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There’s no customer more coveted than the repeat customer. Dealerships must stand out in the crowd and maintain a good reputation. Loyal customers achieve both goals. Practice these strategies to keep your customers pleased. They will refer their friends and utilize your store for all automotive needs, improving your dealership's customer retention.
Know the Worth of Retention
Awareness about the worth of a retained customer starts at the top. Management spares no expense when publicizing and rewarding sales goals yet undermines the value of retention. The culture in many dealerships focuses on selling the car, then letting the customer fade into the abyss.
In truth, dealership customer retention should be the apple of your dealership’s eye. Automotive Mastermind states, “Loyal customers are cheaper to sell to, less likely to bargain aggressively on pricing, more likely to generate service and other fixed-ops revenues, and are a source of high-ROI referral business.”
Dealers would do well to stay in touch after the car sale and emphasize service when customers reappear. Harvard Business Review discovered a 5% increase in customer retention would boost profits by 25-85%, depending on the industry.
Some dealerships are leaving that potential profit completely untapped—others are capitalizing. Automotive Mastermind reports that “General Motors saw that a 1% improvement in customer retention was worth $700 million, and promptly made customer retention statistics part of the annual bonus calculation for its leaders”.
After the car sale, the service drive is the biggest point for customer satisfaction. Customers with stellar car buying experience are more likely to return for service. The ongoing service experience is more likely to stick in their mind, as opposed to the one-time interaction with their salesperson.
Therefore, a great experience in the service drive should be a high priority. Service employees can upsell accessories and talk face-to-face with loyal customers about trade-in opportunities.
Give Loyal Customer Perks
Once you sell a car to a customer, you must find a way to keep them engaged. An article by izmocars points out that “...showy gestures may not be the way to trigger customer delight. Studies have shown that dealership customer retention and loyalty improve when their problems are solved quickly and easily”.
It’s possible to do too much—overthink the whole thing. Providing excellent customer service is the best way to gain—and keep—loyal customers. That being said, everyone loves perks. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and think about what is genuinely beneficial for them. A dealership hat, or cup, is not that appealing to the majority. Offer your loyal customers free or discounted service products, the ability to work towards complimentary oil changes, or even win gift cards. Get creative in what would appeal to your customers!
Make Everything Personal
At the end of the day, there’s no substitute for good rapport between two people. Salespeople should be willing to talk about themselves and take the time to get to know the customer.
The best practice for post-sales paperwork is to make notes about the customer, so you can remember what they told you. Suppose your last customer is a proud new grandpa. Any follow-up communication should include asking about the baby and accessories. Personal communication, rather than canned marketing messages, are more likely to receive a response and create a repeat customer.
Dealership customer retention strategies are not rocket science; little things to show you remember a customer will bring a big return on any investment you make.
Automotive Training Network suggests automotive customer retention strategies, such as: spending extra time with them, paying attention to detail, and showing gratitude at every opportunity. The strategy is treating customers like friends and getting remembered for it.
While you’re building a relationship with your customer, you can increase dealership retention by making an introduction to service! That way, the customer already knows the service manager’s face and is familiar with the service drive. You also allow your service staff to build their own rapport.
The best way to start focusing on automotive customer retention is to start. Get retention numbers out in front of your staff, and make a plan to retain 1% more each month. Which strategy can you implement today?
Use Customer Retention Tools
There are plenty of tools available to help retain customers. The best way to reward faithful customers and personalize interactions is by keeping good data on your customer base. Customer relationship management tools like Modera, Selly Automotive, Dealer Socket (and many more) will help you keep track of follow-ups, purchasing anniversaries, trade-in timelines, etc.
In addition, Automotive News produced a whitepaper about retention that recommends dealers get ahead of the curve with predictive analysis. According to the whitepaper, marketing solutions that utilize machine learning helps you deliver content that is more relevant to each customer, regardless of their stage in the car buying process.
About Insignia Group
Insignia Group is the leading solution for selling accessories in the showroom and online at the point of sale. We provide expert consulting to get your dealership profitable in the accessory arena, cutting-edge technology to present Vehicle Personalization, and high-level training to unify your store!
You're leaving money on the table if you aren’t selling accessories with a focused process. Let us help you join the Million Dollar Club in 2021. Contact us today.
