Vendor relationships are business, and while that is not to say that relationships develop with the people you work with - at the end of the day, it is about results. And as a dealer, you should never feel obligated to stay in a bad relationship. Here are the top reasons it's time to break-up with your vendor. 

P.S. on the flip-side, selecting a re-bound vendor is not the solution either. In fact, it is best to have to have another vendor lined up having executed a plan to switch. Everything from the time the new service begins, to creating a checklist of all the items that have to be handled immediately for a seamless transition. 

No Communication 

Communication is a two-way street. The dealer is just as responsible for contacting the vendor - working with them - as they are to contact you. However, the dealer should not have to beg for reports or answers to questions regarding their results or how to use their application. 

But, if your account manager has not said hello in 6+ months, and the only time they speak with you is if you have called support and mentioned an issue then it is time for a new account manager or time just to leave! If you are able to get another account manager who works for you, great! If you keep playing ping-pong with reps getting a new one every month or so than it is time to move on. 

Reporting 

If the numbers are not adding up and look like a college calculus problem gone south than it might be time to evaluate. Albeit, before making a vendor switch try and work with their account manager to resolve the reporting issue. At the end of the day, however, realistically it is not acceptable for the dealer to have to manage the reporting for a vendor! 

The vendor should work with the dealer regarding the reporting on a monthly basis. Ensuring that all questions are answered. And most importantly, making sure that their reporting is transparent and accurate. Given that business decisions are made from reporting. Bad reports = Bad Business Decisions, which will have a negative impact on your store. 

Integration 

We have all been in a situation at one time or another where the vendor promises the world and just how easy it is to integrate their services within our existing DMS or CRM. Only to find out it is an absolute nightmare! To make matters worse, the vendor relies too heavily on one point of contact at the dealer who in many cases ends up solving the issue themselves dealing with all the vendors at once. 

I have been there and done that, which frankly has been of the most stressful encounters! Some of the best vendors I have worked with do not have this problem. As their account & integration managers are top notch. Working with the dealer every step of the way. That is everything from the integration to initial stages of the product! Not to mention, they take the time to check in monthly. Working with you to strategize a plan that makes sense. 

Bad Platform 

Still pinching and zooming on your phone when using the vendor's product? Perhaps to check reports on your phone because their mobile app does not have any reporting? If so, it might be time to make a switch. There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to view your application reporting on the fly. Whether that is the need to grab quick information for a meeting or the ability to check-in on the go! 

The vendor - in this day & age - should have a platform that supports the ability to view and check reporting on the go. If not, then when you’re done pinching and zooming on your phone take a minute to look for new vendors. Paying attention to their mobile website. If it is easy to use and offers an excellent experience than it is a good indication of what their products experience will be like. 

Bottom Line: A vendor should be adding to your bottom line! If they are not - first, step back and ask yourself “Are you using the product and its features” More often than not, less than 30% of the product is used!

If that is the case, take a minute to review what and how your current vendors overlap. Seeing if there is the ability to remove one or more of the vendors whose services overlap. This could easily save you thousands of dollars, which can be used for a much better service! Especially since it seems that each product & service is just $699 more! If the vendor cannot offer you quality reporting or consistent service (because they ignore you) then it is time to move on and break-up! 

Have you ever broken up with a vendor? If so, looking back - is it one the best things you did? On the flip-side have you ever broken up with a vendor to only go back? 
 

Trust is imperative as it offers the customer the peace of mind that they have made the right decision regarding the servicing of their vehicle. And while the trust is earned through providing the correct information on the site such as accurate pricing, services, and rentals.  Earning the customers trust is also an integral part of other services offered with chat & text being a considerable part of that! 

When is the last time you were on your site and went through the chat or text process? Do you offer that on your site? Those that do offer it - do you have their chat reps handle the leads? If so, have you taken the time to speak with your account manager setting expectations for how customers are to be handled? 

Here are the top things to review and check-out to earn their trust! 

