Automotive Prepaid Maintenance Plans in the News

You may have heard some buzz about Dealer Marketing Magazine’s article, “3 Ways a Dealer-Branded PPM Improves Retention.” What’s all the fuss? Simply this: Dealerships that embrace a successful automotive prepaid maintenance plan (PPM plan) increase their market share while receiving a substantial ROI. And the results can be pretty impressive: 85% first-year retention; 65% each during the following two years; $70 customer-pay upsell per repair order; and, $1,105 in customer-pay service business for the majority of the six years (on average) that consumers own their vehicles.

Is it worth it to go through all the effort and cost to put a PPM plan in place? What difference will it make for your dealership? Keep reading to find out the three big reasons why PPM can make a big difference in your business.

PPM delivers a competitive edge. Nobody likes those unexpected maintenance bills that always pop up at the least convenient time, leaving you scrambling to find cash to cover the problem. With the PPM plan you provide customers with a substantial added value: decreased stress during car repair. If a consumer has to choose between a dealership that offers baseline service versus one that provides that same service while buffering unexpected costs, the choice is a no-brainer. Put PPM in place and your dealership will be the logical choice for follow-up maintenance on every single vehicle you sell.

Retain more customers, even those elusive used car buyers. Personalized service is the foundation of long term customer retention. With a PPM program in place that anticipates customer needs and preferences, you give your clients lots of very specific reasons to keep doing business with you. Ongoing marketing and promotion help educate customers about your unique services and benefits, which they can choose to redeem at their own convenience. With a structured PPM plan you can drive more consumers to your business, especially your service department.

Because measuring your success has never been simpler, you can continually upgrade your results. A well-constructed PPM plan will include accountability tools that are built into the program to accurately measure customer-pay dollars for each visit. This means there’s no more guessing about whether the program is meeting its goals. Even better, because accurate measurement is built in, your team can regularly assess and further customize services to meet your client profile. No more guesswork, only results that are quantifiable and can guide your business to the next level.

Are you considering implementing an automotive prepaid maintenance plan at your dealership? Make sure your plan is driven by customer needs and preferences, steers clients back to your service department, and has accountability tools pre-set to help measure your ROI.

Developing a PPM plan for your dealership can substantially increase your customer retention, deliver a competitive edge in the marketplace, and provide ongoing data to help your business.

Prepaid Vehicle Maintenance Plans from Industry Leader

AutoAwards, an industry-leader in automotive loyalty programs since 1991, has created top notch dealer loyalty marketing strategies for all sizes of dealerships in the US and Canada. Using their longstanding expertise in the industry, they have developed their own prepaid vehicle maintenance plan. Designed as a platform to allow dealerships to build loyalty and revenue to meet their unique goals, there are no high administration fees, pre-authorizations, or third party interactions required.

Our team can assist you in customizing the plan to your distinct brand. Plans can be sold with any new or pre-owned vehicle, regardless of actual mileage or in the service drive to existing customers. If you are ready to learn even more about what PPM can mean for your business, or would like to learn more about how we can customize your automotive prepaid maintenance program, contact us online or call us at 302-696-6000.

Automotive Marketing Consultants Discuss Customer-Centric Strategies

Entertainer and entrepreneur Jimmy Dean once said, “I can’t change the direction of the wind but I can adjust my sails to reach my destination.” Change can be intimidating but it can also be exhilarating to embrace the adventure of something new. Sometimes, too, what looks like an obstacle can turn out to be a huge opportunity.

Successful entrepreneurs understand that risk is involved as you seek to respond effectively to a continually evolving marketplace. Once upon a time, this was all about telling them all about you. Now, it’s become all about listening to them.

Welcome to what has become a dominant trend in marketing. Welcome to customer-centric service, where the first priority is to provide clients with an experience that is intensely personal, value-laden, and driven by in depth research and metrics.

Take a look below to find three things customer-centricity is changing about the world of marketing and how you can profit from those changes in 2017.

Measure up. You cannot know your customers too well, explains Forbes. To give them the experience they want, you need to get inside their heads, so put the right technology in place to measure online performance and track the customer journey. Be scrupulous about regularly assessing your metrics and, when something isn’t on target, make changes quickly. Do whatever is necessary to engage your clients in an ongoing conversation about what they are looking for and what you can do to make your products and services better for them. Enlist the help of everyone on your team and get their feedback about innovations that could add value. Most of all, remember that this is never a one-shot effort but a long term strategy that will keep your company competitive.

