EPISODE 06
Corey Smith’s Playbook for Service Department Excellence
Featuring Guest Corey Smith
Episode Description
How do some dealerships turn their service departments into customer retention powerhouses while others struggles to get buyers to return? Corey Smith reveals the often-overlooked strategies that can transform your service operations
In this episode of Retention Roadmap, Corey, the National Fixed Operations Training Manager for EasyCare and host of the FWRD podcast shares insights on how EasyCare integrates fixed operations training with their dealership services, emphasizing the importance of structured processes within the service department. By refining processes and equipping service teams with the right skills and tools, dealerships can transform their service departments into powerful drivers of customer loyalty and satisfaction. Corey also highlights the value of prepaid maintenance programs and service contracts as essential tools for enhancing customer retention.
Takeaways from this episode:
- How dealerships often overlook the potential of their service departments to drive customer retention and profitability
- The importance of a well-designed prepaid maintenance program or service contract
- Emerging trends and challenges in the automotive service industry
- Why dealerships should proactively adapt to advancing technology
- The importance of servant leadership for service managers
BILL SPRINGER
COREY SMITH
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If your service team is treating every customer the same, there’s a good chance you’re losing some of them without ever hearing a complaint. A bad phone experience, a clunky online scheduler, or the wrong communication channel can quietly push customers somewhere else.
The Loyalty Paradox: Why Satisfied Customers Still Leave
A customer can leave your dealership completely satisfied and still never come back. That’s the loyalty paradox, and according to data from DriveSure’s 2026 Dealership Service Retention Report, it’s happening far more often than most service departments realize. The real danger isn’t the angry customer. It’s the quiet one who had a perfectly fine experience and simply had no compelling reason to return.
The Anatomy of Defection: What 1,277 Drivers Say Pushes Them Out the Door
Most dealerships know customers are leaving. The harder question is why. The data has a few answers that might surprise you.
In this episode of Retention Roadmap, Bill Springer dives deep into the 2026 Dealership Service Retention Report to break down the anatomy of defection, using data from 1,277 vehicle owners across the country. The top two defection drivers — a bad dealership experience (cited by 50% of respondents) and lower prices elsewhere (44%) — have held their positions across all three of DriveSure’s studies, going back to 2020. That consistency isn’t a trend. It’s the rule.