Put Fixed Marketing Back Into Focus
The sales figures keep coming in and raising questions. It’s time to show your fixed operations department some much-deserved love as car sales revenues fall.
According to recent NADA data, the typical fixed operations department contributes about 50% of their dealership’s gross income.
However, fewer than 10% of dealership marketing budgets are allocated to fixed operations.
Customer needs and wants should be the foundation of any marketing strategy. Because they’ve only sometimes sent mailers, many dealerships that we encounter are unsure of how to market their service offerings. Service must employ a multi-channel strategy, much like sales.
Consider the following:
Make a proposal.
50% of shoppers shop for a car for less than 45 days, but they keep it for 12 years on average. They have a sizable window of opportunity to join your service drive, and a pertinent email offer is just a click away.
Engage your readers on a regular basis with a newsletter that contains more than just sales offers; mix it up with articles about lifestyle, the local community, or maintenance advice for well-liked cars. Add a service offer to the mix after that for preventative maintenance.
It improves your online search ranking if you upload this kind of original content to your website or blog. To determine your site’s ranking, Google’s algorithms look for relevancy, originality, content, and a variety of other factors.
Update the client database.
Customers aren’t just buying cars less frequently as they become more sophisticated; they are also servicing them less regularly. Excellent-condition vehicles can survive weeks, even months, without a planned maintenance appointment. Your consumers must keep you in mind when it’s time for another oil change or other manufacturer-recommended maintenance.
Maintain email and residential addresses with customer and vehicle details using your marketing database. Send customers follow-up emails and letters after each service visit to ask them to make another appointment.
Pro tip: If your follow-up procedure isn’t automatic, you could be missing out on opportunities to make thousands of dollars from denied service. To entice clients to return, use reminders or triggers to deliver marketing materials at predetermined intervals.
Recognize the market.
You may target the customers most likely to visit your dealership for service by conducting a market analysis. Knowing who to target in your neighborhood makes a significant difference because customers won’t travel far for service when they’re searching for speed and cost-effectiveness.
Advertising on social media is excellent for reaching past clients who haven’t purchased from you in a while. If your database contains their most recent information, you can target them with “claim offer” ads for preventative maintenance.
Paid search ads are excellent for service advertising as well since car owners are more inclined to visit for reactionary service than to plan preventative maintenance. When customers require a nearby repair shop, they simply search “repair shop near me” and find your dealership.
Pro-tip: If you modify the language of your ads, clients can contact you directly from their mobile device or PC to obtain directions, schedule an appointment, and more. As mobile optimization is one of Google’s top priorities, it’s crucial to make sure your content is viewable on all devices.
Display your worth.
Less than 5% of a dealership’s website is typically devoted to service and parts. It pays to display your store’s back end as online research into service work grows. The likelihood that service clients may contact you improves when you produce content to foster relationships and trust with them.
Do you provide your clients with a shuttle service, roadside assistance, or towing? Develop it! A few more concepts are FAQs, upkeep advice, instructional and instructive films, and seasonal car care advice. Before shopping for a new automobile again, drivers maintain their current vehicles for years. To keep customers coming to you for maintenance and repairs, establish yourself as a reliable provider.
Pro-tip: Before maintaining or purchasing a car, consumers watch videos on Facebook and Youtube to learn more about automobiles. To increase SEO and website traffic, provide video content that is related to your website.
Organize your teams.
Because fixed operations are in charge of two distinct phases of the vehicle ownership cycle, they frequently operate independently of variables. Before the F&I office tries to sell service packages or the first generic email for an oil change is sent out, sales customers aren’t informed about servicing.
Identify the service drive with the thrill of a car purchase! Introduce the consumer to the service drive after a contract is closed. Invite an adviser to welcome them and arrange for their initial maintenance appointment.
Service retention is like running a sprint and a marathon at the same time, as a pro tip says. The modern consumer demands quality, speed, and convenience; therefore, you must work quickly and efficiently. However, providing services is not a one-time fix. Returning customers are more likely to spend more money each time (hello, recommended but uncompleted repairs!). Maintaining their satisfaction will encourage them to come back for their subsequent automobile purchases.
Nobody likes to maintain their car. People are busy; they can’t afford hundreds in repairs, and, let’s face it, their car never breaks down at a convenient moment. Customers demand the best from you from the moment they conduct their first internet search until the service drive vanishes from their rearview. Offer them an experience that is customized for them.
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