Focus on improving the customer experience and adding value. How do you effectively set your business apart when the streets are thick with competition? Give your customers a distinctively personalized service that acknowledges their preferences and lifestyle (which you now know because of following up on your metrics). This doesn’t mean that you stop talking about your product and its features. But let the conversation begin with what your client is looking for and how you can help him or her. In this context, sales opportunities arrive without as much effort and closing the sale becomes a lot easier, too. Find more information here.

Think creatively. Because the marketplace will be increasingly competitive with consumers looking for highly specific and customized products/services, creativity and responsiveness are key. Every member of your company is part of your customer service department. Every interface with clients is an opportunity. So whether you answer the phone, work in the service department, help with technology or work in management, you are an important part of designing a seamless first class experience for you customers. The more insight and information you pool from every strata of your company, the more effective your efforts are likely to be. The only rule is that it be directed by and for your clients. Here’s more.

Let Us Help You to Create Winning Automotive Marketing Solutions

Since 1991, AutoAwards has been assisting dealerships big and small in offering unique solutions, and we have the expertise to create a program to meet the unique needs of your dealership. Our goal is to help you obtain better customer data to create personalized customer experiences that resonate and keep them coming back. We can help you create engagement and build long term relationships with your clientele. Find out more about our customer-centric automotive marketing solutions. Or call AutoAwards at 302-696-6000.

Your Automotive Marketing Consultant Shares Niche Marketing Tips

“Niche players share a common set of traits. These include a deep understanding of their customers and their customers’ needs and the ability to stay engaged with those customers.” (Entrepreneur)

We decided to blog about niche marketing this month for two reasons. First, it’s important that, when you market to your potential customers, you market to them in a way that works well for dealerships. Although there will be similarities to marketing strategies used in other industries, dealership marketing also has features unique to the industry. The second reason we’re blogging on the topic is that AutoAwards is a niche marketing company. We focus on helping dealerships reach their target audiences, and we’ve been doing that for 25 years. Here’s more about the benefits of niche marketing.

Niche Marketing is Cost Effective

After you have targeted your pool of ideal clients, all of your energy will be invested in engaging with this select group to study their unique needs and problems. Then, once their pain points are clearly identified, the solutions become clearer, too. More time can be spent putting your vehicles and auto services into the hands of happy, committed clients who don’t need to be convinced any further.

Niche Marketing is Remarkably Efficient

You will become like that fisherman or woman who knows exactly how to locate the prime fishing spots, spending a whole lot less time on guesswork. Your offerings will be driven by the specific needs of a clientele that you understand intimately. Because you are uniquely responsive to them, they will respond in kind. There’s nothing like feeling listened to, and the rewards for your business can be sizeable, giving you optimal return on your investment.

Niche Marketing Establishes You as a Leader

As an innovator, you become someone to watch within your industry. With the prevalence of social media, customers are always searching for the next new thing and they will learn to trust you as the person and company with the know-how, giving your dealership a wider platform.

Niche Marketing: Fits Like a Glove

Because you know your specific products and services so intimately, it becomes clear that you are offering unique value. By knowing your clients, listening to them and innovating based on their feedback, you have a recipe for providing expertise that can be quite lucrative.

AutoAwards: Automotive Marketing Company of Choice

If you’ve ever dealt with a marketing company that doesn’t understand the car industry, you know how frustrating that experience can be. Sure, they may be good at marketing shoes or medical equipment, but they need to start at ground zero when working with a dealership. And you’re too busy for that.

Skip the frustration. AutoAwards works with dealerships. Having served the auto industry since 1991, we know the heartbeat of the business. What does this mean for you? Our automotive marketing consultant team already understands your industry and the unique issues your dealership faces. Having worked with hundreds of other dealerships big and small, we know the trends, challenges and opportunities that exist. We are committed to helping you get the results you are striving for. We know how to interpret your bottom line and the issues you need to address in your dealership.

If you are looking for an automotive marketing company with experience and commitment to serving the industry, AutoAwards is what you’ve been looking for. We are ready to put our one hundred years of combined automotive retail expertise at your fingertips. For a free fifteen-minute consultation about marketing for the automotive industry, contact us online or call 302-696-6000.

Niche Marketing for the Automotive Industry: Drive Past Your Competition

This may sound obvious, but it’s important that you spend your time, energy and resources marketing to your laser-targeted audience. So, the more you know about your audience, the more you will pass by your competitors. And, the best place to learn more about your potential target audience is by gleaning knowledge from your current customer base. This information will trump everything, including prognostications about marketing trends from the latest business guru. Here are additional tips about marketing to your dealership’s audience that our automotive marketing consultant team have found to be highly effective.

First, relationships are key. Your relationship with your customers and your desire to serve them is the compass that guides the development of your dealership brand. By listening to their stories, frustrations and concerns, and then responding in a distinctly helpful way is how you create and refine your valuable brand. The customer receives a product or service they truly value, and you secure a loyal customer base.

