REDWOOD CITY, Calif., September 20, 2019 – Xtime clients are invited to attend Xperience, a cutting edge virtual user summit taking place entirely online. Beginning Oct. 23 through Oct. 24, attendees are able to participate in virtual sessions led by industry experts right from the convenience of their own desks. Xperience’s introduction is particularly timely this year as fixed ops continue to be an increasingly important revenue stream to ensure dealership success in a slowing sales cycle. The event demonstrates Xtime’s commitment to clients as a true partner in success and navigation in the shifting auto service industry.

Over two days, interactive training sessions will focus on helping dealer clients discover best practices and master their Xtime technology and processes to grow their service department revenue as well as tackle industry challenges.

Offering a flexible agenda attendees can build a customized itinerary around, the event will highlight:

• - New research coupled with guidance to grow dealerships

• - Opportunities to connect and share with peers across the industry

• - Expert knowledge and pro tips in every session including but not limited to, Win the War for Talent, Schedule 101: Success Starts Here and Inspect: This Way to Profitability

Bringing these insights and information to life will be a robust series of speakers, including executive members of the Xtime and Cox Automotive teams. The summit will kick-off with a welcome from Tracy Noonan Fred vice president and general manager of Xtime, followed by presentations from Darrel Ferguson director of performance management of Xtime, and Isabelle Helms vice president, research and market intelligence of Cox Automotive. Attendees will also have the opportunity to hear a panel of dealership veterans discuss their unique perspectives and the successful changes they’ve implemented in their own businesses to adapt to changing consumer behavior. 

“We are extremely excited to introduce this new event to our clients and provide an additional resource for valuable information that they can put into practice at their own dealerships,” said Tracy Noonan Fred, vice president and general manager of Xtime.

“Xperience was created as a virtual summit to further partner with dealerships in their success in the service drive and in the industry.” 

Registration is currently open to all Xtime dealers. For more information and to register for Xperience, visit the event’s website.

About Xtime
Xtime is the leading software solution for automotive dealer service departments, increasing retention and revenue with technology and industry experts that help dealers meet changing customer expectations. As an advanced solution that connects the entire service drive and provides exceptional support, Xtime is committed to helping dealers deliver the ultimate service experience with transparency, convenience, and trust. Xtime is a Cox Automotive™ brand.

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 

Redwood City, CA, September 16, 2019 — In a world where email is just one of many channels consumers use to communicate, dealers who neglect one or more channels risk losing potential business that can further accelerate dealership profitability. To reclaim these missed opportunities, Xtime is launching Text Marketing, an add-on available to clients using Xtime Invite.  Xtime’s Text Marketing feature can help dealers diversify their outreach strategy and cut through the marketing noise to better engage with customers through their often preferred mode of communication.  

Today, customer engagement preferences have become more complex with the rise of multiple communication channels. Text communication is on the rise and marketers can no longer rely on email alone to connect with consumers outside of the dealership.  According to Gartner, texting response rates have soared to 45 percent. The 2019 Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey study shows that texting is gaining traction amongst all age groups, making it an even more important marketing tool for dealers. 

Noting the shift towards text, some dealers have turned to impromptu methods of communication, such as personal cell phone use or other texting solutions, which miss the opportunity to be fully integrated with service scheduling systems or CRMs. This in turn compromises dealership business processes and customer experience. Additionally, ad hoc texting solutions may not adhere to the strict rules and regulations outlined by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and other federal and state laws, exposing dealers to risk of steep penalties for non-compliance. 

“Dealers have a hard time getting vehicle owners to respond to marketing communication, even when it includes convenient links and advantageous offers,” said Tracy Noonan Fred, vice president and general manager of Xtime. “Research shows 89 percent of consumers prefer to communicate with organizations via text, so being able to text straight from the SMS platform is an optimal way for dealers to capture a consumer’s attention and begin a conversation that leads to new business.” [1]

Xtime Text Marketing offers a new channel to increase customer engagement and conversion through an Xtime Spectrum integrated and TCPA compliant solution. Its benefits include: 

• - In-Message Scheduling: Ability to send targeted texts that link to Xtime Schedule and pass through relevant data 

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• - Targeted Marketing:  Flexibility to create and execute a variety of  marketing programs

• - Regulatory Compliance: Assistance with adhering to strict text marketing rules and regulations with an engaging opt-in auditable process for communicating with customers via text

• - Audience Builder:  Acquire, retain, and build a text marketing audience with multiple customer touchpoints that encourage customer opt-in throughout Xtime Spectrum  

“The results we’ve seen from Xtime Text Marketing have been very exciting and impactful on our business,” said Luke Ammann, Service & Parts Director, Kastner Honda. “Since launching, it’s clear that everyone involved prefers to communicate via text and the response has been positive to the point that we’re currently working on opting in even more customers.”

