Robert Menton: Bringing Expertise and Innovation to TVI MarketPro3

Automotive Service Department Training: Inside Job or Outsourced?

There you are with your team in front of you. They’re bright-eyed and ready to learn straight from the horse's mouth. Yes, that horse is you, and you’re starting your current training session. There’s something about looking your team square in the eye with hope for understanding and a strong sense of accountability. But wait! Who has time to squeeze in quality training with all the other time-consuming and equally important tasks on service leaders' plates? A Forbes article, The Eternal Question: What Type Of Training Should I Provide My Staff, reviews all the training company leaders should be covering. It’s a lot! Service managers and fixed operations directors constantly face a critical decision: Should this training be handled in-house, or is it better to lean on external expertise? Whether you’re training your technicians or your service advisors, determining how your team will receive their training greatly impacts the success of your dealership’s service drive. The Case for In-House Training: Building a Cohesive Team Customized Training Tailored to Your Dealership's Needs: One of the primary advantages of in-house training is its ability to be highly customized. You know your dealership inside and out—its strengths, weaknesses, and unique challenges. In-house training allows you to design programs that address specific issues within your service department. This customization fosters a deeper understanding of your dealership's standards and procedures, leading to a more cohesive team. Strengthening Internal Culture: Conducting training in-house reinforces your dealership's culture and values. Service advisors and technicians receive consistent messaging that aligns with your business’s mission, enhancing overall morale. A well-structured in-house training program can also create a sense of ownership among employees as they see their direct involvement in the dealership's success. Cost Efficiency Over Time: While the initial setup of an in-house training program may require a significant investment of time and resources, the long-term benefits can outweigh the costs. Once established, the program can be repeated, refined, and adjusted without incurring additional expenses. In the long run, in-house training can be more cost-effective than continually outsourcing to external trainers. The Case for Outsourced Training: Accessing Expertise and Fresh Perspectives Bringing in Industry Experts: Outsourcing your training allows you to take advantage of a pool of industry experts with a wealth of knowledge and experience. These professionals are often up-to-date with the latest trends, technologies, and best practices in the automotive service industry. Their fresh perspectives can introduce new ideas and innovative solutions that may not be readily apparent to those entrenched in daily operations. Focused Learning with Fewer Distractions: External trainers often conduct sessions in a controlled environment, minimizing workplace distractions. This focused learning environment can lead to higher information retention and more effective skill development. With the guidance of an experienced trainer, your service department can quickly adapt to new tools, technologies, and procedures. Flexibility and Scalability: Outsourced training programs offer flexibility in terms of scheduling and content. External providers can tailor their services to your needs, whether you need a one-time intensive workshop or ongoing support. Additionally, they often have the resources to scale training across multiple locations, ensuring consistency throughout your dealership network. The Verdict: A Balanced Approach? Ultimately, the decision to train in-house or outsource may not be a strict either/or scenario. Many successful dealerships might opt for a hybrid approach, combining the best of both worlds. For instance, you might develop an in-house training program that covers the foundational aspects of your service department while bringing in external experts for specialized topics or introducing new technologies. By carefully considering your service department's specific needs and your dealership's goals, you can create a training strategy that maximizes efficiency, enhances expertise, and ultimately drives customer satisfaction. Check out the TVI MarketPro3 website for more valuable fixed ops insights.

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Direct Mail for Dealership Service Departments

A Vital Gear in Your Dealership's Service Marketing Machine In automotive marketing, where digital strategies often dominate the conversation, it’s easy to overlook the importance of direct mail. However, a well-oiled marketing machine requires all its gears to work in harmony—and direct mail is one of those crucial gears. It might not be as flashy as the latest digital tools, but it is essential in driving your dealership’s success. Let’s explore why direct mail is a key component of your marketing machine and how it integrates seamlessly with other channels to create a powerful, unified strategy. A Key Gear in Your Marketing Machine Imagine your dealership’s marketing strategy as a finely tuned machine. Digital channels like social media, email, and online ads are the high-tech gears that drive speed and agility, quickly engaging with your audience. However, direct mail is another critical gear in this machine, and it is equally important for maintaining smooth and efficient operations. Without it, the entire mechanism could lose balance, impacting overall performance. While it may not always garner the same attention as digital innovations, direct mail is indispensable in keeping your marketing machine running at total capacity. The Tangible Strength of Direct Mail Direct mail brings a personal touch that digital methods often lack. As Kurt Hankey, Corporate Account Manager at TVI MarketPro3, notes, there’s a continual need to highlight the value of direct mail over less costly alternatives like text messages and emails. Direct mail physically reaches your customers, making it a tangible and memorable form of communication. It’s like the sturdy gear in your marketing machine that provides reliable strength, creating a lasting impression that digital interactions alone might not achieve. Precision Targeting and Measurable Outcomes A common concern about direct mail is its perceived cost compared to digital methods. Nick Shaffer, Vice President of Sales at TVI MarketPro3, believes dealers object to direct mail because “it is expensive per touch point.” However, the investment is often justified by the results. Direct mail allows for precise targeting based on customer data, such as service history, vehicle ownership, and change of address information. This targeted approach ensures that each mail piece reaches those most likely to respond, similar to how the gears in a machine must be precisely aligned for optimal performance. Despite the higher cost per touchpoint, the return on investment can be substantial due to the high engagement and conversion rates that direct mail often delivers. Enhancing Customer Loyalty and Retention Direct mail is a powerful tool for building and maintaining customer relationships for a dealership's service department. Regular service reminders, special offers, and loyalty rewards sent through direct mail help keep your dealership top-of-mind. Direct mail helps build a personal connection with customers that digital ads alone might struggle to achieve, bolstering loyalty and retention. Addressing Common Objections: Direct Mail vs. Digital Dealerships may hesitate to invest in direct mail due to its higher costs and perceived obsolescence. But there is an answer that addresses these objections. Cost vs. Value: While direct mail may seem more expensive, its targeted approach often results in higher response rates and better conversion, making it a worthwhile investment. When executed properly, this strategy’s higher cost per touchpoint can more than justify the expense. Perceived Obsolescence: Direct mail is sometimes seen as outdated compared to digital innovations. However, as Kurt Hankey suggests, every marketing channel has “strengths and weaknesses.” Direct mail becomes part of a more comprehensive and effective marketing strategy when used alongside digital channels. Additionally, direct mail can lean into digital enhancements such as QR codes that link to websites with tracking oversight.  Integrating Direct Mail with Digital Strategies Integrating direct mail with digital efforts is essential to maximize your dealership's marketing effectiveness. Here’s how to create a cohesive strategy: Segment and Personalize: Use customer data to tailor direct mail pieces to specific needs, such as service reminders or special promotions based on vehicle history. Synergize with Digital Channels: Combine direct mail with email campaigns, social media promotions, and online ads. For instance, include a QR code in your direct mail that directs recipients to an exclusive online offer, blending the physical and digital experiences. Track and Optimize: Implement tracking methods to evaluate the success of your direct mail campaigns. Analyze response rates and customer feedback to refine your approach and improve future efforts. Conclusion Direct mail may not always be the most talked-about marketing tool, but it is a crucial gear in the well-oiled machine that is your dealership’s marketing strategy. As Nick Shaffer and Kurt Hankey from TVI MarketPro3 emphasize, direct mail provides customers with a reliable and personal connection that digital methods alone can’t achieve. Integrating direct mail with your digital marketing ensures that your dealership’s service department operates smoothly and effectively, capturing attention and engagement from every angle. Don’t let your marketing machine run with missing gears—embrace the full spectrum of tactics to drive balanced and successful outcomes. Contact TVI MarketPro3 today to see how direct mail can boost your service drive traffic.

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Should Dealerships Bundle Services? Pros and Cons

In the competitive landscape of the automotive industry, dealerships constantly seek innovative strategies to attract and retain customers. One such strategy is service bundling. Bundling-related services can offer numerous benefits, but they also present potential drawbacks. Let’s explore the pros and cons of bundling services in automotive fixed operations. Daniel Liberto with Investopedia describes bundling as a pricing strategy companies utilize to package several of their products or services “as a single combined unit, often for a lower price than they would charge customers to buy each item separately.” Pros of Bundling Services Increased Customer Convenience Bundling services can simplify the customer experience. When multiple services are combined into a single package, customers can address various maintenance and repair needs in one visit. This convenience can significantly enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. For instance, a bundled package might include an oil change, tire rotation, and brake inspection, saving the customer time and effort. Higher Perceived Value Customers often perceive bundled services as offering better value. By packaging several services together at a discounted rate, dealerships can create an appealing offer that customers find hard to resist. This perceived value can drive higher sales and increase the average transaction value, boosting the dealership's revenue. Streamlined Operations Service bundling can lead to more efficient operations within the service department. With predetermined packages, service advisors can quickly present options to customers, reducing the time spent on individual service recommendations. This streamlined process can improve workflow, minimize wait times, and enhance productivity. Competitive Advantage Bundling services can differentiate a dealership from its competitors in a crowded market. Unique and attractive service packages can attract new customers and retain existing ones, providing a competitive edge. Dealerships that effectively market their bundled services can stand out as convenient and cost-effective choices for vehicle maintenance. Cons of Bundling Services Perceived Lack of Customization One potential drawback of bundling services is that some customers may feel their needs are not being addressed. While bundles offer convenience, they may not always align with individual customer preferences. For example, a customer who only needs an oil change might not see the value in a package that includes additional services they don't require. Complexity in Pricing Creating and managing bundled service packages can be complex. Dealerships must carefully consider pricing strategies to maintain profitability while offering genuine value to customers. Mispricing bundles can lead to diminished margins or customer skepticism about the actual value of the offer. Inventory Management Challenges Bundling services may require dealerships to maintain specific parts and supplies in larger quantities. This can complicate inventory management, especially if certain services within a bundle are not in high demand. Effective inventory control and forecasting are essential to avoid overstocking or stockouts. Potential Overextension of Resources If not appropriately managed, service bundling can strain dealership resources. High demand for bundled packages might lead to an increased technician workload and longer customer wait times. Dealerships must ensure adequate staffing and resources to handle the increased volume without compromising service quality. Conclusion Service bundling offers advantages and challenges for dealerships in the automotive fixed operations industry. While it can enhance customer convenience, increase perceived value, streamline operations, and provide a competitive edge, it also requires careful consideration of customer needs, pricing strategies, inventory management, and resource allocation.  Dealership leaders, fixed operations directors, and service advisors should weigh these pros and cons to determine if bundling services aligns with their overall business strategy and customer service goals. By finding the right balance, dealerships can leverage service bundling to attract and retain customers while maintaining operational efficiency and enhancing service offerings to meet their customers' evolving needs better. For more expert insights, check out tvi-mp3.com

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Enhancing Safety Compliance in the Service Drive

Safety compliance in the service drive is crucial for maintaining a productive, efficient, and secure working environment. Fixed operations directors, service managers, and other dealership leaders must prioritize the well-being of their employees while balancing departmental profitability, customer satisfaction, and employee morale. This article unpacks insights from industry experts Scott Kelford and Tyler Parker, Regional Sales Managers with TVI MarketPro3. Let’s explore the importance of safety compliance and provide actionable steps to enhance safety protocols in your dealership. The Importance of Accountability in Safety Compliance Leadership and Accountability Accountability is paramount in any dealership. Kelford emphasizes the challenge of ensuring that employees adhere to established policies and procedures without ruffling feathers. Leadership must consistently enforce these policies to foster a safety culture. This consistency protects employees and shields the dealership from potential fines and legal issues. Understanding Regulations Keeping up with ever-changing safety regulations can be daunting. Parker points out the difficulty of staying updated with codes and laws. Kelford agrees that regular training and consultation with compliance experts like Kip Prahl Associates can help dealerships remain compliant. These experts provide comprehensive evaluations, documentation, and actionable recommendations to ensure your facility meets all regulatory requirements. Practical Safety Measures in the Service Drive Proper Use of Equipment and Tools Ensuring the proper use and maintenance of equipment is critical. Kelford recalls incidents where he observed unsafe practices, such as using bungee cords on lifts without safety latches. Regular inspections and maintenance of equipment like lifts, electrical cords, and battery containment systems can prevent accidents and injuries. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Providing and enforcing the use of PPE is essential. Standard-issue PPE should include hearing protection, eye protection, gloves, and proper footwear. Clear signage should indicate areas where PPE is mandatory. Regular checks should be conducted to ensure that all employees are using the appropriate safety gear. Hazard Identification and Communication Effective communication about potential hazards is vital. Properly labeling fluids and containers and maintaining clean and organized workspaces can prevent accidents. Implementing a system where hazards are regularly identified, documented, and communicated to the team is a proactive approach to safety. Training and Continuous Improvement Employee Training Regular training sessions, both in-person and online, are crucial for keeping safety top of mind. Parker notes that explaining the reasons behind safety measures increases compliance. Training should cover the practical application of safety protocols and the potential consequences of non-compliance, emphasizing the protection of both employees and the dealership. Consistent Meetings and Culture Building Safety should be an integral part of the dealership’s culture. Consistent meetings to discuss safety issues and updates ensure the message stays relevant. In meetings, Kelford advises making safety a regular topic to prevent it from becoming "out of sight, out of mind." This practice fosters a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. Delegating Safety Responsibilities Assigning specific safety responsibilities to dedicated personnel ensures that safety checks are consistently performed. These individuals can oversee tasks such as inspecting washing machines for solvent levels, ensuring proper labeling of containers, and verifying the use of PPE. This delegation not only spreads the workload but also reinforces the importance of safety at all levels of the organization. Conclusion Creating a safe and compliant service drive requires a proactive approach and a commitment to continuous improvement. Dealership leaders can protect their employees and businesses by fostering a culture of accountability, staying updated on regulations, and implementing practical safety measures. Regular training, clear communication, and consistent enforcement of safety protocols are the cornerstones of a successful safety compliance strategy.  Remember, a clean, safe, and well-organized shop enhances employee satisfaction and boosts overall productivity and customer satisfaction. Prioritize safety compliance to create a thriving, risk-free environment in your dealership. Check out tvi-mp3.com for more expert insights.

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Dealership Profits with Mobile Service Solutions

The automotive industry is evolving rapidly, with mobile service in car dealerships emerging as a significant trend. Mobile service offers a convenient and efficient way to provide vehicle maintenance and repairs at the customer's location, enhancing the overall customer experience. Understanding Mobile Service in Car Dealerships Mobile service involves dispatching trained technicians to perform maintenance and repairs at the customer’s preferred location, whether at their home, workplace, or another convenient spot. This approach contrasts with the traditional method, where customers bring their vehicles to the dealership for service. Mobile service offers customers and dealerships flexibility, convenience, and time savings. Benefits of Mobile Service for Dealerships Enhanced Customer Convenience Mobile service provides unparalleled convenience for customers by eliminating the need to travel to the dealership and wait for their vehicle to be serviced. Scott Kelford is a Regional Sales Manager for TVI MarketPro3 and a longtime fixed operations expert. Kelford highlighted this point, explaining, "We get to put that message out to the general public that doesn't know that they don't have to drive to the dealership... people need to understand that the mobile service is mobile, right?" This on-site service reduces customer downtime, making it an attractive option for busy individuals. Increased Customer Loyalty This offering can significantly boost customer loyalty. Personalized, at-home service experiences create a strong competitive advantage, encouraging customers to return for future needs and recommend the dealership to others. Robert Morris is also a Regional Sales Manager at TVI MarketPro3 and has decades of automotive expertise. He emphasized the competitive advantage, stating, "[Mobile service] also creates customer loyalty... it's a competitive advantage because once somebody utilizes it, they're going to get hooked." Additional Revenue Streams During on-site visits, mobile car maintenance and repair programs open new opportunities for upselling additional services and products. The convenience of being home rather than stuck at a dealership during these additional services makes it easier to say “yes.” Moreover, dealerships can save on overhead costs while maintaining large service bays, further enhancing profitability. As Morris noted, "Some [dealerships] are much more aggressive with it than others in terms of actually providing vehicle stipends... paying for tools is a line item reimbursement for an oil change, for example, things like that." Implementing Mobile Service in Your Dealership Steps to Integration Assess Dealership Capabilities and Resources: Evaluate your dealership's infrastructure, staff, and financial capacity to support the program. Training and Hiring Mobile Service Technicians: Recruit skilled technicians or provide additional training to existing staff to ensure they can handle the unique challenges of mobile service. As Kelford mentioned, "You have to have a guy with a pretty good skill set... you’ve got to have a person that works well with minimum supervision." Investing in Necessary Tools and Technology: Equip your mobile service units with the tools, diagnostic equipment, and technology to effectively perform a wide range of services. Logistics and Operations Efficient scheduling and dispatching are critical to the success of a mobile service program. Implementing a robust management system ensures timely service delivery and consistent quality control. "You start out small at one, five, ten-mile radius... But now you're starting to see that perimeter scale outward," says Kelford. Overcoming Challenges in Mobile Service Common Obstacles Initial Investment Costs: Setting up a mobile service unit requires an initial investment in vehicles, tools, and technology. Logistical Complexities: Managing a fleet of mobile service units and coordinating schedules can be complex and requires careful planning. Solutions and Best Practices Strategic Planning and Phased Implementation: Start with a pilot program to test and refine your mobile service operations before scaling up. Leveraging Technology for Efficient Management: Utilize advanced scheduling and dispatch software to streamline operations and improve efficiency. Future of Mobile Service in Car Dealerships As technology advances and customer expectations evolve, mobile service is poised to become integral to the automotive service landscape. Embracing this trend can provide long-term benefits for dealerships, including enhanced customer loyalty, additional revenue streams, and operational efficiencies. Fixed operations managers and service directors should explore the potential of mobile service in their dealerships. By investing in the right resources and adopting best practices early on, dealerships can stay ahead of the curve and meet the growing demand for convenient, high-quality automotive services. Morris emphasizes, "It's all about the people. You know, if you have the right person, you're going to be successful. With the right tools and the right equipment, the right customers and the right marketing, all that funnels together." Check out more fixed ops insights at TVI MarketPro3.

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Transparent Pricing in the Service Drive

In today's highly competitive automotive service industry, transparent pricing has become a cornerstone of successful dealership operations. Customers are more informed than ever and often wary of bait-and-switch tactics employed by some aftermarket competitors. For fixed operations directors, service managers, and dealership leaders, establishing a reputation for honesty and openness is crucial to gaining and maintaining customer trust. Here’s why transparent pricing is vital and how to effectively implement it in your service drive. Understanding the Importance of Transparent Pricing Building Trust and Avoiding Bait-and-Switch Tactics Customers today are keenly aware of deceptive practices. As Kurt Hankey, Corporate Account Manager at TVI MarketPro3, points out, "Customers are very aware today of bait-and-switch tactics. And quite frankly, some of the aftermarket competitors do that. It's a low price to get them in. And then it's upsell, upsell, upsell." Transparent pricing involves presenting realistic prices upfront, which helps build long-term trust with customers. Honesty Even When Prices Aren't Ideal Ken Pletcher, Fixed Operations Specialist at TVI MarketPro3, emphasizes the importance of honesty: "Even if you have a price you're not proud of, still put it out there so that [the customer] knows what the price is before they're coming in." Hiding prices can lead to suspicions of hidden fees and erode trust. Instead, being upfront about higher costs can foster a sense of reliability and transparency. Implementing Transparent Pricing in Your Dealership Clear and Comprehensive Pricing It’s essential to provide clear, all-inclusive pricing. Hankey suggests, "If you know an oil change is going to be... $24.95, it's $24.95 plus tax. So you're not going to add a bunch of other fees to that." This approach prevents customers from experiencing unpleasant surprises when they receive the bill, enhancing their trust in your dealership. Educating Your Advisors Your service advisors play a crucial role in communicating the value behind your pricing. Hankey notes, "Have you educated your advisors on how to sell the value of the price that you've set?" Customers often perceive dealer services as more expensive. Advisors must be able to clearly explain the benefits, such as technician training, quality parts, and the efficiency of using factory components, which all contribute to the overall cost. Emphasizing the Value Proposition Dealerships often provide superior value compared to independent shops. Pletcher highlights, "Factory parts, lifetime warranties... the turnaround time to fix a car is less because you're using the right part." Although the hourly rate at an independent shop might be lower, the overall cost can be higher due to inefficiencies and less specialized knowledge. Effective Communication with Customers Providing Upfront Diagnostic Fees Transparency should start with the diagnostic fee when dealing with more complex repairs. Hankey advises, "Give [customers] the price... don't tell them we need to get the car in and see." Customers appreciate knowing the initial cost and potential additional expenses before committing to a service. This clarity helps them manage their expectations and avoid feeling cornered into unforeseen expenses. Detailed Estimates and Regular Updates For more extensive repairs, ensure customers understand the possible outcomes and costs. Pletcher explains the importance of keeping customers informed: "You need to inform your customer as much as possible. Without you, they can't predict the future." Customers can make informed decisions without pressure by having a technician explain the diagnostic process and potential findings. The Competitive Edge of Transparent Pricing Overcoming Perceptions of Higher Costs One of the biggest challenges is the perception that dealer services are more expensive. Hankey discusses the importance of understanding and communicating your competitive edge: "Do the dealer personnel understand that they are competitive?" Dealerships offer comprehensive services, including warranties on parts and labor, while many independents do not. Building Long-Term Customer Relationships Transparent pricing is not just about the immediate sale; it's about building long-term relationships. Hankey concludes, "Our pricing, transparency, and value of the pricing to the customer just all boil down to good communication and confidence." Customers who trust your dealership are more likely to return for future services and recommend you to others. Conclusion Transparent pricing in the service drive is a powerful tool for fixed operations directors, service managers, and dealership leaders. By being upfront and honest about costs, educating your advisors, and effectively communicating the value of your services, you can build lasting trust and loyalty with your customers. In an industry where reputation is everything, transparency is not just a strategy—it's a necessity. Check out our blog for more valuable Fixed Ops insights.

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Sales Funnels for Dealership Service Departments

Developing efficient sales funnels for dealership service departments is crucial. A well-structured sales funnel attracts and retains customers, boosting profitability and customer satisfaction. This guide will walk you through creating a robust sales funnel tailored to your dealership's service department's unique needs. Understanding the Sales Funnel A sales funnel illustrates the customer journey from awareness to decision-making. This journey involves several stages for dealership service departments: Awareness: Potential customers become aware of your services. Interest: They express interest in learning more. Consideration: They compare your services with those of your competitors. Intent: They decide to choose your service department. Purchase: They book a service appointment. Loyalty: They return for future services and recommend your dealership to others. Step 1: Attracting Potential Customers The first step in creating an effective sales funnel is attracting potential customers. You can draw customers in through a combination of marketing strategies: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Optimizing your dealership's website for search engines is crucial. Use keywords relevant to your services, such as "car maintenance," "oil change," "brake repair," and "auto service near me." Ensure your website content is informative, engaging, and regularly updated to improve your search engine ranking. Content Marketing Create valuable content that addresses common automotive issues and maintenance tips. Blog posts, how-to guides, and video tutorials can drive organic traffic to your website. For instance, an article titled "How to Maintain Your Car's Engine" can attract car owners seeking advice and introduce them to your service department. Social Media Marketing Leverage social media platforms to reach a broader audience. Share content that showcases your expertise, special offers, and customer testimonials. Engage with your audience through comments, messages, and live Q&A sessions. Paid Advertising Invest in paid search advertising and social media ads targeting local car owners. Use geo-targeting to ensure your ads reach potential customers in your dealership's vicinity. Direct Mail Seeing your advertisement in print can be more impactful for a portion of your customer base, but you must take a targeted approach to get the most out of this marketing channel. TVI MarketPro3 uses a proprietary database system that identifies customers at every stage of vehicle ownership and maintenance interval. This data-driven strategy helps increase repair orders for our dealer partners nationwide. Step 2: Nurturing Interest and Consideration Once you've attracted potential customers, the next step is to nurture their interest and move them closer to choosing your service department. Email Marketing Collect email addresses through website forms, service promotions, repair order generation, and CRM data entry. . Send regular newsletters with maintenance tips, special offers, and reminders for upcoming services. Personalized emails can significantly increase engagement. Customer Reviews and Testimonials Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, and Facebook. Positive reviews build trust and influence the consideration stage of the sales funnel. Service Specials and Promotions To incentivize potential customers, offer limited-time promotions and service specials. Highlight these offers on your website, social media, email, and direct mail campaigns to attract attention. Step 3: Driving Intent and Conversion At this stage, potential customers are considering your service department. The goal is to convert their interest into action. Online Booking System Implement an easy-to-use online booking system on your website. The convenience of booking a service appointment online can significantly increase conversion rates. Service Advisors Ensure your service advisors are trained to provide excellent customer service. They should be knowledgeable, approachable, and able to address customer concerns effectively. Follow-Up Communication After initial contact, follow up with potential customers through phone calls or emails. Address any potential questions and provide additional information to help them make an informed decision. Step 4: Building Loyalty Customer retention is vital for long-term success. Focus on building loyalty to ensure customers return for future services and recommend your dealership to others. Customer Satisfaction Surveys After each service visit, send a satisfaction survey to gather feedback. Use this feedback to improve your services and address any issues promptly. Be sure to follow up on these completed surveys promptly to resolve any lingering issues. Responsiveness is key. Loyalty Programs Implement a loyalty program offering repeat customers discounts, free services, or other perks. Rewarding customers will encourage them to return and increase their lifetime value. Regular Communication Keep in touch with your customers through regular communication. Send reminders for upcoming maintenance, service due dates, and special offers. Conclusion Creating an effective sales funnel for your dealership's service department requires a strategic approach. You can enhance customer satisfaction and boost profitability by attracting potential customers, nurturing their interest, driving conversion, and building loyalty. Implement these steps to develop a robust sales funnel that meets the unique needs of your service department and stays ahead in the competitive car repair market. Subscribe to our blog for more insights and tips on optimizing your dealership's service department and staying updated with industry trends.

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Financing in the Service Department

In the competitive automotive repair industry, fixed operations directors, service managers, and dealership leaders continually seek innovative ways to boost revenue and customer satisfaction. One such strategy that has gained traction is offering financing options in the service department. Below, TVI MarketPro3’s industry experts share their thoughts on the pros and cons of financing from both the dealership and customer perspectives and when it might not be advisable to encourage financing a repair. Pros for the Dealership Increased Revenue - Offering financing options can significantly increase revenue for the service department. Customers who might have otherwise delayed or skipped necessary repairs due to cost concerns are more likely to proceed when financing is available. Bruce Peters, Fixed Operations Specialist at TVI MarketPro3, highlights that this approach “keeps customers from shopping around.”Enhanced Customer Loyalty - Financing options can also enhance customer loyalty. When customers know they can rely on your dealership for flexible payment solutions, they are more likely to return for future services. This dependability can improve customer retention rates and foster long-term relationships.Competitive Advantage - Offering financing can give your dealership a competitive edge in a saturated market. Many customers prefer dealerships that provide financial flexibility, positioning your business as a more attractive option compared to competitors who don't offer similar services.Improved Cash Flow - Financing programs can improve dealership cash flow. Instead of waiting for complete customer payments, dealerships can receive immediate payments from finance companies, ensuring a steady cash flow to support operational expenses and investments.Incremental Business - Robert Morris, Regional Sales Manager at TVI MarketPro3, notes that customers can get preapproved for a dollar amount before visiting the dealership, leading to significant incremental business. For example, a customer who received the financing information via a TVI MarketPro3 mailer got preapproved for $2000. “This is incremental business the service department wouldn’t have had otherwise,” says Morris. Cons for the Dealership Administrative Burden—Implementing and managing a financing program can be administratively burdensome. It requires additional paperwork, staff training, and potentially new software systems to efficiently handle financing applications and approvals. However, some companies partner with dealerships for a fee to process applications.Monthly Fees and Service Charges - A notable drawback is the fee that dealerships must pay to participate in these programs. Some even have fees if no customers use the service that month. Additionally, as Peters mentions, a percentage of the repair cost is charged to the dealer as a fee. These fees can add up and have a decent impact on profit margins.No Participation in Financing Revenue - The dealership benefits from increased repair sales but does not receive financing revenue. Morris explains that the financing company takes 5% of the RO. However, though the dealer loses this percentage, it gains from larger repair jobs that would otherwise be declined. Pros for the Customer Financial Flexibility - For many customers, financing provides much-needed financial flexibility. It allows them to spread out the cost of expensive repairs over time, making it more manageable within their budgets. This financing option can be particularly beneficial for those facing unexpected repair costs. Peters highlights that customers can maintain their budgets while paying for emergency repairs.Immediate Access to Repairs - Financing enables customers to get immediate repairs without waiting until they can afford the full cost. Their vehicles then remain safe and operational, which is crucial for daily commuting and overall convenience.Safety-Related Repairs - Nick Shaffer, Vice President of Sales at TVI MarketPro3, emphasizes that financing allows the customer “to say ‘yes’ to safety-related repairs (tires, brakes, battery) that they otherwise would not have been able to afford.” Potential for Better Deals - Some financing programs offer promotions such as interest-free periods or low interest rates. In this case, financing is an attractive option for customers. These deals can further reduce the financial burden of repairs. Cons for the Consumer Interest and Fees - One of the main drawbacks of financing for customers is the additional cost of interest and fees. Peters points out that these costs can accumulate if the balance is not paid before the introductory short-term rate expires. This will make the total cost of the repair significantly higher than if it were paid in full upfront.Risk of Overextension - Financing can lead to overextension if customers take on more debt than they can comfortably manage. This can result in financial strain and potential defaults, negatively impacting their credit scores.Complex Terms - Financing agreements can sometimes be complex and difficult to understand. Customers might not fully grasp the terms and conditions, leading to misunderstandings and dissatisfaction if unexpected costs arise. When Financing Is Not a Good Idea While offering financing options has numerous benefits, there are times when it might not be advisable: High Interest Rates - If interest rates are excessively high, financing a repair might not be in the customer’s best interest. High interest rates can significantly increase the overall cost, leading to a poor customer experience and financial hardship.Short-Term Financial Instability - Taking on additional debt can be risky for customers already experiencing financial instability. In such cases, discussing alternative solutions that do not involve financing might be more ethical.Minor Repairs - It may be unnecessary to encourage financing for minor repairs that are low priority when it comes to safety or further damage to the vehicle. Customers may prefer to pay out-of-pocket for smaller expenses over dealing with the complexities of a financing agreement.Unclear Financial Benefits - If the customer does not clearly understand the financial benefits, it’s better to avoid pushing for financing. Transparency is crucial to maintaining trust and ensuring customers make informed decisions. Final Thoughts Financing in the service department offers a range of benefits for both dealerships and customers. These include increased revenue and customer loyalty, financial flexibility, and immediate access to necessary repairs. However, it also presents challenges such as administrative burdens, potential defaults, and additional consumer costs. By carefully considering the pros and cons and assessing individual customer situations, dealerships can strategically implement financing options. As fixed operations directors, service managers, and dealership leaders, understanding the intricacies of financing can help you make informed decisions to drive success and build lasting customer relationships. On a final note, Tyler Parker, Regional Sales Manager at TVI MarketPro3, states, "The stores I know that use service department financing all love them."

