There are countless articles on how hard it is to create a truly loyal customer and how easy it is to lose one. Creating customer loyalty is a challenge that all businesses face. There are many techniques and strategies that can assist you along this path but, at times, we’re presented with opportunities that can accomplish this instantaneously.

Earlier this year, a young boy went shopping with his father and managed to lose one of his Lego mini-figures after his father had told him not to bring them since – surprise – he was likely to lose them. Well, turns out the boy actually did. The boy had saved all of his money to purchase a Lego set that cost upwards of $80, so he was very upset. The father then suggested that the boy write a letter to Lego to see if he could get it replaced. This was the letter:

“Hello.

My name is Luka Apps and I am seven years old.

With all my money I got for Christmas I bought the Ninjago kit of the Ultrasonic Raider. The number is 9449. It is really good.

My Daddy just took me to Sainsburys and told me to leave the people at home but I took them and I lost Jay ZX at the shop as it fell out of my coat.

I am really upset I have lost him. Daddy said to send you an email to see if you will send me another one.

I promise I won't take him to the shop again if you can.”

– LUKA

Lego could have handled this any number of ways but this is how they chose to:

“We are very sorry to hear about you losing your Jay minifigure but it sounds like your dad might have been right about leaving it at home. It sounds like you are very sad about it too.

Normally we would ask that you pay for a new one if you lose one of your minifigures and need to have it replaced.

My bosses told me I could not send you one out for free because you lost it but, I decided that I would put a call into Sensei Wu to see if he could help me.

Luka, I told Sensei Wu that losing your Jay minifigure was purely an accident and that you would never ever ever let it happen ever again.

He told me to tell you, "Luka, your father seems like a very wise man. You must always protect your Ninjago minifigures like the dragons protect the Weapons of Spinjitzu!"

Sensei Wu also told me it was okay if I sent you a new Jay and told me it would be okay if I included something extra for you because anyone that saves their Christmas money to buy the Ultrasonic Raider must be a really big Ninjago fan.

So, I hope you enjoy your Jay minifigure with all his weapons. You will actually have the only Jay minifigure that combines 3 different Jays into one! I am also going to send you a bad guy for him to fight!

Just remember, what Sensei Wu said: keep your minifigures protected like the Weapons of Spinjitzu! And of course, always listen to your dad.

You will see an envelope from LEGO within the next two weeks with your new minifigures. Please take good care of them, Luka.

Remember that you promised to always leave them at home.”

– RICHARD, LEGO

These figures retail at $2.99. The thoughtfulness and creativity involved in this Lego representative’s response was above and beyond anything he was required to do. Not only did he replace the figure with a better one but he also included an additional one for the boy. All things considered, this ~$5 investment by Lego probably created a loyal customer out of this 7-year old. He will not only continue to enjoy Legos through his childhood, but more than likely introduce them to his children, and maybe even grandchildren. In addition, this act of generosity and great example of customer service went viral with numerous blog articles (including this one) being written, as well as national media coverage.

Creating a loyal customer isn’t hard if you’re paying attention. 

The Ritz-Carlton hotel chain has an exciting customer service policy that empowers every employee with $2,000 to satisfy any guest without approval. This isn’t a one-time power but it’s per incident. Some business owners like the general idea but express concerns about providing employees with this much freedom. They worry that employees will either abuse the empowerment or simply use it as a first course of action rather than effectively assessing each situation to determine whether another course of action could achieve the same goal. It’s certainly disconcerting and scary to give your employees unsupervised access to your wallet.

The ability of an employee to satisfy an upset customer on the spot is essential to diffusing and potentially rescuing a customer relationship. The reason this is so powerful is that most customers don’t expect employees to be so empowered. This is also why most upset customers immediately ask for a manager, rather than explain their problems to the first employee that attempts to assist them.

