Creating a Service Drive Experience to Maximize Retention

Bringing a car to the service drive for maintenance and repairs is necessary, but few customers look forward to the task. Even the smallest repair can take time out of the day and create an inconvenience. Yet, for a dealership, service revenue is huge to the bottom line. And the best way to keep service revenue growing is to ensure your customers come back on repeat visits.

By the Numbers

Women are often the ones who bring a car to the service drive. So, let’s look at women’s satisfaction ratings and trends compiled by Women-Drivers.com in 2018:

• 90% of women report that the work was done to their expectations. That is a good number, but what about the 10% who weren’t happy? Where will they go next time?
• Nearly 15% report they are not happy with the way they were greeted by the service advisor. Women will bring their car to someone they trust. How much service revenue are you losing due to poor attention?
• 25% of women report that the amount paid was NOT consistent with what they were quoted. This certainly results in a drop in trust, confidence – and loyalty.
• 1 in 5 report not being satisfied with their car’s cleanliness when picking up vehicle. Returning a clean car to your customer is a very simple fix that nets positive feelings.

4 Tips to Increase Retention

Are you crystal clear about what the numbers are in your fixed opp center? If not, read these tips:

1. Independently survey customers to effectively get their experience and preferences. Using the Women’s Satisfaction Index DEALER DATA provides tremendous tracking metrics to gauge the interactions and measures ways to increase loyalty.
2. Independently monitor your employees’ greetings and communications – in-person and on the phone. You may have an excellent service center but lose customers simply because of poor follow up. Schedule periodic training sessions and ask for suggestions for improving these interactions.
3. Audit your estimates and actual repair totals to see where and when the differences appear. For the inevitable differences, be sure your advisors are providing adequate explanations for the changes in a timely basis, not at pickup.
4. Check to be sure the cars are returned to your customers with clean windows and a vacuumed interior, and perhaps a full exterior wash. Women lead busy lives and driving away in a clean car will be much appreciated. This is your last touch-point – make it count.

Making a few simple, inexpensive changes to your fixed opp processes can mean the difference between a customer walking away and a customer returning several times during the life of her car.

CREATE REPEAT CUSTOMERS NOW

Women make a full 45% of new consumer car purchases—that’s no small market. And when it comes to making these purchases, this market tends to consider much more than just cost. Price is definitely a component of their decisions, but emotional factors such as trust of the sales consultant and dealership are much higher on the priority scale. So while providing fast service and keeping up to date tech-wise are important, you need to adopt measures to ensure your female customers and guests trust your business and team right out of the gate.

Take this Quiz to Improve Your Relationship with Women Buyers & Guests

Customized Assessment | How Trustworthy Is Your Dealership
We’ve developed a “How Trustworthy is Your Dealership?” assessment tool to help measure where your store stands and possible areas to improve. Find out what category of trust and engagement your store falls into with this total addressable market: Leading the Pack, Standing Tall, Treading Water or Missing the Mark. Once you complete the quiz, get customized initiatives to apply in your dealership.

Here’s a closer look at how some of those initiatives can make or break trust with female clientele.

Women Care About More Than Price
Women car buyers expect reliability from the company behind that purchase. They’re looking for a business that’s really trusted in the community—not just the “best” because they say so in their advertising. Women rely more on dealer reviews, personal recommendations and word-of-mouth advertising when narrowing choices. To cater to that, dealership advertising should mention reputation and a trustworthy customer experience. Post reviews on your home page and Facebook page.

Women—Especially Those with Children—Want Convenience
Over 65% of moms[1] say convenience is of “extreme importance” to them, so help women feel comfortable at your dealership. How can you do this? Offer comfortable lounge areas with a variety of magazines, free Wi-Fi, kids play areas, free car washes and courtesy vehicles in your service department. These important items cost a dealership minimal dollars, but help to earn huge amounts of trust and respect—and retention.

Women Often Take a More Open-Minded Shopping Approach
Women tend to be more open-minded when buying a car, so a pushy sales approach won’t be as effective as a more relaxed and conversational tactic. Train employees that listening is the most important part of their job. Women want to be heard and understood, and to feel confident in their purchasing choice.

