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Dealership Training Economy

Make More Money on Returning Lessees

Contributing Author: Stephen RoennauRe-stating the obvious

  • Consumers held on to their cars much longer than normal during the recession or simply did without.
  • Post-recession consumers slowly came back into the car market. However, they were much more wary. Leases and used cars did better on average than new-vehicle sales.
  • Now, those lease terms are coming to a close, and dealerships can expect an influx of returning lessees, whom they can turn into new-vehicle owners.

What this means for 2014

According to “Automotive News”, General Motors saw those lessees start returning in November and they have only continued to grow.

Returning lessees pose a huge opportunity for dealership profit in 2014. Why? Because you’ve already done the legwork.

You’ve already built an ongoing relationship, bringing these consumers back to the dealership on a regular basis. Lease customers are on the hook, now you just have to reel them in with superior service and products.

What do we mean by service?

First there’s the follow-up. Evaluate your contact strategy for this audience. When do you begin contacting them? What is the contact frequency? What are your messages for this audience?

Remember, you don’t want to spam them, but you do want to stay top-of-mind. This is most easily done with your content rather than frequency. For example, many people, especially first-time lease customers, do not fully understand the process for lease-end. Educating them on the available options and inventory can go a long way toward influencing their purchase decisions.

You can also use your email communication to invite the customer in for a free trade appraisal to see how well the vehicle is holding its value. Simply getting them back to the dealership dramatically increases the chance of retaining lease customers. Remember, the customer who leased three years ago may be able to take advantage of better options. Many captives have stronger lease offers. Residual values in general have increased and the market has stabilized. Also, some lease programs waive the acquisition fee or security deposit on a re-lease or have other incentives for loyal lease customers. All these things add up to a greater opportunity for you to retain that customer.

In addition, it’s important to evaluate their experience in the showroom. You already have a database filled with information about their needs.

  • You know the current make and model of their car.
  • You know how many miles they drive.
  • You know their service history.

With these data points in mind, you can do much more than show them the new version of their car. You can offer suggestions on other makes, products, or financing options that might fit their needs better. When they come in, how prepared is your sales staff to meet their needs and exceed their expectations?

What about those products?

As with every customer in your dealership, returning lessees want the most for their money. After all, that’s the whole reason they chose to lease in the first place. Now is the perfect time to re-evaluate your F&I products and your provider. So, talk to your service advisers. They can tell you how quickly claims are processed, whether your admin is professional and courteous, and how many claims are approved. Those F&I products not only reflect back on you. Outside of the upsell opportunity, they can also help or harm your service drive, depending on how much red tape your service advisors deal with on a daily basis.

EFG Companies knows the importance of customer service combined with superior products. Everything from training to product administration has a single goal in mind – to be your partner for go-to-market success. Our agile product innovation and customization is backed by unmatched partner engagement and industry leading claims administration.

Make EFG your key to driving business. Contact us today.

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Dealership Marketing EFG Companies

Auto Dealership Marketing: Positioning Your Dealership for More Online Leads Part Two: Strategy and Taking Action to Develop Leads

This entry is the second in a two-part series on increasing visibility and leads through auto dealership marketing. In Part One, we discussed the need to assess how you look online to potential leads. Today, we’ll detail two tactics for turning customer reviews and web visits into sales leads.

Online lead generation consists of a few key elements:

  • Making your website easy to find through SEO
  • Having current inventory, specials and incentives available through only a few clicks
  • Strategically developing relationships with potential customers online
  • Making it as easy as possible for potential customers connect with you and  ask your sales department questions about inventory or pricing.

We’ve given you tips on SEO, and chances are your website already gives the customer easy access to your inventory. But as you know, customer service is a crucial part of running a successful auto dealership. Consumers have more options than ever to source a potential car purchase, and it’s important to not lose leads through an undeveloped online strategy.

What do you currently do if you see a negative review or other unflattering content about your dealership? First, if you found the review on a personal blog or social media site, you should contact the reviewer directly. If it was a customer review site or news article, consider putting out a public response through your own website and social media sites. Some online review sites will allow the business owner – you – to respond directly.

Do your research about the issue, then formulate a response. Give them a direct number to call to rectify the situation. Consider a customer stumbling on a bad review with absolutely no response from the dealer. Now consider that customer reading the bad review and seeing that the GM personally responded to the issue and offered his phone number to rectify it. We’ve seen it happen and we’ve seen this type of response have an impact.

It’s also important for auto dealerships to have a standard response policy for all customer review sites and social media channels. For example, let’s say a user writes “I love the new Chevy Volt” on your dealership’s Facebook page. This person isn’t necessarily shopping for a car, but that doesn’t mean you and your sales staff can’t turn this situation into a lead. Consider responding with interest and provide some value. A good response could include, “We love the Volt, too. Have you seen the model in cobalt blue? Take a look at our newest photo album to see it!”

Working a lead online takes more effort than emailing potential customers pricing deals or specials. At EFG Companies, we recommend providing value and interesting content to keep online users engaged.

 Designate a Section of Your Dealership’s Website as a “Lead Funnel”

 Once you’ve established a conversation with a potential lead online, it’s important to take the conversation to the next level. Consider our Facebook Chevy Volt conversation from earlier. After the user looks at your photo album, they may ask another question or make a comment on it. We recommend thanking the user for their comment and then directing them to take another action. For example, “Thanks for liking the photo! Are you interested in finding out more about the new Volt? Feel free to contact us directly here.” Then incude a link to your dealership’s “Contact Us” page.

To go one step further, we’ve found that while you’re interacting in the social realm, staying there has the most impact. For example, direct them to a page on your website where actual customers have provided testimonials about the Volt, or to your video library where you’ve featured very excited new Volt owners.

Working online leads is an art form, not a science. Rest assured that it may take time for your sales staff to respond accordingly to online feedback and convert leads into sales.

Have questions about researching how your appears dealership online? We’d be glad to help.

Please feel free to contact us or join our social communities for more information.