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Recalls: Another Chance to Make a LASTING Impression

Manufacturer campaigns and recalls

What if all of the customers who ever left your Service Department were suddenly forced to return to your dealership?

The retail automotive industry works as hard, if not harder, than any other industry to retain customers. With maintenance reminder letters, postcards, flyers, phone calls, Business Development Centers, Retention & Satisfaction departments, manufacturer driven letters, postcards and flyers, dealer and manufacturer newspaper, TV and radio advertising - hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent every month in an attempt to keep our customers coming through the door.

The real question remains, what would you do, if suddenly, all of your efforts resulted in a 100% success ratio? If you were given that "second chance" with customers who've already abandoned your operation to see them one more time - would the customer experience anything different? Would you give them a reason to stay with you this time?

Most, dare I say, EVERY dealership in North America would do just about anything to get their customers to return. Unfortunately, almost as many would do absolutely nothing different than previously in an effort to keep them.

Manufacturer campaigns and recalls present dealers with that second chance opportunity. Not only are you guaranteed to see customers you've not seen in a long time, but also, in many cases, these particular customers vehicles have aged considerably. In other words, these are customers with older vehicles and higher mileage - which, to we car people, is a customer pay opportunity big time! This is a good customer pay opportunity which can include brakes, front-end work, tires, the works, not just an Oil change and a See you later! The added bonus is that both the manufacturers and the dealers have a vested interest in getting these recalls completed; therefore, this is a potential recipe for huge success.

Understand this - price is not the #1 reason your customers left your operation in the first place. In fact statistically, price usually ranks around 9th. Poor overall treatment, difficulty of getting an appointment, lack of clear explanations of required and recommended services, the amount of time it takes to get written up, the inability to get in and out in a reasonable time are the TRUE reasons customers left you.

So the question that remains is, with an announced recall, you have a SECOND chance to make a lasting impression - are you going to do anything different this time?

If you have not changed your operation - expect this to be another 'last visit'

If you have changed your operation, will the customer receive an experience worth a return visit in the future?

If you know you need to change your operation - Contact Auto University right now!