PACIFIC PALISADES, Calf., December 20, 2018 — In response to the rapidly growing number of consumers currently using the internet via mobile devices, fusionZONE Automotive, LLC., today announced a new tool for auto dealers, Mobile Text Coupons. With Mobile Text Coupons, customers no longer have to use their desktop to print them off. Instead, they can choose a coupon, enter their phone number and store this coupon in their smartphone’s wallet. The customer can then present their smartphone to the dealership’s sales or service department and redeem their desired discount or deal.

“Dealers on their game regularly add prominent specials to their website. However, we discovered a big problem – in most cases, those specials only offer a “click to print” option and aren’t optimized for mobile devices. As 60-70% of consumers use the internet via mobile devices, we saw a need for change and created Mobile Text Coupons for both sales and service,” said Brett Sutherlin, FusionZONE Founder.

fusionZONE tested Mobile Text Coupons at several large volume dealers with excellent results. According to William Finsilver, General Manager at BMW of Bloomfield, his dealership enjoyed a 200+% increase in service leads. “In the past, if the service customer printed a sheet of coupons, we were not capturing a lead. Now our service team proactively reaches out to the customer and books the appointment,” Finsilver said.

Through the use of Mobile Text Coupons, Sun Toyota increased tire sales by 60%. “Using Mobile Text Coupons with paid search to increase awareness that we are in the tire business has been huge for Sun Toyota. It allows us to contact the customer and book the appointment,” said John Marazzi, Managing Partner.

Commenting further on the successful use of the coupons in dealerships Sutherlin stated, “Mobile Text Coupons are for both sales and service, but we have found that they finally give an identity to the service department. While most dealers concentrate solely on sales, this product provides fusionZONE dealers with an upper hand by generating leads for the service department, something dealerships have struggled with forever.”

Mobile Text Coupons will be demonstrated at the 2019 NADA show, January 25-27, 2019, at booth 7935W. To schedule a booth visit or demo visit: https://www.fzautomotive.com/nada/

About fusionZONE Automotive, LLC

fusionZONE Automotive offers automotive dealers the nation’s fastest, most cutting-edge customized and responsive websites. fusionZONE Automotive websites help dealers sell more cars with the sole objective of driving website conversions and leads. fusionZONE also offers complete, progressive digital marketing solutions, streamlining the digital process for dealerships of all sizes.

fusionZONE Automotive websites are designed to not only garner as much traffic as possible for dealer clients but also to actively convert that traffic into leads and sales.

fusionZONE is based in Pacific Palisades, CA Lakeland, FL and Seattle, WA.

91% of service customers defect once they are out of warranty, and those are a dealership’s most profitable customers. What can your dealership do to help retain these valuable customers?

Tire sales can easily distinguish your dealership from its competition and decrease defection, but only if they are promoted and sold differently than how most dealerships currently do it.

Tire sales should start right at the purchase of the vehicle. Have your salespeople inform the customer that your dealership is super competitive on tire prices. Then be sure to engage throughout the lifecycle of the customer with regular promotions via email blasts or text, whichever the customer prefers. By reinforcing that message throughout all of the dealership’s marketing, your customers will be more engaged, and you will be top-of-mind, with a better chance of capturing their business when they are in the market for tires.

The next promotion point is your website. Dealers on their game regularly add prominent tire service specials to their website. The problem is that, in most cases, those service specials only offer a “click to print” option and aren’t optimized for mobile devices.

These days, 60-70% of consumers use the internet via mobile devices, and this number is increasing. Why wouldn’t you provide your customers access to your specials on their cell phones? Get with your website provider and ensure that your tire specials are well displayed on your website and that these offers are mobile-friendly. If you require customers to present a coupon for a tire special, your website and those coupons must be accessible and redeemable in the way consumers access them – via their phones.

Customers can then save those coupons directly onto their mobile phones to present when they arrive as they can add it to their Apple Pay wallet or their Android device. This format is more relevant and perfectly targets and engages those low-funnel service customers.

