by connecting Facebook and YouTube audiences with their dealership in a dynamic and engaging format.”

Dealer.com works with dealers to identify their specific goals, build creative, and automate monthly video updating to alleviate the time burden for dealers managing video assets.

“Video advertising is an effective way to communicate and engage with customers, but getting the content to market in a timely manner has been a major challenge until now,” said Collin Davis, CEO and co-founder of Cartender. “Working with Dealer.com is the perfect combination of video production expertise, technology solutions, and the most comprehensive vehicle dataset in the industry. Dealers can now target automotive shoppers with a video solution that saves them time and resources by getting their brand to market ahead of the competition.”

Nearly half of auto shoppers who used online video for research said that it helped them discover a vehicle they weren’t previously aware of or considering[2]. However, many automotive dealers have been slow to invest in digital video. The typical dealership lacks digital video assets for content, or they have not previously invested in television or video advertising due to its high cost of entry.

Digital video should be considered an essential component for dealers’ digital advertising strategies because 97% of consumers either visit a dealership, search for inventory or conduct further vehicle research after watching in-market video content[3].

Dealer.com continues to provide multiple creative solution options to help deliver the highest quality and scalable creative content to dealers. For dealership seeking custom video content, Dealer.com also offers an Advanced and Premium level video solution that combines store footage, branding, running vehicle footage and monthly offers allowing dealers to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

To learn more about Dealer.com’s video advertising capabilities, visit https://www.dealer.com/products/advertising/video/.

About Dealer.com
Dealer.com is the premier digital marketing solution for the automotive industry. Providing an integrated platform of Websites, Advertising, Digital Retailing and Managed Services, Dealer.com allows OEMs, dealer groups, retailers and agencies to leverage advanced digital technology, data and insights to deliver the shortest, fastest and most personalized path to customer engagement. The company practices a deep commitment to its culture of progress, with a focus on community, health, and wellness. Based in Burlington, Vermont, Dealer.com is a Cox Automotive brand. For more information, visit www.dealer.com.

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader®, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto® and Xtime®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com


[1]   Business Insider Intelligence, Future of TV Report 2017.

[2]   Ipsos/Google, U.S., “Digital’s Influence on In-Market Auto Consideration” study, Aug 2018.

[3]   Business Insider Intelligence, Future of TV Report 2017.

Technology and the Transformation of Retail

How do your customers view your dealership? Do they consider you a trusted advisor, ready and willing to help with any automotive question, concern or need? Or, do your customers think of you as a retailer, facilitating a transaction and nothing more?

Today, consumers are shying away from businesses that take a self-centered approach to customer service. Instead, they seek out companies that are willing to create more consultative relationships with their customers.

In this whitepaper, which includes new research from the VinSolutions Technology and Transformation of Retail Study, you’ll learn how new artificial intelligence and automation technology can help you build those consultative relationships and boost your dealership’s bottom line.

See how artificial intelligence and automation technology can benefit your dealership.

Xtime To Host Xperience: A First Of Its Kind Virtual User Summit

Xtime To Host Xperience: A First Of Its Kind Virtual User Summit

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., September 20, 2019 – Xtime clients are invited to attend Xperience, a cutting edge virtual user summit taking place entirely online. Beginning Oct. 23 through Oct. 24, attendees are able to participate in virtual sessions led by industry experts right from the convenience of their own desks. Xperience’s introduction is particularly timely this year as fixed ops continue to be an increasingly important revenue stream to ensure dealership success in a slowing sales cycle. The event demonstrates Xtime’s commitment to clients as a true partner in success and navigation in the shifting auto service industry.

Over two days, interactive training sessions will focus on
helping dealer clients discover best practices and master their Xtime
technology and processes to grow their service department revenue as well as
tackle industry challenges.

