What is your customer retention percentage? Are you asking for more incremental work when the vehicle is on the hoist? Are you using SMS to your advantage?

Problem

Industry data shows that dealer’s customer retention ranges from 35% to 75%. Customers are looking for trust, value, convenience and clear communications from their service department.

A study shows that companies deploying a multi-channel customer experience management strategy retain up to 89% of their customers. Those without retain just 33%. Other customer surveys illustrate that over 78% of service customers prefer texting.

Dealers must understand and adapt to this trend in service communications by providing multi-channel customer engagement. Phone and voicemail often delay additional repair decisions .This can result in extending repair cycle times, lowering technician productivity leading to unsatisfactory surveys and lower CSI scores along with lower customer retention rates.

Solution

AdvantageTec’s platform provides a mobile microsite landing page for every service customer. It creates trust, provides convenience and improves communication with customers.

The DMS-integrated and FCC/TCPA-compliant, AdvantageTec mobile solution automatically embeds a link into dealership text communications. It goes beyond the basics of text communications and provides customers with the status of their vehicle repair, an appropriate new car special, and information from the dealership’s trade-in upgrade center.

In summary, advantage txt provides to the enlightened dealer a range of benefits: a welcome text and most importantly an automated CSI follow-up survey, 24-48 hours after the RO is closed.

Results

The analysis of 30,000 text messages from 30 dealers over a six-month period shows the effectiveness of advantage txt.

• 19% of customers clicked and viewed their micro-landing page up to 3 to 4 times a day to answer the most common question – Is my car ready?
• The mobile landing page generated 10 to 12 ACV (active content verification) requests per month per 1000 ROs.
• Customer approval for additional work was 60% with only 9% declining work. The remaining 31% needed additional detail provided over the phone.
• CSI scores with advantage txt and some as high as three to five points in less than sixty days.

Advantage txt improves the customer experience by building trust, convenience, and clear communications.

Like this article? Read more about mobile texting:

• FCC’s Robocall Strike Force cuts off robocalls for good
• Don’t text and drive: let’s save some lives
• Mobile is the future of car shopping
• Auto dealer’s guide to texting

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Article originally published on www.advantagetec.com on September 20, 2016.