There’s no better story about the perils of loyalty than that which played out in the summer of 2010. At the time, Lebron James was the most desired free agent in all of basketball. For the prior two seasons, he had been pressured by fans to announce whether he would stay with the Cavaliers, or leave for another team. Cavalier fans were intensely loyal to James, who was a first-round pick in 2003. He proceeded to showcase his talent over the course of seven years in Cleveland by making six all-star teams and brought the Cavaliers to their first ever NBA Finals.

In early July 2010, Lebron made his decision. With a great amount of publicity, including his own nationally televised special named “The Decision,” Lebron broke the hearts of Cavalier fans and the city of Cleveland when he announced that he was joining Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat. Fans labelled him as selfish and the owner of the Cavaliers issued a scathing public announcement. Fans expressed their feelings of anger and betrayal to such an extent that police had to be deployed to keep the peace. James, however, set out to accomplish the one thing he had not yet done, but wanted most of all -- to win a championship. He felt he had a better chance to do that in Miami.

And he did. Two of them, in fact, in his 4 seasons with the Miami Heat.

This season, Lebron returned to Cleveland. His explanation was simple: Cleveland was his home. And he told this to the fans in an essay published in Sports Illustrated, explaining his love for Northeast Ohio, it’s people and his desire to bring them the trophy they’ve never had. He didn’t promise he could deliver. In fact, he told them to be patient and that it probably wouldn’t happen this year. And fans forgave him.

As we all know, he then led the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals and Lebron was on the verge of delivering on that promise in his first year back. His fans have left behind the vehemence and animosity they harbored for the 4 years they spent watching their hometown hero bring championships to the Miami Heat. Lebron is debatably one of the best professional basketball players… ever. And was on the precipice of delivering that elusive championship to Cleveland a year earlier than promised.

This story perfectly illustrates the fragility of customer loyalty. These fans were extremely loyal from the time Lebron was drafted -- all the way up until they felt betrayed by his decision to leave. They needed a hero and Lebron was it. The minute he gave up on them (which is how many fans interpreted his decision), they gave up on him. I doubt that anybody would have predicted that Lebron would ever be welcomed back. But a little humility and some maturing saw him thoughtfully apologize and endear himself once again to his fans.

I thought this example provides great food for thought for those situations in our retail automotive industry where we have unhappy customers. The current recall crisis is a prime example --- there are literally thousands of inconvenienced drivers, many of whom, I am sure, are rightfully upset.

People are human and hopefully these customers understand that other people (and companies) make mistakes. They will forgive you if they believe you are sincere in your apology. They will however need to see that your business is making a real and effective effort to rectify any error.

The next time you have a disgruntled customer, approach the situation with sincerity and show the customer through your actions that your apology is sincere. You might just be given a second chance.

You made the commitment to capture more recall work. You’ve done your due diligence by notifying your customers. You’ve obtained lists of in-market customers subject to recalls that haven’t been to your dealership before, and reached out to them. You’ve spent the time and energy to really saturate your market using every form of communication to maximize your reach. Now the phones are ringing. Appointments are being made. Parts are being ordered. Customers start showing up to get their recall repair completed. This windfall of additional service business is going to increase your revenue.

What happens, however, when the recall work is completed?

You have one of two choices: You can be happy that you got that additional work and send the customer home knowing their vehicle is repaired. Or, you can integrate a strategy into your recall process in an attempt to gain the recall repair work AND retain these customers for future work.

Customers that arrive for recall repairs can naturally be nervous about their vehicle and, by extension, the brand and your dealership. They may be skeptical that their vehicle will be repaired correctly. Let’s not forget the unfortunate case of the Takata airbag recall, where some consumers had their recall repair done with parts made by TRW. Later it was discovered that the replacement parts were also defective, so customers were forced to return to the dealership to get the same repair done again. This second recall affected more than two million vehicles.

Establishing trust with the customer is essential in order to keep their service business in the future. To do that, it helps to have a thorough and comprehensive plan of action for all customers that come into the dealership for repair work. Simply checking in their car and trying to upsell these customers won’t score you any points. Prove to the customer that they genuinely care about the health and safety of their vehicle – and the customer – by conducting a complete inspection of the vehicle each time they come in for service. And be sure to go over the results of that inspection with the customer.

Use these vehicle inspections to establish a baseline with the customer right from their first appointment. Ensure that they understand that your goal is to make their vehicle as safe as possible. A green, orange, red approach helps them track what needs immediate handling and what can wait a few weeks. The key is keep it consistent so that a natural progression is seen in their vehicle service each visit.

