FRIKINtech Get your head out of the sand on service conquesting!

Alex Snyder

President Skroob
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May 1, 2006
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I am borrowing this from the FRIKINtech blog, but it is gold for anyone who hasn't realized the potential.


What is conquesting the service drive?​


Conquesting service refers to converting service customers—those who did not purchase their vehicle from a particular dealership—into potential sales leads. This approach is vital for dealerships looking to expand their customer base and increase sales opportunities.


The Statistics Behind Conquesting​


Recent data indicates that 63% of service customers are conquest-able. This statistic underscores the potential for dealerships to tap into a large pool of customers who may be interested in purchasing a vehicle, even if they did not initially buy from that store.


Age and Mileage of Vehicles​


  • Only 15.5% of these customers have cars older than 10 years.
  • 23.6% of customers have vehicles with more than 100,000 miles.
Understanding-Conquesting-Service-in-Automotive-Sales-1-1024x959.png

These figures suggest that some service customers drive older, high-mileage vehicles, which may be less likely to trade in. You can assume that only a small part of service customers drive vehicles they plan to drive into the ground. However, the average repair order cost on these vehicles broke $692 on average in 2024 and was a significant percentage of services over $1,500. Bear in mind that the frustration point of people dropped to $518 on service bills in 2024. This means there are only so many repairs over $518 before someone gets frustrated enough to want to get rid of that car.


The Opportunity for Great Trades​


The data reveals a significant opportunity for dealerships:


  • 84.5% of service customers have cars that are fewer than 10 years old.
  • More than 75% of these customers have vehicles with less than 100,000 miles.
Understanding-Conquesting-Service-in-Automotive-Sales-1024x764.png

This indicates that most service customers drive newer vehicles, more likely to be traded in for a new purchase. As these customers may be looking to upgrade their cars, the potential for great trades is immense!


Conclusion​


In conclusion, conquesting service presents a valuable opportunity for automotive dealerships to convert service customers into sales leads. With many of these customers driving relatively new vehicles, dealerships can capitalize on this potential by engaging with them effectively.


Conquesting has been a challenge for many dealerships, though. Traditional equity mining tools have not provided a simple solution for conquesting service customers who have no sales records at the dealership. It can involve significant manual effort. Because TRADEiQ is a fully digital experience, the customer does not need to have prior sold records or even a soft credit pull to receive an accurate vehicle valuation followed by an equity calculation placed on every car the dealership has in stock. Customers can work their way into a higher interest without any dealership involvement. Then, the highly engaged customers can be worked by an AI to ensure any leads returning to the CRM are genuine prospects on new or used vehicles.
 
Here is an easy one:

Every person related to your business says, "Hello" to the customer.
Don't ask, "Do you need help with anything?"
Do ask, "If you need something, let one of us know!"

I spent a lot of money through warranty and out of warranty at a particular OEM dealer recently.

They only people who said HI to me were the people in the service lane that have the OBD ipad on them.

NO ONE else!

Walk past 2-3 sales people on average to go take a pee. NOBODY said hello.

Dudes at the service desks? One guy did ask me if I need to get in touch with my service advisor. 1 person.

I'm a dealership! I'm expecting to be smiled at, at least a head nod, a thanks for stopping by, hope you're having a great day, ....

Every warm body on your lot is a potential sale. Even the perpetual window shopper.

I had a back ground in Sales when I lived in Santa Barbara. Lots of rich people show up.
I was the only person who used to help this bored rich housewife. She'd come in an buy several hundred dollars of stuff, to return part of it the next week and would buy some stuff probably not to make us feel bad. She was infamous and nobody wanted her sales or returns. I would hang out with her. Every so often she say, "This is a keeper don't worry." It wasn't the commission that I was worried about, it was the service since I worked only 20 hour weeks after university class and had the closing shifts -- nobody buys that much after 8pm. Funny thing, I was always 2nd place after the full timer lady who had the best shifts. I just was friendly and played it cool and had a handful of 10% coupons I would store up on. it's amazing how a simple less than tax discount would create sales. I also used to do the walk the customer to their car on big purchases when we had floor staff.

Just smile and be a friendly person!
 


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