Now that you understand how imperative ‘trust’ is, how does your store measure up?

[1] Moms Rule Retail

Women buy from dealers they trust, and what better way to build trust than to be an invaluable resource for everything women want to know about buying and owning cars?

Women-Drivers.com is the thought-leader in the auto industry, using evidence-based data from women’s behaviors and experiences. The company analyzes this information and produces action steps that create positive changes at your dealership. These changes build more loyalty with your largest market segment and drive more dollars to your bottom line.

Gathering and analyzing information takes the right tools and a dedication. Our company collects information from women’s reviews and the opt-in surveys they so generously complete. We then consolidate the data into timely, easily implemented solutions. These solutions include:

• Research & Innovation - White papers and statistical reports to quickly advance a dealership’s understanding of why, when, and how women shop for vehicles. Timely research papers answer questions like:
  • What can sales advisors do to increase the loyalty of women customers?
  • Should sales approaches differ based on age groups? Do millennials shop differently than baby boomers?
  • What are the critical factors to women when they are shopping for a car?
  • How can my dealership implement changes that make a real difference to my guests, build conversions and the bottom line?

Innovation and Research Reports

• Women’s Wednesdays - Each Wednesday, a new educational article reveals current research and solutions for improving customer experience and dealer reputation, effective digital marketing, and how to drive more business to your service lane.

Women's Wednesday Actionable Articles

Knowledge is power, but implementation of knowledge is the key to success.

Reviews are everywhere. Car dealer reviews are no exception. How can your dealership leverage reviews to maximize their positive impact and improve sales to women customers?

National research shows that women use car dealer reviews 50% more than men. Additionally, women are happy to write reviews when asked. This means when you ask for a review, you will likely get one. And the more reviews you have, the more women will count on them to gauge the quality of your customer experience.

Good reviews are great, but “only 5 stars” can make it appear that you are trying too hard or are disingenuous. Bad reviews give readers a chance to see how your dealership solves problems – and how you resolve conflict. Both good and bad reviews are important to give an overall picture to your future customers and guests.

10 Ways to Make Reviews Work for Your Dealership

Women are involved in over 85% of car-buying decisions. When purchasing, these buyers prefer reviews 3 times more than advertising - as they feel it is coming from women like themselves. Savvy dealers understand that women don’t want to second guess where to do business, and reviews show real opinions from real customers.

Here are ways to make reviews work for your store to stand out:

1. Encourage women to write reviews about their experience. Make it clear that you want to hear from them. Let them know their opinion counts.
2. When a customer leaves a review, respond and thank them for their time. Positive reinforcement goes a long way to help others want to leave a review, too.
3. Don’t beg for a good review. Encourage your customers to be honest.
4. If you receive a negative review, respond immediately to help solve the problem. A woman may be shy about complaining in person, but a review provides a way for her to safely express her dissatisfaction. Welcome negative feedback as a way to show how you solve issues.
5. When meeting a new guest, ask if she read reviews about your dealership prior to coming in. Find out if the reviews helped influence her visit.
6. If you have a large quantity of reviews, curate them to provide a good sample of different types of reviews – not just purchasing and the service drive but shopping, too.
7. Show your reviews prominently on your website. Don’t hide them under About Us.
8. Do your research by checking your competitors’ reviews. See what they are doing right and what needs improvement. Reviews can show what customers look for and what expectations they have to set your store apart.
9. Continually check online for references to your dealership. There are many places for customers to leave evaluations – know where to look.
10. Use links to your reviews in BDC emails that go out, so guests can see that you openly welcome reviews and work diligently to earn women’s trust.

In a world where women buyers can feel like their voice isn’t always heard, reviews are a breath of fresh air. Women participate and know what they say matters. Provide your women customers with a platform to express themselves freely and authentically, and see how this makes a positive difference in your dealership’s bottom line.

Texting Strategy for Women Buyers

Is texting part of your dealership’s communication strategy with women customers? Used properly, texting as a business practice is a direct and efficient way to communicate. Used improperly, it can cause annoyance and frustration.