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Mastering Sales in Dealership Service Drives

Mastering sales in dealership service drives is pivotal to dealership success. While many dealerships focus primarily on showroom sales, the service department presents a significant opportunity to increase sales. By enhancing customer loyalty and driving dealership profitability, fixed operations teams can master sales in the service drive. However, accomplishing this goal will require a strategic approach that prioritizes customer experience, service advisor training, data-driven insights, and innovative sales techniques. Understanding the Service Drive Sales Process The service drive sales process encompasses various stages, each crucial for maximizing revenue and customer satisfaction. Every step contributes to dealership success, from the initial customer interaction to presenting service recommendations and closing the sale. Service advisors are the frontline ambassadors, guiding customers through their vehicle maintenance journey and ensuring a seamless service experience. Strategies for Maximizing Service Drive Sales Training Service Advisors: Thorough training programs help service advisors develop the skills and knowledge needed to succeed. By mastering customer service, product knowledge, and sales skills, well-trained service advisors can engage customers, increase sales, and build loyalty.Utilizing Technology: Using technology like CRM systems, digital inspection tools, and appointment scheduling software improves efficiency and streamlines operations. These tools enable service advisors to deliver personalized recommendations, track customer preferences, and optimize service appointments for increased sales and customer satisfaction.Creating a Customer-Centric Environment: Building trust and rapport with customers is essential for driving dealership success. Dealerships can create loyal customers by educating them about car maintenance, providing personalized advice, and being transparent in their services. These strategies will encourage customers to return for service and recommend the dealership to others.Incentivizing Sales Teams: Recognizing and rewarding outstanding performance motivates service advisors and technicians to achieve sales targets and deliver exceptional customer service. Performance-based bonuses, recognition programs, and team competitions encourage collaboration and drive dealership sales growth. Measuring and Tracking Service Drive Sales Performance To effectively monitor service drive sales performance, dealerships must employ data-driven insights and key performance indicators (KPIs). Metrics such as average hours sold per repair order, effective labor rate, and customer satisfaction scores provide valuable insights into sales effectiveness and customer experience. Implementing tracking systems and reporting tools enables dealership management to identify areas for improvement, celebrate successes, and drive continuous sales growth. Customer Retention and Loyalty By prioritizing customer retention and loyalty, dealerships can create a committed customer base that generates consistent revenue and referrals. A TechTarget.com article entitled  6 Ways Customer Experience Can Increase Sales points out that customer retention costs less than acquisition. Providing exceptional service experiences, proactive communication, and personalized recommendations incentivizes customers to return for service and strengthens their allegiance to the dealership. Overall, mastering sales in the dealership service drive is essential for maximizing revenue, enhancing customer satisfaction, and driving dealership success. By implementing strategic initiatives, investing in service advisor training, leveraging technology solutions, and prioritizing customer-centricity, dealerships can increase sales, foster customer loyalty, and thrive amidst inventory shortages and market fluctuations.

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Google Business Profiles for Fixed Ops

Establishing a robust online presence in this digital era is essential for businesses across industries, including automotive services. Google Business Profile is a pivotal platform for dealership service departments seeking heightened visibility and customer engagement. This guide explores SEO strategies designed to propel dealership service departments to the forefront of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Let's explore the benefits and optimization best practices when creating a Google Business Profiles for Fixed Ops. An optimized Google Business Profile becomes invaluable as consumers increasingly turn to the internet to research and schedule automotive services. A Google Business profile goes beyond offering essential details like location and operating hours. It also serves as a virtual showcase, spotlighting the department's services, facilities, and expertise.  Service departments can seize prime positions in local searches by: ~implementing targeted keywords~optimizing visual content~managing reviews~leveraging local SEO These actions will expand their online presence and attract qualified leads. Dealers should have a basic understanding of how to effectively utilize their service departments' Google Business Profiles utilizing this checklist. A Profile that Performs Accuracy is paramount to maximize the effectiveness of a dealership service department's Google Business Profile. Ensure to maintain the following fundamental details consistently: ~dealership's name~address~phone number (NAP)~hours of operation~website URL Additionally, providing comprehensive service details is essential for informing potential customers about the department's offerings. Include a detailed list of services provided, highlighting any specialties such as luxury car servicing or expertise in hybrid vehicles. Offer convenient service appointment scheduling options to streamline the customer experience. Adding strategic keywords to the business description enhances the profile's visibility and relevance in search results. Identify and integrate relevant keywords to reflect the service offerings. This practice will boost the service department's chances of appearing prominently in search engine queries. It is essential to incorporate keywords naturally into the description to maintain readability and remain authentic. Seeing is Believing Quality reigns supreme when adding visual content to a dealership service department's Google Business Profile. Uploading professional photos of the service department leaves a lasting impression on potential customers. These photos should showcase the facilities and equipment and the friendly staff, creating a welcoming atmosphere. It’s also essential to highlight waiting areas, amenities, and customer service features to set the service department apart. In addition to photos, engaging videos play a central role in capturing viewers' attention. Virtual tours of the service center provide an immersive experience. It allows customers to familiarize themselves with the facilities from the comfort of their homes. Demonstrations of standard maintenance procedures educate customers and instill confidence in the department's expertise and professionalism. By leveraging high-quality visual content, dealership service departments can effectively communicate their value proposition. The Invaluable Word of Mouth Testimonials from satisfied customers are crucial in bolstering the credibility and reputation of a dealership service department. By showcasing positive experiences shared by previous clients, potential customers are reassured of the department's reliability and quality of service. Encouraging satisfied customers to leave reviews is essential for cultivating a robust online reputation. This is achievable through strategic review request strategies, such as follow-up emails or in-person requests, and incentivizing feedback submission. Managing customer reviews effectively is integral to maintaining a positive online presence and fostering trust with prospective customers. Fixed ops leaders should respond promptly to all reviews, positive or negative. A speedy reply demonstrates a commitment to customer satisfaction and acknowledges the importance of customer feedback. By addressing concerns and expressing gratitude for positive feedback, dealership service departments can showcase their dedication to delivering exceptional service. Monitoring and analyzing review trends enables departments to identify areas for improvement. The insights learned from studying reviews allow them to continuously refine their service offerings and enhance the overall customer experience. Get Local Local SEO strategies are paramount for dealership service departments to ensure maximum visibility within their target region. After all, you don’t need someone across the country to find your service drive. Instead, your focus should be on attracting those in your own backyard.  Begin with optimizing for local search keywords, including location-specific terms in the business description. Be sure to also add geo-targeted keywords into service offerings. Aligning content with local search intent can help service departments to target customers in their vicinity. Building citations and backlinks from local directories and influential websites further enhances the service department's online presence and credibility. Listing the dealership on local directories and automotive forums increases visibility within the community and boosts local search rankings.  Additionally, earning links from reputable local websites signals to search engines the department's relevance and authority within the local market. Dealerships can solidify their position as a valuable community resource with local-focused content like blog posts and articles. Keep It Active and Up-To-Date Incorporating Google Posts into promotional strategies allows dealership service departments to connect with their audience and drive engagement. Service departments can provide value to their audience and promote their services by creating the following informative and engaging posts: ~announcements of service specials~service promotions~maintenance tips or advice By strategically incorporating relevant keywords and hashtags into posts, service departments can increase visibility for target keywords. They can also enhance post-discoverability, maximizing the reach and impact of their promotional efforts. Monitoring post-performance and adjusting strategies based on engagement metrics allow departments to refine their approach over time. This practice ensures their Google Posts effectively capture their audience's attention and drive desired actions. Monitor and Adjust Utilizing Google My Business Insights provides dealership service departments with invaluable data to gauge the effectiveness of their online presence. Monitoring visibility, engagement, and audience insights allows departments to gain a deeper understanding of their customer base. They will also be able to identify trends for improvement.  Regular SEO audits ensure the dealership's information remains accurate and allow for performance evaluations against competitors. Service departments should stay responsive by implementing feedback-driven improvements based on customer suggestions. Adjusting SEO strategies based on analytics will also allow them to stay responsive to customer needs. On Track for Google Business Success The optimization of Google Business Profiles is critical for the success of dealership service departments. Following these guidelines will set service departments up for enhanced online visibility. However, it's essential to recognize that the digital landscape constantly evolves. It requires ongoing optimization and adaptation to changes in the automotive industry and search engine algorithms. By remaining proactive, dealership service departments can thrive and provide unparalleled value to their customers in the automotive market. For more fixed ops expert industry insights, visit TVI MarketPro3

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Prepping Technicians for Smart Automotive Tool Purchases

A wide-eyed young guy or gal walks through your service drive door, ready for their first day as a technician. They’re excited to embark on their automotive career and make real money for the first time in their life. However, they still feel overwhelmed and lost. They are looking to you, their service department leader, to steer them in the right direction. You’ve got a detailed path for them to follow regarding their position as a tech.  But should leaders reach a bit further to help these youngsters make wise choices when spending their hard-earned money? Too personal? Maybe. But you are asking them to purchase their own tools to do the job you hired them to do. Young, inexperienced techs need a path for when to purchase which tools. Without direction, they can easily swim in the wrong direction and find themselves in a sea of tool debt. This can cause undue stress and have them questioning their career path. There should always be a line between employee decisions and personal decisions. However, since dealers require such a significant investment from technicians to fulfill their duties, fixed ops leaders should set clear guidelines. The goal is to prevent these impressionable employees from what many seasoned professionals describe as the “mine is bigger than yours” game. Providing clear expectations on necessary tools while lending advice on responsible spending fosters a culture of professional and personal success that could ultimately help with technician retention.  Opportunity for Financial Success Trade schools are stepping into the spotlight as viable options and a more prudent path than a four-year degree. Two of the greatest benefits of a trade school are cost and time. Students pay exponentially less than they would for a four-year college or university and gain marketable skills in a much shorter period. In less than two years, students should be able to start making money in their trade while continuing to gain experience that will further their careers. Indeed reports that the average starting wage for automotive technicians nationwide is $25.52 per hour. On top of that, many techs are getting an average of $5,000 of overtime per year. Imagine having no debt and making between fifty and fifty-five thousand dollars annually. Many of these jobs even come with matching 401(k) plans.  So, let’s add a little investment strategy to this scenario. Plugging in conservative numbers into the Dave Ramsey Retirement Calculator reveals that a technician, in this case, would have over a million dollars at retirement age. And that’s if they invest a relatively conservative amount each month and remain debt-free. They also have the option of investing outside of their 401(k) with the guidance of a financial advisor.  If a technician ties up his or her paycheck up in unnecessary tool purchases or other types of debt, their trajectory for personal financial success diminishes greatly. Dealership leaders should recognize that when employees are debt-free, they have much less stress to interfere with their performance. What Industry Pros Have to Say We had a handful of automotive professionals share their thoughts.  TVI MarketPro3 Regional Sales Manager Robert Morris says that providing your own tools is “the cost of admission” for a starting technician. However, he says technicians can acquire a toolbox valued anywhere from ten to twelve thousand dollars if they’re not careful.  BestColleges.com says starter tool sets should range anywhere from “one to four thousand dollars.” So why do technicians feel the need to spend so much more on tools? The consensus is that the culture of dealership service departments often causes tool purchases to spin out of control for a young, inexperienced technician. TVI MarketPro3 Vice President Nick Shaffer and Regional Sales Manager Scott Kelford both describe a culture that encourages impulse buying to keep up with the other techs. Tool trucks come to a dealership lot on the same day and time each week with overpriced tools and high-interest rate financing. Former Fixed Operations Director David Lantz says that in his more than 30 years of fixed ops experience, he’s “seen a lot of good people get buried by the debt, almost as bad or worse than student loans.” A Path to Tool Selection Success So, what do young technicians do when required to purchase their tools? Here are three ways fixed ops leaders can steer their young technicians in the right direction. Timeline for Tool Purchases Create a list of the exact tools techs will need when they start and with each advancement. You can even create a subcategory of a la carte or one-off tools they might need for jobs outside the timeline. To help your technicians create a budget, you can set a price range and provide a brand recommendation for each tool listed.  They must learn that the most expensive tools are rarely necessary to complete the job. A 2020 article by Tomorrow’s Tech provides a list of quality tools that won’t “break the bank.” This article is a good starting point for fixed ops leaders looking to create their own guide. Such a guideline removes some pressure to keep up with fellow technicians and their toolboxes. Teach Them to Resist the Tool Truck Our fixed ops pros all agree that steering clear of the tool truck is an excellent first step to prevent impulse purchases. Lantz encourages young techs not to “get caught up in the Snap-on/Mac tool truck hype,” and Shaffer stresses that these tools “cost about five times what they would cost if [techs] went to Sears and bought a Craftsman thing. Or went to Harbor Freight and bought a different brand. They are genuinely better, but not five times better.”  When the tool guy whispers in their ear that they can load up their toolboxes if they’re willing to pay hundreds of dollars per month for the rest of their lives, many of these technicians fall into the trap. But the more they understand they don’t need all the tools right now, the less susceptible they are to the slick sales pitch and the shiny new tools.  Advise Techs to Avoid Taking on Debt to Purchase Tools Delayed gratification is a challenging concept for some to grasp, especially for young professionals making a decent wage. But as Kelford says, “Just because you can finance things from your local vendor or tool truck does not mean you need to load up on tools that you might not need for a couple of years, or at all.”  Lantz agrees and reminds technicians to “save [their] money starting out. Financing it all sounds good until [they] are paying $20 a week forever.” Some Final Thoughts Kelford reminds new technicians that “[they] are embarking on a pretty big financial investment, not only with essential tools but also diagnostic equipment.” He says it’s all about finding guidance and knowing the right timing. “It is not about buying cheaper tools or equipment. It is more about buying what you need when you need it. The right tools at the right time is key.” Shaffer echoes this sentiment: “The more entry-level your job is as a technician, the fewer the tools that you need.” Techs can also look for dealerships that “have a fast start program where they might provide [techs] with [their] essential tools up front and provide a payroll deduct option for [the] tools,” says Kelford. These programs are also something more dealerships should consider offering as an incentive to combat technician turnover. We’ll tie things up with this last bit of advice from Kelford: “Start slow, spend slow, and build slow.” If industry leaders can pass along this basic concept to the next generation of technicians, we might see increased individual success, which could lead to improved service department success overall. Go to TVI MarketPro3 for more industry insights.

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AI and Cameras in Dealership Service Departments

Dealership service departments are constantly seeking to streamline operations and enhance customer satisfaction. The integration of cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) technology has emerged as a game-changer, offering unprecedented insights and efficiencies that drive success. Embracing these advancements can catapult a dealership to new heights of excellence and profitability. As we mozied around NADA Show 2024 in Las Vegas, we bumped into Skaivision’s Dan Dillingham. The conversation was so compelling that we invited him to our booth to discuss his company's solutions further. These solutions are fascinating and should be very exciting for dealerships - you can see the interview here.  Skaivision taps into cameras that already exist in the dealership’s service department. Combined with AI, these cameras feed real-time information to service department leaders. This is a huge benefit to busy leaders who wish they could clone themselves to catch all inefficiencies as or before they occur, but like any technology, it can also be abused. When utilized incorrectly, it can have the opposite effect. The Role of Cameras and AI in Dealership Service Departments Imagine a service department with finely tuned operations, seamless customer interactions, and perfectly optimized resources. This vision is not far-fetched with the integration of cameras and AI. These cutting-edge technologies work harmoniously to monitor workflows, analyze data, and suggest actionable insights for improvement. From tracking service bay utilization to optimizing technician schedules, the possibilities are endless. Benefits of Integrating Cameras and AI Camera and AI integration in dealership service departments offers countless benefits. Firstly, operational efficiency skyrockets with streamlined workflows and the identification and elimination of bottlenecks. This translates into reduced customer wait times and increased throughput for the dealership.  Secondly, these integrations help dealerships elevate the customer experience with faster service turnaround times and personalized interactions. Behind the scenes, data-driven insights empower dealership leaders to make informed decisions, leading to cost savings and strategic improvements. Best Practices for Implementation Transparency and communication are paramount when implementing camera and AI technology in dealership service departments. When dealership leaders engage employees in the process and establish clear policies and guidelines, they foster a culture of trust and collaboration.  Providing comprehensive training and support ensures employees understand the benefits of the technology. They also feel empowered to leverage its capabilities. By prioritizing transparency and accountability, dealership leaders lay the foundation for a successful integration that maximizes the potential of cameras and AI. Ethical Considerations and Transparency with Employees As dealership leaders, it is essential to navigate the ethical considerations surrounding the use of cameras and AI in service departments. Balancing the benefits of increased efficiency with employee privacy and autonomy requires careful deliberation and open dialogue. Dealership leaders must demonstrate their commitment to ethical practices and employee well-being by fostering transparency and involving employees in decision-making. Through collaboration and mutual respect, dealership service departments can harness the power of technology while upholding the highest ethical standards. Cons of Camera and AI Integration While the advantages of integrating cameras and AI in dealership service departments are undeniable, it is essential to acknowledge potential challenges and drawbacks. Increased efficiency and productivity are significant advantages, but privacy concerns and employee resistance may arise. However, with proactive communication, training, and a commitment to transparency, fixed ops leaders can address these challenges effectively, paving the way for a successful integration that benefits employees and customers alike. Embrace the Possibilities The integration of cameras and AI technology represents a transformative opportunity for dealership service departments. By embracing innovation, fostering transparency, and prioritizing ethical practices, dealership leaders can revolutionize efficiency and elevate the customer experience tot unprecedented levels of excellence. Dealership and service department leaders have the power to lead their dealerships to thrive in the era of technological advancement. As we mozied around NADA Show 2024 in Las Vegas, we bumped into Skaivision’s Dan Dillingham. The conversation was so compelling that we invited him to our booth to discuss his company's solutions further. These solutions are fascinating and should be very exciting for dealerships - you can see the interview here.  Skaivision taps into cameras that already exist in the dealership’s service department. Combined with AI, these cameras feed real-time information to service department leaders. This is a huge benefit to busy leaders who wish they could clone themselves to catch all inefficiencies as or before they occur, but like any technology, it can also be abused. When utilized incorrectly, it can have the opposite effect. The Role of Cameras and AI in Dealership Service Departments Imagine a service department with finely tuned operations, seamless customer interactions, and perfectly optimized resources. This vision is not far-fetched with the integration of cameras and AI. These cutting-edge technologies work harmoniously to monitor workflows, analyze data, and suggest actionable insights for improvement. From tracking service bay utilization to optimizing technician schedules, the possibilities are endless. Benefits of Integrating Cameras and AI Camera and AI integration in dealership service departments offers countless benefits. Firstly, operational efficiency skyrockets with streamlined workflows and the identification and elimination of bottlenecks. This translates into reduced customer wait times and increased throughput for the dealership.  Secondly, these integrations help dealerships elevate the customer experience with faster service turnaround times and personalized interactions. Behind the scenes, data-driven insights empower dealership leaders to make informed decisions, leading to cost savings and strategic improvements. Best Practices for Implementation Transparency and communication are paramount when implementing camera and AI technology in dealership service departments. When dealership leaders engage employees in the process and establish clear policies and guidelines, they foster a culture of trust and collaboration.  Providing comprehensive training and support ensures employees understand the benefits of the technology. They also feel empowered to leverage its capabilities. By prioritizing transparency and accountability, dealership leaders lay the foundation for a successful integration that maximizes the potential of cameras and AI. Ethical Considerations and Transparency with Employees As dealership leaders, it is essential to navigate the ethical considerations surrounding the use of cameras and AI in service departments. Balancing the benefits of increased efficiency with employee privacy and autonomy requires careful deliberation and open dialogue. Dealership leaders must demonstrate their commitment to ethical practices and employee well-being by fostering transparency and involving employees in decision-making. Through collaboration and mutual respect, dealership service departments can harness the power of technology while upholding the highest ethical standards. Cons of Camera and AI Integration While the advantages of integrating cameras and AI in dealership service departments are undeniable, it is essential to acknowledge potential challenges and drawbacks. While increased efficiency and productivity are significant advantages, privacy concerns and employee resistance may arise. However, with proactive communication, training, and a commitment to transparency, fixed ops leaders can address these challenges effectively, paving the way for a successful integration that benefits employees and customers alike. Embrace the Possibilities The integration of cameras and AI technology represents a transformative opportunity for dealership service departments. By embracing innovation, fostering transparency, and prioritizing ethical practices, dealership leaders can revolutionize efficiency and elevate the customer experience tot unprecedented levels of excellence. Dealership and service department leaders have the power to lead their dealerships to thrive in the era of technological advancement. Check out more TVI MarketPro3 industry insights

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Saving in Service Departments: Trim Cost, Not Quality

The automotive industry relies on precision and efficiency, and fixed operations directors and service managers are continuously seeking strategies to cut costs without compromising on quality. Finding the delicate balance between cutting costs and maintaining top-notch quality is a challenge faced by all dealership leaders. However, like all other areas of management,  Identifying Areas of Waste Personnel Optimization The backbone of any service department is its workforce. Some dealerships have robust service teams while others struggle to keep adequate staffing. In either account, it is important to strategically streamline staffing levels and cross-train employees to maximize versatility without compromising the quality of service. It’s a delicate balance, as being understaffed can cause you to lose business, and being overstaffed causes waste. The first step towards optimizing your workforce is a careful examination of staffing levels. Consider the specific needs of your service department and evaluate whether your current staffing structure aligns with the demands of the business. Are there areas where roles might overlap, creating redundancy? Are certain positions consistently underutilized? If you find that certain tasks can be efficiently handled by cross-trained employees or shared among team members, restructuring roles can lead to a more efficient and cost-effective workforce. Perhaps a valet can take on additional tasks such as installing wiper inserts, washing cars, answering phones, or pre-booking repair orders. This allows these individuals to provide additional value to clients and the service department during down time. These strategies have always helped to solve staffing challenges, but absenteeism has increased post COVID requiring approximately 10% more staff than before. The more you prepare your service team to take on tasks across the board, the less impact these absences will have on business. Inventory Management An optimized parts inventory is the key to a thriving service department. The key is to strike the right balance between having enough stock to meet customer demands promptly and avoiding the pitfalls of excess inventory. Regularly analyze historical usage data to identify trends and forecast future demand accurately. Dealerships must optimize the inventory for the high-demand items, ensuring availability without tying up capital in slow-moving parts. Parts managers should also stay on top of obsolete stock, which ties up valuable shelf space and capital, impacting the bottom line. Implementing just-in-time inventory practices ensures that parts arrive precisely when they are needed, minimizing the need for extensive on-site storage. This approach reduces carrying costs and the risk of parts becoming obsolete before they are used. Equipment and Technology Investigate how evaluating the efficiency of current tools and investing in cost-effective, high-quality technology can not only enhance productivity but also contribute to long-term cost savings. Technicians can actively assess the speed and accuracy of their current tools to determine if there is more efficient equipment on the market, but service managers have the ultimate responsibility to stay abreast of the new tools and technology available. Upgraded technology can significantly reduce diagnostic times, increase technician productivity, and enable proactive identification of potential issues. Benefits can include reduced labor expenses, heightened service capacity, and preventive maintenance opportunities. Improving Operational Efficiencies Streamlining Workflow Efficient service processes are the heartbeat of a successful department. Mapping and optimizing these processes, along with implementing efficient scheduling systems, will help your team reach its full potential. This commitment to process optimization and strategic scheduling empowers the team to operate cohesively and increases reliability and customer service operation within the dealership’s service department. Preventative Maintenance Explore the benefits of regular equipment maintenance and the implementation of predictive maintenance strategies to prevent costly breakdowns, ensuring your service department operates seamlessly. By adhering to a proactive schedule of inspections and upkeep, the department can avoid these predicaments.  TVI MarketPro3’s Vice President of Sales, Nick Shaffer, recommends service leaders stay on top of the following inspections: calling out annual inspections of vehicle liftsregular calibration of emissions equipmentcleaning brake latheskeeping software updated on all PCsconfirming proper operation of all safety equipment especially fire extinguishers and eye wash stations. This practice ensures that every piece of equipment operates at peak efficiency, minimizing downtime, and maximizing overall productivity. Cost-Effective Training Continuous employee training is an investment in long-term success. Delve into strategies for leveraging online resources and in-house programs to keep your team skilled and adaptable, contributing to sustained cost savings. Sustainable Cost Reduction Negotiating with Suppliers The relationships you build with suppliers can significantly impact your bottom line. Learn how to secure better deals and establish long-term partnerships, creating a foundation for sustainable cost reduction. Shaffer recommends starting with your aftermarket chemical supplier, detail department supplier, and oil supplier. Energy Efficiency By incorporating energy-saving initiatives and embracing eco-friendly practices, your dealership not only cuts operational costs but also aligns with the growing consumer preference for environmentally conscious businesses, showcasing a commitment to sustainability that resonates positively with customers and stakeholders alike. SlipNGrip.com suggests some ways to help in these efforts such as buying in bulk, using products made from recycled material, using energy efficient lighting and equipment, properly disposing of hazardous materials, and using non-toxic paint, cleaners, and other chemicals. Proven Marketing Strategies Customer Retention Programs Explore the importance of retaining existing customers through loyalty programs and incentives. Strategies that foster long-term profitability by creating a loyal customer base will boost your revenue. Targeted Marketing Save marketing dollars with data-driven marketing strategies. In other words, don’t cast a wide marketing net hoping to draw in your ideal customer. TVI MarketPro3 uses the power of data to find the customers in your market that drive your dealership’s make of vehicle, then reaches them with customized offers. This proven strategy ensures dealerships are getting the most out of their marketing investment. Balancing Cost-Cutting with Revenue Growth Dealership leaders must understand the importance of strategic decision-making and discover areas where cutting costs can enhance overall service quality. It’s a strategic approach to achieving sustained profitability for your dealership. By embracing these strategies, dealership leaders can confidently steer their service departments toward success.

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Tackling Customer Wait Times in Fixed Ops

The Road to Swift Service "Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend." - Theophrastus Car maintenance and repairs shouldn't break the bank, but in today's economic landscape, even routine maintenance tasks like an oil change can feel like a financial strain on your customers' monthly budgets. The real challenge, however, extends beyond mere monetary costs – it's the invaluable commodity of time. In the hustle and bustle of daily life, finding a window for basic car maintenance becomes a formidable obstacle for your busy customers. This is especially true for those juggling multiple responsibilities after a hectic workday. Imagine the frustration of being without a vehicle because a dealership can't accommodate you immediately or lacks the necessary parts for a repair, causing a ripple effect on your customers' financial well-being. It's not just about the dollars spent; it's the immeasurable impact on their precious time and overall convenience. Navigating the Complex Landscape of Customer Wait Times While dealerships can’t prevent all hurdles that cause lengthy or delayed repairs, it’s important to address any of the areas that will keep these delays to a minimum. When the delay can’t be avoided, communication must be on point to encourage customer understanding and patience. Here are some things to consider for improved wait times and the overall service customer experience. Identifying the Root Causes It can be difficult to narrow lagging repairs down to a glaring cause, as multiple issues are typically in play. Fixed ops leaders must be willing to consistently audit their processes and evaluate their teams to identify areas for improvement. In addition to making your own observations, many dealerships can lean on data collected in their manufacturer’s customer satisfaction (CSI) surveys to find where their opportunities are. These surveys often measure wait times dropping off, wait times picking up, and total completion time. Increased Vehicle Complexity Manufacturers continue to increase the complexity of vehicle design, and in doing so, are making them more difficult to repair. A Wired.com article points out that ”each vehicle is now studded with sensors, packed with hundreds or thousands of computer chips, and controlled by software.” While the resulting product might benefit vehicle sales, the unintended consequences of computerized cars are taking a toll on service departments. Repairing these complicated vehicles requires greater expertise that is pricy to attain, and many repairs take much longer to complete even with adequate knowledge. Dealerships should invest in ongoing technician training to keep up with the latest advancements in vehicle technology. The more skilled a team is, the easier it’ll be to provide the most efficient repairs. Staffing Shortages Most dealerships are no strangers to staffing shortages and are well aware that a low technician headcount can lead to longer customer wait times. The question is, what is actively being done to recruit and keep talented techs? At TVI MarketPro3, we discussed this topic at length with many of our dealer partners. The interviews covered the challenges of staffing shortages and the many different ideas these fixed ops pros implemented to solve the problem. A few highlights include: partnering with schools to recruit and grow techs immediately upon graduation, mentorship programs, and creating a clear and transparent path to career success. Inefficient Workflow Chick-fil-A is known for being one of the most efficient fast-food restaurants in the country, and that’s no accident. The method to their magic includes training, technology, drive-through design, and planning. Focusing on each of these pillars for your service drive will create a more efficient workflow, but planning is imperative to true improvement. Chick-fil-A even has its own innovation center based in Atlanta, from which it can test and implement innovations to help it combat problems. Dealership leaders can create similar innovation systems by implementing the following steps: Observe: Fixed operations managers and service directors should have designated times to watch their processes and players and take notes on any points that seem to lag.Determine Causation: Find the cause of any issues impacting efficiency. Was it an issue with equipment access, or was it a team member who wasn’t confident enough for a specific repair?Gameplan: Discuss with the team possible ways to prevent the slowdown going forward.Practice: Carve out time to run through the new process multiple times with all team members.  All of the above actions take time that fixed ops leaders simply don’t have if they aren’t intentional. Whether it’s once per week or per month, taking the time to assess the service drive’s situation is the only way to overcome these challenges. Communication is Key Even when dealer leaders do all they can to create efficient processes, there will still be surprise hurdles that will slow things down. In this case, the focus should be fixing the problem as quickly as possible and communicating with the customer. There are a couple of ways to ensure communication is easy and accurate. Setting Realistic Expectations Service advisors need to give the most accurate service time estimates possible. There are software programs that help service departments produce accurate labor times on maintenance or repair jobs. Something like this would be a good technological investment. But even with the best predictions, the unexpected will still happen, and when it does, clear communication channels are a must. Leveraging Technology Communication is much quicker and easier with text and email capabilities. Service advisors are able to keep the customer in the loop throughout the repair process. There are also online service status trackers that keep the customer apprised, much like pizza ordering apps. This is a more automated system that takes care of the updates for you. Frequent and consistent communication using these tools prevents undue frustration and worry. It also allows the customer to make accommodations around the absence of their vehicle.  Customer Comfort Oftentimes, a customer without alternative transportation will be forced to wait at the dealership. Imagine if you could change the word “forced” to “get.” You can! Dealerships have the ability to change the hours-long wait at a dealership from an inconvenience to an opportunity.  Transportation Uninterrupted Transportation provisions are the ultimate way to ensure a service customer’s day isn’t thrown too far off track by car repair or maintenance. However, events over the past few years have decreased the number of available loaner cars. While this situation slowly improves, dealerships still face the challenge of providing temporary transportation for their service customers. Some dealers have even added restrictions on what repairs qualify for loaners. Shuttle services and rideshare vouchers are helpful but not always available to every dealer. When rides are not available, the dealer has one option. Comfort and Amenities Make the customer’s stay as welcoming as possible. Give your customers the opportunity to enjoy your coffee bar, fully stocked with coffee brewed to perfection and a variety of sweeteners and creamers. Did the customer miss out on their Starbucks run? Not a problem. You even have pastries in case they need a little something to hold them over. Have a seat in the comfortable lounge, equipped with tables and Wi-Fi, so they can crack open their laptop and get some work done. Some dealership lounges even offer barbers, manicures, massages, putting greens, and cardio machines. Think outside the box! Digital Access Whether your customer needs to work or just needs to unwind while waiting, your lobby’s digital game needs to be up to speed with easily accessible, complimentary Wi-Fi, phone charging ports, and outlets for laptops and other devices. These relatively inexpensive conveniences make the car repair process a lot easier to stomach for busy clients. Awareness Having these luxuries makes no difference if you don’t consistently promote them at every opportunity. Show your customer the experience by including pictures of your waiting room on your mail pieces and email promotions. Tell them about the amenities as you schedule their next service, and ensure your website and online scheduler paint the picture as well. These reminders need to be integrated into all communication so your customers can envision a positive experience if they have the privilege of spending their day with you. Do you see the spin? Steering Towards Success Minimizing customer wait times not only enhances customer satisfaction but also gives a competitive advantage within the uniquely challenging landscape of the fixed operations industry. By efficiently managing service timelines, fixed operations leaders position their dealerships for success and customer loyalty. This commitment to streamlined processes not only addresses immediate concerns but sets the stage for an improved customer experience in the future. As fixed operations leaders navigate this problem-solving path, they pave the way for continued success and prosperity for both their teams and the entire dealership.

