6 Strategies for Retaining Customers at Your Auto Dealership

Keeping customers happy and returning to your dealership is a constant struggle for auto dealers. The market is flooded with dealerships and car manufacturers, making it harder than ever to keep customers interested.

Research shows that the average millennial tenure at an employer is less than 18 months to make things even more difficult. This research shows that millennials will have about five jobs by age 35. These changes have made retaining customers even more critical in the auto industry. These are 10 strategies you can use to retain customers at your dealership and keep them returning.

1. Provide Exceptional Customer Service

The essential part of retaining customers is providing exceptional customer service. To keep customers, you must put their needs and wants first. You must be willing to go above and beyond to satisfy the customer’s needs and wants. You must be willing to put in the extra time and effort to ensure the customer is pleased with their service.

There are several ways you can improve your customer service at the dealership. You can offer flexible hours for customers who work full-time. You can also offer flexible payment options to make the car buying process more accessible for customers who have difficulty making a large payment at once.

2. Be Transparent

Customers want to understand what is going on with their car, but sometimes dealerships will keep information about a vehicle hidden from customers. This lack of transparency can frustrate customers and make them feel they can’t trust you.

You can improve transparency between your dealership and customers by offering them access to information such as their car’s maintenance history and any repairs made to it. You can also offer customers the opportunity to schedule appointments online as another way to increase transparency.

3. Be Responsive

A great way to gain customers’ trust is to ensure you respond to them quickly. Customers will appreciate your willingness to get back to them in a short amount of time. You can offer customers a variety of methods to contact you, such as email, phone, and social media.

You can also use machine learning software to respond to customers in real-time when they leave reviews on your social media pages. This way, you can show customers that you are responsive to their feedback and are actively working to improve your business.

4. Offer Rewards and Loyalty Programs

Customers are looking for a reason to return to your dealership again and again. One way to keep customers returning is to offer rewards and loyalty programs. You can offer rewards such as gift cards or a free oil change after several visits to your dealership.

Loyalty programs are another great way to reward customers for coming back to your dealership. You can offer customers discounts or special promotions only available to loyal customers.

When customers see that you are trying to show them you appreciate their business, they are more likely to come back again and again.

5. Offering Maintenance Services

Another way to show customers you invest in their cars and their safety is to offer maintenance services. You can provide customers with maintenance services such as oil changes, tire rotations, and a variety of other services that will help extend the life of their car.

Maintenance service is a great way to show customers that you care about their car and invest in their safety. When customers are on their way back home after a maintenance service, they will be grateful to have a trustworthy dealership they can rely on.

6. Celebrate Milestones with Customers

Another way to show customers you care is to celebrate milestones with them. You can celebrate milestones such as a customer’s birthday or childbirth with a gift card. You can also celebrate milestones such as a customer’s anniversary at their job or a promotion they received.

When you celebrate milestones with customers, they feel special and appreciated. They are more likely to come back and buy another car from you when they feel like you care about them as a person.

Why Your Auto Dealership Needs to Retain Customers

You can improve your chances of retaining customers at your dealership in many ways. You can offer flexible hours for customers who work full-time. You can also offer flexible payment options to make the car buying process more accessible for customers who have difficulty making a large payment at once. You can improve transparency between your dealership and customers by offering them access to information such as their car’s maintenance history and any repairs made to it.

You can also offer customers the opportunity to schedule appointments online as another way to increase transparency. You can gain the trust of customers by being responsive. You can provide customers with various methods to contact you and use machine learning software to respond to customers in real-time when they leave reviews on your social media pages.

When you celebrate milestones with customers, they feel special and appreciated. They are more likely to come back and buy another car from you when they feel like you care about them as a person.

Schedule a consultation today. Reach out to us online or call 302-696-6000 to get your consultation to launch your loyalty rewards program.