EPISODE 45
Fix This First: The Biggest Risk in Your Service Process
Featuring Guest Kim Saylor
Episode Description
Customers aren’t leaving your dealership, but they’re thinking about it. The real risk isn’t lost loyalty, but a slipping experience that’s quietly pushing them toward more convenient options. The solution might simply be fixing the friction in your service experience, starting with how customers schedule appointments and interact with your dealership.
In this episode, sponsored by DriveSure, Bill sits down with Kim Saylor, Senior Director of Product Planning, Fixed Operations at CDK Global, to unpack insights from CDK’s latest Service Shopper Study. Kim shares surprising data on Gen Z loyalty, why satisfaction is declining even as customers keep coming back, and where dealerships are creating unnecessary friction. The conversation covers appointment scheduling challenges, the rise of mobile service, recall opportunities, and how shifting consumer behavior is reshaping retention strategies.
Takeaways from this episode:
- Why Gen Z is showing the highest early loyalty
- The growing gap between customer loyalty and satisfaction (and why it’s a warning sign)
- How long hold times and poor scheduling experiences are costing dealerships opportunities
- Why mobile service is gaining traction
- How recalls and better education can re-engage customers and drive additional service revenue
BILL SPRINGER
and president of Krex Inc.
Kim Saylor
Senior Director of Product Planning, Fixed Operations
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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.
The Calendar Problem That’s Costing You 30% More Revenue
What if the biggest problem in your service department isn’t your technicians, but your calendar? Most dealerships think they’re managing capacity when in reality, they’re reacting to chaos they created themselves.