Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business. You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)

Five ideas to help auto dealers keep their customers

Seven in ten customers don't come back for servicing

For the second phase of its 2018 Service Industry Study, Cox Automotive surveyed approximately 3,550 consumers and 404 franchise dealership employees to gain greater insight into consumer trends and perceptions around the service experience, and help dealerships identify new opportunities to increase retention and enhance profitability.

The good news is that more than half of consumers reported they would be willing to travel farther and pay more for an enhanced service experience, helping overcome the top two barriers to dealership service retention. This means dealerships that want to grow share in customer-pay service need to be adopting new offerings and technologies, such as online bill pay, minimal-click scheduling via mobile devices and ride-share or valet service.

"With consumer satisfaction and loyalty dropping across all service providers since 2015, now is the time for dealerships to take a closer look at the experience they are providing their customers and upgrade to adapt to changing expectations. This will be particularly critical to retain millennials, who are the fastest-growing generation of car buyers today, but also the most dissatisfied with the current experience," said Jim Roche, vice president of marketing and managed services at Xtime, a Cox Automotive brand that drives owner loyalty through its one Service Experience Platform.

"Dealerships have a prime opportunity to increase customer satisfaction, and as a result, loyalty and retention," Roche said. "Dealerships, though, need to develop a better understanding of consumer needs and expectations for the service experience. The insights from this study will help dealerships identify where the customer experience is currently falling short and what can be done to repair it."

Ultimately, consumers are motivated by a service experience that is convenient and stress-free, revealing the following five opportunities for dealers to meet the demands of today's consumer and help differentiate their business from third-party service providers:

1. Enable Ease of Maintenance
   According to the study, many consumers want the dealer website to be their primary touchpoint for maintenance - approximately 67% want to be able to track service history on the dealer website, while 62% want recall updates and service reminders with links back to the website for online scheduling and other tools. Sixty-two percent of consumers also want to view OEM maintenance recommendations via the dealer website.
2. Provide Price Transparency
   Seventy percent of consumers want to view price ranges for various services on the dealer site, while 55% would choose one dealership for service over another if it provided online estimates of costs during the scheduling process.
3. Move Offline to Online
   Consumers feel moving steps in the service process online will improve the experience - particularly when it comes to online scheduling. In fact, 56% of consumers would choose one dealership for service over another if they could schedule appointments online. Despite this, scheduling is still primarily an offline activity due to continued low awareness. Among those who don't make appointments online, just 35% are aware that it's an option their service provider offers.
4. Close the Distance Gap
   With location a top reason for not returning to the dealership of purchase for service, dealers need to be willing to embrace mobility solutions to help overcome this hurdle. According to the study, two in five consumers are interested in service mobility concepts, such as valet service and mobile service providers.
5. Service Valuation Analysis
   Consumers increasingly want to know the ROI on their service dollars. Two in five want to understand the relationship between services needed and vehicle value, while one in three are interested in getting a trade-in value during the service experience.

"So many people in our industry will find a reason to look at the customer and say, 'My job isn't to see it your way but to get you to see it my way.' But we need to look at everything through the eyes of the customer," said Steve Nicholson, director of operations at Temecula Hyundai. "Other dealers want to try to make as much money as they can from every customer, but in parts and service we have the opposite philosophy of that. Rather than take a lot from a few, we want to gain a little from a lot. We want to see the customer more than once."

Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business.

You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy. Grab this goldmine of easily adaptable and up-to-date strategies, walk-throughs, trends, technologies, research, suppliers and partners, plus all the supporting arguments you need to build a solid CX strategy.

While most marketers could list maybe a dozen key points for improving their brand's Customer Experience (CX), the researchers and writers at The Marketing Factbook have identified FORTY main 'CX Keys' which will help you drive your customers to new levels of delight, loyalty, advocacy and profitability.

The areas in which customers have direct contact with your organization are perhaps the most obvious places in which CX improvements can be made, and this report addresses all 24 of these 'Direct CX Keys', applicable to offline and online businesses alike.

At the same time there are many other areas that indirectly affect CX (such as the supply chain, policies and processes) in which every business can make simple but far-reaching improvements. This report guides you through the problems and solutions for all 16 of these 'Indirect CX Keys', many of which are often forgotten or under-played even in the best CX strategies.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)