For any customer coming in for a recall fix, please, please, research their vehicle and identify other possible recalls that may exist. Too many times I hear of customers that bring a vehicle in for recall work, get the recall fixed, only to discover after the repair is completed that there was another recall that could have been fixed at the same time. The customer has already been inconvenienced and this just compounds the issue. The more thorough you can be, the more the customer will understand that you are simply trying to ensure that their vehicle is safe and properly maintained.

Equally important is to ensure that the customer has an excellent experience at your dealership. Just as the old saying goes, you only have one chance to make a first impression. Many of these recall customers could be new to your dealership. And, due to some pretty severe media reports, some are likely to be pretty concerned about their safety. By bending over backwards to ensure that they have an excellent service experience, you have the opportunity to begin a relationship with the customer and increase the chance that they will return.

Show your customer that you care about their vehicles safety. Provide an excellent service experience and these customers should recognize the value that you offer and show their appreciation by returning. Don’t simply settle for the recall repair. Think long term and you could end up with a customer that contributes to your bottom line for years to come.

You made the commitment to capture more recall work. You’ve done your due diligence by notifying your customers. You’ve obtained lists of in-market customers subject to recalls that haven’t been to your dealership before, and reached out to them. You’ve spent the time and energy to really saturate your market using every form of communication to maximize your reach. Now the phones are ringing. Appointments are being made. Parts are being ordered. Customers start showing up to get their recall repair completed. This windfall of additional service business is going to increase your revenue.

What happens, however, when the recall work is completed?

You have one of two choices: You can be happy that you got that additional work and send the customer home knowing their vehicle is repaired. Or, you can integrate a strategy into your recall process in an attempt to gain the recall repair work AND retain these customers for future work.

Customers that arrive for recall repairs can naturally be nervous about their vehicle and, by extension, the brand and your dealership. They may be skeptical that their vehicle will be repaired correctly. Let’s not forget the unfortunate case of the Takata airbag recall, where some consumers had their recall repair done with parts made by TRW. Later it was discovered that the replacement parts were also defective, so customers were forced to return to the dealership to get the same repair done again. This second recall affected more than two million vehicles.

Establishing trust with the customer is essential in order to keep their service business in the future. To do that, it helps to have a thorough and comprehensive plan of action for all customers that come into the dealership for repair work. Simply checking in their car and trying to upsell these customers won’t score you any points. Prove to the customer that they genuinely care about the health and safety of their vehicle – and the customer – by conducting a complete inspection of the vehicle each time they come in for service. And be sure to go over the results of that inspection with the customer.

Use these vehicle inspections to establish a baseline with the customer right from their first appointment. Ensure that they understand that your goal is to make their vehicle as safe as possible. A green, orange, red approach helps them track what needs immediate handling and what can wait a few weeks. The key is keep it consistent so that a natural progression is seen in their vehicle service each visit.

For any customer coming in for a recall fix, please, please, research their vehicle and identify other possible recalls that may exist. Too many times I hear of customers that bring a vehicle in for recall work, get the recall fixed, only to discover after the repair is completed that there was another recall that could have been fixed at the same time. The customer has already been inconvenienced and this just compounds the issue. The more thorough you can be, the more the customer will understand that you are simply trying to ensure that their vehicle is safe and properly maintained.

Equally important is to ensure that the customer has an excellent experience at your dealership. Just as the old saying goes, you only have one chance to make a first impression. Many of these recall customers could be new to your dealership. And, due to some pretty severe media reports, some are likely to be pretty concerned about their safety. By bending over backwards to ensure that they have an excellent service experience, you have the opportunity to begin a relationship with the customer and increase the chance that they will return.

Show your customer that you care about their vehicles safety. Provide an excellent service experience and these customers should recognize the value that you offer and show their appreciation by returning. Don’t simply settle for the recall repair. Think long term and you could end up with a customer that contributes to your bottom line for years to come.

A recent article in Auto Remarketing reports how Penske Automotive Group is using recalls to increase their service business through recall work, but also as an opportunity to sell more vehicles. “I think recall business is good,” Penske Chairman Roger Penske, stated. “We welcome it. I think that’s why we’ve committed to the large fixed operations that we have in order to be able to handle it as it comes in. And I think it also gives us the chance — think about this one — it gives us the chance many times to see vehicles which we haven’t seen. So, it gives us the chance to connect with a customer with an older vehicle and in many cases we’re converting those into used-car or new-car sales.”

