Handling Vehicle Dealership Loaners’ Fleet
Today, a growing number of dealerships provide loaner cars to their patrons. The ability for customers to conveniently bring their cars in for servicing while still having a vehicle to use during the process is a key component in enhancing customer happiness and service.
Dealerships frequently lack efficient procedures for managing their loaner fleet, even though the benefits to customers are clear. This may make the idea of a loaner fleet problematic and expensive in practical terms.
For instance, in the event that your dealership lacks efficient procedures and practices, you might discover:
• Consumers forget to fill up the loaner autos.
• Passengers not paying tolls
• Passengers receive parking or traffic citations
These frequent occurrences can significantly reduce business margins and waste management time. In order to ensure that you are not held responsible for driver errors, your dealership needs to make its policies explicit to consumers and provide supporting documentation.
Furthermore, your dealership needs to be able to keep track of your loaner fleet at all times, including knowing the locations of the vehicles and their due dates. Cleanup will be quicker and more effective with effective loaner fleet tracking, guaranteeing that the next customer will always have a loaner available that is clean. Reducing consumer happiness quickly is to provide them with a filthy, odorous loaner car!
Additionally, dealerships must take the initiative to market their service departments via loaner cars. Make sure clients are aware that they will receive a spotless loan while their service is being performed when you market your services. Your salespeople should talk about loaners, and other marketing strategies like YouTube videos and service mailers should also include the loaner offer. This promotion should be carried out across all platforms.
It is imperative to oversee the depreciation of your loaner fleet and determine the appropriate time to transfer a vehicle from the loaner fleet to your used car dealership. It is imperative that you move loaner automobiles out at specific mileage points to prevent severe depreciation and losses related to them.
Finally, by beginning to oversee their own loaner fleets, dealerships will gain from the fleet management idea as a whole. With the growth of ridesharing and vehicle subscription applications like Uber, the notion of personal mobility and transportation is evolving. Dealerships must begin considering their future strategies in light of the possibility that renting out cars will become more crucial than owning a car in this new environment. Successful dealers will have different fleet management abilities, and there’s no better way to learn fleet management than by beginning with your own loaner fleet.
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