Chat Service 

Chatting can be very convenient for the customer. Where more often than not the customer is simply wanting to book an appointment. Perhaps asking a question about their service inquiring about what their contract entails. Sounds simple enough right? 

The problem comes into play, however, if the customer asks a question that the rep is unable to answer. And what's worse is if the rep misinforms the customer about a service cost or their service contract. When the customer arrives - the service advisor is most likely unaware of where the appointment came from much less what was offered - the customer than has to feel as if they are defending themselves with the information they were provided. Starting the visit off on a bad note. All because the chat rep was misinformed about policy.

Just in the last two weeks, we had a chat where the customer was told that windshield wipers were a part of the service contract. When the customer arrived and asked “what type of windshield wipers they were getting” the service advisor looked with a blank stare offering that it is not at all apart of the contract. The customer got upset and while we were able to de-escalate the situation it made for a frustrating experience for both the customer and advisor!  

Take the extra minute and work with the account rep to ensure they are on the same page about expectations on customer questions & services! 

Texting 

Having all of these options are GREAT! But, not so great when a customer texts you and their response goes into the abyss as no one is checking the CRM for unmatched texting conversations. 
The customer texts a simple question - can I wait for my vehicle tomorrow while it is in service? Only to not get a response. Comes in the next day and it's completely backed up! And will take 3+ hours for the service! No fun for anyone. 

Do you use texting for service? If so, who handles the texting conversations?

Booking the Appointment 

When the customer schedules their appointment for a service (and the pricing is offered for the said service online), they are expecting it to be the same cost. Now mind you, of course, there will be the situation where the customer did not select the right service for their vehicle. And the advisor has to explain to the customer the price difference. Sure the customer might be slightly upset. But they are most likely going to be more understanding then if the customer were to have selected a service and the cost is much higher in store than of what was advertised! 

Do you show pricing within the service scheduler? If so, has it made a difference in overall spend? 

Bottom Line: if you are offering services to assist the customer offering them a more transparent experience then make sure the quality of their experience is the level of customer service you expect! Turn Key is GREAT, BUT only great if it WORKS! 

When is the last time you used your chat service to book an appointment? How was your experience? Do you manage chat/text in-house? 
 

Who doesn’t like to feel appreciated? It doesn’t seem unreasonable to want to appreciate our customers, right?  Especially the ones who continue to do business with us despite the overall struggle to maintain loyalty. Yet there has been a lot of conversation as to whether or not holding a “customer appreciation day” is useful or necessary. Where a lot of the conversation offers that the customer appreciation days (themselves) are not much different than any other day.

The only difference really, is a few food spreads in the service lane & a nice cake. Or I think one year there was a face painter for the kids. Point being, if the purpose of the event is to genuinely ‘thank’ the customer then make it about the customer. Making sure, though, to outreach to all of your customers. Not just the ones that are in the service lane for their appointment that day. 

If you are hoping for an ROI on the event (which, let’s face it - the purpose of events is to drum up business), then find the balance of offering both. Making it a worthwhile effort. I offer that all too often - those of us in the trenches - forgot that buying a car is usually the second largest purchase people make in their lives. So there is a lot of emotion tied to their experience. 

Here are some best practices for holding a customer appreciation day. 

Customer Car Care Clinic 

Hosting an extravagant event is not always necessary. What is helpful, though, and something your customer would most likely find value in is a free car care clinic. A clinic where the customer can learn better ways to manage and maintain their vehicle. Where the service technician can show examples of what missing the OEM maintenance intervals can do to the vehicle. 

Not saying that every customer that attends will purchase a service contract or complete the OEM maintenance intervals. BUT, they will appreciate the free advice. And if it sells one or two contracts then it is worth the effort.

It Is Not Just Another Day in Service 

Without an ‘event,’ or a central theme to the customer appreciation day then it is pretty much a typical day in service. With a food spread and perhaps (in some cases) free entertainment for the kids. And do not get me wrong, parents love the free entertainment or food. Making it convenient for them, so they don’t have to make that extra stop after servicing their vehicle. Not to mention, it will help keep the kids entertained while they attend the event. Making it more likely for them to purchase a contract. 

