January 27th, 2012 | Written By: Chuck Patton
There’s a new trend on what philosophies dealership’s should use to drive customer retention for service departments so they can maximize service profit and ultimately retain customers. The trend is a so-called smarter marketing that is based on an data algorithm. The theory basically professes that advanced data logic will be used to market to the customers with the right message, at the right time and to the right person in order to drive in service traffic for less cost. You are essentially only marketing to the customer when their vehicle is due for service.
This strategy sounds great, but it’s an important trend to monitor before making the jump. Many manufacturers’ service programs are heavily promoting this “right-time” strategy and if you are on one of those programs or if you are being pushed towards one, it is important that you understand the pro’s and con’s.
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Posted in: Branding, Direct Mail, E-mail Marketing, Marketing Plan, Segmented Marketing
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August 29th, 2011 | Written By: Eric Johansen
Auto service departments have become havens for the newest hybrid technologies. With the introduction of each new model there exists proprietary information specific to that vehicle. Furthermore, most new vehicle warranties require that customers must have their vehicles serviced at an approved manufacturer dealership in order to maintain warranty status. And while this ensures that customers service at the dealership instead of the aftermarket, it remains that that they often have several choices within their area as to where they will take their vehicle for service.
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Posted in: Direct Mail, Marketing Plan
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June 22nd, 2011 | Written By: Regina Green
While it’s far from being an exact science, there are a few unbreakable rules for successful and effective marketing. And while many of them are common sense, there are a few that seem to have been forgotten by many of the marketing programs being offered by automotive manufacturers. These programs often ignore these rules in order to increase their revenue by cutting corners—all in the name of “targeting the right customers at the right time.” But breaking common rules of marketing can lead to disastrous results for a dealership’s service department.
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Posted in: Best Practices, Customer Retention, Direct Mail, E-mail Marketing, Segmented Marketing
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February 24th, 2011 | Written By: Eric Johansen
Marketing and information technology experts continually create and refine new technologies to reach consumers. Your dealership has a presence on the web and a Facebook page. You Tweet with your customers and send out e-mails advertising your special service opportunities. However, most of our dealerships find the majority of response to marketing initiatives comes through customers bringing in the direct mailer.
Our culture encourages consumers to seek out the “latest and greatest” in almost everything, so why are people still so responsive to direct mail? According to researchers the answer may be a combination of habits being hardwired into consumers’ brains and the stressful environment we live in.
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Posted in: Direct Mail
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November 5th, 2010 | Written By: Eric Johansen
It’s no secret everyone likes to feel appreciated. Your customers are essential to the profitability of your operations and should be recognized as such. It is vital to let them know how much you value them…or you may not keep them. With all the communication options available, how do you reach your customers with a display of genuine and targeted gratitude? Here are a few hints on how to express your thanks.
The first thing to remember when giving thanks is to just give thanks. Most people don’t appreciate conditional apologies or thanks, so be careful that your “thank you” doesn’t come across as another way for you to get their money. If you include a coupon, ensure that your thank-you message isn’t off-putting because it solicits additional spending by the customer…even if it’s at a savings. Since you should already be taking care of couponing with an orchestrated direct marketing campaign, the best approach might be to focus exclusively on the thank-you message to build rapport with your customers.
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Posted in: Best Practices, Direct Mail
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June 3rd, 2010 | Written By: Chuck Patton
It’s time for a mid-year review. Remember the automotive service marketing objectives you put into place at the beginning of the year? How are they working for you? Are you on-track to meeting your goals? Are you ahead or behind where you wanted to be?
Depending on the answers to these questions, you may want to consider making adjustments to your marketing plan for the second half of the year. As you take stock and plan your next six months, consider the following areas of opportunity upon which you can capitalize.
Retention—The retention measurement that makes the most sense is the one that measures the share of your customers’ business within a year. Start by separating your customers into the following categories:
- Number of times your customers have come in during the past 12 months
- Number of customers doing all their service with you
- Number of customers added in the last 12 months
What are you doing to retain your customers? Are you providing the best service in the market and going the extra mile to keep your customers happy? Consider loyalty programs and perks to show your commitment to a long-term relationship.
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Posted in: Best Practices, Customer Retention, Direct Mail, E-mail Marketing, Marketing Plan
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September 1st, 2009 | Written By: Chuck Patton
The days of simple and minimal service marketing have come and gone, and it’s time to adopt a newer, well thought-out plan of attack. What must a dealer do to think outside the box in this economy? As a first step on the path to securing your dealership as a market gainer in a sea of dealerships posting continual losses, you should stop the simple coupon mailer mindset.
Success was a numbers game. Previously, a service department could depend on new vehicle sales to continually feed the customer pool. And if they weren’t capturing enough of those new potential customers, they could look to steady flow of warranty work and internal work to keep service bays full. If they experienced a slight dip in RO traffic, a quick fix was to send out a coupon mailer with an inexpensive oil change.
Success is a service game. Dealers now need to fight their way to the top by examining their processes and innovating new methods and a new mindset to position themselves in the black. These dealers will recognize their service department as the place where their future sales stability lies. These dealers will think past the immediate, and ignore the inflated promises of getting 50 new customers this weekend with a one-hit promotion.
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Posted in: Direct Mail, Marketing Plan
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August 15th, 2009 | Written By: Chuck Patton
Retention might be the single-most overanalyzed but underachieved goal in the automotive market. We spend thousands of dollars per month to drive in the same customer today who bought from us yesterday. The definition of retention is open for interpretation, as is the approach to address it. But have you ever really drilled down to the core of the word retention and asked why it is important to your business?
The definition of retention, as given by Random House, is simply to keep possession of or to continue to hold or have. The bottom line is to understand that retention is profitable… very profitable. So much so that every automotive dealership should make it priority one. Your goal should be to create a process that earns a larger share of customers over the long –term and not simply a share of the market in the short-term. If you are on pace for the long haul, you will still see a lot of short-term benefits. You must approach one customer at a time and feel confident that they are your customer for life.
The direct marketing business always discusses repetition or frequency as a means to retain a customer. Retention does not just mean you reach out to your customers a lot or mail a lot. It also means you have a consistent, simple brand message that resonates in your market. That message must appeal to your market, and brand your dealership over any other. The predominant message in the automotive world is price, price and price, especially in the service department. However in your business model, you have been constructed to be more focused on value and quality but your marketing may not be conveying that to your customer.
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Posted in: Best Practices, Customer Retention, Direct Mail, Segmented Marketing
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