If one dealership considers a customer lost after 12 months while another uses 24 months, those campaigns aren’t targeting the same type of customer. And their marketing ROI shouldn’t be evaluated as though they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is why active\/inactive\/ost<\/strong> segmentation is about more than database terminology. These definitions determine who receives your marketing, what message they receive, how difficult they are to bring back, and ultimately how campaign performance should be measured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In TVI MarketPro3’s discussions around DMS segmentation, customers are separated based on the date of their most recent repair order:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Active customers:<\/strong> Their last RO was within the past 12 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inactive customers:<\/strong> Their last RO was more than 12 months ago but less than two years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lost customers:<\/strong> Their last RO was two or more years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That distinction matters because these customers don’t represent the same marketing opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An active customer already has a relatively up-to-date relationship with the dealership. An inactive customer is showing signs of disengagement. A lost customer has gone substantially longer without returning and may have established a service relationship elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Treating all three the same can hide what is really happening inside a marketing campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TVI MarketPro3 Digital Marketing Director Ian Favre discussed this type of DMS segmentation in his NADA interview<\/a> with Regional Sales Manager Robert Morris. The conversation focused on using dealership data to build audience groups, such as active, inactive, and lost customers, then targeting those groups based on their actual vehicle ownership and relationship with the dealership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is fundamentally different from sending the same service offer to everyone in the database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider two campaigns that each generate 40 repair orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Campaign A targets active customers who visited the service drive six months ago, while Campaign B targets customers who haven’t returned in more than two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On paper, both campaigns produced 40 ROs, but the marketing accomplishment is not necessarily the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of Campaign A’s customers may have returned without paid marketing because they were already active service customers. Campaign B is attempting to reactivate people who haven’t visited in years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That doesn’t mean one campaign is automatically more valuable than the other. It means the customer segment must be part of the ROI calculation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without clearly defining active vs. inactive vs. lost, dealerships risk giving marketing credit for visits that likely would have happened anyway\u2014or undervaluing campaigns that successfully bring genuinely lost customers back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Customer status should also influence the marketing message:<\/p>\n\n\n\n An active customer might need a reminder about upcoming maintenance or a relevant mileage-based service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An inactive customer may need a stronger reason to return\u2014convenience, dealership expertise, service history, or a timely offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lost customer may require a true reacquisition strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That kind of segmentation-based messaging is supported by broader marketing research. McKinsey research<\/a> reports that personalization can increase marketing ROI by 10% to 30% while reducing customer acquisition costs by as much as 50%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lesson for fixed ops is straightforward: the more accurately a dealership understands the customer’s current relationship with the store, the more relevant the communication can become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inactive category may be particularly valuable because these customers sit between loyalty and defection. They know the dealership. They have previously done business there. But something has interrupted the relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That creates an important window for marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of waiting until a customer has been absent for several years, dealerships can use DMS data to identify when previously active customers cross into inactive status and begin communicating accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This supports a point made by Scott Kelford in the TVI MarketPro3 interview \u201cFixed Ops Retention That Works: Scott Kelford on Building Loyalty Beyond the Numbers.\u201d<\/a> Kelford explained that many dealerships lack processes designed to positively impact lost customers and generate subsequent service visits. He also emphasized the value of using dealership data to identify how long it has been since a customer last returned for service and then prioritizing lapsed customers with more relevant outreach. As Kelford put it, \u201cSending the right message to the right customer at the right time gives them a reason to come in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That principle is exactly why accurately defining service customer segments matters. When dealerships use time since last visit, mileage, service history, and other DMS data to segment customers into meaningful groups, they can tailor both the message and the level of effort to each customer\u2019s actual relationship with the store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once customers reach the two-year mark, the strategy changes again\u2014but that doesn’t mean they should disappear from the marketing plan. Service retention has implications far beyond the next repair order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Active](\"https:\/\/www.tvi-mp3.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-1-1024x683.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nStart With Clear Definitions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Why Active vs. Inactive vs. Lost Changes Your ROI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Different Customers Need Different Messages<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Inactive Customers Deserve Special Attention<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Lost Customers Still Have Value<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n