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Optimizing Parts Inventory in Fixed Ops

A Roadmap for Success In the fast-paced and highly competitive automotive industry, dealerships must deliver exceptional customer experiences. Just as important is maintaining cost-efficiency and driving profit. At the heart of achieving this delicate balance lies the often-overlooked but pivotal task of optimizing parts inventory.  The strategic management of parts inventory directly impacts customer satisfaction and financial success. Understanding the interplay between inventory management, customer satisfaction, and overall success is critical for dealerships seeking a sustainable competitive advantage.  Assessing Current Inventory The first crucial step on the journey to parts inventory optimization is conducting a comprehensive parts inventory audit. Technological advancements are driving unprecedented changes in the automotive industry, and utilizing cutting-edge technology is imperative for an accurate assessment. Dealerships can leverage comprehensive inventory management software and tracking systems to gain real-time visibility into their parts inventory. This allows for precision in tracking stock levels to create seamless data integration. . Strategic evaluation is paramount when executing parts inventory audits. Dealerships must define and analyze key metrics to gauge the health of their inventory. The turnover rate is the speed of parts sales and replenishment. It serves as a critical indicator of inventory efficiency.  Simultaneously, assessing the degree of obsolescence guards against carrying outdated and unsellable stock, while monitoring stockouts helps prevent missed sales opportunities. This meticulous examination forms the foundation for informed decision-making in subsequent stages of the optimization process. Utilizing Advanced Inventory Management Systems Dealerships are increasingly turning to cutting-edge inventory management systems to increase operational efficiency. Advanced inventory softwares offer a host of features and benefits that redefine how dealerships manage their parts inventory. Real-time tracking provides instantaneous visibility into inventory levels, enabling dealerships to make informed decisions promptly. This capability enhances responsiveness to customer demands and minimizes the risk of stockouts and associated revenue loss. Demand forecasting, another vital feature of advanced inventory software, empowers dealerships to anticipate market trends and customer needs proactively. Dealerships should leverage historical data and market insights to optimize stock levels and reduce excess inventory. These preemptive measures ensure the right parts are available at the right time.  Integrating these systems with Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) platforms establishes a seamless flow of information. The enhanced communication and coordination between the dealership and OEM streamlines the ordering process. It also ensures that the inventory aligns with the latest models and specifications. The ultimate result is a more responsive and customer-centric operation. Planning for Precision Developing a strategic parts procurement plan is essential for effective parts inventory optimization. It begins with the establishment of robust relationships with reliable suppliers. Vendor relationships are pivotal in maintaining a healthy and efficient parts supply chain. Strong connections with trusted suppliers ensures a steady and reliable stream of quality parts and facilitates open communication channels.  This collaboration proves invaluable in navigating supply chain challenges, addressing potential disruptions, and maintaining a responsive inventory that aligns with customer demands. These symbiotic relationships allow dealerships to employ negotiation strategies, but ultimately, the partnership is a win-win scenario for both parties. The implementation of Just-In-Time (JIT) has emerged as a strategic imperative for inventory practices.  A 2023 article by Ineak.com, entitled How Toyota’s Just-in-Time System Revolutionized Manufacturing, claims that JIT practices reduce overstock and holding costs. Dealerships can order and receive parts precisely when needed for service or sale. This ability minimizes the financial burden associated with excess inventory.  Simultaneously, JIT practices ensure parts availability when required, preventing stockouts and potential disruptions to customer service. This delicate balance between cost reduction and service reliability positions JIT inventory practices as a linchpin in the overarching strategy for parts inventory optimization. Training and Empowering Staff Ongoing parts and service team training plays a pivotal role in ensuring adaptability and excellence. Cross-training is invaluable in a field that increasingly demands interdisciplinary skills. It equips team members with a broader skill set and fosters a deeper understanding of the entire fixed operations process.  This holistic approach enables employees to seamlessly collaborate across departments, enhancing operational efficiency and customer service. Cross-training initiatives promote a workforce that is agile, versatile, and capable of meeting service and parts challenges. Equally critical is keeping teams informed about new technologies. In an industry consistently facing technological advancements, staying ahead of the curve is not just advantageous but imperative. Technology training ensures that employees are well-versed in the latest diagnostic tools, repair techniques, and inventory management systems.  This knowledge allows team members to navigate modern vehicle complexities, provide enhanced customer service, and optimize advanced inventory management systems. Technical expertise and practical application position the dealership to meet current customer expectations and anticipate and adapt to future industry trends. Monitoring and Adjusting the Inventory Strategy Regular reviews of  KPIs serve as the compass guiding the dealership through market trends. Tracking metrics (turnover rates, stock levels, and customer satisfaction scores) give dealerships real-time insights into their inventory performance. This proactive approach identifies emerging market trends and empowers the dealership to adapt swiftly. Customer demands in the automotive industry are ever-changing, and dealerships must remain attuned to these evolving preferences. Changes in vehicle models and technologies require a dealership to be agile in updating its inventory strategy. Anticipating and proactively responding to these changes aligns dealership inventory with the latest automotive innovations. Planning for Parts Parts managers and other dealership decision-makers must apply these strategies to optimize their fixed operations for efficiency and customer satisfaction. This journey isn’t a one-time effort but an ongoing commitment to excellence. It will ultimately position dealerships as leaders in the ever-evolving automotive marketplace. Check out TVI MarketPor3 for more industry insights.

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Fixed Operations Marketing: Strategies for Success

Despite the significant role fixed operations plays in a dealership, fixed operations marketing often takes a backseat compared to other marketing efforts. Fixed operations is a unique part of a dealership with a different target audience than that of the sales department. It also presents specific challenges and needs a customized approach. Therefore, fixed ops leaders should ensure the marketing is multifaceted and comprehensive, targeting the right audience at the right time. Challenges in Fixed Operations Marketing Fixed operations marketing faces several unique challenges. Unlike marketing to new vehicle sales, marketing to fixed operations requires targeting a different audience segment. Customers are often limited in their awareness of the range of services and parts available. Moreover, the perceived high cost of dealership services and parts can dissuade customers from choosing these options over independent service providers or aftermarket alternatives. Overcoming these challenges demands innovative strategies. The Need to Adapt In today's digital age, where customers have access to vast amounts of information and options, traditional marketing approaches alone may not yield optimal results. While marketing through channels like direct mail still packs a significant punch, a strong digital strategy must be implemented to stay competitive and maximize revenue in fixed operations. Fixed ops leaders should embrace technology, leverage data and analytics, and deliver individual customer experiences through digital channels. Key Strategies for Success in Fixed Operations Marketing Transforming fixed operations marketing requires adopting key strategies that align with the evolving needs of customers. Let's explore some of these strategies: Utilizing Data and Analytics Data and analytics play a crucial role in understanding customer behavior, preferences, and trends. By leveraging data from various sources, businesses can identify patterns, segment their customer base, and develop targeted marketing campaigns. Analyzing data can also help identify gaps in service offerings, allowing businesses to tailor their operations to meet customer demands more effectively. Implementing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) A robust CRM system can streamline customer interactions, improve communication, and enhance overall customer experience. By implementing a CRM platform, businesses can track customer interactions, manage service appointments, and tailor marketing messages based on individual preferences. This customized approach can foster stronger relationships with customers and increase their likelihood of choosing your dealership for services and parts. Embracing Digital Channels Digital channels provide a vast landscape for reaching and engaging with customers. From social media platforms to paid search marketing, businesses can leverage these channels to promote their fixed operations. Creating compelling content, such as informative blog posts, engaging videos, and interactive quizzes, can generate interest and drive engagement. Additionally, online advertising campaigns can target specific demographics and geographic areas, maximizing the impact of marketing efforts. Creating Personalized Customer Experiences Customers today seek experiences that cater to their unique needs and preferences. To deliver such experiences, businesses can implement online appointment scheduling systems and offer tailored service packages. Using customer data, dealerships can proactively reach out to customers for service reminders or provide individual offers based on their vehicle's maintenance history. These personalized touches can create a sense of exclusivity and build stronger connections with customers. Building Strong Partnerships Collaborating with other businesses in the automotive industry can yield significant benefits in fixed operations marketing. By partnering with complimentary service providers, businesses can expand their service offerings and reach new customer segments. The Future of Fixed Operations Marketing As the automotive industry continues to evolve, so too will marketing for the parts and service departments. Here are some aspects to consider for the future: Emerging Trends and Technologies Advancements in technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, are taking marketing to once-unimaginable possibilities. Chatbots, for instance, can provide instant support and answer common customer queries, enhancing the overall customer experience. Additionally, predictive analytics can anticipate maintenance needs, allowing businesses to proactively reach out to customers before issues arise. Changing Consumer Behaviors Consumer behaviors and expectations are constantly evolving. To succeed in fixed operations marketing, businesses must stay attuned to these changes and adapt their strategies accordingly. For example, as more customers embrace electric vehicles, businesses must consider how this shift impacts their service offerings, training programs, and marketing messages. Continued Evolution and Innovation Fixed operations marketing will continue to evolve as businesses push the boundaries of innovation. From experimenting with new marketing channels to exploring creative service offerings, the industry will constantly seek ways to better connect with customers and exceed their expectations. A Marketing Alignment Cutting-edge fixed operations marketing is essential for businesses seeking to thrive in the automotive industry. By understanding the importance of fixed operations, recognizing the challenges, and adopting innovative strategies, businesses can maximize revenue, boost customer engagement, and increase brand loyalty. The future of service drive marketing holds immense potential for those willing to embrace emerging trends and technologies while continuously evolving to meet changing consumer behaviors.

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In With the Old: The Hidden Gems of Fixed Ops

In the dynamic world of the automotive industry, where the spotlight often shines brightly on the latest car models, it can be easy to overlook a goldmine of opportunity right in front of you: marketing to older model vehicles. Fixed operations leaders, responsible for the service and maintenance that keep vehicles on the road, should take note of the value in this often-neglected market segment. The Changing Automotive Landscape The automotive landscape is changing, and it's vital to adapt your marketing strategies accordingly. Older model vehicles are becoming increasingly prevalent on the road. Recent statistics indicate a steady rise in the average age of vehicles. According to new data from S&P Global Mobility, the average age of light vehicles (cars, utility vehicles, and light trucks) is now up to 12.5 years. More people are holding onto their cars, opening doors to new possibilities for fixed operations. Moreover, there's a growing demand for affordable and reliable transportation. In uncertain economic times, many individuals seek cost-effective solutions, and older model vehicles, when well-maintained, fit the bill perfectly. These vehicles represent a lifeline for budget-conscious consumers. Shift in Demographics of Vehicle Ownership Another key factor to consider is the shifting demographics of vehicle ownership. As the population ages, many individuals find comfort in the familiarity of the vehicles they've owned for years. This demographic trend further emphasizes the importance of targeting older model vehicles. Advantages of Marketing to Older Model Vehicles Marketing to owners of these vehicles offers a range of advantages. It allows you to expand your customer base by reaching budget-conscious consumers actively looking for cost-effective repairs and maintenance. By showcasing your ability to provide high-quality, affordable services for older vehicles, you can attract customers who value both quality and value. Building Trust and Loyalty Additionally, marketing to older model vehicles offers the opportunity to build trust and loyalty. Establishing long-term customer relationships is a cornerstone of any successful business. By catering to the needs of older vehicle owners, you can create lasting bonds that extend beyond the life of a single car. These loyal customers often become your most enthusiastic brand advocates. Demonstrating Commitment to All Customers Demonstrating your commitment to serving all customers, regardless of their vehicle's age, builds trust and customer loyalty. It showcases your dedication to providing reliable and customer-focused services, an attribute that resonates strongly with consumers. Challenges and Strategies However, it's essential to acknowledge and address the challenges that come with marketing to older model vehicles:  Parts Availability and Compatibility Sourcing parts for discontinued models can be a hurdle, but building relationships with suppliers specializing in older vehicle components can mitigate this issue. Offering alternative solutions, such as reconditioned or aftermarket parts, can also be valuable. Evolving Technology and Expertise Keeping up with evolving technology and expertise is crucial. Invest in ongoing training and resources to ensure your technicians are well-versed in older vehicle technologies. Equipping your team with the skills to service a variety of vehicles, regardless of their age, is a strategic move that pays off in customer satisfaction. Tailored Marketing Approaches Tailored marketing approaches are key to success in this endeavor. Creating customized service packages specifically designed for older models demonstrates your expertise in maintaining and repairing them. Crafting marketing campaigns that resonate with older vehicle owners, highlighting the value and reliability of your services, is equally essential. A Path to Success Marketing to older model vehicles in fixed operations is more than a strategy; it's a necessity for long-term success. By recognizing the growing market for older vehicles, understanding the advantages of targeting this segment, and addressing the associated challenges, fixed operations leaders can position their businesses for sustainable growth.  As you plan your marketing strategies, remember that older model vehicles are not just a part of your customer base; they are a cornerstone of your success in the automotive industry. Embrace this opportunity, and you'll not only expand your customer base but also solidify your reputation as a trusted, customer-centric service provider, ensuring a prosperous future for your business. Check out more industry insights at tvi-mp3.com.

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Optimized Marketing to Capture Fixed Operations Customers

In today's competitive automotive industry, it is crucial for dealerships to stand out and engage with their target audience. By implementing the following strategies, dealerships can create a strong presence and maximize their reach in fixed operations. The Importance of Identifying Customers As we state in our article on customer segmentation, before diving into the strategies, it is essential to identify and understand who your customers are. By defining your target audience, you can tailor your marketing efforts specifically to their needs and preferences. This will help you capture their attention and build a loyal customer base in fixed operations. Strategies for Capturing Attention Sometimes the buffet of marketing tools, strategies, and platforms seems endless. It can be overwhelming to determine where to invest your marketing time and budget. The truth is that many options will get results. However, you need to examine which ones get you the most reach within your budget. Understanding Customer Needs and Preferences One of the most effective ways to attract customers is by understanding their needs and preferences. Conduct market research to identify what your target audience is looking for in terms of service and maintenance. By offering tailored solutions and addressing their pain points, you can capture their attention and differentiate yourself from competitors. Personalizing Communication and Offers Personalization is key when it comes to making customer connections. Use customer data and insights to deliver individual communication and offers. This can include targeted emails, exclusive discounts, or customized service packages. By making customers feel valued and understood, you can build a strong connection and increase their loyalty to your dealership. Utilizing Social Media Platforms Social media provides a powerful tool for customer reach, and yet, many dealerships don’t take advantage of these platforms. When they do, the focus is often on car sales rather than service. Service departments must utilize platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and X(Formerly Twitter) to showcase your dealership's services, promotions, and success stories. Engage with your audience by responding to comments and messages promptly. By maintaining an active social media presence, you can stay top of mind and attract potential customers. Creating Engaging Content Another effective strategy is to create engaging content that resonates with your target audience. This can include informative blog posts, video tutorials, or behind-the-scenes glimpses of your service department. By providing valuable and entertaining content, you can establish your dealership as a trusted authority in fixed operations and capture the attention of customers. Implementing Email Marketing Campaigns Email marketing campaigns can have a great impact on customer acquisition. Send targeted and personalized emails to your customer database, highlighting upcoming promotions, service reminders, or exclusive offers. By keeping your dealership in their inbox, you can increase brand awareness and encourage repeat business. Offering Incentives and Rewards Incentives and rewards can be powerful motivators for potential customers. Consider offering loyalty programs, referral discounts, or special rewards for frequent service visits. By providing tangible benefits, you can create a sense of exclusivity and encourage customers to choose your dealership over competitors. Providing Excellent Customer Service Excellent customer service is crucial if you want to keep customers coming back. Train your staff to provide a personalized and exceptional experience at every touchpoint. This includes greeting customers with a smile, listening actively to their concerns, and going above and beyond to exceed their expectations. By providing outstanding service, you can create loyal brand advocates who will recommend your dealership to others. Using Customer Feedback to Improve Lastly, use customer feedback as a valuable resource for improving your fixed operations. Encourage customers to provide feedback through surveys or online reviews. Analyze the feedback and make necessary improvements to your processes, services, and customer experience. By constantly striving for improvement, you can capture the attention of customers who appreciate your commitment to their satisfaction. Conclusion Capturing the attention of customers in fixed operations requires a strategic approach. By understanding, implementing, and maintaining each of these areas, dealerships can attract and retain their target audience. These strategies, when combined, will help your dealership maximize its reach and increase customer satisfaction in fixed operations.

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Customer Segmentation in Fixed Operations Marketing

In the competitive landscape of the automotive industry, car dealerships must continuously evolve to meet the ever-changing demands of their customers. A crucial component of dealership success lies in the parts and service department, as it contributes to the bottom line and plays a significant role in customer loyalty and retention.  Customer I.D. To maximize the potential of this department, it is essential to effectively identify and cater to the customer segments most likely to do business with your dealership’s service department. Let's explore the customer segments that car dealerships should target for their parts and service departments and the importance of data collection and exceptional customer service. Current Customers One of the most valuable customer segments for a car dealership's parts and service department is its current customer. These individuals have recently or are currently doing business with the dealership. While this is a reasonably broad customer segment, leveraging customer data, including purchase history and service visits, can provide insights into their preferences and needs and help you create more specific sub-segments. By offering excellent customer service and tailored promotions, dealerships can encourage these customers to return for maintenance and repairs, increasing customer loyalty. High-Mileage Car Owners High-mileage car owners represent another prime customer segment for the parts and service department. These customers often require more frequent maintenance and repairs due to the wear and tear on their vehicles. Data analysis that includes tracking the miles on their car can help dealerships effectively identify and target this segment. Offering service packages, discounts, or loyalty programs to these customers can boost service visits and enhance customer retention. Warranty Customers Customers who have recently purchased a vehicle and are still within the manufacturer's warranty period are ideal targets for parts and service departments. These individuals are more likely to return to the dealership for maintenance and repairs to ensure their warranty remains valid. It is crucial to engage this segment proactively, ensuring they are aware of the dealership's service offerings and exceptional customer service. Customers Based on Demographics Demographic data can be a valuable tool for identifying customer segments for fixed ops. Consider factors such as age, income level, and lifestyle preferences. For instance, younger customers may be more inclined to seek out dealerships that offer advanced technology and convenience features in their service departments. Tailoring the service experience to specific demographics can help improve customer satisfaction and retention. Customers Ready for Upgrades Car owners who have owned their vehicles for several years may be in the market for an upgrade. Identifying customers with aging vehicles and reaching out with targeted offers can be a fruitful strategy. Service visits can allow the dealership's sales team to engage these customers, showcasing the latest models and addressing their needs. Customers Affected by Inventory Shortage In the current automotive landscape, inventory shortages are a challenge many dealerships face. Identifying customers willing to wait for specific vehicle models can help mitigate this issue. Utilizing customer data to determine those ready to buy and offering personalized communication can help keep these customers engaged and loyal. Marketing and Customer Experience Defining your customers is the first step. Once you’ve created your segments, you must create the most effective messaging for each group and ensure each visit is seamless and filled with top notch customer care. Consider what tools and strategies to implement that will capitalize on each group’s unique position. Data Collection and Customer Service To effectively target these customer segments, dealerships must prioritize data collection and customer service. Invest in robust data collection systems to track customer behavior, preferences, and service history. Dealerships can also partner with data-driven marketing companies like TVI MarketPro3 to take care of this tedious and ongoing effort. Either way, this data can provide valuable insights into customer segments and allow for personalized marketing strategies. Don’t overlook exceptional customer service, which is a cornerstone of success in the parts and service department. Service advisors and technicians should stay updated on their training to provide a top-notch experience, address customer concerns, and offer transparent communication throughout the service process. Satisfied customers are more likely to return for future service visits and recommend the dealership to others. Customer Loyalty Programs Implementing customer loyalty programs can be an excellent strategy to retain and attract customers. These programs can offer rewards for repeat service visits, referrals, and purchases. Loyalty programs encourage customers to return but also help strengthen their emotional connection to the dealership brand. Service Quality and Operating Profits Remember that service quality directly impacts the bottom line of the parts and service department. Satisfied customers generally spend more on repairs and maintenance, increasing operating profits. On the other hand, poor service experiences can result in lost revenue and damage the dealership's reputation. TVI MarketPro3’s Segment Driven Strategy TVI MarketPro3 digs deep into the data to identify the highest potential customers from the dealer’s DMS and several other data sources. We create the following segments: Active Customers TVI MarketPro3 defines Active customers as those customers who have done business with the dealership in the last 12 months. Each manufacturer and each dealership may define an active customer differently.  Inactive Customers An inactive customer has recently defected with their last RO 13-24 months ago. Lost Customers Lost customers are a segment that some manufacturers refer to as endangered or defectors. TVI MarketPro3 defines these customers as having long since defected as they've been gone over 25 months. The offers and messaging sent to each segment must cater to the customer’s current relationship with the dealer. Sending the same message to each customer segment can seem impersonal and fail to meet the specific needs of their vehicles. Segmentation Summary Understanding and effectively targeting customer segments is crucial for the success of a car dealership's parts and service department. Leveraging customer data can help dealerships tailor their marketing strategies for maximum impact. However, data collection and exceptional customer service must be at the core of these efforts to enhance customer loyalty and drive operating profits. This formula ensures that fixed operations departments remain valuable assets in the competitive automotive market.

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Charging Ahead: Equipping Technicians for an EV Adventure

As the automotive industry accelerates towards a future defined by electric vehicles (EVs), the road ahead is not just paved with innovation, but also opportunity. In this electrifying era of transportation, preparing for change is not merely a choice—it's a necessity. Today's landscape demands that we arm both the next generation of mechanical students and the more seasoned technicians with the knowledge and skills to navigate the intricate realm of EV maintenance and repair. From the halls of mechanic schools to the service bays of established dealerships, automotive leaders should equip their technicians to become the front runners of the EV explosion. Preparing Future Techs A 2022 Newsweek article highlights a Texas college as the first in the nation to offer an electric vehicle automotive technician certification program. This emphasizes the move to prepare budding technicians for the automotive landscape of the future. Since then, a multitude of schools and manufacturers have created similar programs. EV technology programs are still in their developmental state across the US, but as a Midtronics article reveals, “they aren’t standardized as of yet.”  These schools’ general training covers “the basics of electric vehicle technology and how it differs from traditional internal combustion engine vehicles.” Technician students will learn how to diagnose, repair, and maintain electric vehicles, including their battery management systems, charging infrastructure, and vehicle control systems. Most dealerships are in desperate need of technicians, and therefore, might hire students that do not yet have EV certifications. While it’s not a bad idea to snatch up these valuable employees while they’re available, it would behoove dealerships to offer and/or require EV certification through their own manufacturer (or a local school) as part of a hiring agreement. Level Up Your Pros Working a full-time job (especially with dealership hours) can make the idea of further education unappealing to technicians already in the workforce. Dealerships should do everything possible to accommodate technicians in achieving this goal. After all, the more EV education a technician has, the more valuable they become to the dealership.  It’s imperative to get these professionals on board for the coming shift to EVs and help them see the value in adapting to the EV landscape. You can start by addressing the knowledge gap and dispelling misconceptions about EV maintenance. For example, some may believe that repairing an EV is more difficult than a gas-powered vehicle. A Vehicle Service Pros article highlights that ”electric vehicles are no more difficult to repair than their gas-powered counterparts because EVs have fewer moving parts.” That being said, there is a learning curve that can be supported with specialized training programs and workshops for experienced technicians. Such workshops should include: ~ Transferable skills from internal combustion engine (ICE) repair to EV repair ~ In-depth understanding of EV-specific maintenance schedules and components ~ Advanced training in battery health assessment, repair, and replacement As you prepare your technicians with training, you’ll need to ensure they have the necessary diagnostic and repair tools for EV systems. You should also implement a long-term plan for ongoing education to ensure your service department keeps up with evolving EV technology. Power Up In the evolving EV landscape, preparing technicians is crucial. Well-trained techs will play a pivotal role as dealership service departments shift to the EV era. Education investment nurtures skilled technicians and elevates satisfaction, reputation, and EV market growth. See more EV stories and other automotive insights at tvi-mp3.com.

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Unlocking the Potential of Gen Z in the Automotive Service Industry

Over the last few years, the automotive service industry has adapted to some incredibly challenging times. While many of those challenges continue to linger, there are still new and exciting challenges to come. As we usher in an increase in electric vehicles (EVs) and an expansion of technology-driven service drives, dealership leaders are looking to their teams to embrace and thrive with the inevitable change.  Cutting Edge Technicians Training is the number one way to ensure your service drive stays ahead of the technological curve. Everyone on the team, no matter how seasoned or how green, should strive to be an expert on EV maintenance and repair and other digital platforms. Adding new technicians to your team with strong technological backgrounds will also have a positive impact. This is where Gen Z takes center stage. A Kasasa article defines Generation Z as "the newest generation, born between 1997 and 2012," or between 11 and 26 years old. Since the dawn of time, older generations have thumbed their noses at the "young whipper snappers" and carried on about how much better things were "back in their day." This judgmental stance prevents us from facing the truth that no matter the industry, we as a society need Gen Z, and the automotive industry is no different. What Does Gen Z Bring to the Service Drive? Any time you welcome the next generation, you also welcome their fresh perspectives and innovative solutions. Most of these valuable individuals were raised with computers in their hands. Technology has evolved at an accelerated rate in their short lives, so they are not typically intimidated by new digital platforms.  Gen Z also sees the world differently than older generations. While some of their predecessors are limited to thinking up primarily manual solutions, Gen Z knows there is a quicker, easier digital solution out there. Being open to these suggestions will keep service departments at the cutting edge of technology, where customers expect them to be. Integrating Gen Z technicians into automotive service departments should align with their distinctive characteristics. According to Indeed, an online job-seeking site, business leaders can leverage Gen Z's entrepreneurial mindset and business savvy to innovate within the department. Their intolerance for authoritarian environments underscores the importance of respectful and supportive management. Flexibility is vital to accommodate their aspirations for work-life balance and stability, while their competitive nature and desire for recognition align with clear performance expectations and avenues for advancement. Gen Z Technicians and EVs: A Match Made in Automotive Heaven Gen Z's influence on the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) within dealership service departments will be pivotal. As digital natives, these young technicians are well-equipped to embrace the intricate systems of EVs, bridging the gap between cutting-edge technology and automotive maintenance. This generation's adaptability, combined with their eagerness to contribute to environmentally conscious shifts, positions them as the driving force behind the seamless integration of EVs into dealership service. Embrace the Differences It's easy to mistake inexperience for an inability to contribute, but this is a huge mistake. Technicians from all walks of life have something valuable and unique to contribute, and your Gen Z technicians are no different. The best thing you can do for the future of your service team is to foster relationships across all team members, regardless of background, age, or experience level. Create a culture where everyone feels comfortable to teach and learn from one another, irrespective of what label comes with the period in which they were born. Check out the TVI MarketPro3 website for more industry insights.

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Navigating Customer Interactions in the Service Drive

As fixed operations and dealership leaders, you understand the critical role that service advisors play in ensuring exceptional customer experiences. Service advisors are at the frontline of customer interactions. Their ability to navigate complex and tense situations can make all the difference between a satisfied customer and a lost one. Here are some key strategies for service advisors to resolve conflicts and enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. The Impact of Difficult Interactions on Customer Satisfaction Challenging customer interactions can have a profound impact on customer satisfaction. Customers become frustrated and dissatisfied when they feel a business needs to address their concerns more adequately. As a result, they may be less likely to return or recommend your dealership to others. It's crucial to recognize the significance of these interactions and work towards resolving them effectively. Critical Strategies for Dealing with Challenging Customers Practicing Active Listening and Empathetic Communication Active listening is a fundamental skill that service advisors must master when dealing with demanding customers. It involves giving your full attention to the customer, focusing on their words, and showing genuine interest in understanding their perspective. By actively listening, service advisors can create a sense of empathy, which builds rapport with the customer. Turning Complaints into Opportunities for Improvement Every complaint is an opportunity for growth. Instead of being defensive, service advisors should view customer complaints as valuable feedback that can help identify areas for improvement. Service advisors can transform a negative experience into a positive one by acknowledging the customer's concerns and demonstrating a willingness to address them. Setting Realistic Expectations and Managing Customer Frustrations In the service drive, managing customer expectations is crucial. Sometimes, customers arrive with unrealistic expectations regarding the time it takes to service their vehicle or the cost of the repairs. Service advisors should communicate clearly and honestly, setting realistic expectations to prevent potential frustrations. The Role of Body Language and Non-Verbal Cues Effective communication goes beyond words. Service advisors should be mindful of their body language and non-verbal cues when dealing with difficult customers. A reassuring smile and eye contact can help ease tension and create a more positive atmosphere during the interaction. Collaborative Problem-Solving Techniques Encouraging customers to be part of the solution can be a robust conflict resolution strategy. Service advisors should validate their opinions and concerns by involving them in problem-solving and decision-making processes. This collaborative approach can lead to win-win resolutions that satisfy both the customer and the dealership. Types of Difficult Customers Understanding the different types of challenging customers can be beneficial when tailoring your approach to each situation: The Agitated Customer: This customer may be frustrated on arrival due to previous negative experiences. Active listening and empathy are crucial to address their concerns.The Perfectionist: Perfectionist customers have high expectations and may be dissatisfied with minor details. But details that the dealer perceives as minor are important to the customer. Managing their expectations and demonstrating attention to detail can help alleviate their concerns.The Sensitive Customer: This customer has a hard time hiding their emotions, and a pricey repair or feeling they’re being taken advantage of might be enough to get the waterworks flowing.  Approach the Emotion Remember, you're dealing with emotions, not just a customer. And unlike cars, you can't just fix the feeling. When approaching an elevated situation, you must remove your repair hat and put on your empathy hat. Remind yourself that people often have more going on in their lives than what's on the surface. Before approaching a customer, ask yourself what emotion you might encounter and how you might empathize. Once service advisors identify emotions, they should remain calm and composed throughout the interaction. De-escalation techniques, like a soft and understanding tone, can help diffuse emotionally charged situations. This demeanor will help steer the conversation toward resolution. Learning from Difficult Interactions for Continuous Improvement Each customer interaction presents an opportunity for growth and improvement. Dealership leaders should encourage service advisors to collect feedback from these interactions. They can use this invaluable information to enhance processes, training, and customer service approaches. Conclusion In the dynamic world of fixed operations, service advisors are the linchpin of exceptional customer experiences. Service advisors can effectively handle all types of customers by mastering the art of conflict resolution. And there's nothing like transforming challenging interactions into opportunities for improvement.  Remember, it's not just about resolving conflicts but building lasting customer satisfaction and loyalty. Ultimately these efforts contribute to the overall success of your dealership. A proactive and empathetic approach allows service advisors to foster positive customer interactions. This approach will create a thriving service drive that sets your dealership apart. Visit our website for more valuable fixed ops insights.

