Technology company Xtime knows that the automotive industry faces margin compression, tightening competition and softening vehicle sales. Because of that, the company believes dealerships must reinvent the customer’s service department experience to increase customer loyalty and the dealer’s profits.

At the NADA show, Xtime addressed those challenges by introducing new features to Spectrum, its cloud-based service management platform.

Three improved Xtime Spectrum functions — New Consumer Scheduling, Xtime Texting and Engage Tablet Reception — will improve the service management process for consumers and dealers.

The first of those functions, a redesigned New Consumer Scheduling tool, offers what the company says is an improved booking experience for consumers that allows them to use multichannel scheduling across desktop, mobile, telephone or in-person at the dealership to more easily arrange vehicle service appointments anywhere, anytime. Features include a mobile-first design, Google login option, Find Me via phone and email, enhanced navigation and OEM branding.

An Xtime Texting Tool is the second improved function, and it will include Message Center, Xtime Messenger and Arrival Text Notification. It will help dealers receive improved status updates and participate in better customer communication, according to the company.

The new Xtime Messenger mobile phone application helps advisers engage with customers on the go and in real time, and the new Message Center works to store every customer conversation automatically in the Xtime Cloud. The new Arrival Text Notification function helps customers receive a new automated welcome message on check-in, giving consumers the ability to text their dealership at any time during the vehicle service process.

Engage Tablet Reception is the third function, featuring a new service lane check-in and check-out process that gives dealers instant access to service details and vehicle history. It is available on iOS and Android devices and offers search functionality that provides access to what the company says is a cleaner, more accurate and integrated customer-vehicle database, preventing duplicate records. The redesigned Customer Check-In functionality is now a single, clickable page with greater transparency, according to the company, and it is meant to accelerate the vehicle walk-around and inspection process.

“By harnessing the power of Spectrum to manage their fixed operations, dealers can build customer loyalty, increase retention and drive profitability,” Tracy Fred, vice president and general manager for Xtime, said in a news release.

In other Xtime news, Xtime vice president of marketing and managed services, Jim Roche, released his second book, “Fast Break: Creating a Customer-Centric Operating Philosophy for Automotive Service,” and the second phase of the 2018 Service Industry Study, by Xtime’s parent company, Cox Automotive, was also released.

“Fast Break: Creating A Customer-Centric Operating Philosophy for Automotive Service” is follow-up to Xtime’s first book on fixed operations, “Fast Lane: How to Accelerate Service Loyalty and Unlock its Profit-Making Potential,” by Roche.

The book uses more than 35 years of automotive fixed operations high-tech experience and consultation with more than 2,000 dealerships in describing how dealerships can increase their service market share and use a customer-centric philosophy to achieve profitable growth.

The book uses real-life case studies and was written to help dealers implement best practices and use a customer-centered strategy to improve a service department’s profit-making potential. The book notes that dealers must be agile and explore adopting new technology, online scheduling, courtesy mobility features and improved facilities.

“There is a huge gap of unrealized revenue potential in the service department, and dealerships must pivot now to seize that opportunity,” Roche said in a news release.  

Cox Automotive’s second phase of its 2018 Service Industry Study gives dealerships insight into consumer preferences and highlights the need for a revitalized service experience.

An estimated 70 percent of consumers who purchased or leased a vehicle from a dealer did not return to them for service in the past year, and that results in an estimated $266 billion in annual lost revenue across all franchise dealers, according to revenue calculations from 2017 NADA Dealer Profile Data and the 2018 Cox Automotive Service Industry Study.

In response to these findings, the company says the research highlights opportunities for dealerships to offer a service experience that is convenient and stress-free, incorporate price transparency and online scheduling, embrace mobility features and provide service valuation analysis, which the company says will help build customer loyalty and differentiate their businesses from third-party service providers.

The complete report of Cox Automotive’s 2018 Service Industry Study Phase 2 is available here.