How the Best Dealers Stay Top-of Mind

Are you taking the right steps to stay in front of your current customers?

It’s critical to keep customers thinking about you between purchases. If you’re looking for ways to boost profitability between the sale and be the first choice for your customers when it’s time to buy again, this white paper’s for you! You’ll learn:

  • Why customer retention is so challenging
  • How loyalty programs help dealerships stay top-of-mind
  • What types of programs are most effective for dealerships
  • How to execute the right program for your dealership

Get your copy and start building retention today!

Go Pro: Harness the Power of Proactivity

It’s time to Go Pro — Learn how to harness the power of proactivity and transform your dealership.

Today’s most successful dealers are proactively confronting the current sales environment. They’re not waiting for opportunities to come to them. During this webinar, you’ll learn how to use the right technology and techniques to take control of your dealership’s success:

  • Pro Management: Creating a proactive dealership culture
  • Pro Sales: Disrupting the sales cycle with relevant, segmented campaigns
  • Pro Service: Boosting your fixed ops revenue with integration

Dealers can no longer afford to be reactive; it’s time to be proactive.

Fill out the form to watch the webinar & learn how to Go Pro

VinSolutions CRM University

VinSolutions’ CRM University guides you through the exclusive training opportunities available to VinSolutions CRM users. 

Transform your dealership’s performance by attending training customized for every type of user on your team. When you start using your software to it’s full potential, it maximizes revenue, efficiency and customer retention. As a VinSolutions customer, you’ll have opportunities to continually build, accelerate and refine your performance.

  • eAcademy: Our online resource features easy-to-absorb videos on demand
  • Onsite Training: Spend a week with a Certified Trainer to learn real-world applications
  • VinWorx User Summit: Join other dealers at this exclusive training and networking event

Fill out the form to download your free training guide!

 

Xtime Integrates Vantiv Payments to Accelerate Service Checkout

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (November 8, 2017) –Dealers can enhance the ownership experience by offering consumers quick online and in-lane payment options that implement high security standards for service thanks to integrated payment processing capabilities from Xtime and Vantiv Integrated Payments, a Vantiv, Inc. company (NYSE:VNTV).

The Vantiv payment solution integrates into Xtime Engage, which delivers tablet-friendly access to menus, pricing and service history to enhance the service lane check-in and checkout experience. Online payment allows the dealer to send an email or text to the customer to prompt them to pay online and arrange for convenient vehicle pick-up. For in-lane payments, service advisors run credit card transactions via tablet and Bluetooth-connected card swipe in the service lane.

“It’s one less step the customer has to go through when they come here to pick up their car,” said Jerry Antoine, service manager at John Hine Mazda. “In our case, the customers are in a hurry. The quicker the process of picking up their vehicle, the happier they are.”

The powerful duo of Xtime Engage and Vantiv Integrated Payments enables dealers to accept a wide range of payment types at point of sale and online – including chip cards, credit and debit cards, gift and stored value cards, all the “Pays” – Android Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, dealer financing options and PayPal or mobile wallets, are available.

Engage is part of Xtime Spectrum, an integrated, cloud-based auto repair software system that helps dealers provide a quality experience from the first touchpoint to checkout and beyond to support consumers throughout their ownership experience. Dealers using Xtime’s automotive customer retention tool saw an 8.2 percent increase in service retention on average and $13,000 in additional monthly revenue1.

“By meeting customers on their terms and valuing their time, dealers can instill satisfaction and loyalty and drive their revenue,” said Jim Roche, division vice president, Marketing & Managed Services, Xtime. “The checkout experience should leave a positive impression and not diminish, or ruin, an otherwise excellent service experience.”

Vantiv’s Integrated Payments solution is PCI-compliant and utilizes encryption and tokenization to maintain the highest security standards while processing card transactions. Further, retailers using Xtime Engage software can still take advantage of Vantiv’s integrated solution even if they currently use another company to process payments.