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Key Traits of High-Performing Fixed Operations Managers

Congratulations… You're it! Whether your company promoted you from within or you were hired on from another dealer, here you sit. Your name is on the door or a placard across your desk. You are excited about the title and prestige of leading a team.  You're ready to positively impact your dealership's service and parts department. You want to inspire and motivate your team to achieve great results. You are on fire as you step into the position of Service Manager, Parts Manager, Service director, Parts Director, Fixed Ops Director, or whatever title rests beneath your name on that placard. The various titles all mean the same thing: YOU ARE THE LEADER. With that comes many possible benefits: maybe a bump in pay, the freedom to make decisions, and the ability to implement changes. You are living the dream. But the title also comes with great responsibility. Mishandling these responsibilities can cause your dream to turn into a nightmare quickly. Everything that occurs in your department falls on your shoulders.  The decisions of your team of technicians and service advisors point directly to your ability to lead. The administrative work is already piling up, and you are still determining how to get through it all. You feel like you may never get to the big goals you have for your department. Take a Deep Breath You're here for a reason. Your company leaders saw something in you that convinced them you are the one for this position. Let's examine the five traits of high-performing fixed ops managers. Trait 1: Strong Leadership Skills You didn't need a title for this one. You were always the one who dropped what they were doing to teach a new tech how to complete a repair. You encouraged and motivated your co-workers to work efficiently and effectively. You lead by example with integrity and enthusiasm for the job.  When it came to quitting time, you stayed to help complete the long overdue tasks sitting on the back burner. Your communication and decision-making skills are on point, and you've always set clear goals for yourself. You are still that leader, and while the title comes with many worries, it doesn't change who you are. Designate a specific time each day to position yourself, shoulder to shoulder, with your team. They must see you turn a wrench, break a sweat, solve a problem, and lead by example. But this will only be possible if you are a pro at managing your time, which brings us to the next trait. Trait 2: Exceptional Time Management Leaders often need to have a beginning-of-the-week meeting with themselves. Prioritizing tasks and managing the workload requires some self-discussion. In this meeting, you'll write out your weekly to-do list. The list can be on paper, a dry-erase board, sticky notes, or even a fancy task management app like Trello. A plan for your tasks will allow you to delegate responsibilities and empower your team members. Delegating with a solid plan or system will prevent frustration and make you seem more capable in front of your team. They are looking to you for guidance; concrete plans and set strategies will allow you to guide them effectively and efficiently. A leader must also be flexible and able to adapt to changing priorities. Your plan is essential, but it is only a starting point. Your week will seldom go as planned. Being able to change course when needed is imperative for any leader. Trait 3: Strong Customer Focus Customer satisfaction is essential for fixed operations success. You know that already, or you likely wouldn't be in your position. If you want your team to provide top-notch customer service, lead by example. Build relationships with customers, and ensure you do all you can to meet their needs.  Show that you respect customer complaints and resolve them with urgency. Always handle these problematic situations professionally in front of the customers and in their absence. Venting to your team about an unreasonable or irrational customer gives them unspoken permission to disrespect and dismiss future issues. They need to know that the customer is always important, not just when standing before you. Trait 4: Continuous Learning and Adaptability While you've reached the top of your department, there is always more to learn.  Intelligent people are typically curious about everything and eager to learn. Make it a priority to stay up-to-date on industry trends and technological advancements. Always stay updated on new tools through industry forums and social media groups. These mediums can offer a multitude of solutions for your service drive. You should also seek opportunities for professional development and acquiring new skills. While leadership is natural for some, it is also full of skills you can learn. Surround yourself with other strong leaders, and find seminars to help you build on your natural leadership skills. Trait 5: Effective Team Management Your ultimate goal as a leader is to build a cohesive and high-performing team. You can do this by providing team members guidance, support, feedback, and mentorship. Strong leaders ask their team about themselves, their families, and their interests. They also seek out each team member's ideas and solutions. This communication makes the team feel valued and respected, and it's a great way to find real solutions. Recognize and reward achievements and foster a positive work culture. Everyone likes recognition for a job well done. Make an asserted effort to track the number of times you compliment or reward each team member.  It can be easy to focus on the squeaky wheel or the shining star technician that makes your job easy, but you should engage with each team member, from the valet to the service advisor. They are all valuable players, and failure to let them know will have them looking for a new service drive. Remember Your Purpose Management and leadership are not fix-it-and-forget-it endeavors. Whether you've been leading for ten days or ten years, there is always a new path ahead. The journey is full of new challenges to overcome, with solutions you must work to provide. Cultivating the qualities you already have with ongoing development will keep the job fresh and exciting. Click here for more fixed ops insights from TVI MarketPro3.

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Unlocking Revenue Potential: Innovative Marketing Tactics for Fixed Ops

There’s no need to convince fixed ops leaders of the importance of marketing for service departments. As McLarty Diversified Holdings chairman and CEO, Franklin McLarty, put it, fixed operations is the “firm foundation of the dealership."  But if dealerships want to overcome the negative impacts of interest rates and inflation in 2023, their marketing strategies must be aligned for fixed ops success. Understanding the Fixed Ops Customer Journey  The fixed ops customer journey starts with the customer's initial need for vehicle maintenance or repairs, followed by researching and selecting a dealership. The customer then schedules an appointment, arrives at the dealership, and engages with the service advisor. The customer journey concludes with the completion of service, payment, and post-service follow-up. Each step of this journey presents opportunities for the dealership to provide exceptional customer service, build trust, and foster long-term relationships. Find Marketing Opportunities Throughout the Customer Journey Each of these steps also presents touchpoints and opportunities for marketing engagement. Here are some recommended marketing strategies for each stage: Awareness and Research: Implement search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to ensure the dealership's website appears prominently in search results. Develop informative and engaging content, such as blog articles and videos, that address common customer pain points and offer solutions. Utilize social media advertising and targeted paid search campaigns to increase brand awareness and attract potential customers. Appointment Scheduling: Provide an easy and convenient online appointment scheduling system on the dealership's website. Utilize mail, email, and SMS marketing to remind customers of upcoming service intervals and encourage them to schedule appointments. Arrival and Intake: Enhance the physical dealership experience by providing clear signage and welcoming waiting areas. Utilize personalized greetings and ensure service advisors are well-trained and knowledgeable. Use signage, brochures, and digital displays to highlight current promotions, service offerings, and loyalty programs. Service Engagement: Offer personalized service recommendations based on the customer's vehicle history and current needs. Utilize digital tools such as tablets or mobile devices to visually demonstrate repair or maintenance needs. Implement customer-centric communication channels, such as text messaging or mobile apps, for real-time updates and two-way customer communication. Completion and Payment: Provide transparent and itemized invoices to communicate the breakdown of services performed and associated costs. Offer convenient digital payment options, including contactless payment methods and digital wallets. Utilize post-service surveys or feedback forms to gather insights and promptly address potential issues. Post-Service Follow-Up: Implement automated email or SMS marketing campaigns to request customer feedback and reviews. Offer incentives, such as discounts on future services or referral programs, to encourage repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals. Engage with customers through personalized thank-you messages and exclusive service offers to foster long-term relationships. By strategically implementing these marketing engagement strategies at each step, fixed ops leaders can enhance the overall customer journey, drive customer satisfaction, and increase customer retention.

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ChatGPT in the Service Drive: Are You On Board?

Do you ever feel like you need to clone yourself to manage the daily operations of your service department? Well, fear not! The future of the automotive industry is here, and it comes in the form of an AI-powered assistant that doesn't need a lunch break, a bathroom break, or a vacation. Introducing ChatGPT, your new best friend in the service department. This generative AI-powered assistant can handle all sorts of tasks that will make your life easier, giving you more time to enjoy a cup of coffee without interruptions. The Future of Appointment Management ChatGPT can automate appointment scheduling and reminders, so you no longer have to worry about forgetting to remind customers about their appointments. ChatGPT will take care of it for you! And if customers have any questions about their appointments or services, ChatGPT can answer them promptly and accurately. How to Integrate ChatGPT Integrating ChatGPT with your scheduler requires a few steps, but it can be relatively straightforward with the right tools and resources. Here are some general steps to consider: Determine your scheduling needs. Before integrating ChatGPT with your scheduler, you must define your scheduling needs, including the types of appointments you need to schedule, the scheduling rules you want to follow, and any other special requirements or considerations. Choose a chatbot platform. To integrate ChatGPT with your scheduler, you'll need to choose a chatbot platform that supports integrations with third-party scheduling software. Several options are available, including Dialogflow, Botpress, and Rasa. Be sure to choose a platform that aligns with your business needs and technical requirements. Connect your scheduler to the chatbot platform. Once you've selected a chatbot platform, connect it to your scheduler. This process involves integrating the chatbot platform and your scheduling software using an API or webhook. Your chatbot platform should provide documentation or tutorials on how to set up the integration. Create custom dialogues. Once you connect your chatbot platform to your scheduler, create custom dialogues that allow customers to schedule appointments. You will develop prompts, questions, and responses that guide customers through scheduling. You'll also need to ensure the chatbot collects all necessary information, such as the appointment date and time, customer contact information, and additional details. Test and refine the integration.  Once you've created custom dialogues, you must test the integration to ensure everything works correctly. Be sure to test different scenarios, such as rescheduling or canceling appointments, to ensure the integration is robust and reliable. You will continue refining your dialogues and making adjustments based on customer feedback. Optimize Your Service Capacity But that's not all! ChatGPT can also optimize service capacity by analyzing historical data on appointment scheduling and service utilization. By analyzing this data, ChatGPT can identify patterns in customer demand and service utilization. For example, ChatGPT can analyze historical data on the number of appointments scheduled for each day of the week and at different times. Based on this analysis, ChatGPT can identify peak demand periods and adjust the service capacity accordingly. This analysis can help service departments avoid overbooking during peak periods and underutilization during slower periods. ChatGPT can also analyze data on service utilization to identify opportunities to boost service capacity. For example, if data shows that certain services are underutilized, ChatGPT can recommend promoting those services or adjusting the pricing to incentivize more customers to use them. Bonus! If all that isn't enough to convince you, ChatGPT can also enhance the customer service experience by providing instant answers to queries and offering personalized recommendations for additional services. It's like having a customer service superhero on your team! This technology's ability to analyze historical data and identify patterns in customer demand and service utilization can help service departments improve their efficiency and profitability. Inventory Management ChatGPT can be a game-changer regarding inventory management in the parts department. By leveraging its AI capabilities, ChatGPT can analyze historical data, customer demand, and other relevant factors to optimize inventory levels and ensure the availability of necessary parts.  With its ability to understand and process natural language, ChatGPT can handle inquiries from technicians and service managers regarding part availability, pricing, and ordering processes. It can provide real-time updates on stock levels, lead times, and alternative part options, helping the parts department streamline operations and enhance customer satisfaction. Moreover, ChatGPT can automate parts ordering and replenishment tasks, reducing the manual effort and potential errors associated with traditional inventory management methods. By integrating with suppliers' systems and utilizing predictive algorithms, ChatGPT can generate accurate forecasts for parts demand, enabling proactive ordering and minimizing the risk of stockouts or excess inventory. This predictive capability optimizes inventory levels and contributes to cost savings and improved cash flow for the dealership.  Additionally, ChatGPT can assist in tracking and monitoring parts usage, identifying patterns of high-demand items, and suggesting adjustments to stocking strategies to align with changing customer needs. With ChatGPT as a virtual assistant, the parts department can efficiently manage inventory, reduce waste, and ensure that the correct parts are available at the right time, ultimately enhancing operational efficiency and customer service. The Human Touch If you're worried AI is coming for your job, take a deep breath. People still crave positive human interaction, something AI cannot and hopefully will never be able to emulate. It doesn't have feelings, empathy, or human experience. It can't truly relate to your customer's pain points, even though it seems that way sometimes. People will never stop needing people, so rather than stiff-arming AI technology altogether, embrace it! Be the fixed ops leader that utilizes all tools to make face-to-face interaction a personal and invaluable experience when the customer brings their car in. Looking for more ideas to boost your service business? Visit TVI MarketPro3.

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Service & Parts Loyalty Programs: Helpful or Headache?

Fixed operations leaders generally have mixed feelings about automotive loyalty programs. Loyalty metrics can provide valuable insights into customer behavior and help dealerships better understand their customer base. They can also help dealerships track their loyalty programs' success and identify improvement areas. However, some individuals may feel that manufacturer loyalty metrics can be overly simplistic, not providing a complete picture of customer loyalty. Loyalty metrics may not consider customer satisfaction, service quality, and pricing factors, which all have an impact on customer loyalty. TVI MarketPro3 agents have the pleasure of sitting down with fixed operations leaders from all over the country. TVI's Fixed Ops Marketing Director, Kurt Hankey, says the general sentiment is frustration. "For the most part, [ fixed ops leaders'] feelings on this range from strong dislike to moderate dislike," says Hankey.  "Some are indifferent because their GM or owner takes the position of ‘do the best job you can, focus on taking good care of the customer, and generate revenue.’ If they also get high marks from the manufacturer for retention, that is a secondary benefit." Frustrated for Good Reason Hankey stresses that "any good service manager understands the basics of retention and how it plays into the long-term growth and profitability." However, there are several reasons for fixed ops leaders’ aversion to some manufacturer programs:  -The general feeling is that the manufacturer's expectations must align with how customers think of the frequency and timing of their service visits and many of the programs fall short.-They feel the program sets them up to fail.-The programs add complications to their daily business routine.-The objectives are not  realistic.-The programs add anxiety and stress to individual fixed ops leaders and their teams.-They don't fully trust the manufacturer's data or reporting. Hankey recently spoke with a dealership leader in Florida who expressed his outright disdain for Toyota's TLE program, asking why he should worry about something so "unattainable." Many dealers feel forced to adopt and pay for a program they don't believe in. As a fixed ops professional with decades of experience in the service department, TVI's Ken Pletcher worked under such programs. He says, "loyalty programs and CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) surveys are great diagnostic tools, but once a payment plan is attached, the information is no longer valid." Many stores base pay or continued employment on the program's results, which breeds an undesirable work atmosphere. Factors that Affect Feelings TVI MarketPro3's Western Regional Sales Director, Nick Shaffer, says that a fixed ops manager's feelings on these metrics vary between OEMs. For example, Shaffer says, "as a general rule, fixed ops managers at Honda, Toyota, and Subaru feel that the OEMs put a lot of thought into how their retention metrics are calculated (TLE, DSE, and OSR respectively)."  The way these manufacturers calculate the metrics "makes sense, keeps the playing field even, and doesn't change over time," says Shaffer. Leaders in these stores don't tend to view KPIs in a "like/dislike manner." Instead, Shaffer says, "They simply understand how to drive the KPI and embrace the challenge." On the flip side, Shaffer says "as another general rule Fixed Ops Managers at other OEMs like Nissan, Kia, Hyundai, CDJR, are consistently disengaged with OEM retention metrics." Several variables contribute to the disengagement, such as calculations that are not as thought out, change frequently, or don't make logical sense. The managers feel they are challenged to reach goals with inconsistent measures. Additionally, fixed operations leaders may see loyalty metrics as too focused on transactional data, such as service visits and parts purchases. Therefore, they fail to provide enough insight into the customer experience. Loyalty metrics may not capture the full range of customer interactions with the dealership and may overlook areas such as communication with service advisors or sales staff. While the feelings vary on manufacturer loyalty programs, sometimes the best approach is to face the challenge head-on: -Understand the manufacturer's program clearly, including its benefits and requirements, to determine how it can benefit your dealership.-Identify your customers' needs and preferences, and learn how they align with the loyalty program's rewards.-Determine how the manufacturer's loyalty program can help you achieve your dealership's goals. -Develop a strategy for implementing the loyalty program, including a plan to promote the program to your customers and track and measure its success.-Train your staff to be well-versed on the manufacturer's loyalty program and on how to promote it to customers. -Monitor the effectiveness of the loyalty program and make adjustments as needed. Overall, some fixed operations leaders see value in manufacturer loyalty metrics as a tool for tracking customer behavior and measuring the success of loyalty programs. However, many feel that loyalty metrics could be more comprehensive in capturing the full range of factors contributing to customer loyalty. Regardless of the fixed ops leader's position, finding a way to work with the program is the most effective approach. However, some individuals may feel that manufacturer loyalty metrics can be overly simplistic, not providing a complete picture of customer loyalty. Loyalty metrics may not consider customer satisfaction, service quality, and pricing factors, which all have an impact on customer loyalty. TVI MarketPro3 agents have the pleasure of sitting down with fixed operations leaders from all over the country. TVI's Fixed Ops Marketing Director, Kurt Hankey, says the general sentiment is frustration. "For the most part, [ fixed ops leaders'] feelings on this range from strong dislike to moderate dislike," says Hankey.  "Some are indifferent because their GM or owner takes the position of ‘do the best job you can, focus on taking good care of the customer, and generate revenue.’ If they also get high marks from the manufacturer for retention, that is a secondary benefit." Frustrated for Good Reason Hankey stresses that "any good service manager understands the basics of retention and how it plays into the long-term growth and profitability." However, there are several reasons for fixed ops leaders’ aversion to some manufacturer programs:  -The general feeling is that the manufacturer's expectations must align with how customers think of the frequency and timing of their service visits and many of the programs fall short.-They feel the program sets them up to fail.-The programs add complications to their daily business routine.-The objectives are not  realistic.-The programs add anxiety and stress to individual fixed ops leaders and their teams.-They don't fully trust the manufacturer's data or reporting. Hankey recently spoke with a dealership leader in Florida who expressed his outright disdain for Toyota's TLE program, asking why he should worry about something so "unattainable." Many dealers feel forced to adopt and pay for a program they don't believe in. As a fixed ops professional with decades of experience in the service department, TVI's Ken Pletcher worked under such programs. He says, "loyalty programs and CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) surveys are great diagnostic tools, but once a payment plan is attached, the information is no longer valid." Many stores base pay or continued employment on the program's results, which breeds an undesirable work atmosphere. Factors that Affect Feelings TVI MarketPro3's Western Regional Sales Director, Nick Shaffer, says that a fixed ops manager's feelings on these metrics vary between OEMs. For example, Shaffer says, "Honda, Toyota, and Subaru are top shelf [and] put a lot of thought into how their retention metrics are calculated (TLE, DSE, and OSR respectively)."  The way these manufacturers calculate the metrics "makes sense, keeps the playing field even, and doesn't change over time," says Shaffer. Leaders in these stores don't tend to view KPIs in a "like/dislike manner." Instead, Shaffer says, "They simply understand how to drive the KPI and embrace the challenge." On the flip side, Shaffer says the "lower shelf OEMs like Nissan, Kia, Hyundai, CDJR, are genuinely disliked," causing disengagement between the fixed ops managers and the KPIs. Several variables contribute to the disengagement, such as calculations that are not as thought out and don't make logical sense. The managers feel they are challenged to reach goals with inconsistent measures. Additionally, fixed operations leaders may see loyalty metrics as too focused on transactional data, such as service visits and parts purchases. Therefore, they fail to provide enough insight into the customer experience. Loyalty metrics may not capture the full range of customer interactions with the dealership and may overlook areas such as communication with service advisors or sales staff. While the feelings vary on manufacturer loyalty programs, sometimes the best approach is to face the challenge head-on: -Understand the manufacturer's program clearly, including its benefits and requirements, to determine how it can benefit your dealership.-Identify your customers' needs and preferences, and learn how they align with the loyalty program's rewards.-Determine how the manufacturer's loyalty program can help you achieve your dealership's goals. -Develop a strategy for implementing the loyalty program, including a plan to promote the program to your customers and track and measure its success.-Train your staff to be well-versed on the manufacturer's loyalty program and on how to promote it to customers. -Monitor the effectiveness of the loyalty program and make adjustments as needed. Overall, some fixed operations leaders see value in manufacturer loyalty metrics as a tool for tracking customer behavior and measuring the success of loyalty programs. However, many feel that loyalty metrics could be more comprehensive in capturing the full range of factors contributing to customer loyalty. Regardless of the fixed ops leader's position, finding a way to work with the program is the most effective approach. Check out the TVI MarketPro3 website for more insights and interesting industry reads.

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Automotive Social Media: What’s Your Plan?

It’s no secret that social media is a vital component of any solid marketing strategy, but there are so many social media channels. It’s sometimes difficult to determine which one is most effective for each campaign. Your dealership is likely using social media to some extent, but without an in-depth plan that maps out all the different avenues to reach your target customer, you are most certainly missing the mark.   Inversely, when you create and follow a plan derived from an end goal, you will grow your audience, keep your followers engaged, and ultimately influence them to frequent your dealership for their car buying and servicing needs. Know Your Customers Digital marketing, like all marketing, starts with your audience. You must know your audience to reach your audience. The best way to know your audience is to ask. A survey to current customers asking for anonymous answers to a quick survey will help you understand (in general) what type of customer does business with your dealership. Hubspot outlines ten steps to creating a customer profile and focuses on three main categories: demographics, psychographics, and behavior. Essentially, you want to give your target customer a face, name, home, career, hobby, and personality. This customer profile won’t be the same across the automotive industry. Instead, it will be unique to the dealer’s location and the different makes of vehicles on the lot. By surveying your current customers, you will better learn who your average customers are and the marketing language and design elements that will best reach them.   Types of Car Buyers Because nearly everyone needs a vehicle, car buyers are as varied as the cars they purchase. For example, your average luxury car buyer in California will likely have a higher income and enjoy the finer things in life, such as upscale hotels and five-star dining.  In contrast, your domestic car buyer in a small town in Oklahoma might prefer a more casual approach to life. These are just two examples, but the variety of car-buying customer types should dictate how and where you communicate on social media platforms. Types of Service Customers If you’re planning a service drive social media campaign, you need to define your customers similarly to sales. But, you’ll need to profile the vehicle they drive as well. Identifying the car your customers drive (make, model, and age) will tell you a lot about your customer and the most effective way to reach out to them. Social Media Marketing Strategy Once you have a solid customer profile, you’ll need to develop a strong social media strategy. The questions you need to address are: What social media channel does my target customer utilize the most? How will I best be able to convey the dealership’s message? What day and time am I most likely to get in front of them? Social Media Users Sprout Social outlines the demographics in this March 2022 blog post. They report that Facebook has 2.91 billion monthly users, most between the ages of 35-44. Instagram follows with 2 billion monthly users, but the largest age group here is younger than Facebook, ranging from 25-34 years of age.   TikTok has only a billion monthly users, but has seen the most growth since 2020. The platform hones in on a younger age range, with ages 10-19 being the largest group of Tik Tok users, not a likely target for the automotive industry, but these younger social media users are just around the corner from making big life moves and finding a reliable establishment to service their car. Twitter has over two million daily users, with its most active age group between 18 and 29. Sprout Social points out that most Twitter users are college-educated and make over $75K a year, making it an ideal space for automotive advertisement.   No matter which platform you use in your marketing efforts, each social media page must speak the language of that platform. For example, Twitter is all about quick, short messages and ongoing conversations, while Instagram remains a visual platform that grabs the attention with graphics, photos, and videos. If you’re using social media scheduling software, avoid posting the same content on all your social media channels. Social Media channels If you want your social media marketing campaigns to be effective, you must have a presence on multiple channels. Instagram business profiles and Facebook pages are great places to get your social media foothold. As we mentioned earlier, these two platforms have billions of users. You can grow an organic following by engaging with customers through contests, shared testimonials, team member profiles, blog posts, and educational videos. Be sure you consistently post valuable content to help your followers know what to expect. You can also boost your reach with paid Instagram or Facebook Ad campaigns.  Campaigns for Service and Sales An auto dealership’s social media can be a challenging balance to strike. Essentially you have two businesses under one roof: sales and service. When creating content for car dealers, be sure to cover all departments.  You may target Facebook users hoping to buy a car or Twitter users ready for an oil change. But, you must represent the entire dealership across all social media sites. You might successfully attract customers for a test drive, but they may never know to bring their vehicle back. You must consistently remind them with a solid service drive social media campaign.

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DMS Data Migration… Embrace the Process

Moving from one home to another will make you wish you had kept things a little more organized. The same sentiment is true when a dealership decides to move all their dealer and customer information from one system to another.  Dealers who have experienced the process might tell you to turn and run the other way. DMS data migration is daunting, but most dealership leaders will inevitably face this task at some point in their careers. Fortunately, the process can be made easier with the proper management and maintenance of your current Dealer Management System (DMS) and a detailed plan. What is DMS data migration? When a dealer changes from one DMS provider to another, the new vendor must transfer all data from the old vendor. The process is not as seamless as one might hope. The new program is rarely designed the same way as the current one.  Often, the new vendor has a different user interface, and while it may contain many of the same fields, these fields are likely not in the same order. Suffice it to say it’s not an apples-to-apples transfer. Why would a dealer need data migration? Dealerships conduct data migrations for a variety of reasons. Sometimes a dealer wants to upgrade their DMS to a provider that offers more features or is more user-friendly. For example, a dealer may be using Reynolds & Reynolds but has decided to move to CDK. Other times, data migration needs to happen when one dealership purchases another. Migration is straightforward if the two dealers use the same provider, but it can be quite an undertaking if each uses different systems. Sometimes, data migration is needed if the dealer authorizes third-party access or utilization of customer data on its behalf. What is the most efficient method of data migration? Data migration can be complex depending on the separate vendors' abilities to communicate with each other from a technological standpoint. The new and the current DMS providers are responsible for transferring data, so there is not much for the dealer to do. However, your team should have all hands on deck on the first business day after the migration. Service providers should also be present to guarantee all data is accurately transferred and catch any issues that may arise.   How can a dealership maintain its data to make migration smoother? Dealerships must ensure their data is as clean and as current as possible. The dealer should confirm the DMS provider backs up the requested historical files before the migration begins. The backup should not be restricted or prevent the dealer from successfully importing all the history they have paid for into the new DMS.  If a third-party vendor is utilizing the DMS, it must be alerted well before the migration. Give them sufficient time and resources to align themselves with the new DMS. Frequent data cleansing and updates allow for a smoother transfer.  Tech Target defines data cleansing as "the process of fixing incorrect, incomplete, duplicate or otherwise erroneous data in a data set.” The best advice is to plan ahead! Create backups or downloads of the data to secure it, and set up enough technical support to cover any issues. How can a dealer ensure the data will be secure? A dealer wants assurance that the migration process will be quick and secure. Both DMS providers must have ‘Use and Disclosure’ statements in their contracts. Current FTC rulings require both vendors to provide the proper documentation to the dealer that outlines their compliance. The dealer should check that both DMS providers, as well as any third-party vendors, have insurance to cover the dealer. How much downtime should a dealer expect during this process? Ideally, a dealer wants the database migration service to cause minimal downtime. After all, a dealer cannot afford to disrupt business for too long. It’s a good idea to execute the migration starting on a Saturday at closing time and into Sunday. Depending on the size of the dealer, this process can even carry on into Monday. The new DMS vendor should provide support throughout the migration, and even more so for the training following the migration. Expect to see a period of adjustment as your team acclimates to the new system. All processes can take up to ninety days to get back on pace, but a dealer can shorten the learning curve with extra training. Therefore, a dealer should purchase as much training support as possible when signing on with a new vendor. Time to migrate! When it comes time for a dealer to move to a new DMS provider, the dealer must transfer the data with care. The process can be easier and more secure if the data is clean and current. By partnering and planning with your new DMS provider, you can make the migration as smooth as possible. Thank you to our TVI MarketPro3 pros, David Willard, Kurt Hankey, Robert Morris, and Steve Coad for your professional insight on this topic. Click here for more fixed ops insights.

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Digital Fixed Ops for Customer Reach and Experience

Although most dealerships bumped their digital fixed ops game to the next level in the last couple of years, many dealers still aren’t hitting the digital sweet spot when it comes to their fixed operations. Sales departments continue to steal the spotlight while fixed ops peek around the curtain, trying to get the customers’ attention. To get this attention, fixed ops leaders must ensure both their marketing and customer experience have the digital edge, even shared with the rest of the dealership. You must ensure the following three areas are polished up if you want to improve your digital master plan: FIRST - The customer must be able to find you. SECOND - You must be able to find the customer. THIRD - You must be able to keep the customer. The Customer Must Be Able to Find You Having a digital presence boils down to two main factors, search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search advertisement. Both of these start with knowing which keywords your customers are looking for when needing a repair.   Strong SEO focuses on the value websites offer to users through long-tail keywords, the quantity and quality of website content, and images relative to the content. Dealership websites must have a clearly defined portion of their site dedicated to the service bays, and the information on your website must be up to date. Websites are not the only place you can boost your dealership’s SEO. Larry Hourcle, a NADA Academy Instructor, reminds us that Google My Business Pages can increase your local SEO.  “More than 50% of online searchers will stop on a dealership Google My Business page [if they think you aren’t open] and never make it to your dealership website,” Hourcle insisted at his 2020 NADA Webinar, Proven Fixed Ops Strategies During COVID-19. He stresses, in the webinar, the importance of keeping a dealer’s Google My Business Page Up to Date. You Must Be Able to Find the Customer Once your service department has strong SEO, you need to create a strategy to find your customer. You must know where they are through targeted service marketing. Digital marketing encompasses a multitude of platforms beyond paid search. Digital ads are available on many social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, and will effectively drive service business to your dealership. Not only should you be advertising on social media, but you should also be engaged and interactive on social media. Your followers are looking for valuable content to like and follow, so this must be your priority with social media. Once you provide such content and have an attentive audience, you can announce your next promotion or big sales event. You Must Be Able to Keep the Customer If you cover all the above goals, you should have a good customer base with which to work. While it’s imperative to continue attracting new customers, you must also keep customers through digital strategies. Retaining customers depends primarily on the customer experience. The customer must have a smooth, transparent service if you want to keep them coming back. Many different digital tools can help service department leaders meet this goal. Tools you can implement right away are automated emails and texts or even a service customer app that integrates both email and texts notifications. These tools allow a customer to track their service history, view service pricing, and easily make future service appointments from the convenience of their smartphone or computer. Many of the apps allow for video and photo uploads of their vehicle’s issues.   Digital tools create convenience, but they, more importantly, create transparency which in turn earns trust. Trust and transparency are the keys to ongoing customer relationships. Learn more about digital channels for your service drive.

