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REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (October 16, 2018) – Xtime is proud to name Fletcher Jones Audi in Chicago, IL, as the winner of the second Xtime Customer Experience Excellence Award at Digital Dealer’s Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, NV, October 16-18, 2018.

Xtime first partnered with Digital Dealer in April 2018 to create the Customer Experience Excellence Award, which recognizes a dealership or dealer group in North America that has demonstrated a strong commitment to delivering superior customer service. After receiving and reviewing numerous submissions, Fletcher Jones Audi was selected as the definitive winner, in large part due to their robust retention rates and customer-first business approach.

“Fletcher Jones Audi is delivering on the technology-enhanced experience that consumers have come to demand, achieving 100 percent utilization of online scheduling and 88 percent tablet utilization on the service drive with Xtime,” said Jim Roche, vice president of marketing and managed services at Xtime, who will be speaking at Digital Dealer’s conference on converting one-time visitors into long-term customers. “This emphasis on using new technologies is helping contribute to an overall stellar customer service record for Fletcher Jones Audi — a 75 percent customer retention rate and high praise on DealerRater with 4.9 out of five stars on almost 500 reviews. Fletcher Jones Audi’s emphasis on customer experience excellence fits with Xtime’s ongoing efforts to help dealerships drive customer loyalty and retention, ultimately helping them boost overall profitability.”

Fletcher Jones Audi also was one of only 13 dealerships to receive the Magna Society Elite Award, Audi’s award for outstanding customer service, earlier this year.

“At Fletcher Jones Audi, offering the gold standard in customer experience is paramount. We pride ourselves on providing excellent service, and we strive to secure repeat business by exceeding our customers’ expectations at every step of the process. It is an honor to be recognized by Xtime’s Customer Experience Excellence Award for our efforts,” said Dave Donnelly, service manager, Fletcher Jones Audi. “Our success is enhanced by our technology-driven service center powered by Xtime, which plays a central role in enabling us to offer our clients the best car ownership experience possible.”

For more information on the Xtime Customer Experience Excellence Award, visit https://www.digitaldealer.com/conference/customer-experience-excellence-award/. For more information about Xtime, visit https://xtime.com/.

About Xtime

Xtime increases customer retention for automotive dealer service departments by using technology to transform the ownership experience. Improving customer satisfaction and retention drives dealer revenue and profitability. Xtime is committed to delivering the experience consumers demand – an experience which emphasizes value, convenience and trust. Xtime books 44 million service appointments and processes 120 million repair orders annually. Twenty-nine global OEMs have chosen Xtime to drive that same type of success for their businesses, converting $9 billion in service revenue for more than 7,500 dealerships across three continents.

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader®, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto® and Xtime®, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com

About Digital Dealer

The Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition is where top dealers go to stay ahead of the technology curve, delivering the largest array of industry speakers, peer to peer opportunities, and exhibit hall offerings – all carefully designed to impart groundbreaking business strategies for your dealership.

RedCap Technologies, LLC ("RedCap"), a Solera Holdings, Inc. company, launched its courtesy shuttle alternative for its OEM/Dealership partners, following the successful integration of Lyft rideshare services into RedCap's transportation platform.

The new offering leverages RedCap's existing mobility solutions and taps into Lyft's Concierge API platform to deliver a seamless and convenient experience for both dealers and customers. Any user can request OnDemand Shuttle rides, powered by the Lyft network, for service pick up, drop off and Roadside Assistance. Dealers no longer have to support shuttle operations and can rely on a scalable service for any in-store customer. 

Shuttle OnDemand provides numerous benefits to dealers: a cost-effective alternative to loaners and customer waiting, fully white labeled for the dealership; it reduces or removes the dealer's liability and expense of running their own shuttles; it improves customer experience; and increases service spend. In addition, dealers can distribute credits for customers to use Shuttle OnDemand for extended periods of time should they require the customer's car for additional services. Dealerships can also save a great deal on managing expensive loaner fleets.   

For those who prefer not to visit a dealership at all, the RedCap transportation platform supports concierge pick-up and delivery of vehicles, which reduces the entire customer time investment for service to roughly 15 minutes.   

