If you’re a franchised dealer, there are four times more independent repair facilities competing for the same customers’ attentions when their vehicle needs service.

That’s according to Xtime’s president Neal East, who says his company’s Marketing 7 solution can help target “lost souls,” or customers who have visited the service department but have not returned in 15 months or more, and bring them back within your walls.

"Opportunities to win back customers are available – it's just a matter of embracing new technology concepts," East said. "At Xtime, we create products that give customers a reason to come back to the dealership for service. What unique differentiators are you offering defected vehicle owners compared to the competition? These are the types of questions dealerships should be asking when targeting lost souls."

According to Xtime, it utilized a six-month period in 2015 to analyze the performance of dealerships using Marketing 7, a component of its Xtime Retention System, to see what kind of effects it had. On average, the dealerships experienced the following, as listed by the company:

·         $463 additional customer pay per vehicle

·         $7.4 to $1 in customer pay ROI

·         20 recaptured customers per month

·         21 months since last visit

·         25 percent email open-rate

·         1.6 percent email-to-click rate                                                                            

The Xtime Retention Systems suite of solutions also utilizes Scheduling 7 and Check-In 7, to obviously assist with both customer service scheduling and the check-in process, helping to deliver a consistent customer experience for customers who expect everything to be streamlined in this digital age.

"There are four times more independent repair facilities than there are franchise dealerships, so dealers need to highlight their key differentiators in order to improve customer retention and recapture rates," East said. "With targeted promotions, dealerships can remind vehicle owners that they are the experts on the vehicle, have specialized diagnostic equipment and use genuine parts – all reasons why customers should return to the dealership for maintenance and repair. By aligning marketing, scheduling and check-in together into a comprehensive platform that both customers and dealership personnel can use, Xtime is boosting retention by changing the way vehicle owners view the ownership experience."

For more information on the Xtime Retention System, click here.