When you know  your ideal clientele and are invested in providing answers to their problems, the competition may be able to compete with price but they cannot come close to the passion, know-how and caring you are exemplifying in your niche.

Choosing a Niche Automotive Marketing Consultant

The automotive industry is changing rapidly. So, when it’s time to market your dealership, having technologies designed for the industry makes an immeasurable difference in a fast paced environment where customer contact is crucial and no one has time to waste with complicated techie stuff.

Imagine software programs that are customized to your business and to the critical information your dealership needs to track. As one of our clients told us, “Many programs have come and gone through our dealership, all promising to fix one issue or another. This program is the only one I really believe in. I can see the results…”

Our automotive marketing company has developed technologies and programs with you in mind, knowing you want super accurate data that can be accessed with ease and updated efficiently. We’ve been serving in the automotive industry since 1991 and our clients will tell you that we mean what we say and we deliver the goods: technologies, analysis and programs that will take your dealership to the next level in terms of growth, customer loyalty, building your brand and, of course, your bottom line.

We believe that success in the auto industry is not a product of luck but of hard work, careful planning, passion for excellence, and care for your customers. We are excited to partner with you and put our experience at your fingertips to help you build your dealership. Whether your business is big or small, we can help you develop better service, a wider customer base and greater profitability. AutoAwards is committed to making things happen for your business and we have the record to back it up. For a free consultation about how AutoAwards can dramatically improve your marketing for the automotive industry, contact us online or call 302-696-6000.

Build Automotive Brand Loyalty through Customization

Customization elevates customer loyalty and encourages ongoing engagement with your brand. By offering increasingly personalized products to consumers, businesses big and small are discovering that customizing services and merchandise is a pathway to longevity and success in the marketplace.

Here are specific examples from other industries. “Product customization helps brands boost sales on their own websites or gain share on a retailer’s site. For example, Pepperidge Farm customers now design Goldfish crackers, and Jawbone customers configure their own Jambox speakers. Trek enables cyclists to build a bike from the ground up. And Brooks Brothers allows men to create their own suits.”

Let’s back up a bit and explain the implications of customization for the consumer. Customization means having the opportunity to make pleasing choices based on personal preferences. When you walk into a Starbucks and say you want a tall iced chai latte with whipped cream, and a smiling barista hands you your beverage three minutes later just as requested, you’ve just enjoyed customization. When you get into your car and immediately change the radio settings from your spouse’s favorite stations to your own, you have a created your own moment of customization.

The notion of customization flows out of a customer-centric business model. By providing excellent value to consumers and allowing them freedom to create their own unique products, the interaction and bonding between a client and your brand becomes deep, personal and meaningful. Products and services take on a heightened relevance that leads to increased customer loyalty.

Again, more specifics. “Beyond the pure size of the opportunity, our survey showed that those customers who had customized a product online engaged more with the company. They visited its website more frequently, stayed on the page longer and were more loyal to the brand (see Figure 1). In footwear, for instance, our research determined that customers who designed their own shoes gave companies a 50% higher Net Promoter ScoreSM (NPS®)—a standard way of measuring customer loyalty—than customers who bought regular products from the same manufacturer.”

By seeking an in-depth understanding of users, businesses can deliver services in customized, creative ways that leave a lasting impression. Most importantly, your brand will be adopted as part of the customer’s lifestyle, plans, and even personal image. Clients become active, willing participants in the lives of their preferred companies.

Personalized Auto Loyalty Programs

Automotive brand loyalty matters. With the development of new technologies and increasing competition, all dealerships need to position themselves to thrive in our fast paced economy. By opting to further customize service in your own business, you provide tangible and meaningful incentives for customers to do business with you.

For over 25 years, AutoAwards has been at the forefront in developing top notch automotive brand loyalty strategies and dealer rewards programs for dealerships of all sizes. We can assist you in providing your customers with memorable and branded experiences that will keep them engaged with you throughout the entire customer lifecycle. They will be delighted when products and services truly meet their needs.  Your company benefits by maintaining their loyalty and as they increase their spend.

By utilizing our automotive loyalty points program or our automotive gift rewards, you can reward valuable customers with exclusive rebate points they can apply to their next purchase or gift certificates, prepaid maintenance services and more. When you team up with us at AutoAwards, we will design a program that fits your needs, your particular market, and your budget.

Give the team at AutoAwards fifteen minutes to tell you how our proven auto loyalty programs will make this year your best ever! Or call us at 302-696-6000 to talk about our dealer rewards programs.