If you choose not to do a clinic for the appreciation day then make sure to have an event planned. Whether that is a family geared day such as a "movie night" or even a "child safety" day before back to school. The options are endless, really! 

Twice is Nice

Hosting the Customer Appreciation Day twice a year is enough. Whether that is two clinics or two events.  With one in the Spring and the other in the Fall. This allows you to put time, effort  & thought into the event. Making sure there is an overall purpose. And if you choose to do the clinics it can turn into an ROI - that is selling service contracts, up-sells, all while thanking the customer for their loyalty to your brand! 

Do you host customer appreciation days? If so, how often? If not - did you used to host them? What is the most successful Customer Appreciation Day you Hosted? 

When is the last time you reviewed your analytics to see how many appointments were scheduled online for service? Making sure the advisor completes the appointment in your CRM if the customer showed in the lane? 

Out of the customers who came in for their appointments - did the service advisors track their coupons by collecting them or use the right op-code in the system you use? 

Tracking your online appointment traffic for service is essential. Making sure you take the time each month to see how many customers that hit the service drive have booked an appointment. And if there is a significant percentage who did not schedule an appointment - having started the appointment process - make sure to take the time and check & review how easy it is to book the actual appointment. There could be a site issue that you are unaware of! 

To avoid these issues, which can have a dramatic impact on the lane - especially with the Holiday surge you will see for year-end - here are some of the best practices to follow: 

Review Monthly Appointment Reports 

If you are using a vendor to schedule service appointments, then they most likely offer you a monthly performance report. The report should provide the following information: total web traffic, appointments booked, bounce rate, and how many people started to schedule an appointment but ended up exiting. This will help you find any possible breakdowns. 

One of the top reasons the customer will exit without booking their service appointment -  having clicked through an email blast - is due to their not having their information readily available such as their VIN, Mileage, etc. If your system requires that information to schedule the appointment, then it can (and most likely will cause for customers to exit without scheduling).  

To avoid the issue, your scheduling tool should offer a “quick appointment tool” where the customer is able to book an appointment without having to sign in or have all of their information. If the customer is a repeat customer - as an advisor - you should be able to pull their information ahead of time. Allowing you to assist the customer better as there is nothing worse than the customer booking their appointment for specific services to then show up at the service drive having to repeat what it is they are in for because the advisor did not take the time to review the appointment log for the day. 
 

Click to Call 

There are trends in the industry - regarding mobile traffic - where the customer is on the service scheduling page but decides to “call in” instead of booking their appointment. This is great, BUT not so great if you are not tracking the clicks & recording the calls. 

In the perfect world, all calls would be answered, but it is inevitable that there are going to be missed calls. That said if you are tracking the calls you are not only able to ensure the customer is assisted. But you are also then able to review how many customers are using this method versus booking the appointment online. 

Top Referral for Service Appointments 

Off the top of your head do you know what platform generates the most service appointments? If not, you could be missing out! 

For example, if your monthly service offer email is the top source for generating appointments than you would want to review how many customers who booked the appointment using the email also happened to redeem a coupon too! 

Taking the time to review which coupon it is that they redeemed. This will assist you in better serving your customers. If they aren’t redeeming the coupons than it is a sign to make a switch and try something new! 

Bottom line: 

Who doesn’t want to be able to forecast monthly revenue based on appointment traffic? Building up the top referring platform for appointments?

Do yourself a favor and set aside a time to review your monthly service appointments. Seeing where you are generating the most traffic, and examine how many customers exit without booking. And if they did not book - did they call in to schedule the appointment!?

How do you track service appointments? Do you have a provisioned line for mobile for click to call? What percentage of appointments are attributed to click to call? 
 

Sales have a direct correlation to the volume of units that pass through service on a daily basis. So as you are planning for year-end and are looking to plan for the next year - pay close attention to your monthly sales numbers. Depending on the sales numbers (especially regarding new) your service drive will be affected.