Offering a flexible agenda attendees can build a customized
itinerary around, the event will highlight:

  • New research coupled with guidance to grow
    dealerships
  • Opportunities to connect and share with peers
    across the industry
  • Expert knowledge and pro tips in every session including
    but not limited to, Win the War for Talent, Schedule 101: Success Starts Here
    and Inspect: This Way to Profitability

Bringing these insights and information to life will be a robust series of speakers, including executive members of the Xtime and Cox Automotive teams. The summit will kickoff with a welcome from Tracy Noonan Fred, vice president and general manager of Xtime, followed by presentations from Darrel Ferguson director of performance management of Xtime, and Isabelle Helms vice president, research and market intelligence of Cox Automotive. Attendees will also have the opportunity to hear a panel of dealership veterans discuss their unique perspectives and the successful changes they’ve implemented in their own businesses to adapt to changing consumer behavior. 

“We are extremely excited to introduce this new event to our
clients and provide an additional resource for valuable information that they
can put into practice at their own dealerships,” said Tracy Noonan Fred, vice president
and general manager of Xtime. “Xperience was created as a virtual summit to further
partner with dealerships in their success in the service drive and in the industry.”
 

Registration is currently open to all Xtime dealers. For
more information and to register for Xperience, visit the event’s website.

About Xtime
Xtime is the leading software solution for automotive dealer service departments, increasing retention and revenue with technology and industry experts that help dealers meet changing customer expectations. As an advanced solution that connects the entire service drive and provides exceptional support, Xtime is committed to helping dealers deliver the ultimate service experience with transparency, convenience, and trust. Xtime is a Cox Automotive™ brand.

About Cox Automotive
Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader®, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto® and Xtime®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com 

Media contact:

Lisa
Aloisio
Lisa.Aloisio@coxautoinc.com
+1 404-725-0651

###

3 Steps to Personalizing Your Digital Sales and Marketing

Consumers are constantly bombarded by mass marketing, and many are frustrated by being inundated with messages that don’t apply to them. Personalized digital marketing and sales, however, provide an opportunity to set yourself apart with customers by treating them like the unique people they are.

Customers are tired of one-size-fits-all retail experiences, including car buying. According to the Cox Automotive Future of Digital Retail Study, 90 percent of consumers prefer a unique, personalized car buying journey. Additionally, customers’ expectations of the buying process have changed significantly. Nearly two-thirds of car buyers want to complete more of the purchase steps online than the last time they bought a car, according to the 2020 Cox Automotive COVID-19 Consumer & Dealer Impact Study.

If you’re ready to give your customers the kind of car buying experience they want (and increase profits for your dealership), here are three steps to personalize your automotive digital marketing and sales efforts.

Step 1: Collect Your Customer’s Data

When it comes to collecting customer data, automotive CRM systems really matter. With robust customer data stored in your dealership CRM, as well as other software platforms, you can start the process of segmenting your customers based on individual interests. From there, you can tailor a sales approach that is more likely to capture each individual customer’s attention. This approach to marketing helps prevent miscommunication between dealership and customer. And when your customers receive information (sales-related or not) that is relevant to them, it increases their trust in your dealership.

If you’re part of a dealer group, it is also important that you’re able to view customer data across stores. Wouldn’t it be good to know if the customer you’re speaking with just came from a sister dealership? This cross-rooftop data sharing enables you to identify possible brand defections and maximize profits with better visibility into a customer’s negotiations with other stores. 

Again, this all hinges on the type of data you have. Real segmentation that leads to real personalized messaging comes from moving beyond basic demographics. For example, paying attention to your customers’ online browsing history and recording it in your CRM, like the VinLens integration between Connect CRM and Dealer.com does, can help you segment audiences based on key behaviors.  

Step 2: Know the Buying Signals

Reading your customer data can sometimes feel like a foreign language. Not only do you have to collect the right type of data, you have to interpret that data to deliver the right marketing messages. And once again, technology comes to the rescue. CRM artificial intelligence tools like Connect Automotive Intelligence can quickly analyze huge volumes of customer data, identify trends and flag customers that may be ready to talk. Then, you can take a more proactive sales approach to deliver both timely and relevant marketing that will catch your customers’ attention.