Read on to review the rules of proper texting etiquette, especially with your largest audience: women.

New research from Women-Drivers.com shows that 1 in 5 women prefers texting with their dealership when buying a car. Fifty-one percent of women surveyed prefer email as the main communication method when car buying, while 30% prefer a phone call and 19% prefer texting.

With 52.6% of the respondents under the age of 40, why is this? Email is a more formal communication method and therefore preferred by most in this audience. Many women limit text messaging to a family communication tool, whereas others use it to save time. The key is to ask up front about a woman’s preference for methods of communication, noting that her preference may vary based on what information is being communicated (e.g., reminders, updates on a pending purchase, invitations).

For customers who like text messages, texting:

• Conveys a sense of urgency or need for a response. Texts are best used for messages that need to be communicated within a current time frame. Reminders about appointments or that the perfect new car has arrived are good examples. Texts can also be used to keep an ongoing conversation, provided the responses are kept short.
• Provides a direct, quick message that can be kept active but allows for a response at a convenient time.
• Allows a conversation to be maintained without full attention. For example, a woman can respond to a text while watching a game.
• Can be more personal than emails and less demanding than a phone call

Text messages aren’t appropriate in the following circumstances:

• If a message is long, it should be delivered in an email or a phone call.
• Messages that are information only are best delivered in an email.
• If a message is prepared and sent during late or early hours, it’s best sent in an email.
• If you haven’t established a working relationship with your woman customer for a specific opportunity.

Once you establish a policy and process for using texts, here are a few rules:

1. Use an SMS messaging service. These services specialize in keeping up with the etiquette and rules. Allow a customer to opt in and always allow them to stop messages. Provide monitoring/reporting to verify that messages were sent properly and received. Keep up with mobile phone carrier requirements and adjust photo sizes and message lengths to comply. This ensures that your messages won’t be cut off or refused.
2. Follow the SMS service’s process for asking permission from your customer. Never send a text from a phone number your customer doesn’t know.
3. Create a set of policies for the types of texts that can be sent. Be sure to keep up with your customers’ preferences.
4. Don’t overload a customer with text messages. Many mobile phone plans allow unlimited texts, but your customer’s brain has a limit. Overcommunication can kill a deal quickly.

In today’s fast-paced world, text messages can be a great convenience and help to personalize a relationship. This can result in a happy customer who gets what she wants—and that is always good news for your business.

Unconscious behaviors of your front- and back-end teams can be difficult to recognize, but they can make the difference between a successful transaction and one that fails. Taking the intentional steps to recognize unconscious bias when it comes to women has a direct, positive impact on your store’s bottom line.caption text here. Use the block's Settings tab to change the caption position and set other styles.

Consider These Numbers:

• 60% of women who leave a dealership without buying a car never return.
• 59% of women don’t buy at a branded dealership closest to their home.
• 46% of women go to three dealerships while shopping – this is twice the national average.

Women identify TRUST and RESPECT as their top reasons for buying from a specific dealership and sales advisor. So women who don’t perceive that this is going to happen or is happening will go elsewhere. These emotive factors can be challenging to establish if your women customers sense unconscious bias.

What Is It?
Unconscious bias can come in many forms and starts with assumptions about a customer and what she needs. Here are some examples where bias might creep into a sales discussion:

1. A woman shopping on her own might only be looking until her husband can come with her.
2. The man accompanying a woman must be her partner or husband.
3. A woman shopping alone or with children probably requires a lot of guidance about the type of car she needs.
4. A woman shopping for a luxury car probably can’t afford it.

These examples show how easily ideas can enter a sales advisor’s thinking without any effort. Everyone makes assumptions. Our brains work that way; it’s natural. However, when these assumptions cut into dealership sales, corrective action must be taken.

5 Tips to Prevent Unconscious Bias

1. Know the right questions to ask. The best way to overcome bias is to gather information. Establish a list of questions to ask your customers and frame them in a positive light. For example, “Do you have a car in mind?” can identify what type of car interests your prospect. “Is the car for you personally?” identifies if she is shopping for herself or her family. Asking short questions opens the discussion for gathering more information and immediately sets the stage for the rest of the deal.

