What Is a Good Service Drive Conversion Rate for Dealerships Buying Cars Out of Service?
Every dealer asks what good conversion looks like for buying cars out of service. Mike Crothers explains how to measure it and what separates average stores from great ones.
The conversion that matters most is service customers actually selling their car or buying a car, not just replying yes to a text.
Measure conversion against eligible ROs, not every RO, because customers who just bought from you or whose lease is months away are unlikely to convert.
By automating the first text to eligible customers and connecting them with a salesperson, a store should convert between half a percent and one percent of eligible ROs each month.
Getting above 1% takes culture and effort: tenured salespeople who reach out to past customers and walk the service drive, supported by automation.
Start by automating the first text and targeting the right customers, then layer in more process, follow-up, and conversations.
If you are buying cars out of service, sooner or later someone in the store asks the obvious question: what is a good service drive conversion rate? Mike Crothers, CEO of MOTO(acquire), hears it from dealers every day. His answer starts with getting clear on what you are actually measuring.
There are a few conversions in the service drive. There is the customer replying yes to the text. Then there is the one that matters most: the customer actually selling their car or buying a car while they are in for service. That second one is what this page is about.
What is a good service drive conversion rate?
Mike is upfront that there is a lot of nuance. Conversion moves with your market, your brand, and your customer demographics. It also depends on how the store has been run over the years, because that shapes whether customers come back to buy and sell with you.
With that said, here is the benchmark Mike gives dealers. A store that simply automates the outreach, targeting the right customers, texting them when they arrive for service, and connecting them with a salesperson, should convert between half a percent and one percent of its eligible ROs every month. In Mike's words, that part is "easy peasy." It does not take much more than targeting and texting.
Measure eligible ROs, not every RO
The key word is eligible. An eligible RO is a customer who should actually receive a text about their vehicle when they come in for service. Not everyone qualifies.
If a customer bought the car from you 12 months ago, you are not texting them to sell it.
If their lease is not ending for six months or so, the timing is wrong.
The probability of those customers converting is really low. Texting them anyway can also be a poor experience for the customer and for the salesperson who gets the lead. So when MOTO(acquire) talks about conversion, it means conversion of eligible ROs.
Mike's example: if you write a thousand repair orders in a month, maybe 800 or so are actually eligible. That smaller pool is the number you measure against. It gives you an honest read on whether the process is working.
How do you get above 1%?
Getting past 1% takes more effort. Mike points to a MOTO(acquire) dealer converting 1.65% of its eligible ROs, and he is clear that it is ingrained in the store's culture.
At that store:
Salespeople have longer tenure.
They reach out to past customers when they see them coming in for service.
They get up and go talk with those customers.
Even there, the automated text to eligible customers when they arrive still helps. The automation does not replace the people. It puts the right customer in front of them at the right moment.
Mike's playbook for climbing is simple. Start by automating that first text and targeting the right customers. Then layer in more process, more follow-up, more touches, and more conversations.
Where MOTO(drive) fits
MOTO(drive) is MOTO(acquire)'s service drive acquisition product. It uses DMS data and automated texts to reach service customers, pushes VIN and miles to your inventory tools, and alerts the sales team when a customer is ready. 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 is not one we already connect to, we will build the integration.
For more on this topic, browse the Service Drive Acquisition videos, or see how one dealer group grew profit through service acquisition. If you want to buy more cars out of service, start with the first text and build from there.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as an eligible repair order for service drive acquisition?
An eligible RO is a service customer who should actually receive a text about selling or trading their vehicle. Customers who bought the car from you 12 months ago, or whose lease is not ending for six months or so, are usually excluded. Their odds of converting are really low, and texting them can be a poor experience for the customer and the salesperson.
How many repair orders can a dealer realistically convert into bought or sold cars?
Mike's benchmark is between half a percent and one percent of eligible ROs every month. That comes from automating the outreach, targeting the right customers, texting them when they arrive, and connecting them with a salesperson. Market, brand, demographics, and how the store has been run all affect where you land.
How do top stores get above 1% conversion from the service drive?
It takes more effort and a culture built around it. Mike points to a MOTO(acquire) dealer converting 1.65% of eligible ROs, where tenured salespeople reach out to past customers coming in for service and go talk with them in person. The automated first text still supports that process.
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 is not one we already connect to, we 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
I talk with a handful of dealers each and every day about service drive acquisition, and the one question that always comes up is: what is good conversion for buying cars out of the service drive? When we talk about conversion, there are a few conversions. There's the customer replying yes to the text, there's the customer actually selling their car or buying a car while they're in service.
But let's just talk about converting your ROs into customers selling their car or buying a car. There's a lot of nuance to this. There are going to be different factors that affect conversion. You have different markets, different brands, different demographics. You have different ways that stores were run that can affect how people come back and buy cars and sell their cars.
So on that note, let's talk about eligible ROs. What I mean by that is who would actually be eligible to receive a text when they come in for service. Obviously you're not going to text somebody to sell their car when they come in for service if they just bought the car from you 12 months ago, or if their lease isn't ending for six months or so.
The probability of those customers converting is really, really low, so you wouldn't text them, and that could also be a poor experience for both the customer and the salesperson. So when we talk about conversion at MOTO(acquire), we're talking about converting your eligible ROs. If you do a thousand repair orders in a month, maybe 800 or so are actually eligible.
What we've found is that a dealership, just by automating this and connecting a customer with a salesperson, should be able to convert between half a percent to one percent of their eligible ROs on a monthly basis without doing much more than just targeting the customer and texting them when they come in for service. That's easy peasy. Now the next part would be getting above 1%. That's going to take a little more effort. At MOTO(acquire), we have a dealer that's converting 1.65% of their eligible ROs, and it's ingrained in their culture there.
They have salespeople with longer tenure. They reach out to their past customers when they see that they're coming in for service. They get up and go talk with them. But the automation of texting the customer when they arrive, if they're eligible, still helps in those regards. So if you're looking to convert more ROs into bought and sold cars, what you want to start with is automating that first text and targeting the right customers, and then layer in more process, more follow-up, more touches, more discussions. If you want to buy more cars out of service, go to motoacquire.com.