| That Big Sucking Sound |
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| Written by Mike DeCecco |
| Tuesday, 05 October 2010 09:59 |
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National repair chains and local mechanics take billions of dealer service dollars
Do you hear that big sucking sound? It’s the sound of national repair chains and local mechanics sucking millions from your service departments. Dealers everywhere are losing millions in potential revenue to these service competitors, simply by having an outdated service marketing strategy.
There is no reason why someone who buys a car shouldn’t have it serviced by the dealer, right? I mean, who knows a Honda better than a Honda Certified mechanic? And who knows the customer better than the dealer who sold them the car?
Fortunately, you can reclaim this revenue and attract more customers to your service bays, with some tweaking of your service marketing strategy. Start by asking a simple question. Am I doing everything I can with today’s technology to attract service customers to my dealership with the most relevant messages possible? If you are marketing your service department the way you always have, the answer is probably no. While there are many different ways to reach potential customers, they are not all equal and don’t all deliver cost-effective ROI.
Relevant digital service marketing
Relevant digital marketing, including personalized, VIN or mileage based service reminders, are proven to engage customers better than other forms of marketing, such as direct mail or generic email blasts. In fact, studies show that progressive digital service marketing tools that deliver highly personalized service messaging can yield a 13 to 20 percent rate of return! Compare that to a less than one percent return rate for costly direct mail, and a three to five percent return rate for coupon email “spam” blasts.
Relevant service messaging has its benefits.
· Consumers today are more likely to pay attention to marketing directed solely at them.
· Happy service customers are more likely to return to your showroom.
· It provides a better overall customer service experience.
· It builds confidence and trust in the dealership.
· It increases customer retention and loyalty to your dealership brand.
Search marketing and service marketing
There is no greater evidence that dealers are losing millions in service marketing revenue than on a Google results page. Search for “brake service” in your Designated Marketing Area and see how many dealers place on the search engine results pages. National repair chains and local mechanics dominate the results. Where are the dealers?
Google is still king, so tracking down more service business can be as simple as competing on search engines for service terms. Post keyword-rich, relevant service content to your dealer website and raise your paid-search spend to compete on common service terms.
In addition, tweak your service marketing strategy to include search marketing and personalized, VIN-based service messaging tied directly to your DMS. Make sure that the millions of service dollars out there end up right where they belong—in your hands! The opportunity is there to double, even triple your service revenue.
In this time of economic uncertainty, it is not the time to be helping out your service competitors.
Mike DeCecco is the director of industry relations for Dealer.com If you have any questions about how today’s technology can make service marketing at your dealership more profitable, please email
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