Here Are Some Things to Consider when it comes to planning for year-end and shaping the following years marketing: 

When Your Sales Numbers Are Up 

If sales are up year over year you should see an increase in the number of RO’s per quarter. That said, you should be planning as to how many new units should be hitting the drive per month and quarter based on your sales numbers. And when reviewing those numbers make sure to use your OEM’s retention numbers to build your forecast. 

Depending on the increase in sales (and what the average daily RO count is) you might have to increase hours or hire an additional express advisor to handle the incremental oil changes. If there are months with lower sales then your objective then you would want to focus on increasing your campaigns to target customers slipping out of your OEM’s retention guide, which leads to the below: 

When Your Sales Numbers Are Down 

Some dealers saw a decline in sales year over year. If you are one of those stores, your service department will not necessarily see an incremental increase in RO’s. That said, you will want to focus more on acquiring new business through conquesting your OEM’s owners - within your primary marketing area - who have not serviced at your dealership. 
Ensuring that you are outweighing the cost of marketing per customer vs. the OEM’s kick back for hitting your numbers. 
 

Schedule First Oil Change 

More often than not the customer does not want to schedule their first service appointment right after the purchase. And while that makes sense - as the customer does not know their schedule 3-6 months out - you want to offer that it is best if they bring their vehicle back within the first three months. Allowing the customer to bring it in and address any concerns, questions, etc. that s/he may have. Making sure the vehicle is working 100% to their satisfaction. Not only will this assist with retention, but the customer will feel taken care recognizing that you value their purchase. 

Bottom Line: 

Regardless of whether your sales are up or down, it is imperative for those that did purchase from you to come back for service! Especially your new car customers! Remembering that each customer that buys and does not return for service is less likely to go back and purchase another vehicle from you! 

How do you plan based on sales volume? Have you seen a negative impact on the service drive when sales are down? If so, how have you addressed the issue? 
 

Part & Accessories sales are not just transactions meant for repairs.  So few customers though are educated on what is offered online at the time of their purchase or service. Whether that is floor-mats, accessories, or aftermarket parts. 

When is the last time your sales consultants offered accessories to your customer using your store online?

Here are the top reasons to start educating the customer on parts and accessories 

Welcome Email 

How many of you have an email or thank you letter that is sent to the customer after they have purchased a vehicle? If you do - great! But do you have a click-through to your parts/accessories store? If not, you are missing out! 

Dealers who have a click-through to their parts store in the welcome email -  which should be getting a healthy open rate - usually have seen an increase in parts sales! If your OEM is offering a special sale (which they typically are), you can include that offer in the email. 

Besides, the customer might click on that call to action versus the scheduling of their first oil change. As nothing has changed since they were in two days ago purchasing the vehicle. Offering that they were not sure what day for the oil change worked best for them given that it was 3-6 months out. 

Website - where is it?? 

If your parts store is tucked away somewhere in the service menu - then forget it. Customers (especially those on mobile) want the information readily available. All without having to sift through your website.That said, it does not hurt (depending on your real estate options) to have a menu option for “Parts & Accessories.” 

The customer who is purchasing parts might not have serviced or purchased their vehicle at your store. However, if they are able to get the part or accessory inexpensively, it lends the opportunity to gather his/her information. In turn, allowing you to market to a new and potential customer. 

Take it one step further, you can always send them an oil change coupon as a 'thank you' for their parts or accessories purchase if they haven’t serviced their vehicle with you before.  Limiting the offer, perhaps, to OEM vehicles only. As this can assist with retention efforts in place with the OEM. 

Not Tracking Parts Sale Customer Info? 

I was a bit shocked, honestly, that while the parts sales are tracked - the customer data (unless a corp account) is mostly not tracked! This is a huge mistake. Why wouldn’t you want to track all of the customer data for parts & accessories? 