An article in the Harvard Business Review suggests that businesses empower their employees within boundaries. It further suggests that if the situation calls for a solution outside of those boundaries, the business should then require that its employee involve management. This is preferable to having the employee tell the customer there is nothing more that can be done, and potentially losing the customer’s business. This approach takes into account that, “employees often lack the experience, judgment, and discipline necessary to achieve this without breaking the bank.” But it still allows them the leeway to make some decisions on the spot.

The key to the success of a program of this type is “giving them a framework within which to operate… and feedback about how they are performing within that framework.” This empowers employees to WOW customers while minimizing abuses. At the same time, it ensures that larger issues which cannot be resolved within this framework get escalated to a manager. It also helps ensure that the employee doesn’t brush the customer off without satisfying them.

Customers don’t expect perfection. What they do expect, however, is for a business to make right a mistake. Many times, management fails to hear about issues because employees don’t escalate them. All too often, the first time management hears about an issue from an irate customer is via a bad review on Yelp or similar review site. This situation is avoidable. Whether you choose to give your employees free rein financially a la Ritz-Carlton or choose a more moderated form of empowerment as suggested by the Harvard Business Review, implementing some sort of empowerment on the employee level is a powerful way to retain customers and put out fires before they spread.

Articles are continuously being written in hopes of dissecting and duplicating the Apple Store experience for other businesses. I’ve even seen sessions at industry conferences that revolve around how to duplicate this in car dealerships. While I agree that it should be every dealership’s goal to achieve the level of loyalty that Apple has, an interesting thought occurred to me as I read about the legendary Apple “Five Steps of Service.” I thought about it, and car dealerships already use these steps and have since long before Apple Stores even existed. You might ask, “Why is Apple so successful at creating the customer experience that they do while car dealerships fall short?” Let’s examine why I believe dealers already have these steps in place, how they use them and where I believe they’re falling short.

Apple’s 5 Steps of Service are ensconced in the same-named acronym, A.P.P.L.E.

“Approach customer with a personalized, warm welcome.” Car dealerships have done this forever. It’s called the “Meet and Greet.” Just as Apple trains its employees to approach customers individually when they enter with a warm welcome, car dealers train their staff to welcome guests to the dealership.

“Probe politely to understand all the customer’s needs.” In this step, Apple employees are trained to determine what the purpose of the customer’s visit is and assist them in finding a solution to their need or problem. Every front-line person at a car dealership already does this. If you’re a salesperson, you’re asking questions that will help you better advise a customer on which vehicle will be best suited for them. If you’re a service advisor, you’re identifying potential issues and setting up the proper inspections and/or making recommendations to the customer.

“Present a solution for the customer to take home today.” Apple isn’t necessarily talking about making a sale in this case but I’m sure it’s not far from their mind. No matter which department we’re talking about at your dealership, everyone is trained to “make the sale.” Whether that’s identifying a service need and offering a solution, or landing them on a vehicle that fits their wants and needs and asking for the sale.

“Listen for and resolve any issues or concerns.” In this step, Apple is including finding any “unexpressed” wishes or concerns. They train employees to ask questions to identify and address these unexpressed items. The same training is given to your dealership staff. Both your salespeople and service advisors are trained to listen to a customer’s objections to identify obstacles and remove them, if possible.

“End with a fond farewell and an invitation to return.” Apple Store employees are trained to end each transaction by finding a way in which they can invite the customer back to the store. According to the article’s author, “How a person feels when they end a transaction significantly impacts how they perceive the brand and whether they are likely to recommend the brand to others.” Making sure that the transaction from start to finish is great is something that Apple recognizes as important. Dealerships should remember that it’s just as important for customers to leave the finance department, and ultimately your dealership, with the same excitement and happiness that conveyed when they first arrived.

The Apple Store mainly sells computers, phones and music players. Car dealerships sell cars. Everyone is just as, if not more, excited to get a new car as they are to get a new computer. If the Apple Store’s success secrets are being modeled by businesses nationally, and car dealerships have always been using similar steps, why is there such a distinction between the perceived experience of shopping at an Apple Store and that of a car dealership?