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Automotive PPC Advertising for Your Marketing Arsenal

Does your dealership's website appear on page one of a car buyer's Google search results? If your answer to that question is yes, congratulations!  Now, think about your service drive for a minute. Does your dealership show up on search engines when someone searches for oil changes near me or car repair near me? You might be shaking your head no.   You are not alone. Many dealerships get lost in the sea of search engine results as they are not participating in paid search activities or are struggling with competition from other dealerships and independents. Paid search campaigns bridge the gap in your digital marketing strategies, providing the right message at the right time to the right consumer.  Pay-per-click or PPC ads are an ideal strategy to ensure your dealership owns as much real estate as possible on the first search engine results page (SERP), but you want to be sure you understand PPC and have a solid plan before jumping in.  Why paid search campaigns? Paid search campaigns offer qualified leads. We are only generating leads off of terms specifically designed for the dealerships’ benefit.  There is a branding aspect, but that is a secondary benefit.  Our main objective is to target a specific set of keywords that will convert customers and get them to a dealership’s service drive.  We strive to increase click-through rates to car dealers’ websites and of course more phone calls for the service drive.  But all of this relies on targeted PPC campaigns with enticing ad copy.   These days, most people are going to do online research. 76% of new and used vehicle shoppers run a search before buying. Automotive consumers overwhelmingly turn to search engines to find dealerships and get answers to their questions. (Source: LSA)Car buyers spend an average of nearly 14 hours online during their search. To appeal to the “always connected” shopper, you must optimize the car-shopping experience across all devices. (Source: Cox Automotive)Nearly 25% of all automotive searches are parts, services, and maintenance related. (Google 2017) It’s all about getting in front of customers as often as possible when they make a qualified search. There is an aspect of owning the first page and pushing your competition down that page.  At the most fundamental structure, paid search is designed to generate leads for dealerships, be it front end or fixed ops and it is a component of the complete strategy. Paid search for automotive parts and services has extremely measurable results, especially for what we are doing.  It’s about fishing where the fish are first.   Paid search versus organic search Paid Search campaigns allow a business to participate in an auction, per se, to serve their ad when someone does a qualified search. Organic search listings are the free results that appear based on a web page’s relevancy to a specific search query.  For a dealership’s fixed operations department, the more space they can take up on that search results pages the better. Push competitors down in the search results and increase their chances of generating an ad click. Paid search and organic search are two completely different things. In organic search, we are not paying for clicks the way we are with paid search, and organic search is a very long-term effort in the sense that you cannot impact organic search results overnight. Organic search results come from quality content and search engine optimization of your website. Conclusion All dealerships should consider utilizing PPC advertising as a valuable marketing channel not only for sales but specifically for fixed ops as well. It will complement and extend your branding and increase customer retention. And it has measurable results to help get the best ROI from your marketing efforts.  Learn how TVI MarketPro3’s Paid Search program can help you meet your fixed ops goals.

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Balanced Approach: Car Dealership Instagram Marketing

Follow any car dealership on social media, and you will notice a lop-sidedness to their digital marketing strategy. The majority of dealerships are almost all, if not entirely, car sales focused. It is especially true when scrolling through Instagram. Most posts target car buyers rather than potential service customers. It is understandable how a dealership might keep the shiny objects upfront and center on Instagram. After all, Instagram is primarily a visual platform. The pretty stuff gets the likes and attracts the followers. But once you have earned these followers, you must consistently remind them of your entire dealership, especially the service drive. After all, customers who do business in your service department regularly are more likely to purchase their next car from your dealership. When utilizing Instagram, auto dealerships should focus on both the sales and the fixed operations sectors of the dealership. Balance both these departments in your Instagram strategy to ensure you are branding your entire dealership. Setting up an Instagram Account If you have not already set up your account, download the Instagram app from the App Store or Google Play Store, or you can use a computer to get started. If you use a computer to set up your account, remember that many Instagram features are only accessible in the app, so you will need to download this either way. Create a username and password, then complete the dealership's profile information. Since this is a company account, be sure the email is a neutral email that will allow multiple people access. You never know when an employee will depart, so it would be a mistake to have everything under an individual's account. Auto Dealer's Instagram Profile Once you set up your account, create a profile. Your profile should reflect your brand, so you are easily recognized, and potential followers can trust that it is your dealership. Your logo should be here, but you must ensure it fits properly. If you do not already have one, have your graphics team create a logo image that is 320 x 320 pixels. Be sure you thoroughly complete the other profile information. Your bio should be similar to a mission statement. And, it should tell potential customers how they will benefit from following your page.   Remember to cover both your sales and service departments in your bio. Never pass up an opportunity to remind your customer that you both service and sell cars. Instagram Feed It is always best to create a plan for Instagram posting. Your feed should include regular postings mixed with photos and videos. Think about the impression you want to make, how often you would like to post, and what days and times you will post.   Hubspot shows the highest engagement to be between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. And Hootsuite recommends posting to your Instagram feed 2-3 times per week and no more than 1x per day. You may post stories more frequently. Regardless of the days/time, you choose to post, create a consistent schedule. Once you have created a posting routine, you can tweak the posting schedule to test engagement rates. Instagram Stories According to Social Insider, Instagram stories should be a prominent part of a business Instagram strategy. Stories offer many benefits beyond your everyday feed, and they allow you to promote your brand, products, or services as much as you want throughout the day. Some benefits of Instagram stories are improved brand visibility and lead generation. Stories also offer high engagement that results in instant feedback to improve the interaction with your audience. You can repurpose your blog content by creating videos of someone highlighting the bullet points from the blog. Or you can put your blog highlights into a graphics slideshow. Instagram stories allow for real-time marketing and advertisement to a target audience. Remind potential customers that you have a tire sale coming up or a special on an oil change that ends today. This messaging allows your service drive to stay top of mind even if Instagram users pass on the promotion at the moment. Hash it Out Hashtags are are the secret to Instagram marketing success. They expand business reach and help grow its audience. However, many people do not know how to use them properly and might even question whether or not they work. When you use a hashtag, you show up on that hashtag page. So when people search for topics related to a specific hashtag, there is a better chance you will catch their attention. You can use up to 30 hashtags in the comment of your post and three hashtags in video descriptions and stories.   A general rule of thumb is to use 15-20 hashtags per post, but you can do more as long as you use them strategically. You must use relevant hashtags for your particular post or business. For example, if you post about your service drive, you might include #carrepair, #oilchange, or #mechanic. These terms all represent your business, and a user might search for them when looking for automotive services. Conclusion The bottom line is your dealership should have a strong presence on Instagram, and it should evenly distribute the spotlight between sales and service. After all, if both customer types matter, then your Instagram and all other social platforms should reflect that. For more fixed ops marketing tips, visit TVI MarketPro3’s Solutions page.

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Leveraging VIN Info for Car Service Data

Are you using all of your car service data when implementing marketing strategies? The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) can be a powerful tool for a vehicle service department. But just having this information is not enough. It is how this information is leveraged that will make an impact on a dealer service drive. What the VIN tells us The VIN is assigned by a vehicle manufacturer when it comes off the production line. We capture a lot of information by just dissecting the VIN. That information includes year, model, make, trim, and even engine type. Therefore, a dealership service department can leverage this data to ensure it provides the right marketing message to the right vehicle owner.  The VIN helps a service adviser determine engine type. He can tell if it is a vehicle with a diesel engine needing a particular oil or if it is an electric vehicle that needs no oil at all. The variances within that VIN allow us to understand what marketing messages to communicate. Collecting VIN Data We capture VIN information within an automotive dealership management system. It is no different than an individual Social Security number here in the United States. The 17-digit key is unique to a single vehicle as it comes off the production line. The VIN tracks transactional history and change of ownership of a vehicle. It does not capture any transactions performed for repair service at a dealer or an independent facility. To gain further information from the VIN, you would use services like CARFAX and other vendors. These vendors provide a vehicle history report using the VIN as a way to track it. The VIN allows the dealership service department to determine vehicle health and repair costs. Combining and Cleaning data This clean key in a database is easily trackable. It is a much better way to track information than just a name, address, or email. Home and email addresses can change, become obsolete, and have typing errors. Typically VINs are mostly accurate within database systems. The last seven digits on 90% of the VINS processed are unique in and of themselves. Marketing companies can dedupe this data when there are multiple transactions for one VIN. The analysts narrow data down to the most accurate data point for all transactions during the life of a vehicle. Leveraging VIN data to market effectively With the VIN’s valuable information, one can identify open recalls and engine types to help make marketing strategy decisions. Without this information, marketers may unintentionally waste money or a customer’s time.  They ultimately market to the masses in a given area rather than specific customers in need of certain services. This vehicle data allows a dealership the necessary information to deliver the best offer to the right vehicle owner. It is vital to the success of all dealership service departments when making marketing strategy decisions. Visit TVI MarketPro3 for more pro marketing information.

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Fixed Ops Digital Map for an Enhanced Experience

When’s the last time you thought about your service department’s customer experience? We’re not just talking about dropping off and picking up, but the experience from the very beginning. How is the customer repair journey from the very first time your dealership’s name popped into the customer’s mind? How did they come across you, and what was the entire experience from that point? As you envision this, think about the digital tools that played a role in enhancing this experience. Are there enough tools, and if not, what more could you add? Here we explore where and how digital tools can take your customer’s car repair journey to the next level. Let technology take the wheel. Technology should drive your service solution decisions. There should be digital tools for each leg of the journey, a digital map to guide customers through the processes of the fixed ops department.   The map starts at the acquisition phase and goes all the way through to the customer satisfaction survey. You should complement each leg of the journey with digital tools. Enhance with email AWeber’s 2020 Small Business Email Marketing Statistics reflects a survey of a thousand small businesses. The report shows that “60% of small businesses say their email marketing strategy is effective or very effective.” Effective email should be personal and targeted and should carry the customer throughout the entire repair or service process. When marketing with email, be sure to create emails that address the readers’ objectives and overcome their objections. Strong content will encourage the reader to open future emails as they will find the content valuable. The more often customers open your emails, the more likely they are to schedule an appointment with your dealership. Email is also a great way to remind customers about their appointments and can also be used to deliver inspection results and costs of recommended services. Email your customer when the service is complete, and of course, follow up with a customer satisfaction survey. Service drive social media There are many social media platforms dealerships can utilize to stay engaged with their customers. The key is to figure out which platforms your target audience frequents and set up camp. Learn the language of your preferred social media platforms. Not all social media outlets speak in the same style or format. The more you peruse and engage, the more you’ll understand how your audience receives messages from each site. Utilize all tools available on social media. Paid ads are a great way to target an audience by a specific age, gender, and location. Platforms like Facebook provide great analytics for their ads allowing you to measure the effectiveness of each ad posted. Woo them with your website Your website is the face of your business and should be maintained as frequently as the dealership facilities. Websites allow dealerships to boost transparency with their service customers. Keep service pricing up to date on your website and allow customers to determine how competitive your dealership is in the market.   Include a detailed description of each service as well as any warranties included. A customer can use this information to compare apples to apples from your dealer to other dealers and independent shops. What’s the point of a website if it doesn’t show up when your target customer searches for “car repair near me”? Use strong search keywords throughout your site to ensure your website shows up in search engine results pages (SERP). Search engine optimization (SEO) requires keyword research and the ability to weave the keywords seamlessly into your website content. Applicable applications Spending time on car maintenance or repairs is an unwelcomed challenge for most car owners. Make the process easier by giving them the ability to schedule online through an app. The customer should also have the ability to check in using the same software. Keep the customer informed with automated notifications for confirmed appointments, pending payments, job approvals, and upcoming services. Moreover, use the same app to communicate with the customer during the service. An inspection could include videos, pictures, and a checklist of recommendations and pricing, all uploaded to the app for the customer’s review. Signing off on the work and making the payment digitally should all be integrated. Top off a service customer’s experience with a “thank you” message, and request their feedback all through the app. Some top apps or software used by the car repair industry include Shopmonkey, Auto Repair Cloud, and Tekmetric, to name a few. Find the software that is the best fit for your service department, learn how to use all of its features, and prepare to teach your customers to do the same. It won’t take long for your service team and your customer base to get on board once they see how much easier life is with these digital tools. Conclusion Increased digital tools will mean increased service business for your dealership. You will see an increase in customer-pay repair orders when utilizing digital tools to enhance the car repair journey. You will also get the added benefit of more time to get more vehicles through your service drive. Click here for more industry insights.

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Automotive Marketing by Area: Fixed Ops Focused

Online marketing is constantly evolving for all businesses, including those in the automotive industry. Auto marketers have a unique challenge when it comes to marketing for a dealership. There are several entities under one umbrella, and they each have target customers they need to reach using unique strategies. Fixed operations departments have an even heftier challenge as they are not only competing with other dealers for repair service customers, but they must also stand out amongst the droves of independent repair shops and quick lubes in their market.   Therefore, dealership service departments should not rely solely on the overall dealership marketing to increase their repair order counts. They must have a customized strategy that targets their specific customers. Local marketing should take precedence rather than attempting to reach a large geographical area.   Fixed Operations Marketing Prep Before committing to marketing services or strategies, a dealership should explore a few areas about its target audience. What is a complete customer lifecycle? Effective marketing goes beyond acquiring a customer. Dealers must ensure the customer experience encourages return visits, and customer retention increases when marketers know the right time to extend an offer. And marketers must present coupons and other promotions that will attract the customer back to the dealership. Who is your fixed operations customer? Car owners come from all walks of life and a wide range of ages and economic circumstances. So it can be a challenge to define a car repair customer. But breaking these customers into segments is a great place to start.   Did they recently purchase a brand new car or a used vehicle? Did they come in for a costly repair or regular maintenance? Do they have multiple children and need their minivan to continue running safely for as long as possible, or are they single and trade in their vehicles regularly?   Knowing these details about your customers not only tells you how to treat them in your service drive, but it also reveals what offers to extend to them for future service. Take a Data-Driven Marketing Approach With Dealership Management Systems (DMS), we have a lot of information about the customers and their vehicles. But go beyond this to ensure you’re reaching the right customer at the right time with the right offer.   TVI MarketPro3 extracts data from multiple databases and merges this information with a dealership’s DMS. TVI uses this information to create an automotive marketing strategy that pinpoints where customers are and where they are in their vehicle ownership. It also allows us to find those customers that may have never entered a particular dealership. What social media platforms do your customers frequent? Do you shy away from social media marketing? Maybe you dabble in some platforms but aren’t interested in a social media deep dive. You might want to reconsider as Facebook alone touts more than 3 billion users.  You can bet a good chunk of these users consists of your current potential customers. Ensure your dealership has the right social media business pages set up and that each of these pages produces effective and relevant content regularly. Post stories and news events your followers will like, comment on, and share. These posts will not always be about your business. Balance the content between sharing other compelling posts, behind the scene videos, and attractive products or offers. Email marketing is still an effective and direct way to remind your current customers that you are there for vehicle maintenance and repairs. Provide valuable email content and follow it with irresistible offers to get more vehicles to your service drive. Use your website as an online compass. Keep your customers in mind when designing your website for both personal computers and mobile devices. Ensure your fixed operations have a bold presence on your dealership website. Also, be sure to publish the dealer address in the header and footer of the site.   Let’s Get Local! Now that you’ve defined your basic customer approach, it’s time to get local. Car dealership marketing must establish a local presence. Think about how potential customers find you and meet them there.   Search engines are the number one way customers seek out car repair services, so why is it when we google “car repair near me” dealerships are not popping up? The search engine results pages (SERP) are full of independent mechanics and other car care providers, but dealerships rarely land at the top of the list.   It even seems as though many car dealers aren’t even reaching the top SERPs when someone searches “for car sales near me.” How does a customer know that local car dealers provide car repairs and car sales when they don’t appear in their online search?   This challenge is due in part to the dealerships having multiple departments that provide different services. Ensuring a dealership’s online optimization is locally focused will attract the customer for a test drive or a vehicle repair. Google My Business (GMB) for the Auto Industry Dealerships must be one with google, and there is no better way to accomplish this marriage than to claim and optimize your Google My Business Profile. Google My Business puts your dealership in a prime position on search results pages. But more importantly, it puts your dealership on the map, the Google Map. Your company or organization information appears in the 3-pack (the top 3 locations) on local search results. These come just below the cost-per-click (CPC) ads that appear at the top of a search results page. Some companies spend thousands of dollars to show up with CPC ads. These ads are one of the best ways to ensure you're found on Google. However, with a highly optimized GMB profile, your business can appear near the top of search results for nothing. These results also have a more organic feel than CPC ads. Take a minute to search for your dealership anonymously. Use an incognito window or tab in Google Chrome or other browsers to prevent your search history from being a factor in your search results.   Try several different key phrases to see where your dealership falls in SERPs. You might be surprised that you have to dig through several pages to find where your dealership is parked. If this is the case, you know your marketing focus should be to optimize your local SEO. Discuss these goals with your marketing team.Learn more on how to be found on search engines; visit TVI MarketPro3.

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Automotive Marketing Services Expectations

Car dealerships have a multitude of choices when it comes to selecting the right marketing company. You must know what you’re looking for before you start interviewing for the company that best fits your dealership’s marketing needs. Before you shop The first step is to define your dealership’s marketing challenges. Then determine the marketing solutions that fit your budget. No two dealers are alike, so specifying your goals before reaching out to marketing companies will help you get through the weeds a lot faster.  Are you a destination dealership located off the beaten path? You likely want to convince your target customers that your dealer is worth the long drive. Perhaps you have a newly established dealership just getting off the ground. Your focus will be on acquiring new customers in the area.  Are you a long-standing established dealer with a full-service drive? Your outreach will be very different in this case. Defining your needs is key to communicating with a marketing team, so they can best serve you. Understanding the industry The automotive industry has unique challenges apart from other industries. The marketing company you bring on board must be knowledgeable about these intricacies. They also need to be aware of the different nature between the sales and the service departments. Marketing these two departments with the same broad brush typically fails to attract business to the service department. Choosing the method and platform Marketing agencies also vary when it comes to the tools and platforms they use to market. Print-focused marketing agencies design and print mailers, magazines, or newspapers. Some companies will send these out to a wide area, and others will hone in on specific targets. Digital marketing companies focus on web services and design and search engine optimization (SEO). They also email offers and promote them across some or all social media platforms. Again, some will cover a large and unspecified audience while others target defined customers. A full-service marketing company is just that. They serve all industries and use a wide array of tools and platforms. While this is convenient, a dealer should ask questions about the company structure. For example, who oversees each strategy or platform? Learn what systems and marketing strategies the company has to ensure nothing slips through the marketing cracks. Look at each area of the company for its successes as well as the company’s success overall. Conclusion Dealerships spend a great deal of money on marketing, so it’s imperative they get a positive return on their investment. Regardless of what type of company you partner with, you must review the company’s track record. Ask to see results from specific campaigns, testimonials from past clients, and references to call. These actions will give you peace of mind that the company will represent your dealership as though it were their own. Click here for more automotive marketing resources.

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Recall Marketing for Dealership Service Departments

As of January 2021, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported 70,900,000 current recalls in the automotive industry. Hence, there are millions of vehicles on the road that are unsafe and needing repair.  It also means that customers are out there waiting for a notice about a recall. After all, this manufacturer-paid repair is a no-brainer, and if you reach these customers at the right time, they’ll likely choose your services for this repair. What is recall marketing? Recall marketing uses vehicle data to reach out to drivers who have active recalls on their vehicles and invite them into your service drive for the repair. It is an often-overlooked automotive marketing strategy, but dealers miss out on a great opportunity when they fail to reach these vehicle owners. Safety recalls are a top priority for drivers. Take these recalls, for example, NHTSA reports that tens of millions of vehicles with Takata airbags are under recall because long-term exposure to high heat and humidity can cause these airbags to explode when deployed. There’s also a recall for the hood on certain 2013-2018 Nissan Altimas. The hood could unexpectedly open while the vehicle is moving because of an issue with a secondary hood latch. These are safety concerns, so a dealership is providing a much-needed service when making drivers aware of these recalls. If the information to call and schedule an appointment is right there on the notice, and the customers see the repair is of no cost to them, why would they not call? Where do you find recall information? The Recall Management Division (RMD) of the NHTSA maintains the administrative records for all safety recalls. But there are other data sources.  The NHTSA database provides information such as the vehicle owner, the vehicle identification number, and open recalls.  At TVI MarketPro3, we merge this data with other sources to reach the current owner at the correct address. Why you should use recalls as a marketing tool Getting customers through the door is the primary goal when marketing for the service drive. Dealers do this through a discounted oil change, a free tire rotation, and many other promotions and discounts. So why not try to rein in guaranteed paid repairs?  Dealers should not underestimate the value of getting the customer in, so they can experience outstanding service. Some people never consider using a dealer to service their vehicle. Service advisors must show them what they have been missing out on and entice them to return for future service. How to reach the recall customers Vehicle owners receive recall notices from manufacturers. But the manufacturer is limited in what they know about who currently owns the vehicle and where they live. People sell or trade in their cars, and people move to a new home on a fairly regular basis. So the manufacturer may be sending the notice to an incorrect address. Dealers can be the recall heroes. Merging and scrubbing data from multiple sources allows a dealer to reach the current owner at their current address. The physical address is the most useful information gathered. So sending a postcard or a letter with this news about their vehicle is the most direct way to reach these customers. Go to TVI MarketPro3 for more automotive service marketing solutions.

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Vehicle Dealership Management System: A Marketer's Tool

The automotive industry takes in a lot of information with each transaction. Organizing and storing this data is critical for any car dealership. Dealers rely on the vehicle dealership management system (DMS) to best serve and market to their customers.  A DMS is a single, cloud-based, platform that dealers use for inventory management, car sales, customer information, credit reports, and printing paperwork. Dealer management software solutions allow dealers to manage their entire business in real time from a single login platform. A DMS is the control center for the whole dealership. These systems walk the customer’s information from lead generation through the sales process and then on to the service department. The core applications of a DMS are accounting, payroll, accounts payable, parts inventory and invoicing, service merchandising and invoicing, vehicle management, and F&I. These come standard with most systems. What information do dealers extract from the Dealer Management System (DMS)? The data found in a DMS reveals every time a client visited the dealership to spend money. You can filter clients by the type of service work they ordered, parts they bought, vehicles they purchased, and many other areas. For example, if you wanted to look at repair orders for everybody who spent over a thousand dollars in customer-pay labor, you could extract this data from the DMS. How can a dealership get the most out of its DMS? To maximize your DMS capabilities once you have all the necessary tools and add-ons, you must be sure to enter information consistently and accurately. Input is critical to a successful DMS, as you can only get out of the system what you put into it. Like duplicate customer entries, oversights can cause dealers to market to the same customer multiple times. The service advisor will have difficulty determining past repairs if there are data-entry mistakes. It helps to search the system by customer name, telephone number, and VIN. However, telephone numbers change occasionally, and customers often arrive with a new or different vehicle than the one they previously had serviced. Cross-checking data before inputting a new customer will prevent duplicate entries. Ensuring Accurate Data Entry On the service drive, systems today scan the VIN. It is one of the most foolproof methods for the service department, but you still need to review all the other information with the customer to be sure they don’t have two separate accounts in your system. A dealer’s leadership needs training and accountability to ensure the entire team handles customer input similarly. It should be set up in writing as a step-by-step process to follow. Getting everybody into the CRM system and then getting your salespeople to adhere to your follow-up schedule are also important uses of the DMS. Dealers also use a DMS to track inventory by the number of days a car has been on the lot. Marketers should make decisions specifically accounting for these factors.  DMS Use in the Parts Department The parts department is probably the most cut-and-dry regarding DMS use. The parts department uses the computer more than any other department in the dealership. You may have 250,000 part numbers. Manual processing of parts inventory would be a massive task. A DMS tracks the monthly parts in stock. Using an automated parts system helps determine lost sales within the department. Learn more on how TVI MarketPro3 extracts and uses valuable DMS data.

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Automotive Direct Mail Marketing

The automotive industry has a vast array of options when it comes to marketing. Marketing campaigns include emails, social media, radio, and tv ads. However, do not overlook the power of the printed word. Direct mail is still a viable and cost-effective tool for targeting customers.  What is Direct Mail Marketing? Direct mail marketing is a printed piece that is sent and delivered to a home or business. There are many types of direct mail pieces that you can send, and there are various mail services. United States Postal Service is the most common and frequently used among marketing agencies in the United States.  Effectiveness of Direct Mail Marketing A customer.com case study for a large regional bank revealed direct mail is a viable source of acquiring accounts. The right combination of components in the campaign could improve response rates above 25 percent. The results can also occur in automotive marketing. Checking mail is something most people do daily, and many companies continue to send bills through the mail. Therefore, it is likely your mailed pieces will reach the hands and eyes of your customer. When it does, it will allow them to see your brand and your contact information. Therefore, your marketing messages must be well-planned to get the most out of your mail campaign.  Direct Mail Design To make your mail piece stand out from the bundle of mail people receive regularly, there are a few things you need to consider. First, think about what typically catches your attention as you are filtering through your mail. What do you put aside? What do you throw something away, and what makes you stop and look? Size matters, so you want to make sure that you avoid mail pieces that are too small or too big. If it is too small, it might get caught between a magazine or folded grocery offers. If it is too big, the consumer may not want it taking up counter space, so it will quickly find its way to the circular file. Another thing to keep in mind is that you don't want to overwhelm the potential customer with too much text. Your messaging should be short, concise, and properly spaced from the other elements on the mailer. Mailing allows the sender to use bright and bold colors that are more forgiving in print advertising. Using vivid colors on an email tends to strain the viewer's eyes, but this is not the case for printed pieces. Any images and logos you use must be sharp and clear to make a good impression. Make sure that you're purchasing and using stock images that are high resolution. A blurry photo, or an image that is not scaled proportionally, can jeopardize the legitimacy of your mailer. If you have a folded mail piece or an enclosed piece, make sure the outside gives your recipient a clue as to what is inside. Add a message to the outside that will encourage the recipient to open your delivery?  Targeted Solutions While direct mail is highly effective, it can often cast a wide net onto an undefined audience. Targeted direct mail will always bear more results as you are mailing the right message to the right customer at the right time. It ensures the mailer money goes to the intended customer. Learn more about targeting automotive customers.

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Automotive Retention Rate for Dealers

The customer retention rate is a measurement all dealerships pay close attention to. Retention reflects the customer experience and ultimately affects the bottom line for the dealership. Both the sales and service departments seek high customer retention rates. Calculating Customer Retention Rate There are no standard calculations for dealership retention. Every manufacturer has a specific method for calculating retention, so dealership leaders focus on these metrics. It is imperative that fixed ops leaders consistently review their performance and work to find ways to improve their scores. Finding Retention Rate Data for Sales Finding the dealership’s sales retention rate depends on the manufacturer they represent. Some manufacturers may not even measure retention. When manufacturers measure retention, they provide this information on the internal dashboard within the dealer network. Finding Retention Rate Data for Service Every manufacturer measures retention rates for the service department. The district parts and service manager will often provide these reports directly to the dealership service manager via email. Typically, they're available monthly in the dashboard that the manufacturer provides the dealers. Calculating the Retention Rate for Dealerships The retention rate is automatically calculated for dealers in the metric from the manufacturer. Calculations vary from one manufacturer to another. Typically dealerships track customers that have one customer-pay repair or warranty repair order in a rolling 12 months. Some also track customers that have two or more customer-pay or warranty repair orders in this same period. What is Considered a Good Retention Rate? A good retention rate depends on the type of car line, which can be segmented into three categories. Category number one covers all domestic lines of cars. Category number two is the import car line, while category number three includes highline cars. Surveys of various dealers show that domestic stores define a successful retention rate as retaining 55% of their service clients. These are clients who have been in one or more times within the last 12 months. For import carlines, the threshold would be 60% or better. Highline cars would need 65% or better to be declared a success. There are a handful of reasons for these differences. One reason is that certain carlines have done a better job branding themselves to help customers identify with the brand. This influences a customer to return to the dealership to have their car serviced. Another aspect of it is the maintenance intervals. Domestic vehicles often have the shortest maintenance interval between minor services. Import vehicles tend to have slightly longer maintenance intervals. Luxury cars like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audis have the longest maintenance intervals in between minor services. Domestic vehicles might need service every 5,000 to 7,000 miles, while imported vehicles need service every 5,000 to 7,500 miles. Some of the highline vehicles can go 12,000 to 15,000 miles in between maintenance intervals. Conclusion A winning dealership relies heavily on returning customers, especially in the service department, but knowing your customer retention rate will help you set goals for your dealership in both the sales and the service departments.  Meeting these goals can have a great impact on the success of the dealership as a whole, so it’s imperative to review and analyze these numbers regularly, allowing for adjustments to be made throughout the year. Learn more about measuring your marketing success.

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Car Dealership Marketing: The Digital Basics

Car dealership marketing strategies need to focus on targeting potential customers. However, dealerships have multiple customer types that range anywhere from car buyers to parts and service customers. Marketing to this range of customers must be specific to customer needs for it to be effective. Not only must you define and customize your marketing to a specific customer, but you must also customize your marketing according to your platform. This is particularly so when using digital marketing platforms.  The Right Message for the Right Customer A customer going through the buying process is different than one who needs repair or maintenance. Car dealers need to recognize these differences and ensure they are speaking their customer’s language. A customer who is not in the market for a new car still needs service, but they tend to overlook dealerships for their service needs. It’s no surprise, however, as dealerships tend to focus more on car sales when marketing. Auto dealerships must have a focused strategy for their service department that is independent of their sales department. And both departments must use multiple platforms to get the message out to these target customers. Automotive Digital Marketing Strategies In the automotive industry, both the service and sales departments must utilize the many platforms offered in the digital realm to reach their target audience. There are many platforms to choose from, but you can sort them into four categories: website, online reviews, emails, and social media. Website Design Dealership websites must be designed and optimized for both PC and mobile devices. It should be easy to navigate, and the messaging should be clear and concise. Ensure the site is segmented and organized so that the user knows exactly where to go to get answers and learn more about your dealership and its services. Website Content The website content is just as important as the design. A beautifully designed website with weak content is like a fancy car with no engine. Ensure your website is full of information your target customer would be seeking. Help them find your site easily by adding enough SEO keywords on every page. Website SEO Search engine optimization (SEO) is imperative if you want your dealership to show up on the search results page. It should be optimized for sales, but also for service if the goal is to gain traffic in your service drive. Don’t overlook your local SEO. This is how customers find your dealership by location on applications like google maps. Glowing Reviews Ensure your online reviews represent you in a positive light. Reviews are huge for the automotive industry, as customers are very wary of incompetence and fraud. Word of mouth is very influential, and online reviews are the digital word of mouth.  Increase your positive reviews by asking a satisfied customer to leave a quick review. Make it easy for them by dropping the link in an email or even a text if you have a texting system. A happy customer is generally delighted to leave a review when it’s only a click away. Email Essentials Add email to your marketing “to-do” list. Send emails consistently, and ensure the subject line and call to action lead the customer to open the email and click through to your website. The customer becomes more familiar and thereby more comfortable with your dealership through well-written and designed emails. Provide a variety of emails that include welcome messages, value offers, and promotions. Changing the emails up will increase the likelihood they will be opened and maybe even enjoyed by your customers. If you send the same type of email over and over again, you are telling the customer it’s okay to send your emails straight to the trash. Welcome Emails Welcome emails are just that; you’re taking a minute to welcome a customer to your facility and thank them for allowing you to serve them. Go easy on the graphics on this one, so it feels as close to a handwritten letter as possible. It should make the customer feel like the sales or service manager took the time to reach out personally. Value Emails Value emails provide information the customer needs and will find valuable. Maintenance schedules that show what services to plan and budget for are gold for a service customer. Reminders to schedule that next service will also keep the customer clicking. For your past sales customers, entice them to open their emails by letting them know what deals you have coming up and any exclusive service events that might benefit them. Promotional Emails Yes, the promotional emails are at the bottom of the list for a reason. They are not less important, but it does keep your customer from feeling bombarded by promotions. A customer’s inbox is already overwhelmed with these types of emails. To stand out, encourage your customer to open and enjoy your emails before asking them for something. Social Settings Social media is a must if you want to stay in front of your target audience. The most popular social media platforms are Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, so be sure you or a team member is comfortable and competent in using these communication applications. Conclusion Auto dealers cannot overlook the marketing capabilities that are right at their fingertips. A thorough marketing plan and schedule for all marketing efforts will help dealers effectively reach the ideal customers. Click over to TVI MarketPro3 for more marketing tips and information.