The only time the data (if you are not currently tracking it) would be tracked is if their purchase required installation from service. In which case, there would be an RO for the labor costs. Keep in mind, gathering their data would also lend the ability to email them their receipt. Not to mention - as discussed above - it confers the ability to market to the customer in the future. Primarily if the customer has not already purchased or serviced a vehicle from you. 

Time of Sale 

The customer may not have gotten every option they dreamt of - however, that does not mean that they cannot afford to splurge on a few accessories, which will only cost them (depending on the accessory) a few more dollars a month! 

When is the last time you tried to upsell winterized floor mats? The worst thing the customer can say is “no.” But for everyone that says no will be the customer who wants to protect their new purchase, and will gladly spend the money to protect their new vehicle. 

Bottom Line: 

There has to be a focus on selling parts and accessories! In doing so, it will not only add/increase the bottom line, but it most importantly offers new opportunities to both sell and service the customer's vehicle. 

Do you promote the parts department? If so, have you seen an increase in sales? Do you track all of their customer data? 
 

Having a Social Media account is more than just adding photos, videos, or curating collective, effective content. Social media accounts develop, define, and test your brand’s image. An image that if not handled efficiently can change from good to bad to ugly in the matter of -seriously - seconds.

This article, though, is not meant to scare, intimidate or advise your dealer from having social media accounts. What it is offering, however, is that there ought to be guidelines in which the store has to follow. That includes the dealer having exclusive access, and ownership to their employees brand pages.

That is not a favorable statement for many. In fact, there has been much debate lately as to whether or not the dealer should have the right to ‘own,’ and/or remove social media accounts of past employees. Employees who have curated content using the dealer's likeness to build a customer base.

That customer base - while constructed by the employee - was built using the dealerships likeness, brand image, inventory, and digital assets. Whereas, in other business models there is a 1099 contractor who pays for their own advertising costs (including steep membership and marketing costs) for using the brand's image and likeness. Including, but not limited to following strict guidelines in content, brand image manipulation, logo manipulation, and inventory placement.

If that does not have you squirming a bit - here are the top reasons your dealer needs to have a social media policy.

Public Image Employee Branding Page Vs. Company Branding

Sure, John Doe is a great guy. He is the kind of guy everyone likes. John has 2,700+ followers on his Twitter account. With over 983 people talking about it. John is off to an incredible start. His customers are leaving rave tweets on John’s page. Sending him new clients every month!

This all sounds incredible, no? Every dealer’s dream come true. Free traffic. Well, here is the deal. No traffic is free. Not to mention, all of that ‘traffic’ that John has collected is not in possession of the dealer. Despite the fact that John used the dealer's likeness, assets, and public image to promote himself to sell the brand.

So, meanwhile - one day John gets involved in a public Twitter war where his words were not chosen so wisely. Despite the fact that John deleted the Tweets making his account private the damage has already been done.

Customers then start to slowly disembark themselves from wanting to be involved with your brand or John.  Leaving you on the outs! Think this doesn’t happen?  How many celebrity endorsements have been damaged or have damaged brands?

There are two types of social image brand damage: Company Damage & the Wrong person handling the Issue

Just this past month a Florida dealer was in the eye of a social media frenzy, well a storm actually. The dealer was accused of parking their vehicles at Florida State University (using their parking garages) - FSU, had made a statement offering its students/public had access to their parking garages to seek shelter for their vehicles. With the number of vehicles parked in the garage from the dealership, not all students were able to secure their vehicles for the storm.

This resulted in a nasty, 400+ negative review spree - including hundreds of negative comments on their brand's page. And to make matters worse their response was not necessarily offering an apology, but rather their ‘support’ for the school, and their being unaware of it being an issue. Despite there being two sides to every story their brand was at the height of a social storm one that can leave a damaging aftermath.

Now, just as I mentioned above, the person who handled this situation at the dealer level might not have been the owner or the one who was to have made the decision. However, because the public ‘viewed’ him/her as the brand representative, all the damage was reflected towards the dealer. Not to the employee who handled the situation.

