Synopsis
Dealers aren't making as much profit from new and used vehicle sales as they used to. Variable margins and sales volumes are under growing pressure, and many dealers are looking to fixed operations for additional growth and profitability. Yet many dealers simply aren't ready or able to profitably and properly grow their service business. Many don't understand how much the expectations of today's service customers have changed. Reviewing dealer case studies and automotive research, Fast Lane: How to Accelerate Service Loyalty and Unlock Its Profit-Making helps dealers recognize retention problems and how to change their thinking and processes to better manage service customers and department.A world-class, technology-enabled experience is the cornerstone of loyalty-driven growth. Dealers must shed long-held beliefs and biases about how a service department should engage and serve customers, and how much technology is needed to optimally do the job today. Dealers must rethink what is a "good job" and consider new metrics measuring the effectiveness of their customer service experiences, people and processes. Inefficiency is the enemy. There are many common inefficiencies inherent in the conventional ways dealers manage service customers and their business. Current customer engagement, from the initial appointment to payment and beyond, often sets up confrontations rather than positive, loyalty-building moments. The right mindset, technology and tools can help dealers attack any long-standing inefficiencies and improve business. The train's leaving the station. Dealers are gaining a competitive advantage through the implementation of a technology-enabled, world-class experience in their service drive every day. Key dealer success stories serve as proof that there's a better, more profitable way of doing business.
About the Author
Jim Roche brings over 30 years of automotive fixed operations high-tech experience. Previously, Jim was founder and Chief Executive Officer of AutoPoint, where he was the visionary and driving force behind the development of the industry's first multichannel marketing platform, its adoption by hundreds of dealers and its subsequent acquisition by SRS; Solera acquired SRS in 2013. Over the course of his career, Jim has visited over 2,000 dealerships, providing his expertise to create modern experiences that generate growth and profitability. Currently Jim is VP, Marketing & Managed Services for Cox Automotive's Xtime, where he is responsible for automotive industry and brand positioning while driving marketing's strategic impact on business.Prior to AutoPoint, Jim was CEO of Ocentrix Inc., which developed a modern technology automotive dealership management system. Jim has also served as Vice President of Product Management at Autobytel, where he oversaw the Autobytel product portfolio and drove the development of the RPM CRM platform, and as Senior Vice President of Operations at Newgen during the company's rapid growth to over 5,000 dealerships and its 1999 IPO. While at Newgen, Jim oversaw the creation of the automotive industry's first web-based on-demand marketing tool, Carabunga.com.Jim is a public speaker and has published numerous articles on automotive fixed operations, technology and retention.
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