Creating a truly successful, profit-generating, and reputable dealership in your community requires more than selling one vehicle at a time.  While having your sales team consistently hit (and surpass) their quotas each month is certainly an integral component to longevity in the marketplace, it’s critical your dealership builds long-term relationships with each and every customer ~ transforming 1^st time buyers at your dealership into loyal, referring car buyers.  This feat is doable ~ but it demands purposeful planning and consistent action.

Give your customers “cash back” reward points when they purchase a vehicle. 

Whether you decide to establish a set amount of points across the board to reward your customers when they purchase a vehicle, or you choose to offer more (or less) points depending on the year, model, or make of the vehicle they select, your customers get rewarded with valuable points simply for choosing to do business with your dealership over all the other ones in your region. To fully customize how you want to reward customers, you could even create several differentiating sub-categories of purchasing ~ each with its own individual point system. These might include a certain number of points designated for:

• leasing a vehicle,
• choosing a higher-end or more expensive vehicle, or
• buying last year’s model, and so on.

However you decide to set up your “points for purchase” system, it’s an excellent way to establish the groundwork for customer loyalty.  Knowing that they can transfer those points into significant dollars saved on their next purchase with your dealership will increase their decision to return.  You can even opt to allow your customers to “gift” their points to a family member or friend who is interested in purchasing a vehicle at your dealership as well.

Let your customers earn points when they use your dealership’s service department.

With so many neighborhood auto repair shops around every corner, it’s no surprise that many of your customers might seriously consider taking their new vehicle to one of those franchised repair businesses or mom-and-pop auto shops for routine maintenance or other needed repair. To ensure your customers return to your dealership to utilize your service department, reward them with points each and every time. Whether you’ve got a customer stopping by to have a slow leak in a tire repaired or an oil change, or customers choose your service department for more complex engine work or computer-system troubleshooting, reward them with points that can be redeemed toward another vehicle purchase or future service department work.

Reward your customers with points when they purchase aftermarket products at your dealership.

By rewarding your customers for purchasing aftermarket products right at your dealership, you are not only offering them the convenience of buying high-quality products at competitive industry pricing, but also the opportunity to add valuable points to their account that they can redeem later.

Compensate your customers when they refer their family and friends.

Word of mouth is the oldest and best form of advertising.  While your impressive inventory, your industry-savvy, friendly sales staff, and your professional service department will contribute to your high customer service ratings, rewarding your customers for referring car-buying friends will affirm their satisfaction.

Once a customer has made the decision to purchase his/her vehicle from your dealership, you have instantly made a connection with someone that could (and should) potentially become a lifelong, referring client of your dealership. In order to develop and sustain this relationship, however, you need to stay in contact with your customers once they drive off your lot.  Simply hoping they will remember to return to your location in a few years for their next car is not enough. At the very least, their new vehicle is going to need its tires rotated, oil changed, and other routine maintenance services done.  By rewarding them with points for purchasing their vehicle from your dealership and continuing to enable them to build more points every time they return to your dealership gives them a reason to remain loyal to your dealership.

Reward to Retain designs, implements, and continuously engages customers through custom rewards programs for car dealers.  For a free consultation on implementing your own program, call 800-499-1996 or email mike@rewardtoretain.com