The latest research confirms that it’s five times more expensive to gain a new customer than it is to retain an existing one. Therefore, it’s easier and more cost-effective for dealerships to forge long-lasting relationships with existing customers, built on shared trust and confidence.
Connect with your customers
Maintaining high standards of customer care sets your dealership apart from your competitors. From the moment a customer places their trust in you to repair and service their vehicle, you need to ensure that you are doing everything possible to nurture that relationship.
Aftersales Departments should be investing in the latest technologies and systems, to not only maximise potential sales revenue, but also delight their customers each time they drop their car off for a routine service.
Your dealerhip’s objective and challenge is to find ways to make customers feel like a valued and important part of your business – not just today, but tomorrow and in the future.
“Maintaining high standards of customer care sets your dealership apart from your competitors.”
Here are some top tips for boosting customer satisfaction and loyalty:
- Engage with customers
Demonstrate your capabilities and impress customers with what you can do. Use a tablet-based electronic Vehicle Health Check (eVHC) system to perform a quick walkaround vehicle inspection with customers on the service drive. This keeps your customers engaged and involved with their service. - Be open and transparent with customers
Customers are happier and more trusting when they know exactly what’s going on with their vehicle. Send customers a vehicle inspection report, complete with photo/video evidence of recommended repair work. They will appreciate the transparent service process and be more trusting, making them more likely to authorise recommended repair work. - Be professional
Make sure your service staff presents customer information and vehicle inspection reports in a professional manner that can be easily retrived, understood and acted on. Get a Service Advisor to follow up with customers and answer any questions they might have. - Work together
Get your aftersales, parts and service staff working as a cohesive team (preferably with a centralised service system that can be accessed by all) so customers feel that they are being looked after throughout their entire service experience. - Monitor your performance
Ask customers for their feedback and monitor customer satisfaction levels. This allows you to address any weak areas in your Service Department, and make improvements. - Keep in touch with customers
To build customer loyalty and retention, keep in touch with your customers. If the customer declines or defers certain repair work, get an eVHC system that stores this data and alerts you to follow up at a future date. This demonstrates customer care, and encourages customers to return to the dealership for future repairs.
Electronic Vehicle Health Check (eVHC) systems
More and more dealerships see an investment in the latest eVHC systems as the way forward. With this technology, dealerships are able to transform the efficiencies of their service operations, whilst improving sales conversions and customer satisfaction levels.
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