I believe that Apple has refined the art of selling the experience or what they call “enriching lives.” People don’t perceive Apple Store employees as salespeople but rather as consultants. They’re not expecting, nor do they usually receive, a hard sell. Yet few people make it out of an Apple Store without spending money. The key to transforming the customer experience at your dealership to one similar to that of an Apple Store has to do with perception. That perception can only be changed by ensuring that you have the right people working at your store who are genuinely interested in your customer’s wants and needs. The right employees are willing to listen and truly assist the customer in presenting a solution for their problem.

You already have the same steps in place to be successful that every Apple Store has. Make sure that you have the right people taking those steps. If you do, you’ll be able to transform your customer experience without changing a single process.

What was the last restaurant you ate at? Did you tell anyone about it? Why? What prompted you to do so? Did you get good service, bad service? Was the food great or horrible?

What these questions all have in common is that they all answers the fundamental aspects of what type of customer experience that restaurant provided. You’re certainly more likely to share your experience with others if you had a memorable experience – whether it was good or bad. What if it was just “OK” though?

An interesting article I recently came across asked its readers to consider the possibility that providing an average customer experience is worse than providing a poor one. We’ve all heard the analogy that a happy customer tells 10 people and an unhappy customer tells 100 people. How many people does a person who just had an average experience tell? If your friends came to you and asked about this restaurant and you just had an average experience, you’d probably just say, “It was fine.” You certainly wouldn’t go out of your way to tell anyone about it, however.

When a customer comes into your dealership, you have the opportunity to define their experience. These are the three types of experiences you can offer:

1. A great experience – By providing a great experience, you have the opportunity to potentially earn repeat business. You could potentially be the one that pops up in your customers’ minds when asked for recommendations from their networks. You may even be able to create a brand advocate and collect some positive online reviews and social media buzz.
2. A poor experience – If you subscribe to the “All press is good press” philosophy, providing a poor experience to your customers, at the very least, has some branding possibilities. Provide a poor experience and you are certainly more likely to be on people’s lips when mentioned. They will be passionate and opinionated when it comes to your business. And, in many cases, they will be proactively making sure that others know where you failed. The chances of earning their business again probably lessen but that is dependent on how bad the experience was. They may still patronize your dealership but their reasons will become completely self-centered – convenience, time, cost – rather than having anything to do with loyalty.
3. An average experience – By being “average”, you completely remove passion from the equation. By failing to be different – in any way – you won’t be on your customers’ minds at all. They won’t say good things or bad things or anything. Think about the last time you asked your friend for their opinion on something – a product, restaurant, store, etc. If they answered, “It was just OK,” chances are you kept looking. Or consider the last time you asked a friend whether they liked a movie they just watched and they replied with the opinion of “it was just alright.” That movie probably moved from the “let’s go to the theater and see it” list to the “wait for it to come out on DVD” list.
    

Your customers’ experiences are what define you as a business. Regardless if you are selling lemonade from a corner stand or $300,000 automobiles, the same concepts apply. The experience you choose to provide to your customers will dictate if and how they talk about you. Provide a great or poor one and you’ll have people talking about you. They’ll certainly be saying different things, but your business is on their minds. Provide an average one and you won’t exist until they need that next oil change and only if you’re the closest or most convenient place.

You need to decide if you want people talking about your business, and, if so, what you want them saying. Whatever you decide, the solution lies in one of those three experiences. If you want your customers to create positive buzz, provide a great customer experience. If you don’t care what they’re saying as long as they’re saying something, provide some kind of experience. If you really don’t want anyone talking about you at all, be average. Nobody will notice or care.

A new benchmark report published last month by RSR Research, provides some interesting information about retailers and the shifts in focus and importance from 2012 to 2013.

According to the study, 61 percent of retailers feel customer retention has become more difficult, and building loyalty has become more challenging. This is a 10 percent increase from 2012. The study advised “if retailers are going to have collective leadership and responsibility for the customer experience, then they need to ensure that everyone is working off of the same vision for what the customer experience should be.”