Penske makes a great point. However, the very first thing to get an effective handle on is how to connect with these recall customers in the first place. How do you get through to them and inform them of the recall so that you can connect and get their service business? With the incredible amount of recalls over recent months/years, it has become somewhat of a challenge to get the consumer’s attention. Many dealers send out bulk mail notices to customers in their DMS. Oftentimes, these notices are assumed to be solicitations and never read. How many times have you trashed a letter simply because it had a bulk mail symbol?

What has been found effective in reaching these recall customers and driving them into the service department is a multi-pronged marketing approach. Consider using telephone, email and direct mail.

For your direct mail don’t just send a bulk mail piece. Send recall communications via first class mail. Yes, it’s a little more expensive, but it’s also more likely to be read. Make sure that envelope it’s mailed in is designed to brand the dealership and the OEM, and that it is very clear that it’s about a recall. In addition, be sure that the envelope is NHTSA and Department of Transportation compliant. Lastly, consider that the more eye-catching the envelope is, and the greater sense of urgency it portrays, the more likely it will be opened and acted upon.

Once the letter has been sent follow up with an email communication. Reinforce the message from the mail piece. Ensure that the actual content of the e-mail leans more towards the educational side. Don’t simply state there is an open recall and ask them to make an appointment. Educate them about the recall and how it could affect the safety of their vehicle. Be specific and stress the importance of completing the work.

As far as the telephone is concerned, make sure your staff are trained in how best to handle these customers. Many can be upset or worried about the safety of their vehicle. Remember that to the customer, your dealership is an extension of the OEM. Be empathetic, apologize to the customer for any inconvenience the recall may have caused them. Be sure to set them at ease by providing all the information they need.  And do please schedule them efficiently. Make sure their parts arrive in a timely manner and that that their work is completed as promised. Or, if there is a shortage of parts due to a high volume recall, be sure to communicate appropriately so the customer understands the situation.

And let’s not forget the fact that recalls can provide opportunities in the sales department as well as your service department. Effective recall notifications can act as an excellent form of marketing to boost your bottom line in both sales and service. The trick is to make sure that the customer feels like you’re helping them, not trying to sell them anything. Get that across and you’ll generate more opportunities than you can handle.

A recent article in Auto Remarketing reports how Penske Automotive Group is using recalls to increase their service business through recall work, but also as an opportunity to sell more vehicles. “I think recall business is good,” Penske Chairman Roger Penske, stated. “We welcome it. I think that’s why we’ve committed to the large fixed operations that we have in order to be able to handle it as it comes in. And I think it also gives us the chance — think about this one — it gives us the chance many times to see vehicles which we haven’t seen. So, it gives us the chance to connect with a customer with an older vehicle and in many cases we’re converting those into used-car or new-car sales.”

Penske makes a great point. However, the very first thing to get an effective handle on is how to connect with these recall customers in the first place. How do you get through to them and inform them of the recall so that you can connect and get their service business? With the incredible amount of recalls over recent months/years, it has become somewhat of a challenge to get the consumer’s attention. Many dealers send out bulk mail notices to customers in their DMS. Oftentimes, these notices are assumed to be solicitations and never read. How many times have you trashed a letter simply because it had a bulk mail symbol?

What has been found effective in reaching these recall customers and driving them into the service department is a multi-pronged marketing approach. Consider using telephone, email and direct mail.

For your direct mail don’t just send a bulk mail piece. Send recall communications via first class mail. Yes, it’s a little more expensive, but it’s also more likely to be read. Make sure that envelope it’s mailed in is designed to brand the dealership and the OEM, and that it is very clear that it’s about a recall. In addition, be sure that the envelope is NHTSA and Department of Transportation compliant. Lastly, consider that the more eye-catching the envelope is, and the greater sense of urgency it portrays, the more likely it will be opened and acted upon.

Once the letter has been sent follow up with an email communication. Reinforce the message from the mail piece. Ensure that the actual content of the e-mail leans more towards the educational side. Don’t simply state there is an open recall and ask them to make an appointment. Educate them about the recall and how it could affect the safety of their vehicle. Be specific and stress the importance of completing the work.

