The Close: Your Program in Action

Customer Review

Back in January, 2015, I was conducting training for a dealer in New England. One of the points I emphasize in Sales Training is the tremendous opportunity to add value to the buying proposition by going over the dealer’s customer loyalty program benefits prior to discussing details of the purchase. I point out that you are giving the customer more reasons to say YES to the deal when presented. The training took place in the morning and during the afternoon I observed the sales process to see that the salesperson was taking advantage of the opportunity to introduce additional value.

One of the salesmen who had attended training that morning was with a customer who historically is a very good negotiator and most salesmen shy away from this type. The ad that brought the couple in was for a new vehicle offered at a lost lead price of $13,995.00. I noticed that the salesman was timid about introducing the loyalty program and only casually mentioned it without going into detail. At about 2 hours into closing, the customer was adamant that they would only pay $13,000.00 for the vehicle so they were at an impasse.

The General Sales Manager went in to see if they could get the customer to pay the advertised price. He picked up the Loyalty brochure and after introducing himself, he spent about 5 minutes going over the benefits of their program. He pointed out to the customer that his oil changes, tire rotations, state inspections, car washes and tire repairs would be provided complimentary and if all factory recommended services were done at one of the three dealer’s locations the engine would be guaranteed against catastrophic failure. Additionally, he explained that for every dollar the customer spent in Parts and Service they would receive points that could be used to further reduce the cost of services or used towards the purchase of their next vehicle.

It took the customer about another 10 minutes to think about the deal that was on the table and the additional value of the complimentary services to finally say YES to the price of $13,995.

This example only proves that by implementing the training and taking the time to build value pays off.

~ Dealership for Life Account Manager | New England Region

CSI and Customer Retention

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There has been a lot of talk about CSI and Customer Retention in the Automotive industry over the last ten years.  CSI is great for the factory, expensive for the dealer, but has totally improved the customer experience and our facilities. Customer retention, still in its infancy, has been great for the dealer and the customer. The next new horizon should be conquest marketing. Not how do I make my customer happy or how do I keep my customer from defecting?  It is how do I grow my customer base without having to sell a vehicle?

I had a dealer say to me last month,” the factory said I have too many customers in my PMA who service at other places. I also have a problem with people buying and servicing their vehicles outside of my PMA. I need to keep them here.”  At first, this looks like a case of poor advertising or a bad service department.  Sometimes that is exactly what it is. Often, however you are not doing anything wrong, someone is just doing a better job of conquest marketing than you are.

It all comes down to what you are doing to attract people to your service department. Yes, we keep the people who have a factory warranty or a service contract. If we are really good, we even keep them after these expire. Ninety percent of our business comes from people we sell a vehicle to. What about the other seventy or eighty percent of the people in our PMA who never come to our store, how are we marketing to them?

Up until now it was probably too expensive to really market to our primary market area for anything other than a new or used vehicle customer. Now and then we might do some service coupons or a direct mailer. However, the bulk of the ad budget always went to vehicle buyers and rightfully so. There are many profit centers within the dealership that we could market if we just had the resources to do so. Well, some dealers are discovering that now they do.

Email marketing and face book post have become a very inexpensive way to get their message out. Start a membership club your customers can join to get great deals. Most people have no idea how many products we offer. Now is the time to let them know. There are thousands and thousands of customers in our market who have never purchased a vehicle or stopped by our dealership. Yet everyday these people are in the market to buy products we sell. Oil changes, batteries, tires to name a few. But let’s not stop there, how about ancillary products, like key fob replacement, roadside assistance, or even ding and dent removal. These are all ways to drive our business into new areas that can not only generate traffic but additional income.

It is time to take retention to the next level. Conquest marketing and customer retention can go hand and hand in the marketing strategy. Loyalty always starts with a great experience. Give them a reason to buy and a reason to stay. Take advantage of all of the tools at your disposal. Don’t just stop with face book and social media. Set up a shopper’s network on-line to let your customer see all of the products they can buy direct. It has never been easier or more cost effective to get your message heard.

– Jack Garrity

Customer Loyalty in the Internet Age

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It is a well-known fact that today most customers that are in need (or want) of a new vehicle begin their shopping experience by going to the internet. It is probable that most people begin at the Internet for almost every major item they purchase. So it just makes a lot of sense that an automotive dealer use the same technology to market to his current customer base.  But, where does he start?

First, it is imperative that the Dealer do a review of his marketing expense and find the few things he is spending dollars on that either he can’t determine what the results are, or what he has “always done” but just is not working and giving a fair return on those spent dollars.

Secondly, the Dealer must be bold and decide to do something different from the norm and invest the found dollars into a marketing program that rewards his current customers with the goal of making them customers for life.

Third, put together a package of benefits that will give the customer reasons to use the Dealer for all their vehicles needs over the period of ownership. Studies have shown that a customer that returns to the selling dealer for all their vehicle servicing will re-purchase from that dealer over 85% of the time.

Finding a company that is experienced in providing the guidance and administration is critical in ensuring success.

Dealership For Life (DFL) is just such a marketing program. For over 7 years DFL has been helping dealers retain the customer after the initial sale by rewarding the customer with benefits that are exclusive to that Dealer. Using the internet to stay in regular communication with the customer on a variety of topics pertaining to their membership in a rewards program and issues relative to their vehicle is the technology of choice.

Once a Dealer makes a commitment to reward his current customers a series of standard communications is set up. The capture of the customers email address is done at the point of sale. This sets up what happens after the customer drives home in his new vehicle.

  • First, he will receive an email directing him to their own personal Web Site where they will be able to manage their account, check points accumulation and review  service history.
  • Next, he will receive a personal “Thank You”  letter from the Dealer welcoming him to the Rewards Program.
  • He will receive a sales survey where he can let the dealer know about the purchase experience.  They will be rewarded with points for returning this survey. (keep in mind that this is a Dealer survey and should not be confused with the manufacturer survey, which they will receive within the first couple of weeks of ownership)
  • At the beginning of each month of ownership the Dealer will email a statement showing the customers points records and service history
  • Occasionally Dealer will send, via email, special “First to Know” announcements about what is happening at the dealership.  These will include specials on service, parts and accessories that will enhance the customers driving experience.

Each customer gets a personal web site. This is a dealer branded private and secure vehicle website. It was designed to allow the customer to easily take control of managing all aspects of his Rewards Program.

Features on the Rewards Web Site customers can explore are:

  • My Points – See the value of the points they earn in both Service and Sales.
  • My Benefits – A detailed explanation of what benefits they receive as a member of the Rewards Program-All at no additional charge!
  • My Service History – A detailed record of every service visit.  Your customer will never have to wonder when and what was done to their vehicle.  Dealer will provide all the details.
  • My Statement – Review an up to date statement of reward points earned through purchases, for one time and recurring events. They can also see a record of all points used.

 

Customer webpage also has links to all Dealer social media pages, Facebook and Twitter, so Customer can become a fan and remind their family and friends that they will be rewarded for introducing them to the Dealership.

Using the technology of the internet combined with a robust Loyalty Rewards Program, will pay dividends to the Dealer in the following areas (list not all inclusive):

  1. Email capture rates go to 80% +, allowing all types of marketing to take place.
  2. Repair Order count will increase due to a higher retention rate.
  3. Retention of both New and Used Customers will more than double the National Average
  4. With a strong Service department, the dollars generated per repair order will increase
  5. Over a period of time dollars spent in traditional marketing will decrease
  6. Create a sales environment that other dealers in the market area cannot compete with.
  7. Because there is no increase in overall marketing dollars spent, sales become more competitive and will retain higher grosses.

The Power of Retention

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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