Not only is this a pleasant experience for the customer at an otherwise inconvenient time but leveraging this type of mobility allows dealers significant flexibility and can save the dealer nearly $3,000 per shuttle while not being disruptive to normal sales and service operations.  The availability of DMS integration allows the dealer to measure specific Repair Order attribution as well as capture valuable customer feedback through a proprietary survey platform.

"Traditional courtesy transportation options have been less than efficient for both the dealer and customer," says David Zwick, Managing Director of RedCap Technologies. "The importance of giving customers choice of how they want to do business with you is paramount and having this more convenient and timely option is what customers now expect."

RedCap Technologies has emerged as a modern solution provider to support the changing winds of customer expectations and engagement for vehicle sales and service. As consumers become more accustomed to bespoke experiences and instant services á la Amazon, dealerships are responding with service offerings like RedCap that are customizable and seamless in order to drive better customer satisfaction and retention.

About RedCap
RedCap is a category creator of automotive retailer mobility and logistics. RedCap's platform allows OEMs and dealers to provide rich experiences to their service and sales customers and greatly improve a dealership's overall vehicle and customer logistics operations. RedCap is a nationwide provider with tiered solutions servicing all brands. Customers, dealers and OEMs can use RedCap's easy to use white labeled, DMS integrated software or interface with existing applications using the RedCap API.

About Solera Holdings, Inc.
Founded and continuously led by inventor and entrepreneur Tony Aquila, Solera is a global leader in digital technologies that connect and secure life's most important assets: our cars, trucks, homes and identities. Today, Solera processes over 300 million digital transactions annually for approximately 235,000 partners and customers in nearly 90 countries. For more information, please visit solera.com.

SOURCE RedCap Technologies, LLC

Jim Roche will be speaking at the upcoming DrivingSales Executive Summit in two weeks.  This is a guest blog about the importance fixed ops will play in the future of the dealership. 

Dealerships have long invested in the service department as a way to increase profits. However, key shifts in market and consumer behavior are placing an even greater emphasis on fixed operations for both short-term and long-term success.

Consider these recent findings: the service department now makes up 49 percent of a dealership’s gross profit, up from 45 percent in 2012, according to the NADA’s annual Dealer Financial Profile. And 74 percent of customers who visited the dealership in the past 12 months for service are likely to return to purchase their next vehicle, compared to only 35 percent of customers who did not visit for service, according to Cox Automotive Inc.’s 2018 Service Industry Study.

Taken together, these findings indicate that the service department will continue to drive more of a dealership’s profits this year and for years down the road.

So, how can dealerships capitalize on these trends? For starters, dealers need to understand that customers and their expectations are changing. By 2020, millennials are expected to account for 40 percent of all car buyers, according to the Autotrader Next Generation Car Buyer Study.

This new generation of buyers places an even greater emphasis on the customer experience. Millennials are used to one-click ordering on Amazon, tracking pizza delivery with a Domino’s app and hailing a car service on their smartphones from Uber or Lyft.

Successful dealerships will respond to these changes by focusing on delivering an exceptional customer service experience. This means adding amenities such as coffee bars, Wi-Fi and others in the dealership. More importantly, this means investing in a technology-enhanced experience that makes it easier for customers to schedule service appointments and extending hours to provide more convenient service times.

In addition, dealers need to make sure their customers are familiar with their service departments. Xtime market research shows that customers are more than twice as likely to return to a dealership for service when introduced to the service department at the time of purchase.

If dealerships introduce the service department at the time of delivery, they lay the foundation of creating a life-long, loyal customer. They can increase the chances that a customer returns for that first oil change or regular maintenance, which can lead to more service visits and eventually another vehicle purchase.

The changing trends in the auto industry and consumer behavior demand a different view of fixed ops. It can no longer be run as a separate part of the business. Fixed ops should be seen as the cornerstone of the entire dealership that builds long-term customer relationships, starting from day one.

I hope to see you at the DrivingSales Executive Summit to provide more details on why fixed ops is critical to driving profitable growth at your dealership.

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