All that to say regardless of whether the employee is branding their own page or managing the dealers page all of the ‘content’ that is posted is - in most cases - directly reflecting your brand's image.

Data Property - Who Owns the Data?

Dealers are spending thousands and thousands of dollars monthly to promote their brands. In recent NADA studies - customer acquisition costs are at an all-time high costing a dealer more than $650 to sell a vehicle.

With the costs at an all-time high, are employees brands page’s customers the dealerships or their own?

The dealer is still paying for the image, likeness, inventory, and - most importantly - dealing with the liability for their pages. That said, think about it (as mentioned above) those 1099 companies/business models such as AVON, Mary Kay, ReMax, Plexus Slim all require their subcontractors to use their sites. And beyond the website, they are also required to use their social media guidelines. In addition to most likely having to pay a royalty fee for using their public image, and likeness which is what results in their acquiring of new customers.

While I can sympathize with the employee whose efforts are there - like the ones that are creating their own brand page - the fact still remains that if it weren’t for the dealer's inventory, image, brand assets you wouldn’t or in most cases couldn't afford to acquire new customers. Not to mention manage (or pay for) the floor plan that is substantiating the steep costs of managing millions in inventory.

OEM Compliancy

More often than not people do not understand just how much there is involved when it comes to creating, developing, and curating content that is compliant with your OEM. Everything from the font, images, logos, pricing, and disclaimers have specific credentials. If your employee - who is managing their own page - does not give the dealer access, it opens up a can of worms regarding the brand.

For example, John Doe decides that they want to build some weekend business with offering a coupon (no harm no foul, right?). A coupon off the already low internet price for both new and used.

Unbeknownst to John, the OEM states that if offering a coupon on the sale of a new vehicle the coupon has to be off of MSRP - not the internet price.

The OEM flags the ad, and before you know it you’re receiving a strike (or whatever the fine or process is with your OEM) for failing to comply. Yet, you were unaware. Now, imagine if your brand only allotted just 3 strikes. And if receiving 3 strikes meant that you weren’t eligible for a brand program - you’d have the potential to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars as you were not aware of the branding going on regarding private accounts.

If that does not have your attention not sure what else would!?

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that while you are not wanting to discourage the use of social media, there has to be a clear, concise policy that is tailored to your brand. This will ensure the protection of your brand's image while promoting it in a healthy, stable, but effective way.

Not having standards & guidelines other than ‘ethical’ guidelines, which includes, but is not limited to the acts of racism, and sexual harassment.  There are other things to consider such as a controversial brand you might not support, but your employee still  ‘likes/supports’ the brand on his/her page, which still reflects your brand.  That alone can cause quite a bit of controversy.

I encourage you to check out what's being said about your brand. Not just on your store's page, but on pages that are using your brand. I am confident that you will be shocked to see how many pages and social media accounts that are out there that you were completely unaware of - that includes former employees who might still be acquiring customers from your brand! (who handles your off-boarding process?)

How do you handle social media at your store? Do you allow employees to have and manage their own pages? If so, what guidelines or policies have been implemented?

With the trends focused on increased mobile usage, it is important to note that with these trends come changes in how the customer *expects* to navigate your site. Not having a cohesive, easy-to-use mobile site can cause a significant decrease in not just traffic, but conversion!

Customers have been are continuing to use apps like Repair Pal & Open Bay. Both of which offer the customer a simple, easy, & engaging experience. So what can we take away from them? A couple of things, actually.

Here are a few things to avoid when managing or creating your mobile service experience:

Bad Menu Option’s

There is such a thing as too many tabs/menus on your browser. This rule is most important for your mobile customers. The menu should be a hamburger style menu and only offer the most pertinent information. The most important information to provide your customer is booking an appointment, service menu (with pricing), and current specials.

Think about it. A hamburger has 2 sides to a bun, meat, cheese, and some condiments/fluff also known as your meet the staff page and/or your blog. The meat, however, is the conversion points. That is the appointment scheduling tool and your click to call! The buns - which is your website - houses all of the important information together into a cohesive, easy to use site!  