You can learn a lot about your customers based on the equity they have in their current vehicles, for example. But unsurprisingly, some of the most insightful buying signals come from your customers’ browsing behavior, including their budget, the makes/models they’re interested in and the frequency/timing of their browsing.

Step 3: Hit the Mark with Your Marketing  

Automated technologies like website analytics and your CRM can give you insight into customer behavior — especially when the two technologies are integrated like they are with VinLens. But now that you’ve used those tools to gather and interpret data, it’s up to you to make a personalized marketing offer. Know your customers’ interests. And deliver messaging that’s warm, welcoming and lets them know you know where they’re coming from and what they want.

Naturally, you’ll use the data you’ve gathered about your customers to guide you through the process. Is a group of customers looking for similar prices, vehicle sizes and features? This information will help you customize pricing and vehicle options and make relevant product suggestions. And it helps you develop authority and rapport with your customers.

With the right technology tools, you can take a more personable and proactive approach with your marketing efforts. And when your customers see that you’re trying to give them information and offers they actually want, they’re more likely to value your suggestions and remain loyal to your dealership.

Serra Honda Grandville

Serra Honda Grandville built a successful dealership based on the fundamentals of good old-fashioned communication (like greeting every customer at the door) and working hard to develop and maintain healthy customer relationships. 

And while these fundamentals will always remain a priority, the dealership is also deeply committed to staying on the cutting edge, including efforts to improve with the help of new technologies. Serra Honda Grandville has used VinSolutions Connect CRM to boost employee performance and maintain a competitive edge. Specifically, Connect CRM has helped: 

  • Increase data collection and utilization, including customer driver’s license and email capture rates.  
  • Improve lead-to-appointment ratios. 
  • Incentivize employees to boost sales through the use of technology.  
  • Improve communication with customers.  

See how VinSolutions Connect CRM helped promote constant improvement and drive long-term success.

Xtime Invite Introduces Text Marketing Offering A New Channel To Increase Customer Engagement

Xtime Invite Introduces Text Marketing Offering A New Channel To Increase Customer Engagement

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., September 16, 2019 — In a world where email is just one of many channels consumers use to communicate, dealers who neglect one or more channels risk losing potential business that can further accelerate dealership profitability. To reclaim these missed opportunities, Xtime is launching Text Marketing, an add-on available to clients using Xtime Invite.  Xtime’s Text Marketing feature can help dealers diversify their outreach strategy and cut through the marketing noise to better engage with customers through their often preferred mode of communication.  

Today,
customer engagement preferences have become more complex with the rise of multiple
communication channels. Text communication is on the rise and marketers can no
longer rely on email alone to connect with consumers outside of the dealership.  According to Gartner, texting
response rates have soared to 45 percent. The 2019 Cox Automotive
Car Buyer Journey study
shows that texting is gaining traction
amongst all age groups, making it an even more important marketing tool for
dealers. 

Noting
the shift towards text, some dealers have turned to impromptu methods of
communication, such as personal cell phone use or other texting solutions,
which miss the opportunity to be fully integrated with service scheduling
systems or CRMs. This in turn compromises dealership business processes and customer
experience. Additionally, ad hoc texting solutions may not adhere to the strict
rules and regulations outlined by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
and other federal and state laws, exposing dealers to risk of steep penalties
for non-compliance. 

