How to Buy Cars Out of the Service Drive: 5 Ways Dealers Mine It
Every store mines the service drive differently, and Mike says there's no wrong way. The real question is whether your process holds up when the store gets busy.
There are many ways to buy cars out of the service drive, and none of them are wrong. The right fit depends on your brand, store, market, and customers.
Five common approaches: a dedicated acquisition person, proactive salespeople, a service BDC, incentivized service advisors, and a used car manager working the drive.
The biggest pitfall is not the strategy but consistency. Stores get busy, CRM tasks get missed, and service customers leave without anyone asking about their car.
MOTO(drive) texts every eligible service customer about upgrading or selling, no matter who talked to them, and alerts the sales team when a customer is ready.
Stores with no process can turn MOTO(drive) on without new hires, and stores with a process use it to keep that process consistent.
Every dealer knows the service drive is full of cars they would like to own. The customers already know your store, the vehicles have been maintained in your shop, and nobody else is bidding on them yet. So what are the different ways to mine the service drive, and which one fits your store?
Mike Crothers, CEO of MOTO(acquire), has spent the last 12 months talking with dealers while building out MOTO(drive), our service drive acquisition tool. After conversations with hundreds of dealers, both partners and prospects, his take is simple: there are many ways to buy cars out of the service drive, and there isn't a wrong one.
What are the different ways to mine the service drive?
Here are the five approaches Mike sees most often. Most stores run one of these, and plenty run a mix.
A dedicated service acquisition person. Someone whose job is working the appointment list. They jump between systems, look at what the RO is going to be, pull up the customer's car and previous deal, and figure out equity before the customer arrives.
Proactive salespeople. A salesperson sees a past customer has a service appointment and does the same homework: looks up the deal, figures out what the customer could flip into, and sets a reminder to go talk to them.
A service BDC. When the BDC is scheduling service, they can help the customer understand there may be an opportunity. Instead of putting money into service, they could get into a new car, and they should talk with someone about that while they are in.
Incentivized service advisors. When a car that is a couple years old comes in needing a big service, that estimate can be what pushes a customer to say they want something new. Incentivizing your service writers to start that conversation gets the process moving.
A used car manager working the drive. In stores without a huge repair order volume, the used car manager can watch the appointments, look at the cars coming in, spend time back by the service drive, and approach customers directly.
None of these are incorrect. As Mike puts it, depending on your brand, your store, your market, and your customers, different strategies work in different ways for different stores.
Why service drive acquisition strategies stall
The pitfall Mike hears about most is not the strategy. It is consistency. Dealers running any of these processes tell him the same thing: sometimes we just forget about it. We get too busy. Things happen.
You can have the best intentions. The salesperson talks with the customer ahead of time, sets a CRM task, and then the day gets away from them. The customer comes and goes, and nobody asks about the car.
Every one of the five approaches above depends on a person remembering to act at the right moment. That means the process only works on the days someone has time to run it.
How MOTO(drive) fits the process you already have
MOTO(drive) uses DMS data and automated texts. When an eligible customer comes in for service, they get a text about upgrading or selling their car, no matter what and no matter who talked to them.
In Mike's words, the customer is in some ways reminding you: yes, I do want to upgrade or sell my car, I want to look at options. Then the salesperson and sales management team get alerted that there is a live one in the service drive, so someone can go talk to them. MOTO(drive) also pushes VIN and miles to your inventory tools so the appraisal starts with the right information.
How it plays out depends on where you are starting:
No process today: you just turn it on. You don't need to hire new people. Your existing salespeople and sales managers respond when a customer raises their hand. MOTO(drive) stores consistently buy about 1% of their repair orders without dedicated service acquisition hires.
A process already in place: MOTO(drive) keeps it consistent. Your dedicated buyer, BDC, or service advisors keep doing what works, and the text still goes out on the days they get pulled in another direction.
MOTO(acquire) integrates with all major DMS platforms and many others, including Tekion, Dealertrack, CDK, Reynolds, and Auto/Mate. If your DMS is not on that list, we will build the integration. To see it in practice, watch a dealership that went live and bought a car on its first day, or browse more videos on service drive acquisition.
Start with the process you have
If you are a dealer looking to buy cars out of service, it does not matter what your current process is. Keep the strategy that fits your store, and make sure every eligible customer gets asked. Learn more about MOTO(drive) and book some time with the MOTO(acquire) team.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best way to buy cars from service customers?