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Recall Data Management for Dealership Service Drives

The difference between recall versus an open recall A recall would be a defect that the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) has deemed a manufacturer must remedy, fix, or resolve for the customer. Hence manufacturers file recalls on vehicles and appliances throughout the United States. An open recall is a recall that has not been remedied or repaired by that manufacturer. So, any "open recall" means the recall repair still needs to be performed.  Targeting open recalls The automotive industry finds open recalls by identifying VINs that still have recalls not yet repaired. You can do so by sourcing the data through multiple vendors, checking manufacturer websites, and the NHTSA website. There are multiple data points out there that allow various dealership service centers to verify completed repairs for an open recall.  How recalls help the bottom line for fixed operations So the benefit from a financial perspective or the bottom line for a dealership is that recalls cost the consumer nothing. And the dealership is paid per their agreement with the manufacturer for flagged hours, parts, and those reimbursement rates set in place. A dealership targeting lucrative recalls can enhance its profits and bottom lines for fixed operations.  Dealership focus on open recalls The focus on getting recall customers through the door is specific to each dealership. Some dealerships are very strong at making sure they have processes to identify every recall that comes into the drive. In addition to this, multiple states now require recalls for vehicle sales. Undoubtedly there is a strong focus in the automotive industry on resolving recalls.  Attracting recall customers Dealerships have a lot of tools at their fingertips to help resolve these issues. First of all, your local marketing company or your preferred service marketing company should have access to recall data. Many dealerships source or file a list through Business Development Centers (BDC). This list can be provided by mining your Dealership Management System (DMS) data. Also, a dealership can have a marketing company or manufacturer produce a target list. The BDC can call this list, or the service advisors can utilize some downtime to reach out to these recall customers.  Conclusion Attracting recall customers can be a valuable way to increase traffic in your service drive. Dealers can do this through direct mail and email marketing and making actual live phone calls through your BDC or advisor team. Once you get these customers in your drive, the goal will be to influence return visits for future maintenance and repair services. TVI MarketPro3 has a robust recall marketing strategy. Learn more.

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Measuring Dealership Retention and Customer Loyalty

What is retention? In the automotive industry, retention defines the dealer's ability to generate real, authentic loyalty with its customers. Retention is a factor now more than ever. The industry has finally realized the CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) is not necessarily an indicator of business growth. Dealerships can have a fantastic CSI result and still have a decline in business. And conversely, you can have a dealership with atrocious customer satisfaction results, but their business continues to grow. Customer retention is a great equalizer because you cannot fake this measurement. Retention performance only comes when you service a customer multiple times within a certain period. Having good retention and customer loyalty is required for sustained growth. If you lose a customer for every customer gained, you break even. Is retention more of a factor in sales or service? Both are required for a dealership to prosper, but if you have to pick, it is more necessary to retain service customers than sales customers. Dealerships that sell a hundred new cars per month will service roughly 1500 vehicles in the same month. Keeping 70% of 1500 customers is much more impactful than retaining 70% of the hundred new sales customers. Measuring Dealership Retention Every manufacturer measures retention differently. Some manufacturers want one repair order in 12 months, and others look for two repair orders in 15 months. This difference in measuring retention carries over to sales as well.  Manufacturers each have their methods of tracking retention, which is why TVI created a retention report that can be applied to every dealership, regardless of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). This report is one of our foundational True Market Study reports. Marketing Strategy from Service to Sales The marketing strategy dealers use for sales department retention is vastly different than that of service department retention. Dealers should examine retention goals from an overall dealership standpoint as well as within each department.  It has to be part of the store culture from the dealer principal down to the lot porter. Everybody has to care about retaining their clients. The dealership must have the right culture with the right people in place doing the right things. It is all about customer experience! Customer retention comes down to one main idea: the customer must have an overall fabulous experience. It is not enough to settle for a good experience anymore. To stand out in this vast market, you must earn customers that will continue to come back. Not only should they return, but they should also rave to their friends and family about their experience.  The area to focus on for customer satisfaction is the timeliness of getting the customer in and completing the repair. A dealer also needs to ensure their pricing structure is competitive and transparent. A clean facility and a customer-friendly team also have an impact on retention. When it comes to retention, the ideas may seem simple, but it takes a good leader and lots of discipline to execute them. If a dealership leader can create the right culture, the customers will keep coming back time and time again. Click here for more valuable automotive marketing insights.

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Increase Your Reach with Car Dealership Facebook Ads

Many if not most car dealers have a Facebook page for increasing brand awareness, but not all of these businesses utilize Facebook ads as part of their digital marketing strategy. With billions of monthly active Facebook users, how does a business owner know an advertisement will not get wasted on droves of users who could or would never use their products or services?  One thing is for sure, a large segment of your dealership audience is on Facebook. And Facebook has tools to help you find and send the right message to this audience. These ads and messages will motivate them to visit. The first step to getting the most out of Facebook Ads is understanding the vast capabilities Facebook offers when it comes to delivering your marketing message.  Setting your Facebook Ad Goals Facebook offers multiple advertising objectives, so dealers can customize ads to meet business goals. Selecting the right objectives will help reach these goals no matter if the goal is to increase engagement, encourage users to click through to the dealer website, or find new leads for car sales and services. Facebook Ad Basics There are four basic ways to advertise on Facebook. ~ Boost a post.~ Create a page ad.~ Create a website ad.~ Promote your call-to-action button. These are all great ways to reach and engage with your desired audience. Advanced Facebook Ad Options A dealer can use Ads Manager to create and manage the ads it pays for on Facebook. Ad creation will allow a dealer to access more ad types than are offered from their page. It is where one can find lead ads for lead generation as well as conversions and brand awareness. Ads for the overall dealership Trish Fleming of TVI MarketPro3 has spent years researching automotive Facebook Ads, and she says creating the right ad for a dealership “depends on the objective.” For example, some dealerships would like to use Facebook to brand their name and products. So ads with high impression objectives or high reach objectives are the perfect ads for those customers. Fleming personally finds the ads that produce leads are more beneficial in the long run. Whether you send the ads to Facebook Messenger or you send them to a lead form does not matter as much as producing the leads so that they can turn into a sale. Service Department Ads Lead generation ads work the best for the service department. Nothing is exciting about having to have your vehicle serviced or getting an oil change, so the offer must have a compelling message. Most surveys reveal a 93% use of coupons for those needing vehicle service. Having the ability to provide a customer with a coupon immediately when they engage with your ad on Facebook enables the dealership to convert that customer. Multiple Ad Creatives Facebook advertising offers you creatives like video ads, image ads, slideshows, and carousel ads. You can pick the elements that work best for your target audience. Using a variety of creatives throughout your ad campaigns allows you to reach a variety of Facebook users. Service Ads versus Sales Ads Everyone in the automotive industry knows that the fixed ops department pays the bills for the dealership, so the dealership must have a Facebook advertising campaign that produces a trackable ROI. Creating the proper budget allocations to service and sales has always been a tricky task. The dealership should first figure out what its goals are for the year. Service ads tend to drive immediate traffic. But the gross on the sale is low, and sales ads are a larger ticket item in the end. However, they do not convert as quickly. Most dealerships should allocate $1200-$2000 a month for effective service department ad campaigns to run on Facebook. Facebook Ad Budget Customize your budget within your ad account by setting Facebook Ad objectives. These objectives should reflect the needs and available budgeting dollars of your dealership. Most ad types have a minimum budget range of one to five dollars per day. Your budget can also be adjusted, put on hold, or stopped altogether as the dealership finances change. Setting up an account spending limit is a way to make sure you stay within your budget. Targeting Options As with all marketing, the more targeted your efforts, the better, and a dealer can customize their target Facebook audience by location, demographics, age, and gender. It can also target specified interests, behavior, and connections. More advanced targeting tools like Lookalike Audiences allow you to target people that appear to have the same interests as your ideal audience. Measured Success of Facebook Ads You can use the Facebook measurement tools to learn how often people engage with your ads. Each ad you create can be measured using Facebook insights, metrics, and tools. You gain better measurement tools, and you gain a better understanding of ad effectiveness and which creatives drive the best results. You can also access tools that help you find your audience and reach more of the right customers. A Facebook Meta Pixel measures activity on your website. It might be when someone views a particular service or product. Pixels get your ads shown to the right people or help find new customers. They also help to increase sales and measure the effectiveness of an ad. Facebook Dynamic Ads Facebook describes dynamic ads as “the use of machine learning to scale ads when there is a broad range of products or services.” This automatic delivery considers customer interests and actions to send relevant services and offers. It is the reason you see an ad pop up on Facebook that reflects a recent Facebook or Google search. Instant Ad Feedback There is nothing better than getting instant feedback from an ad you just posted. Facebook will notify you with ad approval, new reports, and low balances. These notifications will also let you know when people interact with your ad. Reciprocate with these interactions to capitalize on your Facebook Ad efforts. Facebook ads allow for some of the most targeted audience engagement of all marketing strategies. Dealerships must present a clear, attractive message that allows for customer interaction and must have someone assigned to respond to this interaction for the most impact. This system will help build an online following and get more sales and service customers to the dealership. For more dealership social media best practices, visit TVI MarketPro3.

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Increase Service Department Sales with a Winning Team

As the dealership service department director, you have a huge responsibility to meet your sales goals. Not only do you need to keep the existing customers returning to your service drive, but you need to have a professional team of technicians that can get the work done in the most efficient manner possible. Dealership service centers must sell three things to be successful. First, they must educate a customer on why a service is needed. Then, they have to sell them on their establishment as the best facility to have the service done, with state-of-the-art equipment and a five-star lobby. And finally, they must sell their team of technicians as the best ones to perform the service. Spotting The Upsell You cannot meet your fixed ops sales goals alone, so you must teach your team how to recognize an opportunity to sell additional work. Upselling happens in our everyday life. The most notable upselling industry is fast-food restaurants. Many people say "no thank you" to that warm cookie or hot apple pie, but for some, the cashier presents the question at just the right time.  Your technicians then need to know how to present additional repairs or maintenance to the customer with tact and professionalism. They can do this by educating the customer more than selling to them. Spending a little extra time to show someone their vehicle's issues in person, or through pictures and videos, can establish trust. Overcoming The Objection It is essential to train your team to overcome service customer objections without high-pressure sales tactics. If a customer declines a recommended service or repair, a tech needs to educate the customer on why they need it and exactly how urgent it is. Ensure your technicians know why things need to be done and empower them to communicate these needs to the customer. Be sure not to overload the customer with a dozen potential maintenance or repair needs. Prioritize these by necessity and present the top two or even just one if it is a pricey fix. There will not always be the opportunity to upsell on maintenance and repairs. Regardless of whether or not additional work must be done, offer to schedule their next oil change before they walk out the door. The Perfect Price Price transparency is critical with service department sales. Dealerships should have competitive prices, but not necessarily the lowest. List maintenance prices on the website, so there are no surprises when a customer arrives. Keep Up With The Finances Educate yourself on the dealership's financial statements, and review these consistently. Watch overhead expenses and labor rates in addition to gross profit and net profit. You can meet your sales goals all day long, but if your expenses and labor costs are too high, you will not see the desired profits. Visit TVI MarketPro3 for more automotive service marketing tips.

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Getting the most of your car service data

With so many dealerships competing for vehicle owners to use their auto care services, choosing the right marketing strategies can be challenging. But regardless of which marketing strategies and platforms a dealer implements, there is no question that the more targeted your marketing, the better outcome you will have. Dealership marketers need to be as targeted as possible by knowing these three things: where to find the data, how to clean the data, and how to use the data.  Collecting the data Dealers collect vehicle data from their DMS (dealership management system). Dealers should gather this information daily to track an individual customer’s interaction with a dealership. Some companies compile car data to track who owns the car in a specific area and what kind of car they own. They collect details from insurance companies and independent shops.  These companies lease or sell the data to dealership marketers. And some websites offer vehicle recall information. A marketer can log on to these websites, check a VIN, and learn if it has an open recall.  Cleaning your data When collecting data from multiple sources, there will most likely be duplicate data. To dedupe data, dealerships must cross-check names and addresses from outside sources with the DMS. The dealer data is almost always the most up-to-date and accurate data, so it should be the anchor, and it should take top priority when cleaning data.  Dealers should compare VINs to see the last time a car was in for service. Vehicles serviced at a dealership often take top priority. A vehicle that received service at one dealership three years ago may have used another dealership more recently. The customer may have sold the car, or they may have moved.  These are all factors that need to be merged and scrubbed to create a target contact list. Review the addresses on the list to see if the customer is still in the dealership’s area. The radius from the dealership is one way of looking at this. But you can also narrow the data down by drive time.  Automated or Manual Data Processing Perform this type of data collection and analysis manually. However, an automated program allows this information to be as up-to-date as possible. TVI MarketPro3 has a program that does all of this automatically.  TVI gathers around a million records a day from DMS and other sources. These records come in overnight and are converted to a standardized format. The database is cleaned, new records are added, and updates are made.  The Right Customer The goal of all data manipulation is to pinpoint your marketing by several metrics. But the most common metrics used are the make, model, and age of the vehicle. We also gather vehicle services needed and the customer’s drive time from the dealership. The message you send using this data must be to a specific customer and about their vehicle’s health. For more on automotive data for marketing, visit TVI MarketPro3.

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Fixed Ops Marketing to Increase Your Repair Orders

A major goal in a dealership service department is to increase the number of repair orders coming through the service drive. To make this happen, service managers must have a solid plan specifically for service marketing. This marketing is unique from that of the rest of the automotive industry. After all, car sales customers look for a very different experience than a customer who needs vehicle maintenance or repair. Solutions Marketing Solutions for the service department should cover both print and digital platforms to get your brand in front of the right customer. Direct mail and local magazine and newspaper ads are all ways of getting your brand in front of an audience. The question is, what audience will you reach with print marketing? Direct mail is one of the only print options that can be narrowed down and sent to a targeted audience. Digital marketing allows for several targeted approaches. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram enable you to place business ads that will reach a customer-defined by age, gender, and a specific physical location or radius. Ensuring you have a strong online presence is important when potential customers are browsing for car services. An SEO-friendly website design in conjunction with tools like Google My Business can help your dealership land at the top of the results pages. Fixed operations marketing tools are the same as those used across many industries. However, you should customize the message to the needs of your service customers. Educating the customer When marketing for the service department, the goal is to educate the customer and address potential objections.  Your customer must understand why it’s important to schedule certain services, why they should use a dealership over an independent repair shop, and why they should use your dealership service department over your competitors. What are the common problems these customers have, and what are your service solutions? In conclusion, dealerships can choose from many different marketing solutions, and we're only scratching the surface here. TVI MarketPro3 makes it easy to decide which platforms to use, which customers to target, and what message to send.

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Fixed Ops Business Versus Variable Ops Business

Fixed Ops and Variable Ops are terms used in the car dealership industry. They uniquely identify two main parts of a dealership. Making this distinction defines what role each of these parts plays in dealership success. It also determines dealership marketing strategies for each of these entities. Definition of Fixed Ops Stability is what sets fixed operations apart in dealerships. Both the expenses and the revenue in parts and services tend to be more stable (or fixed) than in sales because these departments have fewer variables. Definition of Variable Ops The term "variable operations" usually refers to the area of a dealership with multiple variables that affect the expenses and the revenue. What part of the dealership is fixed ops? Fixed operations would be everything involved with repairing a car. The fixed ops department consists of the service and parts department and has a more consistent base for expenses and income. Customers still utilize a dealer service business even during the variables that impact car sales. So, the term fixed operations assumes that if you build it, they will come because there will always be a need for car service. If you have a repair facility and people know it, you can get a predictable amount of business.  What part of the dealership is variable ops? The car sales department is the variable operations portion of the dealership. The variables in car sales can range anywhere from weather and holidays to advertising and promotions. Of course, market conditions and inventory also have an impact on car sales success. Importance of knowing the difference Over the years, dealerships have viewed variable operations or sales operations as the primary breadwinner compared to fixed operations. However, the thinking has shifted in recent times as more dealerships understand the unique impact each area has. It is imperative to know the profit of variable ops and fixed ops for any period. It allows a dealership to identify trends in each department. Marketing strategy differences between fixed and variable operations Marketing strategies differ between fixed and variable because you're selling two different things. So, it is necessary to market these separate parts of the business independently if you want overall success for the dealership. Variable ops and fixed ops must market with their competitors in mind. Variable ops or car sales competition is no longer just the dealer down the road. On the contrary, it now includes a wide range of online delivery options for car buyers. The dealer must convince its audience that the visit to the dealership will be worth it. And that competition for fixed ops has also expanded over the years: it now includes businesses from local independent garages to big chain quick lubes. Dealers must entice specific, targeted marketing customers to drive past these other options to create fixed ops success.

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Facebook Automotive Dynamic Ads Overview

We’ve all seen the ads that pop up when we’re scrolling through Facebook. It’s like it’s reading our minds. Maybe you were browsing a website’s product catalog, and you flip over to Facebook to see a similar ad. While it may not be reading our minds, it is reading our searches and our behavior. Facebook pages for auto dealers already serve an important marketing purpose. Vehicles feed the majority of the content on a dealers’ page. Automotive inventory ads and vehicle detail pages capture their audience’s attention. But Facebook Dynamic Ads are important to the automotive industry to get the message to the exact right audience. What is a Facebook Dynamic Ad? Facebook dynamic ads are the same as other Facebook Ads in that they use the same creative design such as carousels, static single images, or video. But, dynamic ads also use the Facebook algorithms to feed the ads to people based on their search interests and actions.  This targeted form of advertising is put in front of a specific group of customers; customers identified as leads or potentially interested consumers. How do Facebook Ads Work? This model allows you to reach consumers that are already interested in the products or services that you're selling within the Facebook platform. The Benefits of a Facebook Dynamic Ad Dynamic ads have several benefits, such as having the ability to send creative content to customers that have shown interest in your products or services but have not previously purchased from you. These ads are automated, which does not require a lot of time for maintenance. And dynamic ads allow you to retarget your website customers. Most importantly, they help the business to find new shoppers. Using Dynamic Ads to Market for Car Sales Using dynamic ads will allow a business to feed ads to people who have shown interest online for the products or services the business provides. The more new people that see your company, the more the sales will increase. Dynamic ads can be used as limited-time offers since you can set an end date when you publish the ad. That way, it is not still floating around Facebook once the offer has expired. This is especially important with sales. Best use of Dynamic Ads for the Service Department The benefits for sales and service are the same, new customers. The creative will be different for the service customer than a sales customer, but the objective remains the same. Service ads are going to be customized to fit a particular customer segment or vehicle. The offer could be whatever the dealer wants it to be, but traditionally, it's something like an oil change. Steps to Creating a Facebook Dynamic Ad First, you would start by understanding the objective. Do you want to increase your traffic or focus on conversions? Then you would work on the creative. Video tends to be the best form for catching the attention of potential buyers. To run dynamic Facebook ads, you need the Facebook pixel code on the backend of your website. This pixel code should have events and parameters installed. Facebook needs access to this code to accurately feed the ads to people who have shown interest in your products or services. And it also enables them to track back purchases made from the ads. Check out TVI MarketPro3 to see how we use Facebook Ads to help dealers grow their RO.

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Elements of Effective Automotive Marketing Video

Video content is valuable as a form of digital marketing. It can help browsers find your content on search engines when it's done right. The challenge many dealers face when it comes to automotive video is the cost that goes into hiring a production team to create high-quality, professional videos. But this doesn’t have to be the case. You can now use your smart devices to create compelling and persuasive marketing videos.  Easy video marketing for the service department Service teams are surrounded by great opportunities for a video every day. Here are just a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing: Capture the moment Capture the quick oil change, so customers feel confident your quick work doesn’t mean careless work. They can see the expertise that goes into this service. Share testimonials When a customer is gushing over the service they received, ask them to share that on video. Introduce your team Instill confidence in the customer by allowing them to meet your service team. These videos only take as long as it takes the techs to introduce themselves and share a little background. Give tips for maintenance This is where the Service Advisor gets to shine. This could be a 5-minute video that gives tips for car service and maintenance. The series can have a special name like “Five-minute Fridays with Fred.” That is if Fred is your Service Advisor’s name, but you get the point. Video Ads You may want to spend a little more time writing, storyboarding, videoing, and editing your ads. All elements must come together to send a specific message, especially if it's a paid ad. What types of videos should be produced for a dealership sales department? Creating videos for the sales department will be different from those you create for the service department. The shiny new car and the overall sales experience are the main focuses for the car shopper. These are great videos to include on a dealer website. Customers are expecting to watch a video when they land on a car dealership website. The sales manager can create videos specifically for social media that promote sales events and other sales-related information. Always keep in mind your specific audience when you’re creating a video. An auto dealership’s sales customers are different from the service customers. Customize your visual messaging to the needs of each of these customers. Capturing quality video Our devices capture incredible video these days, so the only thing you need to worry about is how and where you hold the camera. Hold it steady and hold it in the right direction. Shaky camera work can be very distracting, and it’s not fun to watch. Hold steady when recording, and if you have naturally shaky hands, consider getting a tripod specifically made for your particular device.  Pay attention to your background. Shoot video in an area that is clean and represents your dealership in a positive light. Determine which platform you’ll be posting to and video in landscape or portrait mode according to what works best for that platform. A mobile editing app like Adobe Rush will help you quickly and easily format your video according to whichever social media platforms you prefer. Go to TVI MarketPro3 for more automotive marketing tips.

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Digital Marketing Trends in Automotive

With the year 2020 serving up a pandemic, the automotive sector stepped up its digital game. Dealerships were all challenged to enhance the customer experience for car buying and servicing. All this while keeping their customers and employees safe and healthy. Digital innovation met many of the challenges and has improved the experience for many car dealerships. Artificial intelligence is reinventing the way many companies do business, and it is no different for the auto industry. A Whole New Way to Shop Online searches are becoming more and more like an in-person dealership experience. Things like voice search and augmented reality (AR) have taken center stage. They've made their way into the car buyer’s array of online options when shopping for cars. Vroom has a virtual reality showroom allowing customers to view car models from the comfort of their homes. Users wear an HTC Vive to explore and test drive the vehicles before buying. With all of these options available to their customer base, dealerships must use enhanced digital marketing strategies to reach new customers. Trends Leading Up to 2020 Other automotive marketing trends cover a multitude of digital marketing tools. Some of these tools are social media platforms, emails, texting, and online ads. Traditional marketing campaigns are still a great option, but dealers must be aware of the digital trends and tools needed to attract customers. These have all been tested over the years and proven effective in attracting customers to the automotive industry. Weathering the Pandemic These marketing methods thrived during the pandemic, and in most cases, it is a less expensive way to reach the consumer. These are less expensive than phone calls, television ads, print ads, and even a radio commercial. And most importantly, you’re able to reach a very targeted audience. Newer Marketing Trends There are newer forms of identifying clients for digital advertising purposes. Geofencing is a way to identify people using GPS or RFID technology to create a virtual geographic boundary. It enables software to trigger a response when a mobile device enters or leaves a particular area. Dealerships use antennas placed in front of the business. The dealership can pay for an ad to pop up while a potential customer in the area plays blackjack on their computer. There are also other apps out there that allow geofencing pop-up ads. Pay-per-click is also a newer form of advertising. An individual will type a designated keyword into a search engine, and a dealer’s ad will pop up ahead of any specific website. This is a great way to land at the top of search engine results pages. Trends That are Here to Stay Although email user interfaces and tools continue to change and improve, email marketing will never fizzle out. Email is such an efficient means of communication, and people have become accustomed to using it as a primary tool for communication. Social media is taking a big step forward in providing both company information and customer engagement. But this should not take the place of a website. This stresses the importance of keeping up with all new options for your website. All the bells and whistles aren't always necessary. But look out for any add-ons or plugins that will improve the customer experience. We must assume the consumer is educated and conditioned when it comes to finding information. Therefore, the pay-per-click option of marketing should be here as long as people are browsing the internet. Follow the Trends Ture or False? Following trends will help you find the most effective way to market to the masses. Maybe. If you're marketing to the masses. But a dealership should be targeting a select potential customer within a targeted area. Business owners often spend marketing dollars on the advertising they believe to be effective. Instead, dealers should look for proven trends that gain them access to the most targeted customer base possible. In the digital world, potential customers will be looking for more video content, VR, and Augmented Reality. The closer the consumer can get to experiencing the real deal without leaving their home, the better. Business 2 Community reports that Google Ads Smart Bidding will be a tool to utilize going forward. It enhances Google ad profitability by using machine learning and contextual signals to make smart recommendations. Voice search is accurate and convenient. It will continue to grow as consumers and marketers find ways of interacting more organically. Trends to Look Out for in 2021 Just when you think there couldn’t be any new ways to reach a customer, innovation comes knocking at the door.  Forbes says that 2021 will bring about several trends like live interactions with virtual events and experiences.  Marketing Insider Group lists marketing trends that will be prominent in 2021. These trends take into consideration customer experience, employee engagement, and content visualization. They emphasize that marketing has moved beyond branding and advertising as marketers work together with other business entities to create outstanding customer experiences. Social media will become a top channel for purchase rather than just discovery. Personal commerce will allow consumers to co-curate their experiences with brands. It reflects their preferences at any given moment while interacting with websites and social media. Forbes points out that companies should be culling their social media channels. By doing so, they can prioritize the most mainstream social media channels and hone in on these platforms to increase targeted customer reach. Click over to TVI MarketPro3 for more marketing methods.

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Dealership marketing companies: How and if to pick just one

Like all business owners in the United States, auto dealerships seek the most effective and efficient marketing solutions. They can opt to develop in-house marketing or to outsource this enormous task to a marketing company. The first step is determining the marketing strategies to implement and the specific goals to reach. Following that is choosing a marketing company or determining if you should use one at all. If the decision is made to partner with a marketing agency, you will select the best company to meet the marketing needs o the dealership. There are digital marketing companies, ad agencies, and print marketing companies. Marketing companies or agencies may serve a variety of different industries or even specific niches within an industry. They may be limited in marketing channels, or they may be a full-service company serving all industries and utilizing multiple marketing platforms. Agency Specialists The most significant factor in selecting agency specialists is how their specialty aligns with your dealership marketing needs. You could have an automotive marketing agency specializing in the automotive industry, but their focus is on auto sales - not the service department. A dealership wanting to increase service drive traffic should seek a marketing partner specializing in growing repair orders. Using only a print marketing company or only a digital marketing agency may limit the channels used to market a dealership. But chances are they are very good at what they do since this is their only focus. Another option is to seek a marketing company using multiple platforms for increasing traffic and dealership awareness. Let’s get digital! Digital marketing agencies focus on search engine optimization (SEO). SEO gives the dealer a better chance of showing up on a google search. Digital marketing will also help gain a local SEO when customers search for nearby dealers or mechanics. Your dealership will be a top result within this search, ensuring an increase in website traffic. Another online boost is search engine marketing (SEM).  SEO and SEM have a similar ring, but there is one big key difference, and that’s money. SEO focuses on organic searches through an optimized website, and SEM gains traffic from both organic and paid searches. Having an impactful website isn’t the only focus for a company that provides digital marketing services. These companies also cover email marketing and social media marketing which are both imperative to keeping your dealership sales and service department in the online spotlight. Print like a pro Print marketing has not lost its luster! Many dealers continue to purchase local newspaper and magazine advertisements. Direct mail is also a powerful form of marketing as there’s a likelihood that a potential customer will see the offer as they sort through their mail. Even if they don’t take you up on that offer, you still have increased brand awareness. The jack of all marketing trades Full-service advertising agencies have a lot to offer in both print and digital marketing strategies. They are typically a one-stop shop for all industries. While convenient for a dealership, it isn’t always the best course to take.  These companies may have the capabilities to meet your marketing needs. However, they may not be experts in any one industry, especially the automotive industry. In-house marketing Some dealerships handle much of their marketing in-house. While this is a possible solution, it is not necessarily ideal. A dealer would need to hire a full-time digital marketer and a graphic designer at the very minimum and then outsource printing and mailing. In-house marketing may prove to be less effective than hiring a marketing company to handle a dealership's marketing campaigns. 2 Departments 2 Marketing Companies If you take a close look at a dealership, you will recognize that it’s two separate yet complementary businesses under one roof: sales and service. Should these two individual departments be marketed in the same way or even by the same marketing company?  Marketing strategies and goals for sales could look quite different than that of service. It seems possible that two different marketing companies specializing in two separate dealership departments may yield the best return on a dealer's marketing investment. Go to TVI MarketPro3 for more automotive marketing suggestions and guidance.

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Dealership Direct Mail for Service

Many traditional marketing methods have fallen by the wayside, but direct mail still takes up prominent real estate in customers' mailboxes. Business owners often forget the impact of direct mail in our increasingly digital world. But many are surprised to learn direct mail still packs a punch as a marketing tool. It even outperforms the many digital options businesses have when it comes to marketing response rates. Direct mail may not be the junk that many people presume it to be. Forbes reports that while there has been a decline in the response rate for direct mail over the last decade, it’s still a powerful marketing form. In its response rate report, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) analyzed direct mail marketing data. They found direct mail achieves a 4.4% response rate, an impressive outcome compared to 0.12% for email.  A targeted approach Direct mail is only as valuable as the customer receiving it, so send your marketing to customers you believe will utilize your services. Mailing to the most targeted list possible is the most cost-effective way to attract customers through a mail marketing campaign.  TVI MarketPro3 processes roughly 700,000 mailers per month. Companies deliver these mailers to a list of customers created by merging specific data sources. By using multiple data sources, the mail isn’t cast out blindly over a wide area. Instead, we narrow customer lists by vehicle type, customer type, location, and upcoming services needed. This way, companies know they are sending each piece to an audience that is more likely to respond.   A stand-out flyer In the automotive industry, marketing can get overwhelming with the amount of information that dealerships include. They also like to use a lot of extra elements like call-outs, starbursts, and bright colors. All these added bits of design and information interfere with the offer dealers hope will entice their customers to visit. It also cheapens the overall look and makes it seem less professional and more gimmicky. These added design elements can often distract from your message. Customers are looking for a clear, easy-to-read message and the easiest way to reach your call center. Too many added elements can cause them to work too hard to get the info they need.   Make sure the service meets the mail. If a mail piece is successful, it’ll be up to the dealership to ensure the customer has a great experience and wants to return. Once a customer walks into the service drive, the advisor takes the reins. They must cater to the customer and make them feel welcome.  If it is their first time in the dealership, the advisor should take the time to show the amenities, offer them a beverage, and show them where the restrooms are. Be sure your dealership is providing five-star service. While the mailer gets them through the door, it is up to the service team to clinch the return visits.   Conclusion Automotive dealerships should recognize direct mail’s effectiveness when working to attract sales customers, but this form of marketing can also produce a nice return on investment for dealership service departments. While direct mail campaigns may not be the top dog in marketing trends, they are still a marketing strategy dealerships should use to sell more cars and change more oil. Visit TVI MarketPro3 for more expert advice on dealership direct mail.