“We are very pleased to partner with Xtime to offer a flexible payment option that employs the highest standards in security and safety to the U.S. automotive industry,” said Matt Downs, head of channel and business development at Vantiv. “This solution provides automotive dealerships with a new level of security by offering point-to-point encryption, as well as improving the consumer’s experience by offering a full suite of payment methods.”

To learn more about how Spectrum can optimize customers’ ownership experience and drive profitable growth, visit xtime.com. To learn more about Vantiv’s products and services, please visit https://www.vantiv.com/get-quote.

1Data based on average increase for Xtime dealers using Engage between 2015Q2 and 2016Q3

About Xtime
Xtime delivers retention solutions for the automotive retail industry. Xtime, headquartered in Silicon Valley, is the exclusive or preferred provider for 29 major global automotive manufacturers in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia, as well as leading dealership groups, and services 8,000+ dealerships. Xtime is a Cox Automotive brand. For more information, visit Xtime.com

About Vantiv
Vantiv, Inc. (NYSE: VNTV) is a leading payment processor differentiated by an integrated technology platform. Vantiv offers a comprehensive suite of traditional and innovative payment processing and technology solutions to merchants and financial institutions of all sizes, enabling them to address their payment processing needs through a single provider. We build strong relationships with our customers, helping them become more efficient, more secure and more successful. Vantiv is now the largest merchant acquirer and PIN debit acquirer based on number of transactions in the U.S. The company’s growth strategy includes expanding further into high-growth channels and verticals, including integrated payments, B2B payments, eCommerce, and merchant bank. Visit us at www.vantiv.com, or follow us on TwitterFacebookLinkedInGoogle+ and YouTube.

Media Contact:

Lisa Aloisio
Public Relations, Cox Automotive
404-725-0561
Lisa.Aloisio@coxautoinc.com

Ian Wissman
Corporate Communication, Vantiv
513-900-5897
Ian.Wissman@vantiv.com

First Texas Honda’s partnership with Xtime helps with shop loading, customer retention

When Tony Pereira, Parts & Service Director at First Texas Honda in Austin, Texas, joined the dealership in mid-2015, he was surprised to learn that the business lacked a multi-channel appointment scheduling system. Having come from dealerships where tablets were used effectively in the service drive, Tony knew the benefit of such tools to regulate the flow of customers.

“I came from a previous dealership where Xtime was the tool for appointments, so I had experience with the tablets and the products,” said Tony. “When I first arrived at First Texas Honda, I saw this bright, shiny dealership in a progressive, technology-driven town yet with service advisors using pencils and clipboards, and felt like I had gone back years in terms of customer care. That can’t happen in a modern dealership, so I reached out to Xtime not just because I was familiar with them, but because I knew they could help.”

Having just celebrated its third anniversary, First Texas Honda now operates as a first-class technology driven dealership with remarkable customer loyalty. Having first implemented Schedule, which was quickly followed by Engage and Invite, the dealership is now able to regulate the flow of customers, take better care of them in the service drive, communicate with them inside and outside of the shop and manage appointments.

“We open our doors at 7:00 a.m., and it’s daunting when you see a line of forty cars waiting for service,” said Tony. “Partnering with Xtime and having the tablets and the software have been hugely instrumental in moving the needle on repair order dollars that came from appointments, and also helps us in that we don’t have to turn customers away either. When we greet our guests, we ask if they have an appointment. If the customer was not aware that they could set an appointment, we show them the system, inform them of the call center and even allow them to choose the service personnel they work with to build a relationship. The level of customer service that we can provide by using Xtime’s solutions has been a tremendous benefit to our business.”

RESULTS THAT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

Invite, Schedule, Xtime’s automotive scheduling software, and Engage have done more for First Texas Honda than just streamline operations and keep customers happy. By having consistency and transparency to their prices and processes, the dealership is empowering customers through a better ownership experience and encourages vehicle owners take better care of their cars.

