5 Tips for Increasing Customer Loyalty in the Automotive Industry

Customer loyalty is a desire to maintain a professional relationship with a company continually. Loyal customers associate a good experience that they have had with specific companies and brands, thus the high likelihood of coming back to make repeat purchases. Loyal customers make up approximately 20% of a business’s customer base: however, they bring in 80% of its revenue.

Why Build Customer Loyalty for Your Dealership?

Customer loyalty is critical to the success of any business because it is more cost-effective to run loyalty programs and hold onto existing customers than it is to spend money to procure new clientele. Not to mention, loyal customers are apt to spend more money with each new transaction, bringing in a steady stream of profits for the business. Automotive dealers have an even better chance of thriving by implementing loyalty programs to retain customers.

If trust is established between the dealerships and customers, customers will repeat business and refer family and friends. Suppose you are an automotive dealer interested in creating a successful loyalty program that is guaranteed to boost revenue. In that case, follow the below five tips for increasing customer loyalty in the automotive industry:

1. Gather Information about Your Customer Base

 To construct a customer retention strategy, you need to gather information about your customers. Find out what customer demographic is likely to do business with you. You also need to figure out where your customers are likely to congregate, how they view your company and its brand, what they like about you compared to your competitors, and if they feel there are any improvements you can make. You can gather this information by using marketing surveys.

2. Focus on Creating Positive Experiences

 When customers have a good experience, they will remember it for a lifetime. This good experience will cause customers to come back for repeat business, but they will also refer family and friends. Since you aim to provide an excellent experience consistently, this needs to be your focus on everything you do, whether it concerns face-to-face interactions, your website, or social media presence.

3. Continue to Gather Analytic Data on Your Customers

 While you have figured out crucial information about your customers, you must continue to gather analytic data. The way you do this is to regularly send out customer satisfaction surveys to obtain feedback on their experiences. For instance, when a customer purchases a car from your company, you can send out a customer satisfaction survey for them to take. When filling out this survey, the customer can provide information about what went well and improve. Once you have this data, you can make the necessary adjustments that will put you on the path to continued success in loyalty marketing for auto dealerships.

4. Be Proactive

 Even if your customers are not currently making purchases, you can be proactive in offering them useful information or fixing a problem they are facing. An example of helpful information you can offer is a content piece that tells your customers how to get the best bang for their buck when shopping for new cars. An example of a fix to a problem you can provide is free maintenance or inspection for their vehicle.

5. Connect with Your Customer Base on Social Media

 One out of every three people worldwide uses social media, whether it is Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Because of this, you must focus on creating an attractive social media presence. Provide updates about your company regularly. Talk about new promotions. Post discussion questions to get your customer talking and be sure to respond quickly to customer correspondences.

Get started with loyalty marketing for your auto dealership through AutoAwards . Call us at 302-696-6000 or fill out this form to contact us.