In many businesses, there exists a general expectation that all employees proactively ensure that customers have a great experience. The problem is that there is typically not a single person charged with being responsible for it. You cannot have a goal of providing a great customer experience if you aren’t tracking whether or not you are providing it. You can’t rely solely on CSI scores and surveys from your OEM. You must have a process in place that surveys your customers and an employee in charge of analyzing the results and making process changes as needed. According to the study, “leaders identify – at an inordinate rate – that an executive tasked with managing and improving the overall customer experience is key to ensuring new marketing techniques have relevance.”

The study further found that 61 percent of business leaders believe that there needs to be a greater focus on customer experience and less on the product. At the same time, 44 percent responded that their marketing departments don’t spend enough time building customer loyalty.

And, while 52 percent of businesses with above average sales growth say that their marketing department is not spending enough time acquiring new customers; surprisingly this number rises to 100% for businesses with below average sales growth.

Dealerships have always spent the majority of their marketing budget on new customer acquisition. As the customer base grows, they may then shift some of their budget to customer retention. The problem is that while focusing on acquiring new customers, many dealerships fail to also pay attention to customer defection. The result is that they end up simply replacing defecting customers with new ones. And, rather than achieving growth, simply maintain the status quo.

According to the study, any growth strategy of acquiring new customers “may actually mean you can’t afford to take your eye off the target when it comes to keeping existing customers happy – because they can so easily share their dissatisfaction in social spheres and thereby chase new customers away.”

Business leaders increasingly recognize that the key to a successful growth strategy is to recognize that new customer acquisition must include a strategy for customer retention. It does not work to simply keep refocusing your efforts from one to the other. There has to be a symbiotic relationship between them.

Don’t try to plug the dam by running around sticking your finger in one hole to just to have another leak appear. A strategy that combines acquisition with retention along with successful execution will allow you to plug all of the holes at the same time. 

One challenge all businesses face is creating loyal customers. As business owners, we try to analyze our customers to figure out what methods we can use to build that base of customers which is so important to future growth. Without loyal customers, your efforts at customer acquisition quickly go from growing your business to replacing defecting customers.

James Kane is a behavioral scientist that has advised top businesses about customer loyalty. He studies the brain and what triggers loyalty in people. According to Mr. Kane, there are three triggers that influence loyalty in a person.

A Sense of Trust – According to Mr. Kane, “…trust is obtained by doing the things that people expect you to do anyway…” This is especially important for car dealerships. While people are hoping to be treated fairly and honestly, there is a stereotype that has instilled distrust in car dealerships. This is why it’s especially important to ensure that you treat every customer just as you would expect to be treated in a transaction where you are buying something from Nordstrom’s that costs $30k. You would expect to be treated in a professional manner and to be appreciated for your business. Make all your customers – sales, service and parts – feel appreciated for their patronage and live up to their expectations.

A Sense of Belonging – Businesses build a sense of belonging in their customers “by showing that a business empathizes with the worries that make customers lose sleep at night,” says Kane. Just like you, customers have a lot going on in their lives. They have bills to pay, have kids to take to soccer practice and work long, stressful days. The last thing they want is a business adding to those worries. Whether your service customers arrive for regular maintenance or come in because something is wrong, they want you to help alleviate their worries. Don’t add to them by failing to live up to any promises you’ve made or failing to solve their problem correctly. Your sales customers worry that they aren’t going to get a good deal and that they will spend too much time at your dealership. If they’re at your dealership, they’re obviously in market for a vehicle. Be an actual advisor and help them find a vehicle that fits their needs. Then facilitate an efficient transaction in a friendly manner that is mutually beneficial.

A Sense of Purpose – Show your customers a sense of purpose by operating in a manner that says, “We stand for something beyond just the exchange of money…” Don’t focus solely on what a customer brings to your business. Examine what you can give back to your customers. If you don’t already have one, create a mission statement and display it in your showroom and in your service waiting area. Show your customers that you are committed to them by sharing your organizational beliefs; (they should include customer-centric ideals). Ensure that your customers know that they are more than just dollar signs to you. Demonstrate how you appreciate their business and will do everything in your power to make sure they leave satisfied. Then live up to your promises.