As far as the telephone is concerned, make sure your staff are trained in how best to handle these customers. Many can be upset or worried about the safety of their vehicle. Remember that to the customer, your dealership is an extension of the OEM. Be empathetic, apologize to the customer for any inconvenience the recall may have caused them. Be sure to set them at ease by providing all the information they need.  And do please schedule them efficiently. Make sure their parts arrive in a timely manner and that that their work is completed as promised. Or, if there is a shortage of parts due to a high volume recall, be sure to communicate appropriately so the customer understands the situation.

And let’s not forget the fact that recalls can provide opportunities in the sales department as well as your service department. Effective recall notifications can act as an excellent form of marketing to boost your bottom line in both sales and service. The trick is to make sure that the customer feels like you’re helping them, not trying to sell them anything. Get that across and you’ll generate more opportunities than you can handle.

A recent article on The Hill.com detailed how the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers is teaming up with a Republican pollster to survey Americans on why they don’t bring in their vehicles for recall repairs. These actions are in advance of the NHTSA’s forum on the same issues. According to the article, recall repair completion rates are at 75 percent with that number dropping to 15 percent for vehicles older than 10 years. It goes on to say that this is especially worrisome, because the average age of vehicles on the road is currently 11.4 years.

The newer a vehicle is, the more likely recall notices will be received and complied with. As vehicle’s age, the likelihood that they have changed hands increases. As does the likelihood those new owners will not receive the notices. Each time a vehicle changes hands, the percentage of people receiving notices drops.

Recall repairs are important, not only for the safety of our roads, but also as a revenue streams for dealers. Many dealers limit recall repair notifications to vehicles/owners within their DMS, as well as notices sent out by the manufacturer. This is incredibly limiting as far as reaching the huge audience of recall customers in each dealer’s DMA.  However, there are several ways to obtain information and capitalize on increased recall repair work.

To find consumers in your areas with open recalls begin by looking in DMV and insurance records. Once this information is obtained, look through the data specifically for owners of vehicles with open recalls that have not previously done business with you. The older the vehicle is, the less likely it will be that the person is the original owner. And the more likely that they did not receive a recall notice, especially if they have been using independents for service.

Prioritize which customers to contact by which recalls are the most dangerous. Do a little research and see which recalls you can handle in volume. Figure out which parts are available and order them. Ensure that service technicians are trained on the recalls. Also spend time internally to ensure that front-line employees are informed and know how to handle incoming calls regarding the recall after you start notifying these vehicle owners.

It might take a little coordination, but consider the benefits. You are likely to pick up recall repair work that you wouldn’t normally get. The vehicle owner will be grateful for the notification and your dealership gets an opportunity to pick up a new customer and future work. Regardless of the outcome, both the dealership and community benefit in this win-win situation.

A recent article on The Hill.com detailed how the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers is teaming up with a Republican pollster to survey Americans on why they don’t bring in their vehicles for recall repairs. These actions are in advance of the NHTSA’s forum on the same issues. According to the article, recall repair completion rates are at 75 percent with that number dropping to 15 percent for vehicles older than 10 years. It goes on to say that this is especially worrisome, because the average age of vehicles on the road is currently 11.4 years.

The newer a vehicle is, the more likely recall notices will be received and complied with. As vehicle’s age, the likelihood that they have changed hands increases. As does the likelihood those new owners will not receive the notices. Each time a vehicle changes hands, the percentage of people receiving notices drops.

Recall repairs are important, not only for the safety of our roads, but also as a revenue streams for dealers. Many dealers limit recall repair notifications to vehicles/owners within their DMS, as well as notices sent out by the manufacturer. This is incredibly limiting as far as reaching the huge audience of recall customers in each dealer’s DMA.  However, there are several ways to obtain information and capitalize on increased recall repair work.

To find consumers in your areas with open recalls begin by looking in DMV and insurance records. Once this information is obtained, look through the data specifically for owners of vehicles with open recalls that have not previously done business with you. The older the vehicle is, the less likely it will be that the person is the original owner. And the more likely that they did not receive a recall notice, especially if they have been using independents for service.

Prioritize which customers to contact by which recalls are the most dangerous. Do a little research and see which recalls you can handle in volume. Figure out which parts are available and order them. Ensure that service technicians are trained on the recalls. Also spend time internally to ensure that front-line employees are informed and know how to handle incoming calls regarding the recall after you start notifying these vehicle owners.

It might take a little coordination, but consider the benefits. You are likely to pick up recall repair work that you wouldn’t normally get. The vehicle owner will be grateful for the notification and your dealership gets an opportunity to pick up a new customer and future work. Regardless of the outcome, both the dealership and community benefit in this win-win situation.