“Dealers
have a hard time getting vehicle owners to respond to marketing communication,
even when it includes convenient links and advantageous offers,” said Tracy Noonan
Fred, vice president and general manager of Xtime. “Research shows 89 percent of
consumers prefer to communicate with organizations via text, so being able to
text straight from the SMS platform is an optimal way for dealers to capture a
consumer’s attention and begin a conversation that leads to new business.” [1]

Xtime
Text Marketing offers a new channel to increase customer engagement and
conversion through an Xtime Spectrum integrated and TCPA compliant solution. Its
benefits include: 

  • In-Message Scheduling: Ability
    to send targeted texts that link to Xtime Schedule and pass through relevant
    data
  • Targeted
    Marketing:
     Flexibility to create and
    execute a variety of  marketing programs
  • Regulatory Compliance: Assistance
    with adhering to strict text marketing rules and regulations with an
    engaging opt-in auditable process for communicating with customers via text
  • Audience
    Builder: 
    Acquire,
    retain, and build a text marketing audience with multiple customer touchpoints that
    encourage customer opt-in throughout Xtime Spectrum  

“The
results we’ve seen from Xtime Text Marketing have been very exciting and
impactful on our business,” said Luke Ammann, Service & Parts Director,
Kastner Honda. “Since launching, it’s clear that everyone involved prefers to
communicate via text and the response has been positive to the point that we’re
currently working on opting in even more customers.”

Text
Marketing is the first of several new add-ons and enhancements that are part of
Xtime’s larger mission to help foster customer retention, loyalty,
profitability and growth for dealerships — even during times when sales volume
is down. The feature is available immediately to all U.S. franchise dealers as
an add-on to the Xtime Invite product.

About
Xtime
Xtime is the leading software solution for automotive dealer
service departments, increasing retention and revenue with technology and
industry experts that help dealers meet changing customer expectations. As an
advanced solution that connects the entire service drive and provides
exceptional support, Xtime is committed to helping dealers deliver the ultimate
service experience with transparency, convenience, and trust. Xtime is a Cox
Automotive™ brand.

About Cox
Automotive
Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars
easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family
of brands, including Autotrader®, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com®,
Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto®
and Xtime®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto
dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive
industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox
Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues
exceeding $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com 

Media
contact:

Lisa
Aloisio

Lisa.Aloisio@coxautoinc.com

404.725.0651
m.


[1] Taft, R. (2018, September 5). OnSpot Social. Retrieved
from http://onspotsocial.com

Oklahoma City Volkswagen Invests in its Technology and its People

Oklahoma City Volkswagen isn’t run by a bunch of old school car guys. Its forward-thinking management team is always looking for ways to enhance the value of their investment. And when Robert Lackey was offered a position as the dealership’s service director, he immediately saw ways to apply that philosophy in the service lane. Many of his most immediate concerns were related to service lane employees and their engagement levels.

“On the surface level, you would see employees and technicians walking around in plain clothes or in shirts from other dealerships,” Robert recalls. “There was no pride in the atmosphere. And on the service drive, you’d see service advisors writing customers up that were stuck in the early 90s with literally a particle board clipboard…and a carbon-copy multipoint inspection sheet. There was zero pride, zero process from front to back.”

Based on his experience managing other service departments, Robert knew that our solutions had the power to increase employee engagement by improving processes and ensuring accountability. He got the employee buy-in necessary to fix the dealership’s obvious challenges with a little help from us.

Real-World Results

Service lane metrics have shown the wisdom in Oklahoma City Volkswagen’s investment in our end-to-end solution. The dealership has achieved:

  • 2x increase in gross profit in the service department
  • 441+ average additional sales per check-in
  • 5-point increase in customer service numbers
  • 90% multipoint inspection rate
  • $831k+ in additional service recommendations captured in one quarter

A Full Suite for Full Satisfaction

While we offer various solutions for improving different areas of the service lane, Robert implemented the full Spectrum Suite because he knew it could help every single fixed ops employee.

As he sees it, “there is no tool in the industry—and you try to piece them all together—that does everything that Xtime Spectrum does.”

Dealership Service Department Assessment

Find out if your dealership is among the most advanced in our industry.

You can feel the winds of change when it comes to customer expectations in the service lane. Are you ready to face them head on and get your service department moving in the right direction?

