Have you seen a decline in the amount of vehicles entering your service drive for oil changes and tires? This trend seems unstoppable yet it can be stopped with some aggressive marketing, price adjustments and participation from your service advisors and your suppliers. The loss leader sales of tires and oil changes will bring you more brake and suspension work, this will secure your place within your own market demographic.
Warranty times have decreased within most dealerships for a number of reasons, the number one reason being that vehicles today are built better and most parts last longer, therefore to see more vehicles more often you MUST be willing to have loss leaders to bring customers back into your facility and steer customers away from the aftermarket competitor.
I challenge you to examine the amount of mom & pop or franchise service centers that exist within your market area. Peruse the internet or take a drive around the area where your dealership resides and count the number of aftermarket shops, you will be surprised at how many there really are! It is these service centers that are effectively capturing and retaining your customers for items not covered under the warranty.
If a customer takes their vehicle into an aftermarket facility for their routine oil maintenance they will begin to build a relationship with them and soon your customers will be going there for tire purchases. Tire purchases lead to brake replacement and suspension work, not to mention the alignments that are performed at independent service centers can sometimes triple the numbers the average dealership posts on a monthly basis. This loss in revenue hurts most dealerships ability to be profitable and this leads to layoffs or a shortage of key personnel to maintain the servicing levels required to woo customers into doing business with them.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that your dealership is exempt from the aftermarket segment; they are effectively taking a bite out of your business everyday! The aftermarket industry has become more competitive, aggressive, convenient and yes they have put on a fresh face and therefore look more reputable and convincing to the consumer. The aftermarket sector is essentially eroding the customer base at a lot of dealerships across the country.
Part of the blame rests with the manufacturers for extending the servicing intervals on most makes and models, heck some manufacturers have extended servicing intervals of 10,000 to 15,000 miles and come complete with sealed transmissions, 100,000 mile spark plug replacement and extended life coolant of 50,000 miles. This all results in less traffic for most dealership service departments. Dealerships NEED more customers more often to maintain the income stream needed to keep fixed absorption at or around 100% not to mention maintaining staffing levels to give customers that exceptional servicing experience they all want from their servicing dealer.
For dealers who want to succeed you MUST beat your local AFTERMARKET competition at their own game – SELL TIRES, ALIGNMENTS and OIL CHANGES as LOSS LEADERS. You MUST be open with convenient hours of operation to service your clientele when they need you. Opening full days on Saturdays is a great start to providing convenient hours of operation; you know your competition is open full days on Saturdays. Are you? Market yourself as a service department that sells tires competitively, aggressively market your tires, oil changes and alignments and shop you competition for their pricing. Market your dealership service pricing to your customer base by postcard, email blast, service menu boards. Saturday service needs to be treated like any other day.
Stop your advisors from making negative statements like, “there might be parts issues, we only have half staff or my favorite – we might not have enough time to complete the job today”! You just won them over and got them to frequent your facility and you’re already figuring out a way to get rid of them! Shame on any and all advisors who push customers away with language like this! If you are open – DO BUSINESS! Why give your customer the opportunity to think he/she has made a mistake by choosing to service at your facility?
Everything you send out should show you are in business to sell tires, alignments and oil changes. Just because your competition is one price doesn’t mean you must match their pricing because most independents or franchised service facilities do not offer loaner cars, shuttle rides or bright spacious waiting areas with wifi.
Market your amenities as well as your pricing! Your internet or yellow page advertisements must be also placed under the headings of tires, alignments and oil changes. Statistics show that four out of every five customers will purchase tires from the first service facility that show them they need tires, are your service advisors actively checking and inspecting tires on the service drive? If not you are missing the tire sales and probably so many other repairs associated with getting the wheels of the vehicle! STOP leaving money on the table!
Having low prices on oil changes, tires and brakes gives customers perceived value. The other interesting factor here is that because customers perceive the loss leaders as value, when you present them with an estimate for additional work they automatically assume that the rest of your service pricing lineup is packed with value as well! Make it easy for the customer to say yes when you propose the estimate!
No matter what a vehicle comes into my service facility for, every vehicle has a 27 point courtesy inspection performed. The service advisors MUST present any additional up sell work to the customer giving the customer a reason to perform the work while maintaining a sense of value the customer can easily recognize. Make sure you are aggressively marketing, even at the service advisors desk!
Remember; Check your competitors pricing on a least a quarterly basis. Maintain your own value pricing. Treat each customer like only they exist. Be open for business with hours that make sense. Facilitate the perception that your facility is packed full of value added bonuses. Sell oil changes, tires & alignments as loss leaders. Pay your advisors spiffs on alignments and watch the amount of alignments increase immediately.
