Are You Overthinking Service Drive Acquisition? Why You Don't Need a Dedicated Manager to Start
Waiting to hire the right service drive buyer before you start? Mike Crothers explains why that empty seat may not be what's holding your store back.
You don't need a dedicated service acquisition person to start buying cars out of your service drive.
Most stores already have what service drive acquisition takes: service customers, salespeople, sales managers, and repair data.
A Ford store in Wisconsin bought 10 cars out of service in its first 30 days on MOTO(drive) without a dedicated service acquisition hire.
Starting with automation first means that when you do hire a service drive buyer, you already know the KPIs and the kind of person you need.
A lot of dealers tell me the same thing: they've been wanting to buy cars out of service, but they're waiting to hire the right person first. So the plan sits. Months go by, the service drive keeps filling up with customers who might sell, and nobody is asking them. If you've been asking whether dealers need a dedicated service drive acquisition manager before they start, my answer is no. You might be overthinking it.
Do dealers need a dedicated service drive acquisition manager?
Not to start. At MOTO(acquire), we've spent the last couple of months launching dealers on our service drive acquisition tool, MOTO(drive). None of those dealers have a dedicated service acquisition person.
Before they sign up, many of them say, "We've been wanting to hire somebody. We've been wanting to put somebody in the seat to help buy cars out of service." What we've found from these launches is that you don't necessarily need someone in that seat to get going.
You already have most of what you need
Look at what's already in your building. Most stores have every piece required to start service drive acquisition today:
Service customers coming through the drive every day.
Salespeople who know how to work a conversation.
Sales managers who can appraise and close a deal.
Data on which customers are coming in for repairs.
The missing piece usually isn't a person. It's a process that finds the right customers and gets the conversation started without someone having to walk the drive all day.
What it looks like in practice
We launched a Ford store in Wisconsin a little over a month ago. In 30 days, they bought 10 cars out of service. That might not sound like a lot, but they did it without a dedicated service acquisition person.
And we all know service drive cars are a profitable set of cars. They're local, you often know the service history, and you didn't have to fight anyone at auction for them. For more on what that can mean for a group, see how a dealer group profits from service acquisition.
When to hire a service drive buyer
Hiring someone to mine the service drive is a good idea. It's just not step one. Once you have a steady flow of cars coming out of service in an automated fashion, you can decide to add a person and build from there.
Another store we work with is doing exactly that. They started automating through MOTO(drive), and now they're going to hire somebody. They're playing with house money. They know what they need, they know what KPIs matter, and they know who they want to hire for it. So now they're ready to go.
That's a much better spot than hiring first and hoping the role figures itself out. You're hiring into a working process, with real numbers behind the job description.
Where MOTO(drive) fits
MOTO(drive) handles service drive acquisition using your DMS data and automated texts. It pushes VIN and miles to your inventory tools, and your sales team is alerted when a customer is ready. That's how stores without a dedicated buyer keep cars coming in.
MOTO(drive) stores consistently buy about 1% of their repair orders without dedicated service acquisition hires. MOTO(acquire) integrates with all major DMS platforms and many others, including Tekion, Dealertrack, CDK, Reynolds, and Auto/Mate. If your DMS isn't one we integrate with yet, we'll build the integration.
If you've been waiting to start service drive acquisition because you're waiting to find the right person, reach out. Start getting cars out of service without hiring extra people, then build from there. Send me a DM or go to motoacquire.com to book some time.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to hire a service drive acquisition manager before I start buying cars from service?
No. The dealers MOTO(acquire) has launched on MOTO(drive) over the last couple of months don't have a dedicated service acquisition person. They start with the service customers, salespeople, sales managers, and repair data they already have.
How many cars can a store buy out of service without a dedicated buyer?
MOTO(drive) stores consistently buy about 1% of their repair orders without dedicated service acquisition hires. As one example, a Ford store in Wisconsin bought 10 cars out of service in its first 30 days.
When should a dealership hire a service drive buyer?
Mike's view is to hire after you have a steady, automated flow of cars coming out of service. At that point you know what you need, which KPIs matter, and who you want in the seat. You're hiring into a process that already works.
Does MOTO(drive) work with my DMS?
MOTO(acquire) integrates with all major DMS platforms and many others, including Tekion, Dealertrack, CDK, Reynolds, and Auto/Mate. If your DMS isn't one we integrate with yet, we will build the integration.
How does my sales team know when a service customer wants to sell?
MOTO(drive) uses your DMS data and automated texts to start the conversation with service customers. When a customer is ready, your sales team is alerted, and the VIN and miles are pushed to your inventory tools.
Find out what's sitting in your service drive
See how MOTO(drive) stores consistently buy about 1% of repair orders without adding a service buyer. Start with our service drive readiness questionnaire.
More on Service Drive Acquisition
Full transcript
Here's why you might be overthinking service drive acquisition. At MOTO(acquire), we've been launching dealers for the last couple of months on our new service drive acquisition tool, MOTO(drive). And none of those dealers have a dedicated service acquisition person. When I speak to dealers about this before they sign up, a lot of times they say, well, we've been wanting to hire somebody.
We've been wanting to put somebody in the seat to help buy cars out of service. And what we've seen and found from launching this is that you don't necessarily need someone in that seat to start. You already have most of what you need. You have service customers, salespeople, sales managers. You have the data on which customers are coming in for repairs.
We launched a Ford store in Wisconsin a little over a month ago, and in 30 days they bought 10 cars out of service. Now that might not sound like a lot, but they did it without having a dedicated service acquisition person. And we all know that's a pretty profitable set of cars coming through the service drive. So now if they want, they could go ahead and start hiring people to mine the service drive and build from there.
But they've already got a steady flow of cars coming through there in an automated fashion. Another store we work with is doing just that. They started automating through MOTO(drive) and now they're going to hire somebody. They're playing with house money. They know what they need. They know what KPIs they need. They know who they want to hire for it.
So now they're ready to go. So if you've been waiting to start service drive acquisition, but you're waiting to find the right person, reach out to us. We can help you get started. Start getting cars out of service without hiring extra people and then build from there. Send me a DM or go to motoacquire.com to book some time.