2. Assume your prospect has most of the information she needs. Chances are, a woman has done her research before coming to a dealership. Internet searches are standard preparation. A sales advisor’s role today is to help answer questions and guide the process.

3. Don’t try to help a woman make up her mind. The days are long gone when a woman tolerates being led through her decisions. Women are savvy customers when it comes to car shopping. Assume they understand what they need.

4. Realize that trust is the number one goal in customer engagement. Selling a car is great, but establishing a long-term, trusted relationship is more important. Trust can never be established if a sales advisor makes an incorrect assumption based on unconscious bias. It’s best to create a profile of a prospect based ONLY on what the woman tells you.

5. Choosing the right form of communication can make or break a deal. Today’s social media world has expanded the forms of communication. Customers have contact preferences. Ask women how they prefer to be contacted and honor their wishes. Some may prefer a phone call. Others might want email. Text messages are another option but should be used carefully to avoid overuse. Customers have several activities competing for their attention, so don’t be “that message” that causes annoyance.

Be Proactive
Selling autos in today’s world is challenging. People have volumes of information at their fingertips and many choices when it comes to buying a car. Savvy dealerships work to enhance their ability to be a trusted partner and are proactive about eliminating negative bias that can send women customers elsewhere. Eliminating unconscious bias and replacing it with solid information-gathering will drive dollars directly to your bottom line and ensure that your dealership becomes a trusted destination for women.

Men and women communicate in different ways and have different expectations when buying a car. Therefore, it’s critical to incorporate different contact strategies into your communication methods with your women customers.

1. Know the difference between talking and communicating. There’s a big difference between talking to and communicating with women. Communication builds trust, and trust matters to women. In fact, trust ranks as the #1 reason women choose their dealer. Giving a standard sales pitch is not the least bit engaging to this audience. Communication involves listening and relating to your woman customer’s needs.

2. First impressions happen within 30 seconds – make them count. Human beings are wired to make snap judgments. So, while your sales advisor is making a judgment about a guest, that prospect is making judgments, too. First impressions go way beyond a polite greeting. Six in 10 women who don’t buy at your dealership on a given day won’t return to your store.

3. Body language matters – know what gestures and postures resonate well. Good posture, a genuine smile, eye contact, and a warm handshake all go a long way toward showing engagement. Body language matters in every customer encounter, not just the initial contact. Unless it’s to gather information about a vehicle, put away your phone.

4. Too little or too much – what’s the just-right amount of contact that creates satisfaction? Throughout the course of working with buyers, your team has several opportunities for communication. Over the ownership of the car, follow-up phone calls, emails, and repeat visits will be necessary. How often should you contact your customer? There’s no single formula for each prospect buyer. Ask a customer for their contact comfort level and read their non-verbal signs. Over-communicating is as unhelpful as under-communicating!

5. Choosing the right form of communication can make or break a deal. Today’s social media world has expanded the forms of communication. Customers have contact preferences. Ask women how they prefer to be contacted and honor their wishes. Some may prefer a phone call. Others might want email. Text messages are another option but should be used carefully to avoid overuse. Customers have several activities competing for their attention, so don’t be “that message” that causes annoyance.

6. Customer contact takes many forms – understand the brand message being relayed. Messaging comes in many forms: direct contact with a sales advisor, advertising, online reviews, friends, and competition. Providing a consistent message from your brand to your customers and guests as well as the addressable market is crucial to building trust. This means having an awareness of the total, overall message your customer is receiving. They may not pay detailed attention to all communication, but they will notice inconsistencies, which may create negative questions. Keep your messaging on point and consistent.

Women look for much more than price when shopping for a dealership. Those who recognize what’s important to women will receive the payoff in satisfied, repeat customers and an increased bottom line.

Pre- and post-purchase analytics are the key to cracking the code for selling to your #1 buyer: women. Women are buying 45% of all vehicles today, which translates to 819 total vehicles per year at an average new car dealership. Yet most business leaders still don’t celebrate this market, nor do they undertake mining data to advertise and sell directly to women.

