Autoindustriale Mobility Group is one of the best-organised companies in north-eastern Italy within the automotive sector. It represents four brands – Renault, Dacia, Mercedes and Smart – across seven locations in Trento, Rovereto, Brunico and Bolzano, with a dedicated after-sales team of over twenty people.
A solid organisation, well-established processes, and a customer-focused approach that has always been part of the company’s DNA. Yet, like any dealer operating in a geographically complex area, Autoindustriale too found itself grappling with a silent and systematic problem: customers who disappear once their warranty expires.
In Trentino-Alto Adige, 30 kilometres isn’t just 30 kilometres. It’s a pass, a valley, a forty-five-minute drive. And when the manufacturer’s warranty runs out, customers inevitably drift towards local mechanics. Or at least they used to.
In every dealership’s database, there’s a figure nobody likes to look at: customers who haven’t returned for 18, 24 or 36 months. Technically inactive. Practically lost.
Not because of poor service or a bad experience. Simply because nobody contacted them at the right time, with the right message.
"We were very organised; we carried out a lot of outbound activities. But there’s always a few customers who slip through the net."
Francesca Freddi
Team Leader TBC
Excel extracts from various management systems, lists to cross-reference, calls to make. A repetitive, manual task that was time-consuming and produced only partial results.
In October 2024, Autoindustriale launched a trial with Autoflows at a single branch in Trento, activating five types of invitations: annual servicing, mileage-based servicing, MOTs, tyre changes and – the most critical – the winback service, aimed at dormant customers who had not been active for over 18 months.
The way it works is intuitive: Autoflows’ predictive AI analyses DMS data (in this case, Keyloop) on a daily basis and identifies the optimal time to contact each customer. Not a mass campaign, not a generic offer. A personalised message, sent when the need is genuine and predictable.
"When you open the platform, your eye is immediately drawn to the customers you need to re-engage. You don’t have to search for anything. There’s an alert; you click on it, and you’re off."
Francesca Freddi
Team Leader TBC
Within two days, the entire after-sales team was operating independently. No intensive training, no new dedicated staff.
After validating the results in Trento, Autoindustriale rolled out Autoflows to all branches. The figures speak for themselves:
Metrics |
Results |
Average invitations conversion rate |
46% |
Customer engagement |
50% |
Service appointment conversion rate |
59% |
Winback dormant clients (+18 months) |
26,4% |
The most significant figure is the winback rate: one in four customers who had not returned for over 18 months booked an appointment. The European average for Autoflows is 20%; Autoindustriale exceeds this by more than 6 percentage points.
"This winback figure was the most striking result in terms of positivity,” confirms Francesca. “Recovering one in four customers has a significant impact on turnover."
Francesca Freddi
Team Leader TBC
The transformation is not merely quantitative. The way the customer experiences the contact is radically different.
Before: an outbound call, perceived as sales-oriented. The customer is on their guard; the conversation is tense.
After: a message that arrives as a service reminder. The customer replies; the team calls them back already knowing what to do.
"I don’t have to convince you. The call is straightforward; the slot in the diary is already open."
Francesca Freddi
Team Leader TBC
The result? Shorter, more effective calls, with a close rate of nearly 100 per cent on incoming enquiries. And unexpected feedback from customers:“Thank you for reminding me that my service is due.”
For a brand like Dacia, winback has a value that goes beyond the single visit. The Dacia Zen programme – the year-on-year warranty extension up to the vehicle’s sixth year – transforms every re-engaged customer into a customer who is potentially loyal for years to come.
"It’s not about re-engagement for its own sake.With a Dacia customer whose car is less than seven years old, we’re able to retain them for the long term.
Francesca Freddi
Team Leader TBC
The retention gap is a problem every dealer faces, but one that very few actually measure. Autoindustriale has chosen to do so and to tackle it with predictive rather than reactive tools.
In four months, without increasing staff numbers or overhauling processes, it has transformed a proportion of lost customers into recovered turnover and strengthened relationships.
The formula is simple:
N dormant customers × average workshop invoice × 20% = revenue recoverable in 12 months
Do the maths using your own data. If the figure looks promising, we can discuss it.