Blog
Introducing Roadside Dispatch Notifications for Your DriveSure Portal
DriveSure is excited to announce the latest addition to our suite of customer-focused tools: Roadside Dispatch Notifications. This feature enhances the DriveSure portal, offering a seamless and efficient way for dealerships to manage roadside assistance requests....
Auditing Your Service Scheduling Process for Customer Retention
Our work with thousands of dealership service departments over the years has made it clear there are some things, when executed well, that keep your customers coming back. Sometimes, this simply comes down to not driving them away in the first place — a poor service...
Using Multi-Point Inspections for Better Retention and Service Revenue
Multi-point inspections (MPIs) are a great way to identify maintenance opportunities to sell more services. So what if your MPIs were better at driving sales? Not only could this dramatically improve customer satisfaction and retention, but it can also drive your...
How Proper Training Can Drive Service Department Revenue
Effective training in a dealership isn’t just about ticking boxes; it can be a major game-changer for safety, communication, and customer retention. When dealers focus on making training a regular, evolving part of their team, the benefits are huge. It's about more...
Customer Trust in Dealerships is Dropping. What’s Next?
A recent Cox Automotive study revealed a decline in trust towards dealership service, with only 54% of vehicle owners citing "trust" as a reason for returning to the dealership for service in 2023, down from 62% in 2021. This points to a sizable shift in customer...
How to Leverage DriveSure in a Business Development Center
BDCs often struggle getting vehicle owners to book service appointments, and to keep those appointments once they do. Convincing customers to commit, especially when they're concerned about long waits and the disruption to their day, can feel like an uphill battle,...
How to Stop Losing Service Customers to Repair Shops
A recent study by Cox Automotive reveals a concerning trend for franchised dealerships: a significant loss in service visit share to general repair shops. In 2021, dealerships accounted for 35% of all service visits in the U.S., but by 2023, this figure had declined...
EVs Create Unique Retention Problems, But They’re Fixable
Most dealerships recognize that the growing electric vehicle (EV) market is exacerbating a familiar issue: the declining need for oil changes in newer cars. However, EVs are also introducing a range of less predictable challenges. One particularly significant hurdle...
Top 15 Tips for Texting Service Department Customers
In recent years, dealerships have witnessed a significant shift: customers increasingly prefer text messaging as their main communication channel, especially vehicle owners under 55. But to capitalize on this trend, it isn't just about adopting texting—it's about...
ChatGPT for Dealerships: Getting Started with AI
While you’ve probably heard of ChatGPT by now, 2024 marks the year that AI tools will start really hitting the mainstream — especially with the billions of dollars invested in AI in 2023. In other words, there’s going to be more AI for car dealerships to take...
6 Communication Tips to Boost Dealership Visits
The way dealerships interact with their customers is facing a major shift in communication standards, which is especially important when profitability is more about recurring service revenue rather than vehicle sales. By prioritizing clear, consistent, and...
How Have Service Customer Preferences Changed Post-Pandemic?
In the wake of the pandemic, dealership consumers made significant changes to their behavior and expectations. Yet how can we be sure which changes have stuck, and which have reverted back to how they were in 2019? Understanding these changes is crucial for...