How Important is Customer Retention for Your Dealership?
- February 13, 2018
- Posted by: Kari Jones
- Category: Tips For Dealers
Numerous businesses tend to neglect their existing customer base, instead focusing on acquiring new leads, but it is highly important to concentrate a proportion of your efforts on retention, because repeat customers can be your most valuable.
Why Repeat Customers are Better than New Customers
They Are More Cost Effective
Gaining new customers through advertising will be far more expensive than bringing back your existing customers with effective remarketing. If you have already sold to someone, you will already have their contact information and it less costly and much easier to use this, rather than trying to pluck leads out of thin air. Just be sure to remain GDPR compliant when using customer details for marketing purposes as of May 25th 2018!
They Offer Free Promotion
Repeat customers can reduce your advertising spend in more than one way. Loyal customers are likely to recommend your dealership to friends and family and word of mouth is an incredibly effective form of marketing.
They are Easier to Sell to
New customers may come to you with an uncertain mind, whereas customers who are returning will do so because they have had a positive experience previously, so they are more likely to come to you with the intention of making a purchase.
Getting a Customer to Return
Vehicles aren’t exactly the sort of product that people will be rushing back for more of, which makes remarketing tricky because there is plenty of time for customers to forget about your brand. The key to successful marketing is to try and predict when people are going to be interested in your products or services. While this may sound impossible, the right customer information can give you a great indication.
How to Stay on Your Customers’ Radar
If you keep a thorough record of the customer journey you can determine the best opportunity to strike, using the contact details that you have captured to send out relevant marketing messages.
You may want to take note of when a sold vehicle’s MOT is due, so that you can send your customer a reminder to book an inspection with you. You could also keep track of finance plans, so that when a customer’s contract is almost over, you can invite them to explore your current stock.
There are tools available which allow you to set up marketing reminders so that you can send relevant messages at the right time and avoid missing key opportunities to bring your customers back to your dealership.
For more information on how to use Click Dealer’s ‘marketing reminders’ feature in your DMS, get in touch today via marketing@clickdealer.co.uk, 01782 478220 or through our contact page!