In this industry, we use psychology all of the time without knowing it. We listen to a customer’s needs and help them down the path of the sale. We have sales processes designed to encourage the customer to buy… and buy now… and we have service processes designed to better assist our customers to make choices that keep their vehicles operating at optimum levels. Customer loyalty is imperative in our hyper-competitive industry. Many companies are advising businesses to shift their focus from customer acquisition to customer retention. Not only is it less expensive, but it also ensures that money spent on acquiring new customers is actually leading to growth, rather than the status quo.

Life lessons typically come when you least expect them as software coder, Ted Dziuba, discovered. He and his friend went to a bar that served Pappy Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon Whiskey that is widely regarded as the world’s best bourbon. While drinking, they talked to the bartender who explained to them its origins and other interesting information about it. He then told them about other drinks that were interesting and they were enthralled with his creativity and mastery at his craft.

Around that time, a man approached the bar and said, “Lemme get a Captain and Coke, brah.” After the gentlemen left, they asked the bartender whether it bothered him to make such a common drink when he quite clearly had demonstrated his expertise. His response was:

"No, it doesn’t bother me. If the customer orders Pappy and can talk about fine whiskey, I’ll pour Pappy and talk about fine whiskey. But if the customer orders a Captain and Coke, I’ll make the best Captain and Coke I can."

Mr. Dzubia learned a life lesson that we could all benefit from. In his words, what he learned was “that barcraft is fundamentally about giving the customer what they want…[and that] the true master obliges both.”

How does this apply to car dealerships? Think about the many different types of customers you see every day come through your dealership in all departments. Dealerships see a wide spectrum of customers from “gear heads” to those who don’t know how to turn on their headlights. Dealerships have certified mechanics that are highly trained, service advisors that know vehicles intricately, salespeople that know every detail of their product and a leadership team in place that, typically, encompasses it all.

I think the lesson learned is applicable to not only “barcraft” but to all crafts. Every position in your dealership should be viewed as a craft. You expect your porters to know how to make a new vehicle immaculate when it’s sold to pass even the most discriminating customer’s inspection because you know a CSI survey is going to ask that question. Your mechanics are trained to do it right the first time and have the knowledge and ability to accomplish that. Your salespeople are infused with the knowledge about your product as well as the ability to assist customers in selecting one that’s appropriate and right for their needs.

Ultimately, all of these positions have exactly the same fundamental purpose, to give the customer what they want.

When a service advisor gets a customer in service that’s a “gear head”, he has the ability to talk the language with them. If their customer knows nothing about cars, he should change his language to speak in a way that the customer understands. In addition, a big part of a service advisor’s job is identifying and recommending additional services to each customer. They can be much more successful in doing so if they adjust their language to match each customer’s.

Great salespeople know to mimic their customers. Not only will they copy their language and speak to that specific customer’s knowledge level but they’ll go as far as mimicking body language. If a customer is interested in a high-performance sports car, the salesperson will sell the vehicle by pointing out all the performance features: how fast it is, how much torque it has, horsepower and speed. If their customer is looking for a family vehicle, the salesperson will focus on the safety, comfort and practical features of the vehicle.

Too often, dealership personnel don’t give the customers what they want. Maybe the service advisor is talking in a language above the customer’s knowledge level or a salesperson is trying to sell a vehicle that’s not matched to the customer’s needs and wants.

Learning to give the customer what they want is a craft in itself. Learn how to listen to your customers. Make sure that you’re speaking in a language they can understand. You’ll offer a superior customer experience while increasing customer retention and loyalty.

There are many benefits to having an automotive loyalty program at your dealership to increase business and customer retention. You must be mindful, however, of some dangers that exist if the program is not implemented and administered properly.