The following metrics from September 2015 to March 2016 are indicative of just some of the ways in which First Texas Honda’s partnership with Xtime has been so successful

  • Total RO dollars of $1,796,452
  • Over 2,000 new email addresses captured
  • 22.5% RO from walk-in appointments
  • Average in-dealership show rate of 85.2%

While I don’t think that technology alone fixes an inherent problem with processes or customer service, it does help reveal problems you have and can fix. Xtime’s solutions really help bring issues to the surface.

“When I started at First Texas Honda, the customer retention rate was 55 percent, which is pretty high by auto industry standards,” said Tony. “We aggressively pursue customers who make appointments and fail to show up, and just in the last two months, the retention rate has jumped to 57 percent. I attribute that boost to Xtime because it’s helping us identify and follow up with customers who have lapsed.”

First Texas Honda has also enjoyed an increase in email captures and upselling opportunities in the last six months, having used Invite to create campaigns to sell to untapped segments. Tony attributes the uptick in email captures to using Invite to provide customers with information and offers they really want.

“We have customers who are wary of giving out their email addresses because they don’t want their inboxes cluttered with junk. In order to earn their trust, you have to show value. We want them to get promotions. We want them to have easy access to open recall information. Xtime helps us do exactly that and more.”

tonypereira

"Everyone made it through implementation and are experts with the Xtime solutions now, That is due to the team of knowledgeable and exceedingly positive people who came to train us. We are thankful for the attention, a sense of urgency and the support we receive. Anyone who partners with Xtime will be better for it."

XTIME HELPS FIRST TEXAS HONDA TO:

  • Drive a better ownership experience through transparency, trust and timeliness. “It was important for us to communicate effectively and transparently with each client, as well as be process driven. If a customer talks to three different service advisors about an oil change and gets three different price quotes, there’s no integrity in that.”
  • Streamline and enhance operations. “Xtime’s solutions are very intuitive, which helps us operate as a better, more customer-centric business and on-board new personnel quickly and easily.”
  • Educate the customers. “Using the tablets to capture photos and video is one of the best features and is a protective measure for us. We have 370 vehicles on our lot right now awaiting new airbags due to a recall, which means that we have the potential for a lot of things to go wrong, from dead batteries to flat tires. With the video we capture of each car when it comes into the lot, it gives us and the customers peace of mind that if something happens, we’ll take care of it.”

In working with Xtime, Tony also believes that it is not just the solutions, but the dedicated Dealer Performance and Managed Services teams that are available to ensure First Texas Honda is getting the most out of its partnership.

5 Reasons Your Dealership Should Be Selling Auto Parts on eBay Motors

The online auto parts market is growing in leaps and bounds. With so many tutorial and how-to videos online, people feel more confident in their DIY skills when it comes to basic car maintenance. A UPS study in 2014 found that 69 percent of auto part shoppers research the part they want online, and 59 percent actually end up buying online.

Parts sales on eBay Motors are no exception. According to a study by Hedges and Company, eBay moved an estimated 550,000 and 575,000 auto parts each week in 2014. It makes sense, since eBay’s brand name is so well-known that even first-time DIYers know it’s a great place to browse. There’s a huge selection to choose from, both for OEM and aftermarket parts, and it’s easy to comparison-shop for the best price.

Aftermarket retailers were the first to jump on the eBay opportunity, but it hasn’t stopped dealerships from staking their claim, too. Already, top-performing dealers are seeing between $30,000 and $60,000 in monthly sales on eBay.

Need a few more reasons to sell auto parts on eBay Motors? Consider these:

1. It’s a fantastic place to sell obsolete and overstock parts.

You know that old, obsolete part that’s been taking up space and gathering dust on your shelf for months now? There’s a fairly low chance that a customer will walk up to the counter looking for that exact part. But if you expand your selling range nationally or even internationally, there’s a much higher chance of finding a buyer.

Customers know this, too. They’re much more likely to search online (on places like eBay or Amazon) for parts they know are no longer in production. If you sell these obsolete parts online, you can clear your old inventory and avoid eating the loss of that part.

This means if you play your cards right, you can eliminate obsolescence in the parts department entirely.

