Automotive customer retention personalization strategies

Personalization Boosts Customer Retention and Satisfaction

“For an automotive manufacturer, there are some folks that may want to buy a high-end car and some folks that may want to buy a low-end car. So why message a high-end car to someone who can’t afford it? It’s all about waste. So we’re moving into a world which is delivering personalized messages to specific audience segments and when you can do that, you can put the right message at the right place at the right time in front of the right person, which is what has always been known to be the holy grail of marketing.” Darren Herman, Chief Digital Media Officer at The Media Kitchen

Personalization. This marketing trend is transforming the world of customer service. Personalization is clearly driven by a customer-centric business model but takes things a step further to create an even deeper connection with the consumer.

Personalization is similar to customization, but there is a significant difference. Customization allows a customer to state a preference and achieve the preferred outcome (like having that chai latte with whipped cream at Starbucks), but personalization is implicit. Personalization happens when your web app is just the way you like it from the moment you begin. Like Goldilocks with that third bowl of porridge, the customer experiencing personalization from your business will respond with, “Ahhh . . . this is just right.”

Charlene Li, a marketer with the Altimeter Group, explained the value of personalization this way,

“It can improve the everyday kind of things that we do and just make them more relevant to each person . . . So I’ll give you an example. Every time I walk into my local grocery store, I want them to know that it’s me. So I give them permission, for example, potentially in the future, to detect that it’s me walking in the door just simply by having my cell phone recognized so that I get specials and a map, even, of the store as I walk through based on my past purchases . . . I want to be known by the store I frequent the most often every time I walk in because it benefits me and I’m willing to trade my privacy and my personal information in order to get that personalized experience. “

What does this mean for your dealership? Ambal Balakrishnan, cofounder of Click Documents, says that there are three key steps to leveraging technology in the task of personalization.

• The first is listening to the key issues your customers care about.
• Next, work to educate your customer base with compelling content about who you are and how you can serve them.

Finally, engage your clients using social media and other tools so that meaningful conversations can lead to personalization. The better you know and understand your customers, the more you can create the kind of thoughtful, compelling buying experience that will transform them from clients into advocates.

Automotive Customer Retention with FlexStat

With flexible technology that helps you deliver unique, branded experiences to your customers, AutoAwards’ multichannel loyalty and communication platform can make the difference in your business. FlexStat, our proprietary customer management system can provide a snapshot of your customers’ behaviors which will allow you to proactively target and drive customer engagement.

We have developed our automotive CRM software to help you access better customer data and give you fresh insight into the wants and needs of your customers. When you plug into the data, you can develop personalized customer experiences that will transform clients into advocates for your brand.

It’s much more costly to attract a new customer than to engage an existing one. To help your bottom line, our automotive CRM software includes analytic and metric management, target marketing, seamless integration and on- site training for your staff. Because customer loyalty drives profitability in car dealerships, AutoAwards has designed software that will help you reach customers with personalized service and incentives that will invigorate your business.

Want to take your dealership to the next level? So do we and we can show you how. Contact us today for a fifteen-minute automotive customer retention consultation about how AutoAwards can dramatically improve your marketing. Or call 302-696-6000.