Improving or maintaining high customer retention is one of the greatest challenges facing Auto Franchises and any business for that matter. Whether it's a sales or service department, customer retention is reliant on a business providing great service. The better the service the greater the result from marketing activities. It's simple to see how the power of retaining customers can catapult a dealer's service department bottom line profit.

It is widely known that customers leave a businesses for a number of reasons such as; affordability, convenience, feeling unappreciated and taken for granted. A re-contact/loyalty program can reverse some of this negative sentiment, so a customer relationship management (CRM) spend, should be part of any business budget.

For this review, we'll look at a typical top 10 market share franchised auto service department. Our studies show a service department which services a brand which has service intervals at 6 months/10000 klms, and no form of Customer Follow up, typically will have a customer return rate (Customer Retention Rate) of approximately 50% 8 months after the customers last visit.

Franchises with regular follow up can achieve retention rates up to and beyond 80% after 8 months.

Below is the effect a change in retention rate can have on a medium sized franchise which services 500 vehicles a month at an average sale value per repair order of $400.

500 x 50% = 250 customers (No Follow Up)

500 x 80% = 400 customers (With Follow Up)

150 customers x $400 = $60,000 in extra monthly sales potential on top of the new customers which are being attracted to your business through your manufacturer's and new car advertising. 

Customers demand great service and dealer's need to provide it to improve the results which come from marketing & loyalty programs.

Our Customer Retention programs come with reporting which allow measurement of customer retention rates so our marketing strategies can be evaluated and modified to ensure the best results. Motor Dealerships use Manufacturer CSI results to show them amongst other things, a customer's intention to return. CSI results come from surveys customers complete when and if they can be bothered sending them back. The problems with this analysis is that customers are becoming tired of these surveys and less likely to fill them in. CSI surveys show a sampling of customers likes and dislikes - which is great for car makers, but these have little use when it comes to dealer marketing analysis and building customer flow. CSI reports don't show true customer return rates, so it's hard for dealers to create effective marketing strategies if this is the source of measurement. Our reporting shows Dealers what all of their customers are doing, not just what a small percentage are saying.

If you're interested in understanding your true customer retention rates and would like to use our targeted marketing customer retention systems - give us a call or send an email.  We're in the business of allowing dealers to focus their efforts on selling & fixing cars and at the same time, we provide value for money marketing strategies and remove the risk a business faces from exposure associated with today's privacy laws.