Take this quick assessment to find out if you’ve properly prepared your service department for the changes ahead. You’ll learn whether or not you’re among the best in supporting your people with the right processes and technologies. Most importantly, you’ll discover what you can change in order to start giving customers the experience they want while producing the revenue you need.

Ready to see how it works?

Schedule a Demo

Auto/Mate Integrates with Xtime’s Inspect, Offering Digital Tools for Higher Customer Retention, Loyalty

Auto/Mate Integrates with Xtime’s Inspect, Offering Digital Tools for Higher Customer Retention, Loyalty

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., July 15, 2019 – To help dealers build stronger customer relationships and drive lasting customer retention in the service department, Xtime today announces a new integration of its Inspect product with Auto/Mate, a national dealer management system (DMS) provider.

Dealers using Auto/Mate’s DMS will now be able to take advantage of Xtime’s Inspect module, part of the automotive industry’s leading cloud-based service management platform. Xtime Inspect helps dealers drive greater shop efficiency and can also help boost both revenue and customer satisfaction with digital, multi-point inspections, professionally presented recommended services and online customer approvals.

“With industry headwinds continuing to disrupt the service department and threaten dealership profitability as a whole, Xtime knew it was mission critical to invest in new relationships to ensure the benefits of Inspect were available to as many dealers as possible,” said Tracy Fred, vice president and general manager for Xtime. “Through the Inspect integration with Auto/Mate, more dealers will have the resources they need to provide a consistent customer experience that offers transparency, confidence and trust every step of the way to create lifelong customers.”

According to findings from Phase 2 of the Cox Automotive 2018 Service Industry Study, an estimated 70 percent of consumers who purchased or leased from a dealer did not return for service in the past year, indicating that dealers continue to struggle when it comes to customer retention. However, more than half of consumers reported they would be willing to travel farther and pay more for an enhanced service experience, creating an opportunity for dealers to continue to grow their share of total service visits.

Xtime Inspect helps dealers address this opportunity by enabling them to better streamline the vehicle inspection process internally and externally through instant communication with dealership chat, parts pricing and availability information, and centralized access to service history and previous recommendations. It also provides an integrated quote generation process from technician to parts to advisor.

“A comprehensive vehicle inspection is a valuable way to build trust, transparency and loyalty with our customers,” said Warren Lewis, dealer at Klick-Lewis Chevrolet in Palmyra, PA. “Having our Auto/Mate DMS deeply integrated with the Xtime Inspect module makes that critical relationship-building step so much easier and more efficient. Our service staff gets to spend their time meeting customers’ needs, instead of moving data around from one system to another.”

Leveraging its existing integration with Xtime’s automotive scheduling software, Auto/Mate dealers will now be able to import repair orders (ROs) into Inspect, and have access to real-time parts availability, parts on-hand, including bin and source location, descriptions and more.

“Xtime’s integration with our Parts Module will allow parts department users to save time and create more accurate parts quotes, as well as communicate pricing and availability throughout the entire dealership,” said Mike Esposito, president and CEO of Auto/Mate. “We have designed our Open/Mate program to expedite the integration process from third-party vendors for a low cost, which increases satisfaction for both parties’ dealership customers.”

To learn more about the Auto/Mate and Xtime integration, email Xtime at insidesales@xtime.com, or call 888-463-3888.

About Xtime

Xtime increases customer retention for automotive dealer service departments by using technology to transform the ownership experience. Improving customer satisfaction and retention drives dealer revenue and profitability. Xtime is committed to delivering the experience consumers demand – an experience which emphasizes value, convenience and trust.

Xtime books 52 million service appointments and processes 120 million repair orders annually. Twenty-nine global OEMs have chosen Xtime to drive that same type of success for their businesses, converting more than $13 billion in service revenue annually for more than 7,500 dealerships across three continents.

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader®, Clutch TechnologiesDealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto® and Xtime®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com

Media Contact:
Lisa Aloisio
Lisa.Aloisio@coxautoinc.com
m. 404.725.0651