I know several dealers who are beating out their local competition by doing this. In fact, when John Marazzi, Managing Partner at Sun Toyota, implemented mobile text coupons for service, he saw an incredible spike in overall tire sales of 60%. And William Finsilver at BMW of Bloomfield saw a 200+% increase in service leads.

Ultimately, the end goal is to get the service customer to continue to service their vehicle both during and outside of warranty. This retention in service also gives your dealership an increased opportunity to sell the customer their next vehicle once they get into an equity position.

It makes sense to adjust your sales and marketing strategies to today’s customers. This will increase the likelihood that those customers will stick around. If your customers continue to service at your dealership, they are that much more likely to buy their future vehicles from you, and refer their family and friends, too. This circular transactional pattern can only lead to increased profits, a busier sales and service department and, ultimately, happier customers.

Arguably, one of the most important marketing channels any dealership has is their website. Think about it. How much money do you spend simply to get customers there? When you combine all marketing efforts including, but not limited to, SEO, SEM, some third-party listing sites and more, dealerships spend tens of thousands of dollars (or more) per month.

Once that customer hits the dealer’s site, most dealers have the additional cost of all of the widgets it has chosen to adopt. Whether that’s a chat service, trade-in appraisal tool, inventory merchandising on VDPs, video and photo content and more, everything is designed to communicate with customers and/or provide the information that they need so they convert and purchase a vehicle.

But what about the most profitable area of your dealership? What about those customers that need vehicle service?

A huge piece of the puzzle is missing from most dealership’s websites: the service department.

According to NADA’s 2017 annual report, the average dealership’s service and parts department enjoyed sales of $6,793,905.00. But, when it comes to marketing, at many dealerships this profit center is overlooked.

That makes no sense whatsoever! Why would any dealership exclude marketing their biggest profit center when they could do so relatively easily?

All that money spent on SEO and SEM is mostly designed to attract car buyers. Ah, but many current customers go online when they have service-related questions, such as how to pair their iPhone with their in-vehicle entertainment system, how much does service cost, or to perhaps search for available coupons. The sad part is that far too often the dealership’s website has very little, and sometimes no service information at all. Those that do are often full of outdated information and expired coupons.

So, where do theses customer go to get that information?

While you’re completely focused on acquiring sales customers, your service customers are finding all the information they need in the worst possible place for the future of your dealership’s largest profit center… on independent repair shop’s websites!

And, at that point, where do you think those customers will go for service? It’d be silly to think that consumers aren’t motivated by low prices, offers of speed and convenience and attractive coupons.

But, the biggest problem many dealerships have in this highly competitive service space is NO MESSAGE WHATSOEVER! What is a dealership supposed to do? Why not pay attention to the very strategies independent repair shops have long used to steal your customers: implement a few of them and reclaim that service business.

Consider revamping your website and provide the information your customers are seeking -- rich service and parts content, tutorial videos, effective appointment scheduling services and more. Provide your dealership with every opportunity to serve these customers, establish value in dealership service versus independent repair facilities and this will quite simply help to prevent customers bouncing from your website to an independent’s.  That rich content will also attract new service customers.

Another huge benefit of relevant, user-friendly content which is continuously posted and updated, is that it helps your dealership rank higher in Google searches. The exact thing you desire on the sales side is much easier to achieve in fixed ops. In most cases, you are not in competition with manufacturers, third party listing sites, lead providers and so on, vying for customer eyeballs. You may even want to consider creating a standalone website on a sub-URL designed specifically for service.

It’s absolutely possible for your dealership to outrank PepBoys, Firestone, Midas and Jiffy Lube! In addition, because Google search results are now location-based, you have an edge over competing brand dealers to get that local service work by ranking higher in common routine maintenance searches.

Stop ignoring your service department and start using your online real estate as a powerful marketing platform for vehicle service.

Don’t be afraid to advertise service-related pricing, the independents do, and they are doing just fine. Take back the service work that is rightfully yours by adopting best practices that will drive service customers. Some of them, as you know, do convert to sales customers. The bottom line is; the more customers you have coming to your dealership – whether sales or service – the more profitable you will be and, in the end, isn’t that what you want?