Some dealerships even use this a chance to get rid of used parts that were returned by a customer. If you fit this into your selling strategy, then you can accept returned auto parts that customers tried to use in their vehicle only to find it wasn’t what they needed. Customers will be happy that you accepted their return, and you can still sell that part rather than mark it as a loss.

2. It’s completely possible to make a profit on eBay.

Some dealerships have avoided eBay because they’ve heard it’s too competitive to bring in a profit. And while eBay certainly is competitive compared to a standalone parts website, you CAN make money selling auto parts.

If you can set accurate shipping and a competitive price, then you can make a profit. Calculating an accurate shipping cost is where many dealerships make mistakes and lose money, but there are eBay solutions available that can manage this for you. Otherwise, you have to calculate shipping prices by hand.

Just remember that selling on eBay Motors is typically a volume game. You might not earn as much on individual parts, but you’re still making a profit by fulfilling dozens of orders each day. Build this into your strategy and buy fast-moving parts in bulk (such as windshield wiper blades and filters) and undercutting your competitors’ prices.

And, as mentioned, it’s a chance to recapture otherwise lost profit from obsolete parts.

3. It gives you instant access to a HUGE ready-to-buy customer base.

Millions of people visit eBay on a regular basis. They know they can find a better price online, and they know that eBay sells just about everything. It’s a perfect go-to place to find any auto parts a customer is looking for.

As long as your listing has the proper part number, fitment data, and details, customers can find it and buy it from you. It helps to provide a product photo and list your item as “free shipping” (and build that shipping cost into the overall price) to improve your eBay visibility and listing performance even more.

Product photos in general can double your conversion rates. Download this free eBay Photo Toolkit to learn about some tips and tools that can help you take higher quality photos in less time.

4. It makes international sales really easy.

On your own parts website, international sales can be a hassle due to shipping costs and customs papers. It’s no surprise that dealers often choose to avoid selling overseas because it’s not always worth the extra work.

But eBay’s Global Shipping Program handles all the dirty details for you. When an international buyer purchases your item, eBay will take care of that international shipping for you. As the seller, you only need to ship it to eBay’s US location in Kentucky, and they’ll handle the rest.

This saves you from dealing with customs papers and increased international shipping fees. And, of course, it expands your selling reach even further.

5. It doesn’t have to be tedious to set up and maintain.

If you’re still shaking your head because you don’t even want to think about creating listings one-by-one, then you’re in luck: there’s an easier way. You don’t have to create listings by hand for each auto part you sell.

As a business, you can invest in an eBay solution to cut back on labor costs. The right solution can create listings in bulk, complete with the fitment data and images to help your part sell on eBay Motors. You can even get instant Top Seller Status this way, along with having some of your selling fees waived.

It’s true that eBay’s vehicle sales have diminished in recent years, but that doesn’t apply to parts and accessories. The company reported a growth of 17 percent year-over-year in the third quarter of 2015, and 16 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2015. While the market is on the rise, there’s no better time to establish a foothold in the eBay parts market.

Amanda Tegtmeyer is the marketing manager for Revolution Parts, a Dealer.com Certified Technology Provider

Video for Car Shoppers: Numbers from the Experts

In some ways, auto dealerships are luckier than businesses in most other industries when it comes to video marketing. YouTube—far and away the world’s largest video platform, from both a consumer and a marketer perspective—is currently under the command of David Mogensen, a former automotive marketer.

That means a lot of great insight and information on car shoppers and the car-buying process in the Internet age is available direct from the source.

Of course, that information is available to all car dealerships—you and your competitors—which means you’re under greater pressure to make use of the available information if you don’t want to lose ground.

Mogensen recently published an article on car buying and marketing videos on YouTube. It features a lot of data on the increasing importance of marketing to mobile devices, and how if you don’t put these stats into action you’ll be missing some major opportunities.

We recommend reading the article, but we’ll break it down here for you, too.

Nearly half of all auto review videos were watched on mobile devices.