Text Marketing is the first of several new add-ons and enhancements that are part of Xtime’s larger mission to help foster customer retention, loyalty, profitability and growth for dealerships -- even during times when sales volume is down. The feature is available immediately to all U.S. franchise dealers as an add-on to the Xtime Invite product.

[1] Taft, R. (2018, September 5). OnSpot Social. Retrieved from http://onspotsocial.com

About Xtime
Xtime is the leading software solution for automotive dealer service departments, increasing retention and revenue with technology and industry experts that help dealers meet changing customer expectations. As an advanced solution that connects the entire service drive and provides exceptional support, Xtime is committed to helping dealers deliver the ultimate service experience with transparency, convenience, and trust. Xtime is a Cox Automotive™ brand.

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 

Introducing real-time vehicle service status updates from the palm of your hand

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., July 17, 2019 – Dealerships and customers can both agree that the vehicle service experience needs improvement. Hindered by poor communication, the relationship between the two parties has hit a crossroads, hurting retention and business. Today, Xtime is unveiling a new Service Tracker feature, helping dealerships close this gap and build greater trust and loyalty by offering customers mobile access to real-time vehicle status updates.

“As service revenue continues to play an increasingly dominant role in dealership gross profits — 49.6 percent according to NADA Data 2018 — Xtime’s Service Tracker provides the advantage necessary for dealers to compete in a crowded market,” said Tracy Fred, vice president and general manager for Xtime. “Service Tracker’s core purpose is to bring trust, communication and transparency to the automotive service industry and ultimately, to keep dealers and their customers happy.” 

Until now, the automotive service industry lacked the tools necessary to provide the same level of on-demand convenience consumers have come to expect in the rest of their lives. Consequently, service advisors are often faced with a high volume of phone calls and text messages from customers requesting routine service status updates. This obstructs the ability to satisfy existing customers and displaces time which could be spent helping other clients standing in the service drive. Dealers now have a tool designed to meet this challenge head-on with Xtime’s Service Tracker, which offers the following benefits:

1. Real-Time Service Status: Dealers can offer their customers the ability to access real-time vehicle service status updates online through a customized URL link provided via email or text message.
2. Increased Consumer Transparency: Dealership trust and loyalty increase when consumers have visibility into the status of their vehicle throughout the service experience.
3. Reduce Phone Call Volume: Service advisors can spend less time answering the phone and focus on other tasks at hand, increasing department capacity and improving the customer experience.

“About 70 percent of inbound phone calls through the service center are customers checking the status of their vehicles,” said David Hult, chief executive officer, Asbury Automotive Group. “We clearly needed a solution that could simultaneously enhance our flow of information with customers and reduce demand on staff. With the introduction of Service Tracker, customers can independently check the status of their service in real time, allowing advisors to concentrate on the customers in front of them and provide higher levels of service.”

For more information about Xtime’s Service Tracker, soon available to all franchised dealers in the U.S. as an add-on to Xtime Inspect, visit https://xtime.com/xtime-spectrum/inspect/.

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 52 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 more than $13 billion in service revenue annually 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

Media Contact:

Lisa Aloisio

Lisa.Aloisio@coxautoinc.com

m. 404.725.0651

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Redwood City, Calif. – July 15, 2019 – To help dealers build stronger customer relationships and drive lasting customer retention in the service department, Xtime today announces a new integration of its Inspect product with Auto/Mate, a national dealer management system (DMS) provider.

Dealers using Auto/Mate’s DMS will now be able to take advantage of Xtime’s Inspect module, part of the automotive industry’s leading cloud-based service management platform. Xtime Inspect helps dealers drive greater shop efficiency and can also help boost both revenue and customer satisfaction with digital, multi-point inspections, professionally presented recommended services and online customer approvals.

