SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, May 8, 2017 – With certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicle sales an increasing opportunity for new-car dealers, operators should plan to retain that new business beyond the immediate sale, notes retention expert Ryan Williams.

Given many OEMs now mandate their dealers inventory off-lease vehicles, every franchised dealer these days is a CPO dealer. The differentiator will be whether your dealership manages the opportunity well or not, says Williams, founder, and CEO of Fidelis PPM, a provider of dealer-branded prepaid maintenance programs for driving retention and service volume.

Williams notes that CPO shoppers may wrongly assume those vehicles are covered by original factory warranties. “Sales associates must be clear about CPO warranty coverage limitations. These restrictions offer service contract and dealer-branded PPM opportunities to keep those buyers returning to the dealership long after their purchase,” he says.

Fidelis PPM data show its prepaid maintenance (PPM) programs help dealers realize first-year use retention rate of 85% and two- and three-year retention rates of 65%. On average, dealers using this plan have experience service volume growth of 70%.

Dealer-branded PPMs typically include a package of gifted or discount-priced maintenance services, such as LOF, tire rotation, wiper blade changes and similar routine maintenance commodities. When provided to CPO buyers, plan benefits encourage a habit of servicing at that dealership.

“There are three leading questions dealers need to consider when evaluating retention products,” says Williams:

• Does your retention program drive consumers to your shop?
• Is the customer experience positive enough, so they come back again?
• Are there accountability tools baked into the retention plan to measure the lift in customer-pay dollars for each visit so program return on investment can be proved?

“The type of retention plan a dealer chooses must brand the dealership, which keeps CPO buyers returning routinely for these essential services. Each visit is an upsell opportunity,” Williams says.

Fidelis PPM is the authority in helping dealers retain customers through process-driven prepaid preventive maintenance retention programs. These programs drive consumers into participating dealers’ service departments. Deep reporting tools provide dealers with detail-rich accountability metrics.

Fidelis PPM turns prepaid maintenance into a brand-building, revenue-generating retention machine. Developed by dealers, Fidelis PPM knows the importance of substantiating ROI from its products. Powered by Driv Customer Retention Software, Fidelis PPM provides an easy-to-use interface for at-a-glance tracking of dealers’ ROI on their PPM program. For more information, visit http://www.getfidelis.com or email Williams at [email protected].