There isn't one best way. Mike sees dealers succeed with a dedicated acquisition person, proactive salespeople, a service BDC, incentivized service advisors, or a used car manager working the drive. The right choice depends on your brand, your store, your market, and your customers.
Do I need to hire a dedicated service buyer to buy cars out of the service drive?
No. With MOTO(drive), you can turn it on and let your existing salespeople and sales managers respond when a service customer says they want to upgrade or sell. MOTO(drive) stores consistently buy about 1% of their repair orders without dedicated service acquisition hires.
We already have a service BDC or a dedicated buyer. Does MOTO(drive) still help?
Yes. The most common pitfall Mike hears is that stores get busy and forget to follow up. MOTO(drive) texts every eligible customer about upgrading or selling no matter who talked to them, which keeps your existing process consistent.
How does the sales team know when a service customer wants to sell?
When an eligible customer responds to the MOTO(drive) text, the salesperson and sales management team are alerted that the customer is ready. MOTO(drive) also pushes VIN and miles to your inventory tools so the appraisal can start quickly.
Which DMS platforms does MOTO(drive) work with?
MOTO(acquire) integrates with all major DMS platforms and many others, including Tekion, Dealertrack, CDK, Reynolds, and Auto/Mate. If your DMS is not on that list, MOTO(acquire) will build the integration.
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 the service drive readiness questionnaire.
More on Service Drive Acquisition
Full transcript
How to buy cars out of the service drive. There are actually many ways to buy cars out of the service drive, and there isn't a wrong way to do it. Over the last 12 months, we've been building out MOTO(drive), our service drive acquisition tool, talking with dealers. A couple hundred dealers we've spoken with, dealer partners of ours and some prospective dealers.
We've found that they all have different ways of mining the service drive. One, you could have a dedicated person who is actively looking at the appointments, going to different systems, looking at what the RO is going to be, looking at that customer's car, their previous deal, figuring out their equity. Two, you might have some proactive salespeople who see that their past customer is coming in for an appointment, and then they do the same thing.
Look up the deal, figure out what the customer could flip into, and then set a reminder to go talk to the customer. Some stores have a service BDC. So number three is the service BDC could reach out scheduling service, and maybe they would actually help the customer understand, hey, they might be having an opportunity here when you come in to, instead of getting service, get a new car.
And you should talk with somebody about that. Number four would be incentivizing the service writers. When someone comes in with a car that's a couple years old and could use a big service, that might actually push the customer into saying, hey, I want to buy a new car. You can incentivize your service writers to help get that process started.
And then, of course, number five, maybe you have a used car manager. You don't have a huge repair order volume, so they're actively looking at the appointments, looking at the cars that are coming in, they're kind of hanging out back by the service drive, and then approaching customers and talking to them. None of these options are incorrect, and depending on your brand, your store, your market, your customers, different strategies work in different ways for different stores.
So at MOTO(acquire), we work with dealers who employ all these different strategies, and what we found is that MOTO(drive) is enhancing the experience that they're already putting out there. It works great for dealers who aren't doing anything currently. You just turn it on. You don't need to hire new people. You have service customers, salespeople, sales managers, and dealers who just turn it on and don't have a process starting to buy cars out of the service drive.
But for dealers who do have a little bit of a process in place, this enhances it because it keeps it consistent. One of the pitfalls that we've heard from dealers who are doing these processes is that, well, sometimes we just forget about it. We get too busy. Things happen. But with MOTO(drive), what happens is when that customer comes in, if they're eligible to get a text about upgrading or selling their car, they're going to get that text no matter what, no matter who talked to them.
And that is really great, because sometimes you have the best intentions. You talk with your customer ahead of time, and then you just forget. You set a CRM task, whatever it may be, and stuff falls through the cracks. But this way, the customer comes in, they get a text, and they're actually in some ways reminding you, like, yes, oh yeah, I do want to upgrade or sell my car, I want to talk about that, I want to look at options. And then it alerts the salesperson, alerts the sales management team: hey, we've got a live one in the service drive, let's go talk to them, let's help them. So if you're a dealer looking to buy cars out of service, no matter what your current process is, we can help you. Go to motoacquire.com and book some time with us. Looking forward to talking to you.