For as long as I can remember, dealership service departments have strived to retain customers. From implementing proven processes to practically giving the store away. Change in business practices like change in customer behavior play a large role in what could determine the outcome of how often a customer will frequent your service department. We continuously monitor our staff in making certain they are engaged with customers. We research our pricing structure with focus on meeting the competitive market. Technician and adviser training is certainly up to date with factory requirements. Yet, we still struggle keeping every customer that had purchased a vehicle from the dealership coming directly to our service department for all service needs. I wonder if we have a real understanding to what service customers are looking for….
Once we start to understand that most all service departments are offering the same type of service to customers in terms of processes, pricing and availability, we must take a hard look at the concept of providing that one service every vehicle must have – and make that service beat any and all competition in every way. When your staff is offering great customer service and following the processes in place, customers would have no reason to defer their business to anyone else! Rewarding your customers with every visit has a much higher yield than a sporadic discount. The opportunity for relationship building begins, creating a captive audience… Now that’s the power of retention! Next, start planning for that steady increase of customers coming to your service department!
– Jack Garrity
