A Chicago technology company offering dealerships another chance to sell service contracts to customers who declined in the finance and insurance office is expanding its pitch to dealers.But to sign up, dealerships must allow access to their dealership management system software.Servicecontract.com, an online F&I product platform that sells monthly subscriptions to service contracts, exited a four-month pilot stage and launched nationwide Jan.

1.Using a data-mining tool from StoneEagle software and its own proprietary software, Servicecontract.com drills into DMS data to identify customers who might be open to a service contract pitch.The platform then generates marketing campaigns particular to that customer.

Servicecontract.com co-founder and President Michael Wymard says the company’s goal is to modernize traditional methods of capturing missed F&I sales opportunities.The site takes the pressure off dealerships when it comes to following up on customers who declined service contracts, Wymard said, and instead “puts the work on us and gives us the chance to display some of our marketing expertise.” Servicecontract.com products are underwritten by Dealer Owned Warranty Co., a provider and administrator of F&I products and services.Customers create profiles online that include their payment information and instructions on how to file a claim.

Customers can pay for contracts using credit cards.Since customers can cancel the service contracts anytime online, the platform has two options for compensating participating dealerships, according to Wymard: guaranteed commission, which varies depending on the contract a customer purchases but is typically $15 per month per policy, or 50 percent of the product sale.If customers cancel within 30 days, they qualify for a full refund.

“If we’re able to have access to the dealer’s data, we’re going to help them market [to] those consumers,” Wymard said.DMS access by third-party vendors is a point of concern among dealers today.But Wymard said the company can’t effectively market to second-chance customers without access to the data.

Four dealerships participated in the pilot, which began in September, and continue to use the program, according to the company.Servicecontract.com has 23 employees.