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How automotive brands can develop and maintain loyalty

by | Jul 27, 2018 | Analysis, Public Relations

The automotive industry is just like any other industry where customer retention is a significant factor to success. According to market metrics, selling to an existing customer is 15 percent easier than selling to a new customer. Kissmetrics backs this statement by saying that it will cost an organization 6-7 times more to attract a new customer than keep a current one.

There are still a lot of car dealers who rely on traditional metrics that don’t tell the full story about customers’ habits or experiences. It is important for an organization to understand their clients through data as there are no two customers who are the same or have the same revenue potential.

Moreover, another challenge that faces the industry is the fact that potential customers will have researched lots of information about the dealer long before the dealer meets them. To handle these challenges, auto brands and dealers must make sure their company website is user friendly. In addition, it is important to make sure there is a strong social media presence to help build the dealership brand. The dealer should also consider using CRM data, which can help to enhance their customer service levels.

Building a loyal customer

Research conducted by ICDP reveals that building customer loyalty begins with creating a stable relationship—even though customers can start their purchasing experience with allegiance to a specific brand, it does not mean they will purchase the vehicle from your dealership. Car dealers that sell products like Mercedes Benz E class must work hard to develop strong skills to win the sale. Besides, after a deal, there’s an excellent opportunity to make the customer revisit for future purchases and aftersales care.

If you offer the best service each and every time a customer interacts with your team members, that customer won’t have time to consider your competitor’s services—and these customers become both brand loyal and dealer loyal. The major vital point here is to maintain an engaging connection long after the initial sale.

How dealers can drive loyalty

  • The giveawayCreating loyal customers has to start from somewhere. You have to crawl before you can walk when it comes to attaining loyal customer connections. An automotive client loyalty program begins with rewarding car buyers with complimentary maintenance gifts, nurturing service utilization at the distributing dealership. Service is a significant factor when it comes to retention process because clients who come for assistance from your company are more likely to rebuy from you.
  • Staying in touchCustomer loyalty depends on an effective strategy for customer communication all along their journey with your company. For instance, the after-sales care should focus not only on care but also on sales. Always get in touch to remind your customers when their service or MOT is due as well as sending them helpful reminders to ensure they miss not on their appointment. To give a great customer experience, dealers can make good use of the CRM data as this will allow you to know the customer’s service needs, car history hence enabling you to give the best after-sale services.

Understanding the customer

Most dealers are aggressively interacting with individual customers via targeted marketing campaigns. When they are well informed by data, dealers can send personalized information to these customers about their wants, needs and other specific activities. The more a dealer understands their customer, the greater their loyalty will be—and that means more sale and more revenues.

Loyal customers will always revisit for another purchase. Additionally, loyal customers will share positive word of mouth with friends and family, which also brings in more customers. The primary success factor for any company is to retain customers. Therefore, an automotive dealer must strive to ensure there are right customer relationship strategies to keep these customers, which translates to more sales.

Jeremy Sutter
Jeremy Sutter is a freelance writer and former mobile marketing manager at Adobe.

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