Months after being selected as a preferred vendor for CRM products by BMW Group Canada, Xtime’s electronic service menu software has been endorsed by Toyota Canada.

“It is helping dealers build their customer retention and laying the groundwork of what customers are due for next,” explained Chris Howie, vice-president of Xtime. “It’s almost like pre-selling the next appointment.”

The program, which Howie says is running in all 270 Toyota stores across the country, allows consumers to log onto a Toyota dealer website, punch in some vehicle information (make, model, year and number of kilometres) and the program will calculate what service work is needed, was needed recently and will be needed in the near future.

Howie says some dealers are even putting the service pricing online so customers know exactly what each service visit would cost.

“Customers usually go to the aftermarket because of price or perception of price and then level of service and level of convenience,” Howie explained. “The electronic service menus help cover off pricing issues. But I think, more importantly, it is showing a higher level of customer service by helping consumers know what they are due for and what they are going to be due for next to help build retention.”

Howie said this electronic service menu is the building block for a dealership looking to include service scheduling online.    

BMW Canada endorsed Xtime’s ServiceCRM as a preferred vendor back in March and now more than 50 per cent of Canadian BMW dealerships operated Xtime’s software.

Xtime is currently in 2,700 dealerships across North America now, up from 1,500 two years ago.

According to Howie, a lot of dealers are spending money on paper-based service reminders but a menu on the website with prices and scheduling capabilities just “makes things so much easier for consumers.”
    
For more information about Xtime ServiceCRM, contact Chris Howie at 416-206-3873 or chris.howie@xtime.com.