“With industry headwinds continuing to disrupt the service department and threaten dealership profitability as a whole, Xtime knew it was mission critical to invest in new relationships to ensure the benefits of Inspect were available to as many dealers as possible,” said Tracy Fred, vice president and general manager for Xtime. “Through the Inspect integration with Auto/Mate, more dealers will have the resources they need to provide a consistent customer experience that offers transparency, confidence and trust every step of the way to create lifelong customers.”

According to findings from Phase 2 of the Cox Automotive 2018 Service Industry Study, an estimated 70 percent of consumers who purchased or leased from a dealer did not return for service in the past year, indicating that dealers continue to struggle when it comes to customer retention. However, more than half of consumers reported they would be willing to travel farther and pay more for an enhanced service experience, creating an opportunity for dealers to continue to grow their share of total service visits.

Xtime Inspect helps dealers address this opportunity by enabling them to better streamline the vehicle inspection process internally and externally through instant communication with dealership chat, parts pricing and availability information, and centralized access to service history and previous recommendations. It also provides an integrated quote generation process from technician to parts to advisor.

“A comprehensive vehicle inspection is a valuable way to build trust, transparency and loyalty with our customers,” said Warren Lewis, dealer at Klick-Lewis Chevrolet in Palmyra, PA. “Having our Auto/Mate DMS deeply integrated with the Xtime Inspect module makes that critical relationship-building step so much easier and more efficient. Our service staff gets to spend their time meeting customers’ needs, instead of moving data around from one system to another.”

Leveraging its existing integration with Xtime Schedule, Auto/Mate dealers will now be able to import repair orders (ROs) into Inspect, and have access to real-time parts availability, parts on-hand, including bin and source location, descriptions and more.

“Xtime’s integration with our Parts Module will allow parts department users to save time and create more accurate parts quotes, as well as communicate pricing and availability throughout the entire dealership,” said Mike Esposito, president and CEO of Auto/Mate. “We have designed our Open/Mate program to expedite the integration process from third-party vendors for a low cost, which increases satisfaction for both parties’ dealership customers.”

To learn more about the Auto/Mate and Xtime integration, email Xtime at insidesales@xtime.com, or call 888-463-3888.

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 52 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 more than $13 billion in service revenue annually for more than 7,500 dealerships across three continents.

About Auto/Mate

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems is a leading provider of dealership management system software to retail automotive dealerships, typically saving dealers thousands of dollars per month from their current provider. AMPS® is a user-friendly, feature-rich DMS in use by more than 1,500 auto dealers nationwide. Auto/Mate has received multiple consecutive DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards.

Auto/Mate’s employees have more than 1,500 years of combined experience working in franchised auto dealerships, the foundation of its By Car People, For Car People™ slogan. Auto/Mate is committed to winning its customers’ business each and every month with no long-term contracts and free software upgrades.

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Vendors can now manage work requests and dealer relationships right at their fingertips

Oakbrook Terrace, IL. – June 20, 2019 – iRecon announced today the introduction of the all-new iRecon: Vendor, a mobile application to help vendors more efficiently and effectively manage their workloads and dealer interactions across the reconditioning process.

Acquired by vAuto in 2018, iRecon helps control, manage and maximize the entire reconditioning workflow. With the launch of the new mobile application, in-house reconditioning and all U.S. and Canadian vendor partners can easily track and handle work requests which can allow dealers to get their inventory turned and in front of customers faster. The iRecon tool on-the-go can be accessed on iOS and Android devices.

“As dealers fight to remain profitable, optimizing the reconditioning process is more important than ever. Every extra day it takes to get a vehicle front-line ready impacts a dealership’s turn rate and bottom line,” said Mike Boyd, senior director of business enablement and founder of iRecon. “With iRecon: Vendor, our vendor partners have the access, transparency and controlled workflow they need to minimize delays and meet the challenges facing today’s dealers.”

According to a 2017 survey conducted by Cox Automotive, dealers ranked reconditioning as one of the top three most important tasks when managing vehicle inventory and reported that the reconditioning process can take up significant resources. With dealer service bays already nearing full capacity for a single shift, according to the 2018 Cox Automotive Service Industry Study, it’s vital for dealers to consider what they should continue to manage in-house and what must be outsourced, especially when it comes to reconditioning work. iRecon: Vendor will enable vendors to better respond to these capacity limitations, help carry the load and drive much-needed efficiency.

