Creating a Service Drive Experience to Maximize Retention

Bringing a car to the service drive for maintenance and repairs is necessary, but few customers look forward to the task. Even the smallest repair can take time out of the day and create an inconvenience. Yet, for a dealership, service revenue is huge to the bottom line. And the best way to keep service revenue growing is to ensure your customers come back on repeat visits.

By the Numbers

Women are often the ones who bring a car to the service drive. So, let’s look at women’s satisfaction ratings and trends compiled by Women-Drivers.com in 2018:

• 90% of women report that the work was done to their expectations. That is a good number, but what about the 10% who weren’t happy? Where will they go next time?
• Nearly 15% report they are not happy with the way they were greeted by the service advisor. Women will bring their car to someone they trust. How much service revenue are you losing due to poor attention?
• 25% of women report that the amount paid was NOT consistent with what they were quoted. This certainly results in a drop in trust, confidence – and loyalty.
• 1 in 5 report not being satisfied with their car’s cleanliness when picking up vehicle. Returning a clean car to your customer is a very simple fix that nets positive feelings.

4 Tips to Increase Retention

Are you crystal clear about what the numbers are in your fixed opp center? If not, read these tips:

1. Independently survey customers to effectively get their experience and preferences. Using the Women’s Satisfaction Index DEALER DATA provides tremendous tracking metrics to gauge the interactions and measures ways to increase loyalty.
2. Independently monitor your employees’ greetings and communications – in-person and on the phone. You may have an excellent service center but lose customers simply because of poor follow up. Schedule periodic training sessions and ask for suggestions for improving these interactions.
3. Audit your estimates and actual repair totals to see where and when the differences appear. For the inevitable differences, be sure your advisors are providing adequate explanations for the changes in a timely basis, not at pickup.
4. Check to be sure the cars are returned to your customers with clean windows and a vacuumed interior, and perhaps a full exterior wash. Women lead busy lives and driving away in a clean car will be much appreciated. This is your last touch-point – make it count.

Making a few simple, inexpensive changes to your fixed opp processes can mean the difference between a customer walking away and a customer returning several times during the life of her car.

CREATE REPEAT CUSTOMERS NOW