With economic uncertainty prompting consumers to hold onto vehicles longer, dealerships are looking to their existing customer base to generate demand. Sharon Kitzman, CEO of Affinitiv, joins us on today’s episode of Inside Automotive to discuss why the service lane remains one of the industry’s most underutilized sales channels and how dealers can convert service customers into vehicle buyers through targeted engagement and data-driven retention strategies.
According to Kitzman, dealers who overlook service customers as sales prospects are leaving high-value, low-cost leads untouched. She contends that service lane data gives dealers visibility into vehicle equity, maintenance history and the optimal timing for a sales conversation, all of which inform smarter outreach.
Affinitiv’s Service Lane Appraiser utilizes text-based communication and algorithmic timing to engage service customers at the right moment. Kitzman reports that 39% of customers who interact with the tool end up trading in their vehicle, resulting in a new-vehicle purchase. She also highlights that Affinitiv’s equity mining tool enables dealers to sell an average of 30% more vehicles, adding an extra $3,000 in gross profit per sale.
The sales-service divide
Despite the opportunity, a structural disconnect between sales and service departments remains one of the most persistent challenges in dealerships. Kitzman identifies three causes:
- Misaligned pay plans
- Physical store layouts that separate the departments
- Disconnected vendor tools that reinforce the divide
Kitzman notes that service advisors may resist referring customers to sales if the advisor loses credit on a repair order. Therefore, resolving that friction is worth it given the gross profit potential on the other side.
It is important to note that Affinitiv works directly with dealers on the pay plan structure to remove it, so Kitzman recommends dealers seek a single partner with integrated tools spanning both service and sales to support a seamless process and loyalty loop.
Retention strategy
Dealers invest tens of thousands of dollars monthly in advertising to acquire new customers, but many underutilize the database that those campaigns have already built. Kitzman says ongoing retention marketing costs less than conquest advertising and produces more reliable results for driving repeat service visits and showroom conversions.
Affinitiv’s Essentials product manages the customer relationship from the point of sale through first service and ongoing service-drive touchpoints, reconnecting customers to the sales process when equity timing aligns.
On digital advertising attribution, Kitzman warns that multiple vendors often claim credit for the same sale. She advises dealers to pressure their partners to provide clean, consistent attribution reporting and to closely review the data before removing any vendor from their stack.
What dealers should prioritize
Ultimately, Kitzman says the service drive should be the top operational priority for dealers over the next six to 12 months. She warns that consumer loyalty is more likely to erode in an affordability-driven environment, and dealers should not assume that past relationships will bring customers back without active engagement. Dealers interested in evaluating their current position can request a no-cost overview from Affinitiv.
