Xtime and Customer Traac Eliminate Customers' Phone Frustration at Dealership Service Departments

SAN MATEO, Calif.--Xtime, Inc. (www.xtime.com), the leading provider of CRM solutions for dealership service operations and Customer Traac, Inc. (www.customertraac.net), a Minnesota-based call center and marketing services provider, today announced their partnership to help dealership service departments book more appointments and increase revenue.

Customer Traac provides a range of services for dealerships including inbound telephone support and outbound marketing campaigns. Using Xtime's ServiceCRM™software, Customer Traac's call center agents can now book service appointments accurately for dealerships located anywhere in the country, without overbooking. The combination provides a turnkey service business development center (BDC) for dealerships, efficiently filling service departments with appointments while freeing staff from answering phone calls.

Xtime's ServiceCRM software combines consumer web scheduling, advanced shop control, and sophisticated marketing campaign tools into one complete and unified solution for automotive service departments and business development centers (BDCs). ServiceCRM also fully integrates with dealer management systems (DMS) from Reynolds and Reynolds Company and ADP. By combining these features into one easy-to-use, affordable system, Xtime gives automotive dealerships the ability to generate, capture, and manage more service appointments per day, driving profitability through increased customer-paid service.

Customer Traac eliminates hold times and dropped calls for vehicle owners while boosting profits and lowering costs for the dealership. A Minnesota dealer using Customer Traac and Xtime software reported an increase of 20% in increased labor hours, which resulted in an increase of $57,000 in labor and parts revenue per month.

More than seventy dealerships nationwide enrolled in the service in seven months. Large dealer groups such as Napleton Automotive Group, Luther Automotive Group, Lupient Automotive Group, Russ Darrow Group, and Hecker Group find Xtime’s software and Customer Traac’s call center to be a turnkey, affordable alternative to operating their own in-house business development centers.

“We use Customer Traac’s center exclusively,” said Kregg Hurlbert, service and parts director, Luther Automotive Group in Minneapolis, MN. “From the minute we turned on Xtime and Customer Traac, it instantly helped us. Before we deployed it, the phones were ringing off the hook. The service drive was so busy we were just trying to survive to handle it all. With this combination of software and call center support, we saw huge benefits within two weeks. Our hours per RO are up six-tenths to seven-tenths. Without Xtime, it wouldn’t have been possible.”

In the past five years, dealership service operations have experienced increased challenges. Decreased warranty claims, lower profits on new car sales and customers that demand higher levels of customer service have left dealers scrambling to find new ways to increase revenue.

“In this tough business environment, the value of a virtual business development center is compelling,” said Brenda Berg, President of Customer Traac. “Dealer groups that adopt Xtime software and use our call center for telephone support experience dramatic revenue results. One dealer increased their hours per repair order from 1.2 to 1.9 in one month. The call center is now positioned to be a fundamental element of any dealership business model."

Even though service departments generally excel at fixing the vehicles they sell, many discover competitive weakness in all aspects of their customer interactions, including answering the telephone effectively, coordinating outbound marketing campaigns, accurately managing shop capacity and providing excellent in-store customer service.

A call center using Xtime software raises the bar by providing better customer service at every point of contact, including the initial telephone call, scheduling an appointment on the dealer Web site, outbound follow-up campaigns while effectively maximizing shop capacity.

“We are pleased to see the dramatic business results experienced by these dealerships. It validates the impact of our innovative solution,” said Neal East, CEO of Xtime. “Customer Traac proves that a remote call center, powered with our software, can transform service center operations by generating, capturing and managing demand with great efficiency.”