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Customer Retention in the Automotive Industry

Customer acquisition and customer retention are both measurements of success for all businesses, particularly the automotive industry. Dealerships have two main customer bases: sales customers and service customers. We'll take a look at how a dealership earns and keeps customers and the role each department plays in accomplishing overall retention. Customer Retention in the Service Department One of the primary roles of the service department is to keep a customer interacting with the dealership. From the time they purchase a vehicle until it is time for them to buy another car, the customer's experience will determine whether or not they return. Based on those interactions over a two to five-year period, the dealer hopes the customer will return to purchase another vehicle. Customer Retention or Customer Acquisition: Which is More Important? In reality, both retention and acquisition are imperative for a dealer to continue growing a customer base. You have to keep or retain the existing customers you have, but you also have to go out and acquire new customers for your store. If you have to pick, retention takes priority over acquisition. If you are not retaining your customers over some time, your overall customer base is going to decrease. It will then be a challenge to produce enough revenue to pay the bills. Therefore, retention usually has the edge. However, there needs to be a balance between retention and acquisition for a dealer’s overall performance. Is It Different for the Sales Department? The existing dealership customer base is the very best prospect file for selling vehicles. Most dealerships have processes to sift through their existing customer base. They reach out to see if these customers are in the market for a new car. However, the acquisition is also important because the sales department's job is to get new customers into the store. An acquired customer moves into the market and buys a car from you. The processes in place should reflect the service department keeping them happy for the next few years, so the customer returns to purchase another vehicle. Ensure the Customer Returns The number one customer retention strategy is for the customer to have an excellent experience from every level. From the greeting on the sales floor to the sales and financing process, the customer experience is the key to getting them back. They must also have a good experience in the service department for a dealership to stay top of mind when they're ready to purchase a new car. Pricing is not the issue in most cases. It is more about the experience and how easy it is to do business with the dealership. It must take little effort to schedule an appointment and be convenient to get the vehicle in. The estimation must be transparent, and the wait as short as possible. Customer communication is key throughout the process, as it reduces stress and increases trust. The number two way to ensure customers return is to have a consistent presence in front of the customers. They get bombarded by marketing from independent repair shops, independent franchise chains, and other dealerships. All of these entities are marketing to the same people. Brand and customer loyalty today is not like it was 20 years ago. People typically will jump from one make to another, so you must use marketing strategies to keep your dealership’s name and available services in front of the customer. The Automotive Customer Retention Struggle Most dealerships that struggle with customer retention lack the ease and convenience when getting a vehicle in for service. Kurt Hankey, Director of Maintenance at TVI MarketPro3, says studies show that service taking too long is the number one complaint. It is also what he encounters when he talks to his clients. Customers are willing to pay more money for an oil change somewhere else because they can do it in 30 minutes, but it takes two hours for the dealership to do it. The number one thing dealers need to be working on is not price, but convenience and ease for the customer to get services done. Finding Success Successful dealers have a dedicated quick service department, and manufacturers are now promoting these solutions. When performing quick services, a tech may even uncover other repairs needed. Offering these services is not enough, as you must educate the customer about any recommended services. Social media and online advertising make it easier than ever before to get the word out. Another reason quick services are vital to a dealer is that vehicles today are much more reliable than ever before. Roughly 60% or more of all of the services performed at a service department are quick service-related. Heavy, complex repairs are becoming a much smaller percentage of the overall work. The balance between customer acquisition and customer retention should be a primary focus for dealerships, as both are vital to the success of the service department and the dealership as a whole.

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Car Dealership Data Mining for the Service Department

Car dealerships have an overwhelming amount of data at their fingertips. Their dealership management systems (DMS) store data that answers many questions about their vehicle inventory, current deals, customer information, and credit reports. It’s so easy to access, and yet the thought of sifting through it can cause paralysis of the analysis. The sales department uses DMS programs to generate leads and manage car buyer information. But this data is an equally important tool for the service department as well. Data Mining Definition Through some well-planned and executed data mining, a service manager and its marketing team can learn a lot of important information about their customers. SAS.com defines data mining as the process of finding anomalies, patterns, and correlations within large data sets to predict outcomes. Using a broad range of techniques, you can use this information to increase revenues, cut costs, improve customer relationships, reduce risks, and more. For fixed ops, automotive data tells a different story than that of its sales counterpart. It answers multiple service customer questions if the data miner has a plan for extracting this data. This plan must address specific service customer questions that include their last visit and engine type. Dealers can also extract customer data from third-party sources such as Change of Address databases. Data Mining Tools A dealer may use a variety of data mining tools to merge and scrub this information. SAS Data Mining, Teradata, and R-Programming are just a few of these tools. Some systems are for expert data analysts, but other systems are for those who may not be as technically inclined.  Data Provided Answers Once a user has the right tools in place for data mining, it’s all about asking the right questions: Who is the target service customer?What do they drive?Where do they live?When was their last service?What type of service are they currently needing? An example of the answers you might get once your data has been merged, filtered, and sorted is: Jane Doe drives a 2007 Toyota Sienna. She moved and is now closer to your dealership. Action Based on Data A dealership service department uses this valuable data to send personalized and relevant service offers that bring customers through the door: In January, the dealership will send Jane Doe an offer for an oil change. The details of the offer should be specific to her Toyota, Sienna's oil change requirements. Conclusion By sending the coupon offer a month ahead of time, the dealership has now positioned itself to be top of mind for Jane before she even considers an oil change.  This targeted marketing intercepts customers before they can make their next car service decisions. But it requires a company to have a reliable system for accurate and efficient data mining. Learn how TVI MarketPro3's unique data mining processes are helping dealers grow their repair orders.

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Car Dealer Service Marketing Strategies

Marketing for the automotive service department is a must if you expect your dealership’s fixed ops to have an impact on the bottom line. Dealership leaders must implement strong marketing campaigns using traditional and digital marketing methods to attract the right customers. Traditional marketing in the automotive industry Traditional marketing doesn’t mean obsolete. Dealers are still using many of these methods today. Traditional methods include print advertising, phone marketing, and radio/television ads. Print Print marketing platforms like local newspaper and magazine ads are still used by dealerships, even though many of these publications have moved to online distribution. Direct mail has also been a long-standing option for dealers. With direct mail, a dealer can target a specific audience at a specific time. Phone Telemarketing is a traditional method that isn’t as popular as it once was due to more restrictions and the National Do Not Call Registry. Caller ID and mobile devices allow people to avoid these calls, making this form of marketing less effective.  Many people feel calling potential customers is an intimidating task. But, when used appropriately, it is a powerful tool for dealerships to attract new business and retain the customers they already have. Calls to current customers can be in the form of follow-up service or friendly reminders. Radio & Television These two traditional marketing platforms are still very much alive even if the audience isn’t as focused anymore. However, radio and television advertising is geared toward sales rather than service. These platforms cover huge areas that include customers that wouldn’t make the drive across town to have their car serviced. So, it isn’t practical to utilize these methods to market for the service department. Marketing with Digital Tools Digital marketing has taken the lead in how the automotive industry reaches customers. It allows the service department to reach a specific audience with a customized message. Email marketing Dealers can make an impact with email marketing. Email marketing is a direct tool, but it has to be well-executed for it to be effective. Everything from the right subject line to an easy-to-understand email body to an enticing call to action must be in place to keep your email from hitting the trash or spam folders. Social Media Engaging your audience with social media is an effective way to build trust with your community, but you can also place ads that reach a target audience. Facebook ads allow you to set a specific budget for a certain period. These ads reach the audience you select by age, gender, and location. Website Dealer websites are powerful tools. They do much of the work for the dealer, but they must be found with ease by potential customers. The dealership website designs must be easy on the eyes yet still answer common questions for the user. The website should have good search engine optimization (SEO) to find it when browsing. Know your customer Whether marketing for car sales or service, a car dealership must know its customers. Service customers are very different from car buyers who are in the market for a new car. Recognizing these differences allows for better communication and better offers for each of these customers. Car buyers are typically looking for a specific vehicle type and are generally excited about their next purchase. You get to add to this excitement with a great offer through effective advertising. For example, someone in the market for a new truck will scour the internet or even the local newspaper for dealership discounts on trucks. Expensive repairs are stressful and certainly not as exciting as a new car, so service customers are looking for good reviews, fair pricing, and efficient technicians. Today, online reviews are a version of word-of-mouth referrals.   Having your car serviced or repaired is a need rather than a want. When marketing to these customers, remind them of that need and then follow up by letting them know your auto dealer is the best option for them to fill that need. Word of mouth only happens if the experience is superb. Most of the time, satisfied customers will market for you because you made their maintenance or repair such a smooth transaction. However, sometimes these customers need to be reminded to share the good news. Follow-up calls are a great way to get feedback from a customer, show you care about their experience and encourage them to refer a friend or write a review. Conclusion Auto dealerships are always working to find the most effective way to reach new and current customers. A detailed automotive marketing strategy is the first step to drawing in these customers. Once you get them through the door, you must provide an experience that will keep them coming back and inspire them to give you a shoutout to their friends and followers. Learn more about dealership marketing solutions at TVI MarketPro3.

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Email Marketing for Car Dealerships

Over the past decade, digital marketing has changed how businesses reach their customers. Email marketing has taken center stage and is not going anywhere anytime soon. Car dealerships must utilize this valuable tool effectively and consistently to grow their business. What is email marketing? Email marketing is the process of sending an email to communicate a message and call a customer to action. It has become the fastest-growing marketing method in the past decade. Many online email marketing platforms provide contact management and email templates to make email marketing easy to implement. Constant Contact, Mailchimp, and HubSpot are just a few of the many options to choose from regarding online email marketing software. Be sure you know what features you are looking for when deciding which email management system is best for your business.  Types of Email Marketing Campaigns There are multitudes of email campaigns a business can implement. Most commonly, email communicates promotions or special offers,but it is imperative to provide your customers with valuable or interesting content outside of promotional material to keep them from unsubscribing. Dealerships should consider a campaign that educates the customer on maintenance intervals. There is also seasonal maintenance needed in specific climates or regions that customers need to know. These types of emails provide value to your audience and will encourage them to open future emails. A dealer service department can also create campaigns to introduce their contacts to their highly trained technicians developing familiarity and building trust. Using a wide variety of emails that do not always ask for something keeps the customer engaged with your brand and keeps your business top-of-mind when your customer requires the services you offer.  Dealership email marketing in practice Writing impactful emails starts with considering who is receiving the email. Segmenting email addresses into specific and defined lists ensures your message will hit the right target. You can have active customer lists, inactive customer lists, and lists for lost customers. The message you send to one list should differ from the message you send to another. A good email marketing plan will focus on frequency. An auto dealer service department could send between one to two promotional emails per month. We must realize that the service department functions differently from sales, and its marketing should reflect that. Car service is not necessarily needed two to three times per month. But you are sending emails this often to ensure your name stays in front of all potential customer bases. You are also growing positive customer relationships through email communications. However, when and how often to send emails is a calculated process. You do not want to overwhelm your consumer. You only want to send one email per day. Ideally, two or three emails per month are sufficient, but this will sometimes change depending on the dealer’s specific needs. Plan well ahead to schedule messages or offers throughout the month, or even create a quarterly, biannual, or annual schedule for some of your campaigns. This plan will also cover what content to include in each email.  Email structure While email marketing is cost-effective, you must utilize your email real estate wisely. Plan and make sure you have a clear and concise message. There is a fine line between putting too much or too little information within an email.  When a customer receives an email with too much info, it often intimidates and feels more like work. However, too little information can leave them frustrated with lots of questions. Getting people to open an email is half the battle. The subject line will have a significant impact on your email open rate. Be sure the subject encourages your recipients to click on the email. Once the email is open, remember that you only have a few seconds to get the point across. Short, clear sentences with a conversational tone make it easier for the reader to follow. And be sure to include a call to action that encourages high click-through rates. The layout of your email must be easily viewable on a PC as well as any mobile device. Preview the email in both these modes before sending it.  Meeting goals for automotive email marketing Email marketing keeps your name in front of your customers. Your brand and messaging become familiar as your audience receives consistent, high-quality emails over time. Go to TVI MarketPro3 for more automotive marketing resources.

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Benefits of Automotive Marketing Services

You dabbled in Facebook, you’ve mailed out special offers to a few zip codes, and you may have even struggled to come up with the right words for an email you’d like to send to your customers. Even if you are savvy with these marketing tools, you are busy running a car dealership or at least a department within the dealership. You have a million other challenges to meet, so why not entrust your marketing to a team that markets for a living? Why not an agency that can do it all? Marketing agencies are abundant, so it can be overwhelming to discern the marketing company that best fits your needs within the automotive industry. However, once you find the right marketing partner, you’ll wish you had made this move sooner. How do you find the right marketing solutions? The automotive business has a unique voice and specific needs. Full-service agencies are potentially the jack of all marketing trades. However, they may not capture the true essence of the automotive industry.  Entrust your business to an automotive marketing service provider Automotive-specific marketing agencies understand the industry, and companies like TVI MarketPro3 have team members who have a vast amount of experience as automotive leaders. This deep understanding of the business and its customers makes these niche marketing companies highly attractive to dealerships. Automotive marketing strategies are based on two different areas of the dealerships and mostly two main customer types. Dealers want to reach car buyers and car service customers.  A full-service marketing company may not fully understand this. They may put efforts into the obvious car sales and completely underestimate the value of each service customer.  Understanding Customer Types You must have a team of marketers that understands and appreciates both departments and their prospective customer types. The team should also reach customer subtypes such as new car customers, used car customers, and lease customers. In the service department, there is also the current, lost, and conquest customer. Marketers should define and target these customers within all marketing efforts. Regardless if an agency utilizes digital marketing and social media or direct mail and other print marketing, reaching the right customer at the right time and with the right message is imperative to increase a dealer’s customer base. The right research to find the right customers Ensure the agency you select does an adequate amount of industry research. The research should leverage the data extracted from dealer management systems as well as external customer data sources.  Look for customers in the market for a new vehicle or who are due for a car service. Who purchased a vehicle at your dealership and didn’t return for service? These are the customers a good marketing team will find and engage. Business leaders often have a hard time letting go and entrusting their business to an outside company. But the right company will save them stress and time, and hopefully, give them a great return on investment.

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Automotive Servicing Research for Dealerships

The automotive industry is a force in the United States economy. According to Select USA, in 2018, the U.S. reached 17.2 million units for light vehicle sales. We see this in automotive marketing through radio and television commercials, direct mail, and online advertising. Car dealers put an enormous effort into researching their market for vehicle sales.  But what about dealership service department research? This sector of the auto industry is just as important as the sales sector. And marketing research for service departments needs just as much of a focused approach as sales. The good news is, you should research the same way across the automotive market, but research for vehicle servicing will reveal a market that is unique within the industry.    Research Capabilities Not every dealer has the same capabilities when it comes to hiring a research team. Some service managers might be left to their own devices when learning more about their specific market. A service manager must still perform the research even without an optimal approach. The more you know about your market, the more the fixed operations of a dealership succeed. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind as you determine what research methods you would like to pursue.   Apply General Marketing Principles A dealer should follow the same strategies used for car sales when researching the automotive service market. In other words, the questions are the same, but the answers may be different.   Constant and Consistent Research Research is not a one-and-done type project. Industry trends have ebbs and flow throughout the year, so researching one or two times per year will only give you a small peek of the big picture. To retrieve usable data, you must employ a consistent data collection system, organization, and analysis.   Set Research Goals Before you begin your research, you must have a clearly defined objective or target. What question or questions are you trying to answer. These objectives should guide you in your research and help you better understand your market.   Source Cross-checking We have an abundance of information at our fingertips. Be sure to confirm your findings with multiple reliable sources. Government agencies like the census are a great place to start, but this may not always be the most up-to-date and reliable data. The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) is chock-full of market reports and other great information.   A Perfect Blend of Research Many researchers stick with the numbers by performing primarily quantitative research. While this black and white information gives us clear, measurable answers, it is not the only data we should consider. Human emotion has a powerful influence we must fully explore to understand the market. While quantitative research tells us the what, customer experience questionnaires and other satisfaction surveys help us better understand the why. Collective customer service experiences from past maintenance and repairs can give a lot of clues to certain behaviors. Factors in the community also impact customer behavior, but the magnitude of this impact is only revealed by reaching out to the customer.   A Crystal Clear Report What good is the information if it is overwhelming and difficult to decipher? Once your data is collected, you must compile it into a report that is easy to understand for the entire team, not just your number crunchers.  The market report includes the market size and potential customer type. You can review customer buying habits and how much they are willing to pay for certain services. Do not forget to research your competition and their struggles and achievements.   Research-based Plan of Attack Research for the sake of doing research is not a viable strategy. The idea behind it is to use the information to help move the ball down the field. So you must develop a plan of action based on the information you collect. This plan can include who receives offers, how your procedures will change for a service visit, or how to streamline your fixed ops business.   An Informal Approach If you do not have the means to employ a research team, you still need to work to learn as much about the market as possible. You can start by looking within the industry itself. A service manager can learn a lot by reaching out to other service managers in their same group.    Dealers Groups & Forums Dealers participate in conferences such as a 20 group meeting. Here dealers from different, non-competing markets discuss what works and does not work in their market. They share with their peers the practices that are beneficial to their business. You can also search for online forums to engage with other like-minded service managers. Groups such as Fixed Ops Mastermind offer Facebook and online forums where an industry professional community interacts and provides information to the group.  The information provided in these forums can be invaluable for service managers working to understand the market. Look for common themes in these online conversations instead of accepting the opinion of one individual.  Also, take into consideration that not everyone in the forum is in your same market. Trends will vary from market to market, so you need to filter out information that does not apply to your specific market.   Lean on Your Manufacturer The manufacturer also provides research tools to the dealership and can often recommend a couple of outside tools to use. Dealership management systems have a plethora of information on customers. Through this system, you can research customers that purchased a vehicle from your dealership but have never utilized your services. You can also see those customers that have not used your services in a certain time period.  You are always looking to add service customers to your business. However, you want to be sure you’re paying attention to retention as well. Adding new customers will not help the bottom line if you are continuously losing customers.  If you are left to perform informal research, remember to seek out the successful professionals around you. You’ll need to ask each of these individuals the same five to ten questions. While this may not provide you with a lot of data, you will be able to see the common themes in their answers. Lean on the successful leaders around you to keep from wasting marketing money, time, or effort.   Conclusion Whether you take a formal approach to market research or a more relaxed approach, you must perform some method of educating yourself about your market. The more you know about the customers in your area and their behaviors, the better equipped you will be to provide excellent customer service. See how the TVI MarketPro3 marketing strategies are helping dealers all over the U.S.

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Automotive Service and Sales Marketing

A car dealership should be working to attract two different customer types; sales customers and service customers. In doing so, it should take a well-balanced approach to the customer research, messaging, and platforms used. And the dealership marketing team must address the unique challenges on its hands if it wants to drive traffic for both sales and service. Challenges dealerships face when creating a marketing strategy for sales and service. There are a lot of factors that sales and service departments take into consideration when assessing which automotive marketing strategies to implement. For sales, inventory in both new and pre-owned impacts the promotions offered as well as the urgency to move cars off the lot. The time of the month is also a factor taken into consideration. This will affect the messaging of both print ads and social media campaigns. In the service department, the facility capability is one of these areas. In a newer facility, the service manager is looking to grow at all costs and by whatever means. The marketing strategy should accommodate these goals and processes. An established dealership’s service department might be bursting at the seams with business, but has limited space and ability to grow. This dealership probably should have a more retention-oriented marketing strategy. When a service department is creating a marketing strategy, it must have synergy with the dealership's goals. And these goals can change from year to year or even within the same year. A dealership needs a marketing vendor or a strategy that can be fluid and change as the dealership's situation changes. There are other areas to overcome for both sales and service including staffing, turnover, and reputation issues. Communication of these areas should also be part of the marketing strategy. Effective strategies dealerships should implement The strategy effectiveness has a lot to do with setting expectations and goals to make sure the strategies match them. Marketing methods for both sales and service should focus on acquisition (AKA conquest) and retention. And dealerships must use multiple channels to market. Some of these channels have not changed in 50-70 years. There are still dealerships out there that have lots of success in marketing with traditional media buys such as radio or television ads. There’s also still a lot of success in print, whether it be local newsletters or newspapers. But direct mail and printed materials should be as targeted as possible. Emails and social media are very successful tools as well. People are always on their phones checking emails and checking social media.  Multiple platforms use pay-per-click (PPC) like social media and search engines. Make efforts to ensure your dealership’s online presence is search engine optimized (SEO), so you show up at the top of the first search engine results page (SERP). Marketing research differences between sales and service There are many different aspects to marketing efforts that go into vehicle sales versus vehicle service.  The way data is mined and used is a lot different for each of these departments. For example, sales departments focus on the customer life cycles to see whether they are in an expiring lease or an equity position.  In many cases, the amount of available data for service customer driving habits does not exist. However, we do know that customers who own older vehicles need oil changes more frequently than those who have newer vehicles. You also have cars on the road today with big engines and large amounts of oil in them that only need an oil change every year or even 18 months. Regular maintenance intervals vary. Being aware of these factors should drive the way you target, filter, and clean up data in fixed ops versus sales. Conclusion While the messaging and discounting should all be consistent from one channel and platform to the next, the way you target customers and clean up data is very different. Ensuring both these areas are considered when creating your marketing master plan will help dealerships get more sales customers on the lot and more service customers in the service drive. Visit TVI MarketPro3 for more marketing solutions.

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5 Automotive Service Department KPIs

Service managers have an enormous responsibility not only for the success of the service department but the success of the entire dealership.  National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) sums up the service manager’s responsibilities as running an “efficient and profitable service department” through several key areas that include staffing, retaining customers, and controlling costs.  As leaders in the dealership, the service managers set goals and objectives for the department and continually strive to meet them.  These department goals are derived from key performance indicators (KPIs). The most widely used KPIs for the automotive service industry Each service department has a way of measuring success, but five main KPIs are common across the industry. These include effective labor rate, hours sold per repair order, gross profit, client satisfaction & retention, and fixed coverage. A Service Manager must understand these metrics and how they impact the service department and the overall dealership. Effective Labor Rate Effective labor rate is a calculation that reveals the revenue produced per billed hour. To calculate the effective labor rate, divide total labor sales by total labor hours billed.  Your effective labor rate is directly proportionate to revenue. Service managers must calculate their facility’s effective labor rate regularly and determine what improvements are needed. Hours Sold Per Repair Order Time is the product of the service department. Hours Sold Per Repair Order (RO) measures how well the service department makes the most of each opportunity. Like Effective Labor Rate, this KPI is also directly proportionate to revenue. Not only is this metric a good indicator of service department profitability, but by capitalizing on each RO, a service manager can be sure there is enough work for each technician. While profit is a prime motivator, seeing that each team member can put food on the table should be just as important to all service leaders. NADA recommends analyzing optimally 100 repair orders per service advisor each month to establish a game plan for improvements. Minimizing one-item ROs increases your hours per RO. Gross Profit Percent Gross Profit in a service department is the labor sales revenue for a RO minus what is paid out to the technician to do the job. For example, if a repair brings in $200 in labor revenue and the tech is paid $60 to do the job, the Gross Profit is $140. Divide $140 by $200 to get your Gross Profit Percentage which is 70% in this example. Gross Profit Percent is the percentage of revenue that is turned into gross profit. A Service Manager must handle the work distribution with efficiency and match the work required for the ROs to the technicians’ skill levels. A gross profit percentage benchmark in the service department is 76%. Client Satisfaction and Retention Keeping customers happy keeps them coming back, and returning customers is required for a service drive to prosper. Each OEM measures retention differently, and some incentivize dealerships to meet retention goals.   Retention might be one of the more difficult areas to manage as it comes down to the people. A Service Manager must have systems in place that provide consistency from one team member to the next.  Everyone should be on the same page in all areas of customer service. Answering the phone, communicating with the customer throughout the repair process, and providing quality work are all areas that must be ingrained into each team member to encourage customers to return for service.  Fixed Coverage Fixed coverage is the ability of fixed operations (service and parts, and body shop if you have one) to cover the entire dealership adjusted overhead expense. The Service and Parts departments are considered the “fixed” sources of income (fixed operations) for a dealership.  The more of the above KPIs achieved, the more likely your service drive is to meet 100% Fixed Coverage as it is a direct effect of each of these metrics.  How do we use this information in making marketing strategy decisions? TVI MarketPro3 agent and longtime fixed operations leader, Nick Shaffer, says “it all comes back to understanding what the dealer objectives are.” Shaffer says marketers need to know on which of these KPIs to focus. Let us take, for example, a dealer that does a fabulous job with effective labor rate, hours per repair order, and shop efficiency but is down on RO volume and needs to increase the customer pay repair order count.  Shaffer recommends a vastly different strategy for this dealer from a dealer that is at capacity and only wanting to bring in very fruitful cars. These dealerships might be able to handle only one more car per day, so they want to make sure that car is likely to be a high-dollar ticket. “This strategy is going to look different from a dealer that wants to drive volume,” Shaffer says.   Conclusion: Understanding the dealer objectives and reverse-engineering the marketing strategy around driving these KPIs is the best and most effective way to reach service department success. Communicate these objectives and the expected processes to every team member who will impact achieving these goals.   Without setting these specific goals and measurements in front of your team, you will have individuals creating their own missions that may or may not align with the dealership goals leading the dealership to miss the KPI mark. Shaffer emphasizes that “if the team is not involved in the discussion when objectives are discussed, processes are outlined, and expectations are set, then the team will not be committed to executing the defined process in pursuit of the objectives. Without involving them along the way, they will feel like this is happening to them instead of with them.” Not only do you need to be clear about how you measure performance, but you need to review these KPIs with the team on a regularly scheduled basis. Posting a KPI scoreboard where every associate can see it is a powerful tool.  Keeping these numbers in front of the team will motivate them to continue meeting these KPIs throughout the year.  Visit TVI MarketPro3 for more automotive service industry resources

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Automotive Service Customer Retention for Dealerships

Importance of Dealership Service Customer Retention In 2021, dealerships have developed a renewed focus on retention efforts in both the sales and service departments. Manufacturers today have replaced the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) surveys with a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) of retention. Retention is now the more utilized measurement of how a dealership is performing. The more customers return to a dealership for repeat business, the greater their lifetime value. Therefore, a single customer becomes a more profitable venture for a dealership. It is also important to mention that a customer who returns for multiple service visits throughout owning a vehicle is much more likely to purchase their next car from that dealership. Identifying the Customer First of all, a dealership must identify its customers before determining which marketing strategies to implement. Active, inactive, and lost are the terminologies or phrases TVI MarketPro3 uses to segment and target a dealership's customers. "Active" is a common term across the industry, and it refers to a customer who frequents a dealership for service over zero to twelve months. Inactive customers fall into a 13 to 24-month window, focusing primarily on the second year. These customers have not returned to do business with the dealership within these months. The lost customer segment for TVI MarketPro3 would be those who fall in a twenty-five to a forty-two-month window of inactivity. These are customers who, for multiple reasons, stopped utilizing a dealership's services. While the terminology differs among manufacturers, marketing vendors, and other consulting companies, you will find a variety of terms used to indicate this period of inactivity. Defining periods of inactivity allows retention strategies to focus on keeping active customers. How to Measure Customer Retention in the Automotive Industry Measurement of customer retention is dealership-specific. TVI MarketPro3 uses a straightforward method to quantify retention. The goal is to determine the number of active customers a dealership has and then break them down by visits per year. Some manufacturers, however, look at pay types or the number of visits. For example, manufacturer A may look at the number of customer pay visits and require two over a 12-month window. Manufacturer B may look at a sales-to-service retention calculation. From the date of a sale or certified used sale vehicle, how many customers came in within 12 months? How many came in from 13 to 18 months, or how many came in from 19-plus months? There is no right or wrong answer regarding how to calculate retention. But a dealership must have a way to label customers based on activity. How Dealers Can Use Marketing to Retain Service Customers Identifying customer activity and action trends is a primary strategy influencing customer retention. When there is a specific period with a significant drop-off in customers, a dealership must strategize accordingly. The marketing should target those customers with a significant discount or an aggressive offer from a price standpoint. This offer should also be time-sensitive to help attract customers and allow a service team to earn the required number of responses or visits each year. How a Service Team Can Complement Retention Marketing Efforts Getting a customer through the door is the first step of customer retention. What a customer experiences after that is key to whether or not they will return. Service teams should complement the marketing efforts and focus on giving the "wow" experience.  Frontline workers, advisers, and greeters at the dealership should all welcome the customer with open arms. Treat them as guests, and show them around the facility. Create an open and transparent line of communication. These efforts make for an outstanding experience, a powerful tool for improving customer loyalty. Refrain from overselling them for every single service due. By becoming more of an informant and educating them on their vehicle, you are more likely to gain their trust. Therefore, educate the customer on the recommended service and why it is in their best interest rather than making it a sales pitch. A service typically sells itself when a customer understands its purpose. Conclusion Customer loyalty is never just dependent on one area of a dealership. Instead, the sales, service and marketing teams can be a powerful force to influence returning customers. Advisors and service advisors can use these retention strategies to encourage repeat visits for years to come. Visit TVI MarketPro3 for More Resources

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Automotive Service Ads to Increase your RO

Business owners are always looking for ways to market to both existing customers and potential customers. Dealership parts and service departments and even the body shop are no different. Although the departments are all part of a larger entity, they must get the marketing attention necessary to maintain overall dealership retention. A marketing plan geared to these service customers creates a presence in their space. It keeps them aware that you are there to take care of their service needs. After all, if you're not making them aware of your services, somebody else will certainly be making them aware of theirs. Your target customers get loads of marketing from other dealerships, repair shops, and quick lubes. So it is critical to run ads specifically for the dealership's service department that reach the right customers. Platforms for running ads Radio, television, and other traditional marketing channels are still effective mediums for auto repair shops, but these often fall on a widespread audience. Be as targeted with your marketing strategy as possible. Some more targeted marketing ideas to explore would be social media and pay-per-click ads (PPC). Both of these tools increase search engine optimization and lead generation.    There is traditional direct mail for auto service. But this can still land on an unspecified set of customers. However, TVI MarketPro3 uses what we call intelligent mail. Intelligent mail is heavily reliant on segmentation. Unlike mass mail, we do cyclic targeted marketing for the service departments and the industry in general.   Other advertising ideas to consider for auto repair marketing are texting and emailing. Both have a direct customer reach, but an intentional, targeted approach in these efforts will always be more effective in reaching potential customers.   How often should ads be run or mailed Plan out your auto shop marketing annually, biannually, quarterly, and monthly to be consistent. Many aftermarket shop owners do seasonal mailers and email campaigns. Dealerships often do these every quarter, and incidental campaigns such as grand openings are run intermittently throughout the year. TVI MarketPro3 uses segmentation to follow the customer life cycle and strives to deliver the right message to the right customer at the right time. Dealerships typically do the campaigns every single month. They just hit a different target audience with each monthly campaign. This approach is more cost-effective as you know your ad is landing in the hands of a specific person. Service ads that entice Recurring maintenance reminders of oil changes and tire rotations are a great way to captivate an audience. These services are necessities, so getting yourself in front of the customer before the service is due is a great time to present related offers. Seasonal value-added offers grab the attention. Heading into winter? Place or mail an ad to remind people you sell wiper blades and make sure their washer systems are up to date. Perhaps add a tire check, so the customer feels confident they are in good shape. To any of the above offers, consider adding a special for additional services. An example of this is an offer for 25% off any repair service you do the same day you come in. When a customer comes in and needs additional work, the service advisor can apply the coupon; a very appealing offer to customers. Consider distributing a convenience offer. Offer a free loaner car for a repair over a defined price limit if completed on the same day of arrival. The customer is much more likely to take you up on the repair if they can go about their day. Every dealer should be marketing recalls to their customers. These ads inform the customer of the needed recall and let them know you are ready and able to take care of the problem. Conclusion If you're hoping your dealership's sales department will be enough to grow your repair order count, you're likely making a grave mistake. Customers need to be reminded of your service department consistently if you want them to consider you for their vehicle service needs. Be sure your fixed ops advertisement is created to meet your RO goals.