Get serious about your service department and get excited about making things happen. Help your service team sell more work and show your advisors how to make more money and have more fun. By using loss leaders you will increase your business and that of your bottom line!
David
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Increasing Dealership CSI in 30 Days
With dealer incentive money playing a crucial role and providing much needed revenue to dealerships during this economic downturn it is imperative to increase and then maintain your Customer Satisfaction Index.
One way to perform this function relatively quickly is to TARGET your dealership response rate directly at the source, "Your customers". It is imperative to collect and capture as many customer emails as possible within both the sales and service departments. You will still always have those customers who you will never truly be able to please no matter what you do, expectation levels are different with each and every customer, yet you can control the amount of positive surveys that are filled in and returned to your manufacturer.
I DO NOT provide ways to cheat the system nor do I advocate this type of behavior, what I do incite is the need to have your BDC contact customers on a daily ON GOING basis. The customers you want to call are the ones that you know you gave an exceptional purchase or service experience to and will willingly fill in the survey and return it to your manufacturer.
Here is how it is done:
1. Create a spread sheet in excel for the sales department and create one for the service department. This sheet should be designed as follows;
Customer Name - Vehicle – Contact Tel – Contact Email – RO or Deal # - Contact Yes / No
The sales and service consultants MUST fill this sheet out for each customer in which they know the customer received an exceptional customer service experience. Each morning the dealership BDC retrieves the individual lists and calls the customers with the following script;
2. Good (morning, afternoon or evening) my name is ___________, I am calling from (Name of Dealership), is now a good time to talk? Wait for answer. (If not) What is a good time to call back? ______ Great, the reason for this call is to remind you that (Name of Manufacturer) will be sending you the CSI questionnaire by email, this survey is our report card to (name of manufacturer) of our level of service and commitment to quality we have to our valued customers, may we count on your support to fill in the questionnaire and return it to the (Name of Manufacturer)? Wait for answer. If the answer is no, ask “May I inquire if there are any unresolved issues at this time”? Wait for answer. If the answer is yes, write the concern down and inform the customer that the appropriate manager will contact them shortly. If the answer was yes and they will fill out the questionnaire and return it to the manufacturer, the BDC dealership representative MUST state;
On behalf of our dealership we thank you for your support and look forward to providing you with exceptional customer experiences in the future. Thank you for choosing (Name of dealership) and have a wonderful day.
If you do this religiously for thirty days I guaranty that your CSI scores will be MUCH higher than they are today. Once you start this program make sure you maintain the process to stay ahead of your competition. Once your employees start seeing the CSI level rise they will as well be committed to the process and more aware of WHAT it takes to continue to provide outstanding exceptional service experiences to ALL customers.
David
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Dealership Marketing Strategy
When trying to decide where you will center your marketing and advertising campaigns do not ignore your most valuable target, this is your current customer list contained in your DMS. If you study this list carefully you will begin to see critical areas in defining new markets. Below are some key market segments to consider:
1. Customer’s gender – It is no secret today that women have become a major purchasing force within the automotive sector. You don’t have to look too far to see how much and how often auto manufacturers are targeting women in their television advertising. In today’s new recessionary world, vehicle manufacturers consider women to be 50 percent of the new car market, and they also consider woman to be more involved with family vehicle purchases and repairs, meaning that woman make up more than 50 percent of the decisions pertaining to purchases and decisions affecting fixed operations.
2. Customer’s age - Why would you want to target a specific age group for purchases or servicing? Many excellent reasons include but are not limited to: their ability to pay. Your older customers tend to perform more preventive maintenance and repairs associated with keeping the vehicle running in top shape. Younger drivers are more apt to install accessories and in certain instances cannot afford to maintain the vehicle. Therefore younger customers tend to perform the most basic of servicing, like oil changes only! Don’t judge a book by its cover when it comes to age. A study done in 1998 by the aftermarket segment concluded that older drivers with stable incomes spend more money on maintenance and repairs then their younger counterparts.
3. Customer’s income level - This should be one of your highest priority target market segments. Drivers earning higher incomes drive high end types of vehicles, they perform more regular services and repairs. As a general rule of thumb this class of customers don't mind paying for value and quality. One cautionary note, this group is much more selective and they normally demand an exceptional servicing experience coupled with value, ease of service and quality. Middle and lower income drivers are far more likely to own vehicles out of warranty and need to keep the family car in road-worthy condition longer, this provides you with a large segment that you must market VALUE ADDED servicing to keep them within your sphere of servicing influence.
