A recent study conducted by DealerSocket suggests that viewing your fixed operations as a percentage of your dealership’s total revenue may be the wrong approach.

In fact, the study shows that even though the average dealership’s fixed ops only accounts for 12 percent of the store’s total revenue, when you look at a dealership’s net profits, their fixed ops account for 60 percent of total profits.

Another telling statistic from the report — which surveyed data for the top 10 percent of the top-performing dealers amongst the more than 6,500 stores that DealerSocket serves — showed that 88 percent of customers will schedule an appointment simply if they’re asked.

This shows the potency of calling customers to see if they would like to schedule something like their next oil change or tire rotation. On that note of service, the study showed that a customer was 29 percent more likely to schedule their first appointment with the dealership if they were introduced to the service employees near the time of purchase.

Here are a few other key statistics provided by DealerSocket on its recent study:

• 78 percent of customers are influenced by a negative review, showing the utmost importance of taking care of the customers while in the store to earn positive reviews.
• 12 percent of callers decline an appointment when asked to visit the store, reflecting the importance of extending that option to potential customers calling in with various inquiries.

For more information about DealerSocket and its offerings, visit their site here.