After sales offer untapped potential to increase revenue and customer retention. Data by DealerSocket suggests that integrating sales and after sales service doubles customer loyalty.
Disturbing percentages
“53% of the average dealership’s gross profit comes from the service department, but only 30% of sales customers bring their vehicle in for service within the first year of ownership. The number drops to 13% after three years and to 2% after five years” – DealerSocket’s Dealership Action Report
10 ways to retain and grow your service clientele
1. Start building trust at “Hello”
Make a good first impression and stay consistent with the level of service you deliver. Customers want their buying process to be highly personalised yet uncomplicated. However you achieve those two demands, ensure that you always practice accountability, transparency and authenticity. Create an enjoyable experience that will be remembered when it comes to servicing options.
2. Dominate the market with convenience
Your unique selling point should be speed, convenience and attractive pricing. Offering remote delivery and pick up for service customers is a good starting point. Respecting and working around your customers busy schedules is another one, especially when it comes to delivering on your promises.
3. Embrace technology
Being digitally present and using technology to make it easier for your customers to reach you helps to create a modern experience that meets customer’s expectations and makes your offering more desirable. There are various CRM tools, after sales platforms and apps that help dealerships retain their service customers. Here’s an example of how our Buzz2Get app creates seamless access to after sale services and puts the customer in direct contact with their car dealership:
4. Leverage SEO to attract new service customers
Take advantage of search engine optimising tools to reach out to a broader audience and ensure that your service and repair centre is showing up in search results amongst other dealerships and independent repair shops.
5. Become a social listener
Social media is bursting with conversations about car failures or threads about poor customer service. As customers vent their car struggles and service disappointments, you should be listening closely for opportunities to step in and offer a solution to their issues. A well timed digital advert or a personal response on social media will definitely do the trick.
6. Keep your customers reviews status clean
The last dozen of customer service reviews will most likely impact your next customer’s decision making. The best way to control your customer reviews is to use platforms that offer a pre-posting review stage and allow you to manage customer’s feedback before it goes live online. It will give you the chance to immediately rectify any service complaints and help you identify incremental service improvements.
7. Don’t let perceptions define you
Many car owners perceive dealership service centres as overpriced. Your best shot at changing that view is to drive awareness through content that highlights the quality of your service and it’s competitive pricing. One of the best practices for creating highly valuable content is to make it personal and situational. For example sharing top tips on regular car maintenance or seasonal care needs. Alternatively, building an online community will help to keep customers engagement and turn them into your brand ambassadors within their own social circles.
8. Restart the warranty period
Dealerships are most vulnerable to loosing their service customers to independent service providers when their warranty runs out. A good way of preventing that scenario is offering maintenance and repair specials for vehicles out of warranty, using CRM for sending out targeted service email or locking customers in nice and early by setting up their first service appointment during the F&I process. Another tactic would be to go down the lock-in route and restart the warranty period by moving customers from they current cars into new ones.
9. Promote auto repair financing
Auto repair financing is effectively a safety net for customers that don’t want to get caught out with unforeseen repair expenses. It’s a good way of retaining customers and creating extra convenience for their benefit.
10. Contact our team for effective solutions to points 3 and 6
Email us to find out how our solutions help dealerships increase after sales revenue and help to manage customer reviews.