4. Customer’s family circumstances – Your customer’s marital status, the size of their family and the ages of their children play an important role in their vehicle purchases and their servicing ability. In today’s fast paced world, larger families ussually have more vehicles within any given household. Parents and teenagers each need repairs and servicing, many families remain loyal to one repair or servicing dealership. Market to these families as VIP families, offering benefits to this segment.
5. Demographic and geographic location – When studying purchasing and servicing trends, historically the dealership location has been the first mark of walk-in business success. Today the tech savvy mobile diverse customer has evolved to the point where location is not as important as price, added value, dealer repair quality and dealership reputation. You no longer have to restrict your markets to within a one- or two-mile radius of the dealership. Today’s consumers will go the extra mile to find truly unique value added purchasing and service experience.
6. Deciding where to concentrate on marketing – Track your current customers, break down your results into categories that you can quantify. Multiple vehicle households, woman, high income earners and middle class families, target each with different campaigns to increase your floor traffic. Offer incentives to each different category to draw them in the door. The object of your marketing is to keep your name in front of your customers all year long, offering them a reason to continue to do business with you.
If you keep your name front and center, you give your customers no reason to go anywhere else, providing you are giving them an exceptional customer experience. When you continuously offer your complete customer base an exceptional experience, these customers you currently service will ultimately begin to market for you by telling friends, co-workers and family members how great you are. What better way to market your business then to receive continuous FREE 24/7 marketing?
David
1. Customer’s gender – It is no secret today that women have become a major purchasing force within the automotive sector. You don’t have to look too far to see how much and how often auto manufacturers are targeting women in their television advertising. In today’s new recessionary world, vehicle manufacturers consider women to be 50 percent of the new car market, and they also consider woman to be more involved with family vehicle purchases and repairs, meaning that woman make up more than 50 percent of the decisions pertaining to purchases and decisions affecting fixed operations.
2. Customer’s age - Why would you want to target a specific age group for purchases or servicing? Many excellent reasons include but are not limited to: their ability to pay. Your older customers tend to perform more preventive maintenance and repairs associated with keeping the vehicle running in top shape. Younger drivers are more apt to install accessories and in certain instances cannot afford to maintain the vehicle. Therefore younger customers tend to perform the most basic of servicing, like oil changes only! Don’t judge a book by its cover when it comes to age. A study done in 1998 by the aftermarket segment concluded that older drivers with stable incomes spend more money on maintenance and repairs then their younger counterparts.
3. Customer’s income level - This should be one of your highest priority target market segments. Drivers earning higher incomes drive high end types of vehicles, they perform more regular services and repairs. As a general rule of thumb this class of customers don't mind paying for value and quality. One cautionary note, this group is much more selective and they normally demand an exceptional servicing experience coupled with value, ease of service and quality. Middle and lower income drivers are far more likely to own vehicles out of warranty and need to keep the family car in road-worthy condition longer, this provides you with a large segment that you must market VALUE ADDED servicing to keep them within your sphere of servicing influence.
4. Customer’s family circumstances – Your customer’s marital status, the size of their family and the ages of their children play an important role in their vehicle purchases and their servicing ability. In today’s fast paced world, larger families ussually have more vehicles within any given household. Parents and teenagers each need repairs and servicing, many families remain loyal to one repair or servicing dealership. Market to these families as VIP families, offering benefits to this segment.
5. Demographic and geographic location – When studying purchasing and servicing trends, historically the dealership location has been the first mark of walk-in business success. Today the tech savvy mobile diverse customer has evolved to the point where location is not as important as price, added value, dealer repair quality and dealership reputation. You no longer have to restrict your markets to within a one- or two-mile radius of the dealership. Today’s consumers will go the extra mile to find truly unique value added purchasing and service experience.
6. Deciding where to concentrate on marketing – Track your current customers, break down your results into categories that you can quantify. Multiple vehicle households, woman, high income earners and middle class families, target each with different campaigns to increase your floor traffic. Offer incentives to each different category to draw them in the door. The object of your marketing is to keep your name in front of your customers all year long, offering them a reason to continue to do business with you.
If you keep your name front and center, you give your customers no reason to go anywhere else, providing you are giving them an exceptional customer experience. When you continuously offer your complete customer base an exceptional experience, these customers you currently service will ultimately begin to market for you by telling friends, co-workers and family members how great you are. What better way to market your business then to receive continuous FREE 24/7 marketing?
David
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