Understanding why women buy or don’t buy from a particular dealership or sales advisor can be a game-changer for your dealership.

Now, executives can get direct feedback from their own women consumers and guests to understand their experience. Over 90% of women who write reviews on Women-Drivers.com opt into a proprietary 25-question survey in one of 3 areas: buying, shopping, and the service drive. These qualified insights take the guesswork out of marketing and allow dealers to improve and fine-tune sales techniques.

The WSI® Dealer Report allows astute general sales managers to channel the voice and collective feedback of their own women customers to help improve perception, process, and messaging. The chronicled findings fundamentally enable these leaders to become ambassadors for positive change and increase sales to this buying segment.

DOWNLOAD the report NOW.

Your Trust Dashboard Part 2

In our most recent blog, we reported that trust is the #1 factor for women in determining where they buy and service their cars. Yes, there’s a direct parallel between increasing trust to increase sales. But trust can be a nebulous concept.

9 Ways to Create Trust and Convert It into Sales

1. Track as much data as possible. If you aren’t already keeping statistics on these guests and customers, start now. This will provide feedback to see how programs are working and who falls off.
2. Know your women customers. Encourage them to write reviews. Read your reviews with a critical eye and always thank, acknowledge, and respond to each one.
3. Stay in contact with your guests and customers post-visit to answer their questions. Work with your sales advisors to build a trusted relationship so women are comfortable.
4. Treat women prospects and customers with respect and use active listening to ensure that their needs are met.
5. Ensure that your website speaks directly to women customers. Create a friendly, inviting digital presence. Remember, your website and social media are your 24/7 sales advisors.
6. Host educational seminars and publicize the seminars on social media or in service drive reminder cards. This is a great way to continue engagement with prospects and customers.
7. Talk to your sales advisors and employees. What ideas do they have to help increase trust? Are they comfortable with the programs you’ve created? Do they feel they can implement them with positive results?
8. Include relationship-building messaging in your advertising. Price cuts or having a female spokesperson isn’t enough. Think about what’s in it for her and convey value-added benefits. Women use dealer reviews 50% more than men, and reviews influence women 3 times more than price. Include statistics about your reputation and reviews and show Dealer of the Year awards.
9. Make your service center worth the visit. A waiting lounge with Wi-Fi, refreshments, and workspace is a minimum today. Loaner cars are the top concierge item requested by women. Other appealing amenities include free car washes, oil changes and state inspections, a no-hassle return policy, and non-commissioned sales advisors. Be sure to include these in your advertising. Remember, it’s not just the price that matters.

Increasing trust to increase sales is an interactive process that requires practice and dedication. Over time, smart dealers learn what works and can implement increasingly effective processes. Ultimately, the reward shows on your top and bottom lines.

Your Trust Dashboard Part 1

Do you know the #1 reason women choose a particular dealership to buy a car over another? It’s TRUST. Surprised? Many dealers think the lowest price is the top reason. Research shows women seek a trusted advisor first to help them navigate the myriad of choices when selecting a vehicle. This means your dealership’s perceived level of trust by guests and buyers has a direct impact on your bottom line.

How do you grow trust and convert this to more women customers?

You Can’t Grow if You Don’t Know

First, learn about your women customers, specifically:

1. What percentage of your leads are generated by women?

2. What percentage of your business is generated from women?

3. What percentage of your service drive business is generated by women?

Nationally, women purchase 45% of the cars. This is a great benchmark for determining how your individual dealership is performing when it comes to female market share.

Once you know your own numbers, create a benchmark “Dashboard” to show your starting point. Include the statistics from above and create goals and a timeline for increasing performance.

Gain Valuable Insights:

• What percentage of your women-prospect leads convert to buyers at your dealership?
• What is your average retention rate for women in the service drive?

Compare Results

Once you implement plans to increase sales by increasing trust, track your progress. Keep statistical information front and center for your front line team and employees. Engage them in the process to reiterate ideas and create new programs. Evaluate what is working and investigate areas that are not improving.

Their success is your success.