In today’s incredibly fast-paced market, the automotive industry understands the importance of spending resources wisely and focusing on areas with bottom-line impact, and it knows that customer loyalty is one of the keys to success.
Common wisdom and strong empirical evidence suggest it costs significantly less to retain an existing customer than to acquire a new one. We know for example that it is five per cent easier to sell to a previous customer than to a new one, and that attracting a new customer can cost six times more than keeping an existing one.
What transforms someone from a one-time customer into a loyal customer? As our top dealership salespeople know, it’s all about the formation of strong relationships and providing outstanding customer service.
Offer great service every time your customer interacts with your team and they will have little reason to look elsewhere for their next purchase — and these customers become not just brand-loyal but dealer-loyal.
After the sale, there exists a golden opportunity to ensure the customer comes back for all their after-sales care and this can be supported by a rewards program. Flashy promotions aren’t always the way to go. Instead, think about low-cost loyalty incentives that customers highly value, and think about how you may deliver those rewards.
Your customers are busy people and you can give them the peace of mind that their service needs will be covered, and customers who purchase service plans stay connected with you for years to come.
Service plans are a great way to encourage loyalty with your customers and provide a win-win for dealers and customers. Your customers are busy people and you can give them the peace of mind that their service needs will be covered, and customers who purchase service plans stay connected with you for years to come.
Consider the results of a survey conducted by Performance Loyalty Group — customers in loyalty programs visit the service department twice as often as non-member customers.
A mobile app is a great way to stay connected to your customers, and also helps customers manage their own loyalties points, something highly valued in today’s ever connected world.
An app can also enhance your own internal data and customer information. Remember that although it’s a cliché — you can’t improve what you don’t measure. Once you have a measurement system in place, you need to establish a baseline measurement of customer loyalty that looks at both campaign specific metrics as well as overall loyalty.
Staying in touch, understanding and being responsive to your customers’ needs, helps build loyalty. Make loyalty a cross-functional focus and make sure that it is endorsed and supported at every level of your business, from senior leadership on down.
To that end, ensure customers know when service is due. Send reminders so they don’t miss their appointments. Use data that you accumulate to ensure you offer the best customer experience possible, which means keeping customers informed about their servicing needs and the after sales care that you can deliver.
Remember to send additional offers like free winter checks or vehicle safety checks on your customers’ birthday. It’s the special care and attention that makes a difference.
The key lesson here is to communicate with customers, understand their expectations, and use the right data and metrics to help inform your customer loyalty decisions. Get this right and you will have the opportunity to keep loyal customers for life.