Most, if not all, website platforms offer the ability to turn-off/hide desktop items (known as break points) on the mobile site.

No Social Ad’s (and if you do, bad ones)

Part of having good conversion is offering your services on multiple platforms. Having a strong offer with a strong call to action will certainly increase your click rate. In turn, there should be an increase in service appointments booked online.

The mobile coupon does not have to be a free oil change either! Instead, you can offer an end of the summer tune-up. Offering a last minute “road trip” special which bundles a few items. Allowing the dealer to still turn a profit even with a coupon.

Another coupon - conversion idea - is an amount off where the customer has the ‘coupon’ texted to their device. This has proven to be extremely effective with our store.

What kind of coupons have you had success with?

Too Many Clicks

Ever find yourself clicking the back button multiple times to get back to the home page? You aren’t the only one. This click happy reaction stems from not having the right CTA’s readily available on your mobile site. In turn, causing frustration and - more often than not - higher exit and bounce rates.

When is the last time you checked your “top exited pages?” This will give you some potential insight as to what is and isn’t working on your mobile platform. Make sure to give it a test run before making changes. Remembering, if it takes more than 5-6 clicks to get to the desired information the chances of the customer converting is much less likely.

Pop-Up’s

As tempting as it may be to “pop-up” a surprise coupon for your customer. Don’t. Not unless you have made sure that the coupon does not disrupt your customer creating a negative distraction as s/he is browsing your website.

Popping up coupons on mobile can also disrupt your CTA’s - especially if the CTA/Coupon is not relevant to the service customer. As most of the coupons on dealer websites pertain to sales, not service.

Do you have a lead accelerator for service?

Too Many CTA’s

There is such a thing as having too many options. And having too many options can actually lead your customer to not choosing any of them! Less is more. Offering the *right* options is all it takes.

Think about it. So you offer 6 different CTA’s. But when the customer clicks on any one of the CTA’s and the landing page doesn’t have anything do with the offer the customer will exit. Of course, exiting without having converted.

This is the case with the “coupon,” aka lead accelerator tactic. Wherein, the customer clicks on a service menu option and s/he is given a dollar amount of their purchase of a new car! Bet you they wish it was $$$ for their service appointment.

Bottom Line: Mobile marketing is essential for your core business. And while there is so much to say and so little real estate - ‘content’ becomes an integral part of your website's core. Having relative, easy to browse content will convert more customers. Converting more customers equates to more profits.

Whether you are using a marketing company or have a guru in house.  Don’t be afraid to take a minute and give your mobile site a test run. Use the website as if you were a customer going to the dealer. Noting that if it is hard for you - who works in the dealer - to use the site then perhaps it just needs some TLC!

How has your mobile marketing changed? What are some tips you’d share to those revamping their mobile marketing efforts?

Chat is nothing new to the industry. It is has been around for some time. Yet so many Dealers are still getting it wrong. Causing dealers to have a bad taste in their mouths paired with a sincere disinterest in what the service has to offer.

Customers want convenience, which can come at a cost for the service lane (some as much as $1,200 a month - who is your favorite provider?) However, if chat is managed and run efficiently it can increase your traffic, which in-turn will increase profits.

Here are some reasons and suggestions to help your service lane turn website traffic into service customers.

Most Importantly How many customers visit your service site and *DO NOT*  convert?

Most if not all chat providers for auto dealers have an online scheduling tool where customers can conveniently set-up their service appointment with the industry standard only being a 28% set ratio! That is a low number considering the average amount of visits to the site on a monthly basis.

The low set rate could be because there are customers who have questions that cannot easily be answered on the website regarding his/her visit that requires calling the store.

In most instances, the customer will exit the “appointments page,” as s/he is not going to spend more than a minute or so searching your site. Certainly not on their phone, either. They’ll either call the store or simply show up to the dealership. Hoping for the best not taking into consideration that there might be increased wait times as they did not have an appointment scheduled.