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Automotive Repair Order Best Practices

Service teams use auto repair order forms or work orders for every vehicle that pulls into their service drive. This form directs each team member through all repair work processes. Therefore, service teams must use these standard business forms to their fullest capabilities to be as efficient and effective as possible. Digital or Paper? TVI MarketPro3's Kurt Hankey says that automotive service departments use both digital and paper repair orders. "I would say the majority of stores still generate a paper invoice or a paper repair order. But in the shop, the technicians and the advisors, for example, may be operating only on the digital version of it. There are very few shops that do a digital-only, but some do," says Kurt. Develop a Standardized Process Whether the repair order is paper or digital, service department leaders must develop a standardized process for handling repair orders. Everything - including intake procedures, documentation, repair tracking, and customer communication - must be performed consistently from one team member to another and from one customer to another. Accuracy is Key Though repair orders are standard, it is critical to remember that they are legal documents between the dealership and the customer. They are also legally binding between the dealership and the manufacturer. Kurt stresses that all team members must initiate and finalize repair orders consistently. Document all repairs and services performed on the vehicle, including details such as parts used, labor hours, and any special instructions. The repair order is "one of the single most important documents for a service department," says Kurt. Service advisors must make sure all notations and all timestamps are accurate. The manufacturer also uses this document and will periodically ask to see repair order records. In doing so, they will access the actual repair order, not the invoice. Repair Orders Allow for Effective Communication Service advisors should establish clear lines of communication with the customer throughout the repair process. In doing so, they should provide regular updates on the status of the repair and any changes to the original estimate. The customer should receive an invoice reflecting all the same information that was on the repair order with all of the corrections and services that were performed, as well as pricing. Turn to Technology Technology helps streamline the repair order process, and digital systems are recommended for intake, tracking, and invoicing. After the repairs are complete and the order is closed, all applicable information is saved, which becomes part of a vehicle's history. The history provided by closed repair orders will generate timelines by the date of service. The dates tell the service manager when it’s time to remind a customer of upcoming services. Make sure your staff is trained on the repair order process, including the use of technology and customer service skills. It can be tempting to assume a system is self-explanatory, but this can be a costly mistake. Keep the Information Up-to-Date Busy service drives can make it challenging for service advisors to catch all the details, but one area that shouldn't be overlooked is the verification of customer data. Every time customers arrive, advisors must double-check their personal contact information and vehicle information. Questions that should be answered are: * Do we have the right phone number?* Do we have the current direct mailing address?* Do we have the customer’s current, valid email address?* Which vehicle are we servicing, and have we serviced this vehicle before?* What’s the current mileage of the vehicle? Every time a car comes in, you must accurately record the current mileage in order to best serve the customer's specific vehicle needs. Errors in documentation can cause the creation of duplicate customer files on the same vehicle. Making detailed notes will also prevent miscommunication with your customers. Service advisors should keep records to specify the underlying cause of the problem. Thorough notes prevent discrepancies when explaining repairs to the customer. These mistakes can "create financial problems for the dealership," says Kurt, "so service departments need to be consistent and precise when executing a repair order." Attention to Details Finally, Kurt warns that dealerships should pay close attention to the physical filing of repair orders. The information on the computer screen is valid most of the time, but for legal reasons, "you've got to have access to the hard document" as well. An organized and structured system of filing these hard copies will make it easier to pull these documents should the need arise. Conclusion The repair order is one of the single most important documents for the service department. It touches every aspect of the customer's relationship with the dealership. The dealer protects itself from legal issues when it ensures these digital and paper documents are handled properly. It also creates a strong means of communication between the customer and the service team.  A positive customer experience is the number one goal for any dealership. Therefore, an advisor should take the time to review proper procedures for these documents to make transactions smooth and seamless. Check out more service department business resources at TVI MarketPro3.

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Automotive Marketing Solutions Dealers Should Consider

Automotive marketing solutions bombard the automotive industry challenging dealers to determine which of these many options is most effective. Dealerships can opt to handle all marketing in-house by hiring an individual marketer or a team of marketers. They may also utilize online marketing tools or employ a marketing company and outsource these tasks.  Dealers also have two distinct sectors to promote: sales and parts and service. Each of these departments needs customized and independent marketing strategies that also meet the overall mission of the dealer. Tried and True Marketing Traditional marketing has proven to be successful over the decades, and many of these platforms continue to be strong tools in today’s high-tech world. Direct mail is still a popular and effective method of getting the word out. Service departments find this to be particularly true as it can extend offers to customers who need its services year-round.  When executed properly, Direct mail is a targeted method that produces a positive ROI, but dealers must ensure their ads land in the right mailboxes rather than sending them out to their entire area. Sales departments benefit from casting a wide net for direct mail as people are willing to drive a distance to get the car of their dreams at the best price. Contrary to car buyers, people want convenience close to home or work for car repairs and maintenance. Dealers may be wasting money on their service department’s print advertisement and postage when mailing to an entire area or region. By collecting customer and vehicle data, a dealership can pinpoint exactly who will receive offers and when to send them. This ensures each mailpiece gets to customers who are the most likely to visit that dealership. Technology at its Finest Digital marketing can be just as targeted, but it must go beyond a social media post and a friendly monthly email. Dealers need these types of outreach, but they should enhance them with a thorough digital marketing plan.  A dealer should create an annual master plan for all digital marketing. It should reflect email and social media frequency, intervals, and content. Marketers can insert additional emails to keep the interaction timely and relevant, but this master plan ensures a dealer has consistent digital marketing throughout the year. Social media and email marketing are not only about asking the customer for their patronage. It’s instead about engagement and interaction with the customers. It’s about providing compelling content and then extending enticing offers. You must be consistent if you’re seeking brand recognition and are looking to grow your following. Marketing Marathon All segments of the automotive industry are running the marketing marathon. But dealers can attract the right customers if they have great strategies and a great marketing team making all the right moves. Go to TVI MarketPro3 for more automotive marketing tips and information.

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Automotive Marketing Reports for Service Managers

Reports may not be the most exciting part of marketing. In fact, they can be downright overwhelming to digest at times, especially if you're not a numbers person. However, reports are essential in many different areas of the automotive industry, but particularly when it comes to marketing. Rethink the way you view and utilize your marketing reports. It's like holding up a mirror to closely examine the results of your marketing efforts. The numbers reflect what is working, what needs tweaking, and what needs to be discarded altogether. A dealer must dissect the reports to get a better understanding of the information they provide and the purpose they serve. These reports will also help justify the marketing investments when reviewing business statements. There are several different reports that a dealership should be using to create effective marketing strategies. Below is an overview of the more impactful reports a service manager should expect to receive and review with the dealership's marketing partners.  Activity Summary One report is called the activity summary. This summary reveals how much the dealer paid in marketing for a given month. And for that amount, it shows the overall customer reach for all areas of marketing. If a marketing company mails 3,000 direct mail pieces, it's imperative to know how many went to active customers, inactive customers, and recall customers. These reports should also reflect how many address changes are found in the DMS that need to be updated. Email reports should cover how many emails were sent and how many were opened. The reporting should also reflect the number of bounced emails, the number of emails unable to be delivered, and how many people unsubscribed from emails. If the email includes links, the reports should be able to track how many clicks there were in total for each link. Facebook is another very measurable marketing tool. When using Facebook for something like a recall check campaign, dealers will want to see a report on the number of recall contacts made and the number of responses received. The same is true with Facebook Ads. A dealer needs to know the ad spend as well as impressions, likes, and click-throughs received. Response Summary The second critical market report will be the number of responses received in a particular month. There may be a lag in reporting as customers may not come in until a month or so after receiving the advertisement. Therefore, remember when reviewing reports that a report reflects one to two prior months. These reports should be broken into segments of active, inactive, and lost customers. And the strategy for each of these customer types should be tweaked for the next month. For example, service managers and marketing teams may look at those lost customer offers and decide to change them for the next mailing to produce better results. Vehicle Mileage The service managers should know the mileage of a vehicle when it arrives, so they know roughly how much revenue a single car might bring in. Cars with 6,000 miles will probably be $80 tickets because they need a simple oil change or a tire rotation. But if the average number of miles on the vehicle is 40,000 to 50,000 miles, those are good opportunity tickets. The more miles that are on the car, the more services the advisor might recommend. So paying attention to these reports will better prepare a service manager for how to approach these customers with marketing. Revenue Generated A service manager should be reviewing the revenue generated from each repair order. When examining repair orders generated by a specific marketing campaign, they should break that down to see how much money the dealer received on those responses. Return on Investment (ROI) ROI should be a line item on the report. It shows what a dealer spent on marketing and the number of dollars generated. The return on investment might be reflected as something like eight to one or ten to one. Validation It is critical to validate and justify marketing decisions. You should not necessarily view marketing as an expense. It’s more like the stock market in that you put money into the program and get ten times the amount back. Is that an expense or a profit generator? The service manager needs to have this mentality when justifying their marketing decisions to their ownership. Very few marketing companies provide this, but a dealership should expect a validation report. If the data reveals 50 customers in a given month, the marketer should follow up with a detailed summary to describe each customer, including the repair order number, the date they visited, the vehicle mileage, the date of the previous visit, the customer status, and how much money they spent. The service manager doesn't need to just accept the marketing reports at face value. He or she can pick any of these customers and validate this information in their DMS. Subsequent Visits Subsequent visits are necessary to calculate your marketing ROI. They come to your store for the first time, and they then should be tracked for how often they return. The customer tracking should span about three years.  This length of time will better reflect the actual value as a customer is more valuable than the first visit that lured them in. It is not about the $19.95 oil change where you lost $20. You may have lost $20 then, but you made $4,000 over a period of time. Market Trends Periodically, marketing agents should review the marketing trends compared with the market size and market share for the dealership. Is there an increasing number of responses each month, or are the campaign responses dropping off? Do adjustments need to be made? Studying these trends helps a dealership create future marketing campaign strategies. Conclusion There is a vast amount of reporting when marketing for dealership service departments. The leaders in a dealership must be well versed in these reports. Regular and consistent reviews of these reports will help hold your marketing partners accountable. It will also ensure your dealership gets the greatest return on its marketing investment. These reviews are easy to put on the back burner. But in reality, they should be guiding the way.

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Automotive Industry Customer Segmentation Overview

Growing your business in any industry requires you to know your customer. You can examine many different areas to become more familiar with those who are likely to frequent your business. Most companies implement marketing campaigns to a target market based on a set of criteria or consumer segments. Shopify business defines customer segmentation as the process of dividing customers into groups based on common characteristics. Companies can then market to each group effectively. Your dealership may have 10,000 customers in its database. Segmentation identifies those customers and places them in different categories based on specific criteria. Many industries look at customer demographics like age, gender, marital status, location, and life stage. But a dealership can zoom out on its customer base and look at it from a broader scope. Segmentation can reflect a customer lifecycle in the dealership. Some main segments to pay attention to with the automotive client are active customers, inactive customers, lost customers, and conquest customers. Active Customers Active customers are customers that do business with the dealership regularly. Each manufacturer and each dealership may define an active customer differently.  Some dealerships define an active customer as one who has been in the store once within six months. Other dealerships say it is once within 12 months. The parameters change, but it is still considered an active customer. Inactive Customers An inactive customer has extended their life cycle with the dealership. They no longer come in once a year.  Auto Dealer Today Magazine wrote an article specifically about inactive customers.  The article claims a customer becomes inactive between six and nine months. They point out that other dealers say this is a 12 month period, and some say it can be even longer. Lost Customers "Lost" customers are a segmentation that some manufacturers refer to as endangered or defectors. These are customers that have gone a certain period without visiting the store. Harvard Business Review claims these are great customers to target. They have demonstrated a need for the service, and they are familiar with the company. Conquest Customers Conquest customers are customers available in the dealer's market but have not yet been to the dealership. While customer retention is imperative to growth, getting these new customers through the door is also a part of the equation. Automotive Marketing Decisions Examining these main market segments is a jumping-off point when determining how best to market to these customers. But there are other questions to answer when targeting the automotive customer. What type of vehicle does the customer drive, and did the customer purchase the car from your dealership? Most studies reveal that marketing to a customer with customized incentives results in a more responsive customer. Segmentation can determine what message and what offers to send to any given customer based on their situation. You can decide what message you put on an offer according to what segmentations you take into consideration. Is it a 'welcome back,' or a 'thanks for coming to us for the first time?' Is it a loyal customer discount being offered, or would you like to send a 'miss you' type of message? Segmentation inevitably affects the pricing of those incentives. And it also allows us to determine how often and when to contact the customer. Where to find relevant segmentation data Dealership segmentation data typically comes from the dealership management system (DMS). A manufacturer will tell a dealer how to segment a customer. Segmentation is almost always based on vehicle type and visit history in the dealership. Some dealerships will override that and set their own segmentation, but all the data comes from their DMS. Marketing Budget Marketing must be cost-effective and provide a positive return on investment. Segmentation is a critical area to consider when looking at a dealer's marketing budget. Determine which segments a dealership already has a good response or ROI and which segments they are struggling to get in the door. Segmentation also allows a dealer and a marketing company to identify where they're weak. They can then put resources into those areas and make better use of their budget. When looking at segmentation, we have to understand which campaigns are working and which ones are not. We can then pay attention to the right area. Customer Experience A frequently overlooked benefit of customer segmentation is the ability to improve customer experience. By better defining and filtering your customers, you can ensure their experience is more customized to their needs and preferences.   Some of your customers will take you up on mobile apps and free wifi. Others prefer the traditional paper approach. Some will trust you to pick up and drop off their vehicle, and others prefer to bring it themselves.  Much of these preferences are unique to some segments of your customer base. So learning what these segments need and like will help you approach your customers accordingly. The Task is Worth It The task of extracting and cleaning your customer data is tedious. It takes a skilled data analyst to perform the job, so the information is as concise and accurate as possible. But the results are invaluable in targeting your marketing efforts. It will also ensure the customer has a five-star experience at your dealership. Visit TVI MarketPro3 to learn more about targeted marketing.

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Conquest Marketing in the Automotive Industry

The automotive industry spends a lot of money on conquest advertising and conquest sales. Dealerships are always working to convince potential car buyers to buy from them rather than their competitors. The dealership service department must take the same approach, and the competition here is even greater than that of the car sales side of a dealership. While customer retention might be a better place to focus dealership resources, the never-ending task of customer conquest will always be a part of dealership marketing efforts for both the sales and service teams. A Service Conquest Campaign Those who frequent a dealership service department are more than twice as likely to purchase their next vehicle from that dealership. Therefore, focusing on customer conquest specifically for the service lane is imperative to a dealership’s customer base. How can you reach past the aftermarket service centers and grab the attention of a potential customer? Focus on competitive pricing within your dealership market, and ensure your dealership falls close to these offers. How can you make the auto repair experience pleasant as well as convenient? If you can reach this customer and present such benefits, there’s a good chance he or she will take you up on your offer. The Process of Conquest Marketing The first part of your marketing strategy must be to identify your target customer. Data mining using the dealership management system and other external databases can help filter out those exact customers who need a particular service at a specific time. It is a tedious process, but it creates a more effective campaign than casting a wide net and hoping it pulls in the right customer. Reach Target Customers Where They Are Once you’ve defined and located your target customers, you must reach them where they are through print and digital marketing campaigns.  Send personalized custom offers to them via snail mail and email. Doing this at the right time, such as just before their next service is needed, will have them thinking of your dealership when it’s time to schedule that appointment. You must also find these customers on social media and engage on each platform according to its standards. Facebook engagement starts with sharing the service team’s story. Yes, it sounds silly. But if you look around, there’s always a story. The service manager just hit twenty years with the dealership, or the service lane just received new equipment that will help move vehicles through the line more efficiently. Instagram can have the same emotional pull, but you must present Instagram with more of a visual story. Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words. It’s a cliche for a reason, and Instagram exemplifies this. These stories on social media are what emotionally connect your target customers to your dealership service department, so don’t underestimate social media as a tool for customer conquest. Once you have their attention, you’ll be able to drop an offer in front of them that they’ll be more inclined to use since they now have a connection with your dealership. Conclusion Conquest marketing will always be a necessary part of the automotive service department marketing strategy. Therefore, this strategy must be analyzed and tweaked on an ongoing basis. This consistent approach helps to increase repair orders. This consistent approach helps to increase repair orders and dealership profitability. Visit TVI MarketPro3 for more automotive marketing information.

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Automotive Conquest Marketing for Service Drives

A dealership service department plays a primary role in the overall success of a dealership. Therefore, the service manager and the marketing team must ensure their marketing strategies are effective. These strategies must be in line with their retention goals as well as attracting new customers.  Conquest Marketing Definition Conquest marketing is a business strategy companies use to target customers who are not currently doing business with them. Ideally, these are customers who have NEVER done business with the dealership. The automotive industry also refers to it as prospecting.  Prospecting is all about attracting new VINs, but there must be a strategic and well-executed plan for conquest marketing and conquest sales to be effective. Conquest marketing implementation There are several methods a dealership can use for conquest marketing, but one starts within the dealer system. Leveraging the Dealer Management System (DMS) data allows a marketing team to identify who from their customer base is active. They can also see the periods in which a customer has been inactive.  Combining this with profiles can be great for targeting similar customers with conquest advertising. Again these are customers who have not done business in a region or assigned area for that dealership. Within TVI MarketPro3, we refer to this as the True Market. Earning service customers through conquest marketing When we asked customers why they have not done business with dealerships, there are typically two common answers. First, they had a bad experience with the dealership in the past. Secondly, there was a perception that the pricing was much higher than what the independent automotive service centers provide. A dealership needs a strategy that overcomes these two objections. Price transparency and customer reach are the first places a dealer should start. Typically a dealer would create a pricing or discounting strategy. However, it also needs to make sure it contacts the customer with the right message. Marketers achieve this by segmenting customers, whether it be diesel owners, hybrid owners, or synthetics versus conventional vehicles. Creating multiple marketing campaign levels with discounting is a strong strategy to attract new customers for dealerships. The message may be delivered to these customers through digital marketing, direct mail, or other platforms. How does this apply to the service manager? Service managers should view conquest marketing as a growth strategy. Attract new customers who live in the dealership market yet do not frequent the business. These customers are more than likely going to the local independent shops or maybe even an adjacent competitive dealership. Conquest marketing is a plan to attract these customers and show them the benefits and quality service their dealership can provide. They must also determine customer value and how they will attract and retain customers for future visits. A customer’s value is not only in the first service provided. The lifetime value of a customer is based on positive visits to the dealer’s service department. Ultimately, this increases car sales as well and improves the bottom line for the entire dealership. Visit TVI MarketPro3 for more resources

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Automotive Attribution for Sales and Service Departments

Dealerships that want to sell more cars and increase their service repair orders must know where to attribute their marketing wins. This knowledge allows them to choose better marketing strategies in the future.  Marketing attribution is the measurement of customer interaction based on a particular marketing campaign. If a service department has multiple marketing companies working for it, how can it validate which company brought which customer? Car repairing   Measuring Attribution In Car Sales The sales departments cover a gamut of marketing avenues. They utilize radio, television, and in some markets, ads are still in newsprint for car sales. Many dealers also market with direct mail, email, and e-blasts for online shoppers. Dealerships can find it difficult with this variety to have precise attribution in the sales department. The sales department is a variable operation making it a challenge to forecast. The only data you can go by is past sales history. When they sell a vehicle, they cannot always know if the customer came in because they heard a radio ad, saw an ad on TV, or saw a sign when driving down the highway. None of that kind of stuff is documentable in the paper trail of that sales process. The most effective way to attribute marketing in the sales department is to send a direct mail offer and then require the return of that piece to get the offered discount. Attribution for the sales department is difficult to monitor at every level. Very few dealers have a reporting metric for the sales departments marketing initiatives.   Measuring Attribution In Car Service Service departments also advertise on multiple platforms. They use, for example, Facebook ads, email, and mail. In most cases, service managers know who got their offer. They have repair orders to track every transaction and monitor customer interactions with the dealership service visits. In service, a specific ad targets a defined audience that requires customer response. The customer brings in or refers to the offer allowing the service department to drill it down to an offer campaign. You can also monitor which offer produces the most returns or responses.   Differentiating attributions Many marketing companies do both sales and service marketing. They can tell the dealer they spent $5,000 a month for the past three months in service. So in total for a quarter they spent $15,000 in marketing. They had 200 customers come in, they spent an average of $300 per RO, so the dealer generated $60,000. That's a good return on investment! Sales and service marketing are viewed differently by dealers. Often, the same store that thinks $5,000 is a lot of money for the service department will budget 20 times more for the sales department. That's all your combined marketing services. But being able to determine where the sales marketing dollars succeeded is a challenge. Most general managers do know the difference. Sales marketing is like throwing a plate of spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks. If the dealership does not understand that difference when you're marketing both sales and service for them, they could doubt the results.   Measuring attribution TVI starts measuring marketing results immediately. Once the data feed is on from the DMS, we start collecting, measuring, and reporting the data. Each month we show dealers what happened in the previous month. We then look at a quarterly snapshot to get into the more relevant data. We follow this at six months, where we can observe if the trend is holding steady.   Comparing Data Reports Datasets that marketing companies measure may not line up precisely to the datasets the dealer sees. The dealer may be combining records or data while their marketing partners like TVI get raw data from the DMS. It's crucial for somebody who relies on attribution to know how the dealer measures this. Go to TVI MarketPro3 to explore more automotive marketing trends and ideas.

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Auto Dealership Website Design Tips

Car dealer website design can be a hard balance to strike. But along with social media, your website is one of your top forms of digital marketing. The main objective of a website is to convert. And conversion rates depend on a design focused on the user or the potential customer.   Elements of a Strong Website Design Functionality is a priority when designing a website that should be distraction-free with easy-to-use navigation. Brand consistency is also important. Include the company’s typeface, brand identities such as color scheme, imagery, overall layout, and visual appearance.  Less is more, so be sure there is enough breathing room between each element to prevent an overwhelming or frustrating experience for the user. You’ll want to make sure your website is relevant to the user if you wish to keep them clicking through your site instead of away from it. Users need to see the “what’s in it for me” message immediately, and the design elements should spotlight this message rather than overshadow it.   User-Friendly Website Websites offer users a test drive of your dealership from the comfort of their device. The customer experience often begins here. Therefore, one of the most valuable elements of a good website is user-friendliness. You would not block your showroom entrance with a new car, yet so many do this with web design. Distracting elements should not be added to the site simply because they’re pretty. The colors and fonts that you choose for your site affect readability. Fonts too small are going to make it hard for the user to see. Colors too bright will distract from the message.  Many people want to make their website unique, but you want to offer the customer a familiar experience. So keep it consistent with other websites. There are a few mainstays to web design. For example, underlined blue text is commonly considered a link. This text style should be clickable, or it may appear as though your site doesn’t function properly. Design Elements to Include Design elements for a car dealership website will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Luxury brands are likely going to keep their content to a minimum and instead be design-oriented. They want their websites to look as sleek as possible and focus on the brand itself rather than specific vehicle features. This style of design requires content to step back and let the pictures do most of the talking. Inversely, a mainstream manufacturer is going to focus more on features. These car dealerships should keep their design elements focused on the details of the car. Pricing is important, especially on budget cars. No matter the manufacturer a dealer represents, they should include media such as videos featuring their vehicles and their sales and service team. Balance Sales and Service Car sales and car services are very different. So how do you balance these two areas of your dealership on your website?  You must differentiate these two areas of your business by segmenting your website. Then create an easy flow of calls to action for the user to navigate the site. Use spacing here to keep either of these parts from competing with the other. If you pack all of the information into one page, your customer will likely read very little of it. Getting to Service A homepage is a great place for marketing service departments. Use a simple ad on your homepage to entice the customer to click through to the service page. If a dealership wants equal focus on each of the sales and service departments, it can choose to split the homepage. Use this valuable landscape to send the message that a customer can purchase a vehicle from the dealership and that the same dealership can take care of future service needs. Conclusion After meeting all design elements, a dealership must ensure they have a responsive website that is easy to navigate no matter which device a user is on. A customer must be able to move from device to device and seamlessly know what to do. Go to TVI MarketPro3 for more pro tips for dealership service marketing.

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Auto Dealer Marketing Video Tips

Digital marketing is a leading tool in efficiently and effectively reaching an online audience. These platforms give you many options for the content you want and how you might provide it. You can post text, images, memes, and GIFs to keep your followers engaged, but video content is one of the most powerful tools in a marketer's arsenal. Videos allow more messaging to be conveyed to potential car shoppers and service customers in a shorter time. While almost any business can benefit from video marketing, car dealerships have great visual appeal with shiny new cars and action-packed service drives. Types of Videos a Sales Department Should Create To entice car buyers, dealers should focus on the object of affection, which is the car itself. There is so much on a vehicle to feature in a video, leaving you with endless production content options. Car buyers are actively looking for sales events. The sales team can use video to announce the event using a handful of included vehicles as visuals. The sales managers can also use video to review the car buying process or to introduce the sales team. Types of Videos a Service Department Should Create It may not take a visual lead over the sales lot, but the service department should have a presence in automotive video marketing. The visuals here include nice, clean, state-of-the-art service drives and the beautiful lounge with its amenities. Service Directors can also use video to announce monthly service promotions like tire sales events. Video helps to build connections and trust between the customer and the service team. Introduce your customers to your techs through a feature video, or have a monthly video tip from the service advisor. Seeing the people behind the business creates positive customer feelings and increases the likelihood that customers will use your dealership for future services. Where to Post Your Videos Embed videos into dealership websites or emails as long as the load time is short. 20-30 seconds is a suitable video length, but you can also loop a shorter video to make it seem long without increasing load time. Post these videos across social media using video apps like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Facebook and Twitter allow you to add a link to your video where others do not, so if you want the video to guide the customer to another page, these two platforms are solid options. Google owns YouTube, and using it to publish consistent and valuable videos can help your content be found more easily in search engines. However, YouTube links do not always play well when posted on other social media outlets, so consider uploading your video to each of these outlets individually to increase your organic reach. Part of your video marketing strategy should be to place video ads. Facebook's video ads can reach a highly targeted audience, and you always have the option to create a YouTube ad. No matter where you post it, video advertising is imperative to get the most out of your marketing budget. Video Posting Frequency Post videos as often as they're needed, depending on the message. For sales marketing, you want to post them weekly, as sales offers and promotions change frequently. Frequently update your website videos to ensure customers know who and what to expect. Conclusion More than anything, video marketing helps your dealership stay relevant and engaged. Customers will be more likely to think of you the next time service is needed if they recently came across your video while scrolling through social media or browsing the internet. Learn more about marketing for the automotive service department.

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Automotive Industry Marketing Trends

Automotive industry marketing trends are ever-changing as automotive digital options become more and more available. The ability to shop for a vehicle online is easier now than ever before. Customers can also make service appointments online with more dealerships than they could prior to 2020. And the automotive sector is finding new and innovative ways to reach their customers where they are before they ever take a step into a dealership. Post 2020 Marketing Trends for Service Before 2020, so many of our TVI MarketPro3 dealer partners were marketing themselves with value propositions. We would do a market-based study to identify what a minor service costs in their market. And we would advertise these services with competitive pricing in the marketplace. We attempted to get customers to come back in for customer-pay work that proved to be a good value. In 2020, we found that customers have given less value to a good deal than their safety. So, we pivoted and helped the dealers promote themselves, not just with fair deals, but by prioritizing health and safety. We reminded customers that these are, in fact, necessary businesses. We promoted the fact that they are there to serve the automotive needs of the community. And we remind customers that dealerships are highly concerned with the safety of their staff and their clients. We review all of the things that the dealer is doing to make it a safe place to come to work and a safe place to do business. We never made that as high a priority in the past because we never dealt with a pandemic in modern automotive times. And right now, we feel that clients are just as motivated to do business with a place if they believe they are doing business with good people. They must also feel they are getting a fair price in the marketplace. A hands-free, digital approach to marketing There is now more of a hands-free approach to marketing on two different levels. The industry is getting savvier with digital marketing, and dealers often consider this attractive from a price standpoint. After all, digital marketing is more affordable than direct mail marketing. However, direct mail still has an impact when targeting the right audience. There is also a more hands-free approach to marketing when promoting a touchless experience. So a customer who may be sensitive to safety protocols would be more inclined to do business with the dealership that offers a touchless transaction. They like the socially distanced client engagement process, and they can pay for their service without having to touch anything in the dealership. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have become more prominent artificial intelligence solutions to a touch-free experience for car dealerships. VR immerses a car buyer into the car buying experience from the comfort of their couch with virtual test drives. AR combines digital elements to a live view by using the camera on a smartphone. Pokemon Go is an example of an augmented reality experience. AR showrooms offer their clients an unlimited choice of cars in virtual showrooms and the ability to customize. There are even some AR programs like Re’Flekt, that offer the ability to repair a vehicle in AR.  Online searches even got a boost with voice search accuracy improvements on search engines. The online automotive customer journey now begins with the spoken word rather than the click of a finger. Customers get quick answers to common questions and easily find online content. This enhanced customer experience has made the car buying a more educated process overall. As these newer options become more accessible to businesses and customers, dealers will need to pivot with innovation to stay in front of their customers. Looking forward to a post-pandemic way of marketing Advances in digital marketing will continue. Every year, more valuable data become available for marketing partners like TVI MarketPro3. And as that data becomes available, so will creative and innovative ways to utilize it for more effective digital marketing. Dealers are now enjoying the release of the pent-up demand. In 2020, many auto customers worked from home. Vehicles parked in driveways and garages created a pent-up demand for service. Also, customers are getting back on their feet after losing their job in 2020. They're getting back in the market for a new or used car increasing the demand. Pent-up demand on both the sales and the service side will be something for dealerships to anticipate. Recalls will also become more of a prominent component of total revenue. Every year manufacturers are releasing more recalls than the previous year which gives a nice bump to dealers. Marketing campaigns will always need to embrace and utilize the latest trends in the industry. But they need to do so without losing that personal touch. The question will be, what makes any dealership stand out when technology is taking the reins on so much of the car buying and servicing process?  Hopefully, the ease of purchasing and repairing a car will allow dealerships more time to spend personally connecting with customers. They can focus on an outstanding car buying or service experience. This combination will help dealers transition into a more online and automated dealership system. Learn more about automotive service marketing.

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