How to Create Loyalty with Your Auto Customers Through a Rewards Program
Create Loyalty Program for Auto Dealership Rewards

How to Create Loyalty with Your Auto Customers Through a Rewards Program

Auto dealership loyalty programs are a great way to incentivize customer behavior. They can be particularly effective when you encourage your customers to make repeat purchases with your brand. Whether you’re just starting an auto loyalty program or looking for ways to improve your current one, here are some tips and tricks to get you on the right track.

Auto loyalty programs are especially effective when they’re part of a larger marketing strategy that includes other methods of encouraging customers to purchase with your brand repeatedly. This blog post will discuss how auto loyalty programs work in general, the different types of auto customer rewards programs, what makes a good auto rewards program, and how to build an effective auto rewards program for your business—no matter what kind of dealership you own.

What’s the Point of an Auto Customer Rewards Program?

The purpose of an auto customer rewards program is to encourage loyal customers to buy from your dealership repeatedly by giving them rewards whenever they come back for a service appointment or more parts or accessories. The rewards can be discounts, freebies, or special offers just for your repeat customers.

By putting a rewards program in place, you’re saying, “Our customers are so important to us that we want to show them gratitude for their repeat business.” A rewards program can help you attract new customers, retain your existing customers, and increase your sales overall.

Rewards programs also help you track and collect data on your customers. As you see fit, you can use this data later—whether that’s sending an email to a select few customers or using it to create a larger, more general marketing campaign. You can even use data from your rewards program to create new marketing strategies.

Types of Auto Customer Rewards Programs

There are many types of auto customer rewards programs, each of which can be effective depending on your business model, products, and services. Here are just a few examples.

  • Service: A service awards program is perfect for any auto shop that offers scheduled services and repairs. This type of program encourages customers to come back for services by giving them rewards.
  • Parts: If you sell parts, a parts award program can be helpful. You can give your customers parts as rewards for coming to your store to purchase parts from time to time. This can be especially useful if your store specializes in parts for a specific make or model.
  • Accessory: If you sell accessories (including maintenance items such as oil and other car fluids, car cleaning supplies, and the like), an accessory awards program can be a great idea. You can give your customers accessories as rewards for coming to your store to purchase accessories from time to time.
  • Retail: Customers who purchase merchandise in your store are likely to return. As they shop, you can incentivize them to do so by offering retailer rewards, such as discounts and coupons. You can tie these rewards to a specific dollar amount spent in your store or give them away as “thank you” gifts whenever a customer returns.
  • Other: There are many other types of rewards programs specific to your products and services. You can use these rewards programs in conjunction with one of the programs above or create your unique program from scratch.

Make Sure Your Program Has These 3 Elements

Any auto customer rewards program you create needs to have three elements. An appeal to your customers: Why would customers want to participate in this program? This can be as simple as giving them discounts, free goodies, or other rewards.

  • Appeal: It’s essential, though, that your rewards program appeals to your customers. You don’t want to force customers to join your program—they should want to do so.
  • A transparent system: What do customers have to do to earn rewards? You must have a clear, easy-to-understand system in place. You can make your program even more appealing by making it easy to participate in.
  • A follow-through on rewards: How do you award customers their rewards? You want to ensure that you follow through on rewards that you promise customers, so you need a system to make sure this happens.

These three elements can help you create an effective auto customer rewards program that is profitable for your business and desirable for your customers.

How to Build a Successful Auto Customer Rewards Program

No matter what type of auto customer rewards program you decide to create, a few key elements are essential to making it successful.

  • Choose an appropriate reward: Your reward should be something that is appealing to your customers and won’t be a burden for your business to provide. For example, if your business is a car parts store, giving away free oil changes or car washes may seem like an obvious reward.
  • Communicate your program to your customers: Make sure that your customers are aware of your program to take advantage of it. You can do this by putting program information on your website, in your physical store, and on your marketing materials.
  • Track your customers’ information: You want to make sure that you track customers’ information to keep track of their rewards. You don’t want to accidentally reward customers who don’t deserve them.

Contact AutoAwards to Start Your Rewards Program

An auto customer rewards program is a great way to incentivize your customers to buy from you repeatedly. Rewards programs can be particularly effective when you encourage your customers to make repeat purchases with your brand. Auto loyalty programs are especially effective when they’re part of a larger marketing strategy that includes other methods of encouraging customers to purchase with your brand repeatedly.

There are many types of rewards programs you can choose from, each of which has its benefits. Your rewards program should appeal to your customers, a clear system, and be something your business can follow through on. To build a successful rewards program, make sure you choose an appropriate reward, communicate your program to your customers, and track customers’ information to award them the rewards they’ve earned.

Give us a call at 302-696-6000 to get a consultation with one of our auto dealership loyalty program experts.

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AutoAwards Team

Since our founding in 1991, AutoAwards has been widely recognized as the industry-leader in automotive and marine loyalty marketing, earning longstanding relationships with many of the industry’s most successful dealer groups and OEMs. AutoAwards understands the #1 predictive factor for dealer growth and profitability. Customer loyalty is the most successful way to build revenue. AutoAwards has always recognized the need for top notch, highly creative, effective loyalty strategies in large and small businesses alike. Contact us online to talk about dealer loyalty or call (800) 405-4227.

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