Online video has been growing in availability and popularity for a few years. As mobile devices grow cheaper and better able to display high-quality video, and as cell phone plans and WiFi become more capable of supporting faster streaming, it’s becoming clear that video is the medium of choice for the majority of online shoppers.

In 2015, existing video trends hit an even sharper incline, with more than three millions hours of auto review videos seen on YouTube in just the first three quarters of the year. And nearly half of those hours—1.2 million, to be precise—were watched on mobile devices.

If you can offer video that’s mobile responsive, via a platform that’s easy to navigate on a phone’s screen, you’ll be capturing way more leads from car buyers in every phase of the purchase process.

 

Guest author Collin Davis is the chief technology officer at Dealer Video Showroom, a Dealer.com Certified Technology Provider

6 Steps to Making Your Website More Than a Digital Brochure

The expectations of today’s car shoppers are rapidly evolving. Shoppers are significantly more mobile, more tech-savvy, and more informed than ever before. They expect purchase process transparency and an engaging website experience where digital interaction is key to a successful sale. The days of dealership websites functioning as digital brochures are long gone.

But how do you embark upon this digital transformation?

For Dealer.com clients*, the strategy outlined below will help you not only optimize your digital presence, but meet and exceed shoppers’ expectations while achieving your business goals.

#1. Create engaging content that aligns with your customers’ needs.

When looking to bridge the gap from website to showroom you want to create an experience that resonates with your soon-to-be customers. Match that same level of customer service and education that you already disseminate every day in your showroom to your website. That way your customers’ digital expectations will align with how their physical experience will be at your showroom. Make your webpages more than landing pages: make them resource pages. What are the most common questions your F&I team are fielding, common/uncommon service questions? Poll other departments at your dealership and build pages that can solve pain points for customers. Anticipate those questions and respond with a page that answers. Stuck on where to start? Take a look at these previous articles around modern SEO and Resource Page building best practices.

#2. Tailor website customizations for all traffic – desktop, tablet, or mobile.

Over 50 percent of traffic across the Dealer.com network comes from mobile and tablet devices. You must  effectively “speak” to this traffic with an experience specifically tailored to these devices. Mobile customizations are just as important as those for desktop. Mobile customers are looking for more than just your dealership’s phone number and directions. They’re browsing inventory and doing deep research. From seniors to millennials, mobile shoppers span every major demographic and are using their mobile devices to make informed decisions on what to buy, where to buy, and who to buy from.

Think about your own shopping habits. You want a page that’s easy to navigate from your smartphone and has the important information you are looking for – regardless of what you are shopping for. Keep that in mind when thinking about your mobile customers.

#3. Make your slideshow an efficient path to inventory.

Customers are hungry for information. The internet has enabled shoppers to be more informed prior to visiting your dealership, and we need to make it easy for customers looking on your site to reach your inventory, fast. Make sure your slides have a clear message and, if possible, link them to your vehicle listing pages (VLPs) and vehicle details pages (VDPs), where, on the latter, customers are more likely to convert. VDP views also give you great insight into who is scoping out your inventory.

#4. Use VDP views to your advantage.

If you have a particular vehicle that’s racked up a lot of VDP views , odds are someone’s coming to your showroom to look for that car. Ever have those customers arrive unannounced (no form or phone call), but are clearly informed about the details of a specific car in inventory? That customer was on a VDP. Unannounced traffic is on the rise and dealership showroom visits are becoming more strategic. If shoppers are in your showroom, their intent to buy is high. With this in mind, be as knowledgeable of inventory as possible, and have that frequently-viewed car close by and test-drive ready to help achieve the goal of a truly seamless online to in-store shopping experience.

#5. Match inventory excitement – from physical to digital showroom.

In your line of work, there are stickers, balloons, streamers, pricing changes, and vehicle placements , to name just a few merchandising strategies. And it takes a lot of effort and skill to do this well and create excitement. This needs to carry over into your digital merchandising strategy, too. Fortunately, it takes a lot less physical effort.

