After NADA, Fidelis PPM’s Ryan Williams Discusses Missed Revenue opportunities for Fixed Ops
More than 100 companies at NADA this year marketed products and services aimed at making fixed operations more efficient and profitable
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, May 3, 2016
More than 100 companies at NADA this year marketed products and services aimed at making fixed operations more efficient and profitable. The big question coming out of NADA is this: did dealers grasp onto the better ideas to help them eliminate costs, improve service volume, and increase customer retention?
“If not, that’s a big miss,” says Ryan Williams, president of Fidelis PPM, revenue- and retention-building prepaid maintenance software. “Dealers should already be investing in solutions that create new revenue streams and then hold on to it.”
Coincidently, international sales strategist Grant Cardone, a name well known in automotive retailing, shared similar caution, in his article “Prepare for a Massive Recession,” in Entrepreneur magazine. “Don’t wait for it to get here – operate like it is here now,” Cardone wrote. “Stop ALL spending except on those things that can increase income. Do NOT spend to consume; spend only to increase income.
With monthly proven ROI and 20% service growth, products such as prepaid maintenance programs meet this criteria, Williams says. “When programs like this can deliver a three-year retention average of 68% and $70 per RO upsell, their contribution to a dealership’s profitability can be enormous.”
Dealers should ask the following when considering products or services that are being offered:
- Does your retention program drive consumers to your shop?
- Is the customer experience it delivers positive so they come back again?
- Are there accountability tools baked into the solution to measure the lift in customer-pay dollars for each visit, so program ROI can ?
The dealers Williams met with at NADA were actively gauging vendors’ service-profitability ideas. They were also seeking advice about solutions that didn’t require them to reinvent how their service department operates.
Programs that enhance existing processes, such as prepaid maintenance plans that drive buyers back to the selling dealership, help retain customer business and keep service bays occupied. Such plans produce:
- 85% first-year retention, 65% each of the following two years
- $70 customer-pay upsell per repair order
- On average $1,105 in customer-pay service business a year with you, for the majority of the six years consumers own their vehicles today
“Every decision a dealer makes about an investment factors in at least two objectives: How will it streamline operations to remove waste and cost, and how will it drive service volume, retention, and thus revenue,” Williams notes.
“If a dealer isn’t evaluating purchases for their ability to achieve both goals, dealers leave potential revenue on the table. That’s not the way to situate the dealership for leaner days ahead.”
Williams notes that most any vendor’s service offering, especially from those marketing prepaid maintenance and related programs, must offer the dealer measurability.
“Most programs cannot substantiate their retention promises, and dealers putting faith in such plans have misplaced hope,” he says.
Fidelis PPM is the authority in helping dealers retain customers through process-driven prepaid preventive maintenance retention programs. These programs drive consumers into participating dealers’ service departments. Deep reporting tools provide dealers with detail-rich accountability metrics.
Fidelis PPM turns prepaid maintenance into a brand-building, revenue-generating retention machine. Developed by dealers, Fidelis PPM knows the importance of substantiating ROI from its products. Powered by Driv Customer Retention Software, Fidelis PPM provides an easy-to-use interface for at-a-glance tracking of the dealers’ ROI on their PPM program. For more information, visit www.getfidelis.com or email Williams at [email protected]
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