91% of service customers defect once they are out of warranty, and those are a dealership’s most profitable customers. What can your dealership do to help retain these valuable customers?
Tire sales can easily distinguish your dealership from its competition and decrease defection, but only if they are promoted and sold differently than how most dealerships currently do it.
Tire sales should start right at the purchase of the vehicle. Have your salespeople inform the customer that your dealership is super competitive on tire prices. Then be sure to engage throughout the life-cycle of the customer with regular promotions via email blasts or text, whichever the customer prefers. By reinforcing that message throughout all of the dealership’s marketing, your customers will be more engaged, and you will be top-of-mind, with a better chance of capturing their business when they are in the market for tires.
The next promotion point is your website. Dealers on their game regularly add prominent tire service specials to their website. However, fusionZONE discovered a big problem – in most cases, those service specials only offer a “click to print” option and aren’t optimized for mobile devices.
These days, 60-70% of consumers use the internet via mobile devices, and this number is increasing. Why wouldn’t you provide your customers access to your specials on their cell phones? If you require customers to present a coupon for a tire special, shouldn’t your website and coupons be both accessible and redeemable the way most consumers access them – via their phones?
At fusionZONE, we saw a need for change and created Mobile Text Coupons for both sales and service. Now the customer can choose a coupon, enter their phone number, and store this coupon in their smartphone’s wallet. They can then present this coupon to the dealership’s sales or service department and get their desired discount or deal. Here’s an example:

fusionZONE has tested this state-of-the-art product with three very savvy, large volume dealers, and the results are worth reading:
1.BMW of Bloomfield: According to GM William Finsilver, the dealership saw a 200+% increase in service leads. “In the past, if the service customer printed a sheet of coupons, we were not capturing a lead. Now our service team proactively reaches out to the customer and books the appointment,” Finsilver said.
2.Sun Toyota: This dealership increased tire sales by 60%. “Using Mobile Text Coupons with paid search to increase awareness that we are in the tire business has been huge for Sun Toyota! Mobile Text Coupons allow us to contact the customer and book the appointment,” said John Marazzi, Managing Partner.
3.Brandon Honda: “The innovation that fusionZONE has brought to the table here is a game changer!” said GM Sam Raabe.
Mobile Text Coupons finally give an identity to the service department. While most dealers concentrate solely on sales, this feature provides fusionZONE dealers with an upper hand by generating leads for the service department. This is something dealerships have struggled with forever.
Contact us now at 888-576-1136 to find out how Mobile Text Coupons can help your dealership.
Ultimately, the end goal is to get the service customer to continue to service their vehicle both during and outside of warranty. This retention in service also gives your dealership an increased opportunity to sell the customer their next vehicle once they get into an equity position.
It makes sense to adjust your sales and marketing strategies to today’s customers. This will increase the likelihood that those customers will stick around. If your customers continue to service at your dealership, they are that much more likely to buy their future vehicles from you, and refer their family and friends, too. This circular transactional pattern can only lead to increased profits, a busier sales and service department and, ultimately, happier customers.