“For each vehicle we take in, there are multiple phone calls, emails and text messages flying round to check status or get costs approved,” said Dan Stark, owner of Buck-Nut Detailing in Columbus, Ohio. “iRecon: Vendor cuts all that out and has all the information I need in one place, which not only improves my shop’s productivity but also makes my clients more satisfied with my service.”

With the mobile application, vendors can:

• Manage work requests across partner dealerships using iRecon
• Document and complete work requests in real time
• View and respond to messages associated with work requests
• Build and digitally sign invoices for completed work items
• Receive push notifications for new work requests and messages

For more information on iRecon, visit www.vauto.com/ireconvendor.

About vAuto

vAuto® provides innovative technology, tools and business intelligence to thousands of dealerships across the United States and Canada, helping them compete more effectively and increase new/used vehicle sales volumes and profits. Founded in 2005, vAuto revolutionized dealers’ used vehicle operations with the groundbreaking Provision® suite of tools. Leveraging The Velocity Method of Management®, pioneered by vAuto founder, Dale Pollak, Provision helped dealers adopt a more transparent- and turn-focused approach to used vehicle acquisition, appraising, pricing and merchandising based on real-time, local market supply-and-demand data. In 2018, vAuto released the Provision ProfitTime metric and methodology to help dealers maximize inventory turn and gross profit based on the investment value or profit potential of each vehicle. The same year, the company acquired and launched iRecon, an online reconditioning workflow platform. The moves extend vAuto’s efficiency-focused used vehicle management solutions into vehicle merchandising and reconditioning.

vAuto’s solutions also include Conquest, a new vehicle inventory management and pricing system, and Stockwave, which enables dealers to efficiently find and purchase vehicles from leading wholesale sources via a single platform.

Headquartered near Chicago, Illinois, vAuto is a Cox Automotive™ brand.

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

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This is a blog post by Tracy Fred, vice president and general manager,  Xtime.  

With the SAAR dropping below 17 million in February for the second month in a row and tightening new and existing competition top of mind, the stakes are higher than ever for each dealer-customer interaction. Now accounting for 49 percent of dealership profits according to NADA research, fixed operations done right is vital to protecting a dealership’s bottom line and cultivating customer loyalty and retention.

According to the 2018 Cox Automotive Service Industry Study, 74 percent of customers who visited a dealership in the last 12 months for service are likely to return to purchase their next vehicle. However, a major challenge has surfaced. While customers are willing to drive 11 miles or more to purchase a car, most aren’t willing to drive that same distance to service their vehicle and list “not a convenient location” as a top reason for bypassing the dealership of purchase for service.

How can dealerships overcome this 11-mile barrier? It turns out the answer may be lying in plain site as an app on your smartphone.

Previous fears of ride-sharing services eating into dealership new car sales has turned into new opportunity for many dealers, especially in the service department. More dealers are starting to flip the script and incorporate ride-sharing into their fixed operations to save on costs and deliver a more flexible and convenient customer experience in an effort to improve one of the most profitable parts of their business.

Bringing new mobility solutions to fixed operations is critical to closing the distance gap between the consumer and dealer service department. Adapting these new solutions will be particularly important to win over the fastest growing generation of car buyers today — Millennials. In fact, the 2018 Cox Automotive Evolution of Mobility Study found that more than half of Millennials are using ride-hailing services.

Today, consumers have a plethora of ride-sharing resources, such as Lyft, a ride-sharing app that is offered in more than 300 U.S. cities and enables fare-splitting, carpool services and fair pricing during busy hours. Dealers need to lean into these cultural shifts and evolving preferences to maintain relevancy with consumers and deliver the ease and efficiency they’ve become accustomed to.

Incorporating ride-sharing services into the service department will help reduce customer wait times by enabling flexible, on-demand transportation to and from the dealership. Better yet, some integrations enable dealerships to let customers select ride-sharing as a transportation option during the service scheduling process. Not only can these integrations save dealerships money, as they no longer need to pay for a full-time shuttle service and affiliated costs, but they also increase customer satisfaction by creating a more accommodating and seamless experience.

Embracing technology and tapping into the next generation of car-buyers will enable dealers to sustain profits for years to come. As service continues to be a crucial revenue stream, dealerships need to close the distance gap to ensure they continue to be the preferred provider for vehicle maintenance and repair. By leveraging ride-sharing options, dealerships can stay ahead of the curve in the rapidly changing mobility landscape.