This scenario does not always end well for the dealer. Especially for the customer whose concern cannot be addressed due to a part needing to be ordered. Or in some cases, the wait time far exceeds their expectations. All of which could have been avoided if they had an appointment.

How to Add Chat to Your Service Site

There is a lot of debate on what the best practices are regarding offering chat services on your website. That is how, where, and who will manage the service. It's far too easy to setup a chat service, and just hope for the best!

That is not how to run a successful chat service. In fact, that will not only cause for you to lose customers. But also collect a bad taste in your mouth on what you think is a horrific ROI for a really *invaluable* service.

That said, there are best practices in adding chat/text services. That is making sure that the placement is in alignment with the usage. Wherein, you do not want the chat message option popping up every click. Causing the customer to exit in sheer frustration. This is especially important on mobile devices. Time permitting, check your dealer site this morning on your iPhone or Android device, and see how chat appears.

Rather, you might want to consider offering the service to pop-up if, in fact, the customer has been on the page for more than “X” time without booking an appointment or completing a CTA.

As you use the service, you can monitor the chat sessions per department vs. the total amount of customers that converted as a result of the chat service.

When is the last time you used a chat service and either had a good or bad experience?

What Chat/Text is Not Replacing

Offering chat/text services on your website is not to replace correspondence with the customer. Instead, it is designed to enhance/increase your communication with the customer. Allowing you to capture customers who might exit without converting. The ones with questions about their services that are not able to be answered simply browsing your site!

If you are concerned about staffing issues or having their answering service respond to the chat leads. Take a minute, and go to a dealer website that offers their service, and test it out!

The bottom line is that every conversion counts and if you are able to convert enough customers organically through chat than it more than covers the cost!

Do you use chat? If so, what kind of results are you noticing? What is one thing you learned from when you first started using the service?

There are two sides to every story. We live in a world where the customer is not always right. However, we know first-hand that it is ingrained into our minds that, well, “the customer is always right.” This is a slippery slope that leads to us chasing the customer that costs us thousands of dollars. The one that leaves hateful, irrelevant reviews.

That negative review though can also have a damaging effect on the brand. However, in retrospect, the customer will also look at your average rating. Sure there may be some instances where you have an off day. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t respond to the review, and close the issue!

Here are the top reasons you should respond to a negative review:

• Dealerrater suggests that responding to negative reviews can help remove a ⅓ of them! While this isn’t all of them every bad review deleted is good!

• Responding to a negative review shows you care and are willing to try and rectify the situation. A simple yet efficient manner to respond to a negative review would be to say “Mr. Customer - I am sorry that we did not meet your expectations. We strive for excellence in customer service. We missed the mark, and I would like to see if we can make things right. Please call me @.” You can even provision a recorded line so that when the customer calls back, you can keep track of how situations are handled. And how many customers call you back.

• There are some instances where the customer blatantly lies in their review. In this case, the best way to handle the review is of course not calling them a liar, but rather offering “Mr. Customer, we offer excellent customer service. And I am sorry that we were not able to meet your expectations. We appreciate your input and are pleased that we did (insert services) within (time frame). We try our best to avoid these instances, and are truly sorry you feel this way.” This is not always going to work. But if their demands/rants are that absurd it only makes them stick out. Not you.

Bottom line, we want to protect our brand image. There will be times where we dropped the ball, and in those instances, humility can go a long way. Not responding to the review at all, however, can also show that we are not proactive or worse that you ignore issues.

As mentioned above, if you have 1,200 gleaming reviews one bad one is not going to destroy your image. But a bad review is a bad review. And if they start accumulating customers only read the first page usually. In fact, most people will also sort the reviews looking at both the “best & worst” reviews.

That said if s/he only sees a bunch of negative instances they might not visit your service lane. And if they do - they might have a bias preconceived notion that they might have an issue, which starts you off on the wrong foot!

How do you respond to negative reviews? Do you find that it helps or in some cases, the customer deletes their negative review?

Related resource: Act, Don't React, to Negative Online Reviews