Customer loyalty increases profit, improves sales success, and allows dealerships to sustainable growth. Keeping customers returning will continually result in a greater ROI, costing 5-25X less. But how do you create a customer retention strategy that keeps your current customers satisfied and happy? We brought you actionable strategies to help retain more customers!
Why is customer loyalty a problem for most workshops?
The majority of dealerships struggle to retain customers once the warranty period has passed. A vehicle doesn’t produce extra throughput during the first several years aside from the services covered by the warranty. The vehicle becomes the aftersales department’s greatest asset as it ages. Most automotive dealerships find it difficult to retain these customers who drive older cars. The issue is intricate. Most dealerships do not focus on loyalty programs, and it’s challenging to track down lost customers in the absence of a thorough infrastructure. These factors together result in a significant loss of profit for dealerships.
Connected Cars’ research among Volkswagen workshops proves, that customer loyalty decreases significantly with time
Get a grasp of your customer’s needs
How can your dealership build a loyal customer base? You should first be aware of the trends influencing the expectations of your customers. People want a quick, convenient, and personalized service experience as the world becomes more digital. Customers now are accustomed to getting hybrid services. You will gain a competitive advantage if you use various touchpoints, such as customized offers and persistent client follow-up. The poll conducted by Bearing Point found that 70% of customers value personalized service. The study also discovered that clients would rather receive information via email or their driver app than by phone. It’s important to note that younger customers are, more likely they prefer receiving notifications through an app. Personalization, effective communication, and great offers can keep many customers from leaving your dealership.
Introduce connectivity
Vehicles have evolved into “smartphones on wheels.” This significant development has several benefits for your dealership. The industry can tackle the challenge of customer retention thanks to connected car technology. Both your dealerships and your customers can benefit from the extensive vehicle-generated data. Customers are better informed about their vehicles, and it supports your dealership in predicting maintenance issues. You can use this information for promotional campaigns. You can tailor marketing promotions to increase upselling. Introducing a user app can be an important point of contact with your customers. It facilitates straightforward communication. Additionally, it makes online service booking feasible, adding another convenience factor for you and your customers.
Become proactive in your service
Reactive service indicates that the problem with your customer’s vehicle already exists. You schedule them for service later on. When you are one step ahead of your consumer, you are providing proactive service. You spot a problem with their vehicle before it becomes more serious. In this approach, you as a dealership plan maintenance in advance. Dealerships that introduced connected car technology were successful with this approach. Service advisors can automate their customer management with the use of connected vehicle data. The service is proactive because of this foresight approach. The customer’s stress is relieved, allowing them to use their vehicle worry-free.
This significantly improves people’s lives in today’s fast-paced culture.
An example of what a proactive service may entail: The battery health information is available in real-time in a connected vehicle. If a battery is persistently low in voltage or is depleting, the Workshop Management System will notify the dealership. The dealership’s service advisor can then inform the customer to assist proactively in resolving the issue. The dealership can improve its service this way. They can fulfill a basic human need, as customers are free from the worry of the unforeseen. More time and less stress in their daily lives are necessary. Having such a service will encourage people to continue using it.
Reaching higher customer loyalty – a real-life example
Research confirms that customers are more likely to continue visiting your dealership when they are satisfied with your service. A connected vehicle that was 8+ years old and active for 36 months produced 57 % more throughput than a similar non-connected vehicle.
Conclusion
Your dealership should possess a few essential strategies to increase customer retention. The foundation of long-term success is customer understanding and relationship building, especially now that digitization is easily accessible. The use of remote diagnostics will empower you to deliver proactive, customer-focused service.