Dealer.com Inventory Lifecycles can help you automate how you merchandise your inventory from the second your cars arrive on your lot. and as they age on your lot.Adding custom comments, image overlays, and/or featuring vehicles on your website homepage are all great ways to generate more awareness and excitement around your inventory.

#6. Track results with Analytics.

Numbers are important. With Dealer.com Analytics, you have direct insight into your dealership’s digital performance. From time on site to conversions, you can slice and dice reports to paint an overall picture of the business. Analytics reports from MyCars™ and from within the Consumer Demand section can equip Dealer.com clients with the data needed to make the next strategic business move.

You are in a unique spot in today’s technology world. Use your website to your advantage. Start your customers’ journeys off with well-built out pages and clear paths to inventory. Set the tone for their arrival at your dealership, then impress them again once they’re there.

Jillian Charest is a learning specialist at Dealer.com

*As always, Dealer.com training material is available 24/7 inside of ControlCenter. Click ‘Tutorials’ from the Welcome screen, or ‘Get Help’ from any page in ControlCenter.

Central Valley Nissan Transforms Customer Experience, Gives Service Advisors “Freedom of Movement” with Xtime

Emerging technology has changed the way businesses interact with customers in a variety of ways, from online to in-person. Central Valley Nissan in Modesto, California, was eager to introduce technology to the service drive in order to boost business. In doing so, they also found that Xtime’s solutions created a more modern, efficient and professional experience for both customers and dealership personnel.

After seeing another dealership use tablets in the service drive, John began to take a harder look at Central Valley Nissan’s own operations. With the idea of transparency as a tremendous trust-builder in business, John put himself in the customers’ shoes as he began to observe customer interactions at various points around the dealership. What he saw made him appreciate the merit of using technology to take care of the customers at every touchpoint, as well as creating an open dialogue.

https://vimeo.com/139391897

“A lot of what I was seeing was customers waiting by themselves at the advisor booth, then seeing the advisors out walking quietly around the customers’ vehicles,” said John. “And the customers were looking at the advisors like, ‘What are they looking at?’ What are they thinking about my car?’ But there was no real interaction there.”

Soon after, Central Valley Nissan turned to Xtime’s Engage.

AN EDUCATED CUSTOMER IS AN EMPOWERED CUSTOMER

central-nissan-john

"The way that we did business before Xtime was very impersonal and kind of transactional, Xtime helped us with a real, consistent process to get us into the digital age of dealing with customers."

Accurate information is the cornerstone of a business’s good reputation, and studies show that tablet usage in the dealership service drive immediately establishes trust between customers and service advisors. Before Engage, Xtime’s automotive customer retention tool, Central Valley Nissan advisors had to expend substantial efforts to ensure customers had all of the information they needed in order to make educated decisions on their vehicles. According to John, being able to take care of customer needs from a driver safety and vehicle longevity standpoint—as opposed to purely a sales perspective—was key to building lasting relationships.

“What we didn’t want was a customer saying, ‘Do I have a recall on my vehicle?’ and then us checking and saying, ‘Oh, yeah. It’s right here. We forgot.’ We would look really unprofessional if we did that,” said John. “If we bring that information out later, it looks like we’re just trying to sell them something they don’t need. [Engage] allows us to have a more informational process instead of us just selling stuff.”

Central Valley Nissan’s numbers speak to the success they’ve had since partnering with Engage. From April to June of 2015, Central Valley Nissan used Xtime to:

  • Boost total show rates to 64.9%
  • Increase average repair order (RO) value by $47
  • Capture 42.1% of appointments from online and mobile channels
  • Obtain a 57% online conversation rate

John believes that Engage has also positively influenced the way customers interact with Central Valley Nissan’s service managers and advisors.

“Xtime gives customers a lot of information before they even come in for service,” said John. “So [the products] are educating them on their needs also. And then we get customers on the drive with the advisors are they’re looking at the tablet, saying, ‘Oh, that’s my vehicle?’ They could see their name and appointment right there, so they know we’re professionally expecting them. And you can see the trust level there and their happiness with us being in the digital age.”