EPISODE 39
12% Gone: Where Dealerships Are Losing Service Visits
Featuring Guest Skyler Chadwick
Episode Description
Ever feel like your dealership is doing all the right things and customers still drift away? Skyler Chadwick says the problem is a lack of clarity and confidence at the moments that matter most. His fix: stop checking boxes and start building trust with transparent pricing, tighter processes, and a service experience that makes customers feel certain they’re in the right place.
In this episode, Bill Springer sits down with Skyler, Director of Product Consulting at Cox Automotive, to unpack the latest findings from Cox Automotive’s Service Industry Study and what they signal for 2026 planning. They dig into why dealerships have lost ground to general repair, where the biggest retention drop-offs are happening (and why it’s earlier than many leaders think), and how fixed ops teams can turn the service lane into a retention engine.
Takeaways from this episode:
- Dealerships have lost 12% of service visits to competition since 2018 — and the biggest share shift is happening in general repair
- The most alarming retention slide shows up as early as year 2, meaning the “safe zone” is shrinking
- Longer service intervals mean fewer chances to impress, so the customer experience has to be sharper every time they visit
- “Installed” technology doesn’t equal results
- The service-to-sales handoff is a 2026 advantage: identify trade-in signals in the lane, do the work before the customer arrives
BILL SPRINGER
and president of Krex Inc.
SKYLER CHADWICK
Director of Product Consulting at Cox Automotive
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How to Become Your Customer’s First Call for Tires
Only about one-third of dealership service customers bought their last set of tires from the dealership. That’s not just a missed tire sale. Once a customer heads somewhere else for tires, that shop gets a shot at the rotations, alignments, brakes, maintenance, and repair work that comes next.
Turning Service Visits Into Future Vehicle Sales
Your next vehicle sale may already be sitting in the service drive. Yet while one-third of customers say they would be open to a sales conversation during a service visit, only 14% report that anyone actually starts one. The opportunity is not to pitch every customer who pulls into the lane. It’s to build a defined process that helps sales and service identify the right customers, start relevant conversations, and keep the relationship moving through the entire ownership cycle.
The Three Habits Behind High Service Retention
A dealership can deliver a great service visit and still lose the customer the next time around. That’s because retention isn’t won through one strong offer, one new tool, or even one memorable experience. Retention is built by making every part of the customer journey reinforce the next.