Loyalty programs seek to reward behaviors. For dealerships, automotive loyalty programs exist to reward customers for spending money at your dealership whether that’s in your sales, service or parts department. 

In the behavioral theory of operant conditioning, the negative contrast effect exists. This effect happens when a customer is rewarded for certain behaviors and then those rewards are reduced or withdrawn. Customers are, in turn, less likely to exhibit the reinforced behavior in the future than if they had never been rewarded at all. The theory explains that the customer starts to view the desired behavior as work where they were only temporarily rewarded. In the long run, this could even make the customer feel like the behavior is a chore. For example, if you reward a child for washing the dishes for a period of time, then withdraw the reward, the child starts to view washing the dishes as a chore. This would decrease their desire to wash dishes, as there is no longer a reward to be achieved as a result of successfully completing the behavior.

If we extend this theory into the world of retail business and loyalty programs, the goal of the program is to incentivize your customers for being loyal. By implementing these rewards, you’re instilling in your customers an expectation of reward for a behavior. Let’s say you offer your customers a free oil change after every 3 purchased as part of a loyalty program. In the past, I’ve shared with you the “Endowed Progress Effect” which states that customers are more likely to increase the effort they put forth to achieve a goal if the goal seems more achievable. Conversely, the negative contrast effect would say that not only would removing this reward make your customers less likely to be motivated to complete it, they would make less effort to come in to your dealership.

The important thing to remember is that when implementing a loyalty program at your dealership, consistency and a commitment are required. By removing a reward system after your customers get acclimated to it, you could actually diminish the business you encouraged and achieved when you rewarded your customers.

It has been proven by countless businesses of all sizes that loyalty programs can increase service and sales revenue and customer loyalty. A loyalty program is a long-term commitment. If you aren’t consistent, your customers won’t be either.

As football season approaches, I am reminded of a story that was widely publicized last spring. Joe Flacco, having just signed a $121 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens which made him the highest-paid player in the NFL, decided to celebrate by going to McDonald’s. Why would a man who could obviously afford to celebrate anywhere choose a $7 meal at McDonald’s?

No one really knows for sure but it’s not the only example of high-profile people celebrating milestones in their lives at places that may seem unusual. Jeff Van Gundy also celebrated his contract extension at McDonald’s and Phil Mickelson celebrated his Master’s win at Krispy Kreme (much to the chagrin of McDonald’s, I’m sure).

In a recent research paper, scientists explore the idea of loyalty and fanaticism citing companies such as Volkswagen, Apple, Nike and Harley Davidson, among others, as having “cult-like following(s)”. They attribute this to emotional attachments developed through past experiences and over time. Business leaders have talked about creating brand evangelists; the importance they can have over the growth and exposure of your business. According to the paper, brand evangelists “can act as opinion leaders to bring others’ attention to the brand and attract new customers”.

While dealerships may not have the brand recognition of McDonald’s, cars have historically been a way in which people celebrate milestones in their lives. Countless parents have purchased cars for their children as they graduate college or to celebrate a significant event in their lives. You hear stories of these occurrences every day at your dealership, I’m sure. If you gave every child that came into your dealership with their parents a lollipop or popcorn, that child may start looking forward to their parents’ service visits.

People can also develop emotional attachments to a brand through their parents’ choices. Think of that cool Mustang a father owned but never let their child drive. When it comes time for that child to buy a car, a Ford Mustang will most likely be on their wish list.

Car dealerships have the opportunity to be a part of special moments in many people’s lives. For most consumers, the simple act of buying a new car is a special moment. Combine that with a life event (and the buyer’s emotional attachment and memories to that event). A car dealership can be a part of the memory of that event by enhancing it, even if it’s as simple as placing a bow on the car or helping with a surprise. In this way, the dealership can become a part of a positive life experience and begin a relationship that can last a lifetime.

A recent study by Barclays Bank revealed interesting statistics about consumer behavior as it relates to small and medium-sized businesses. The study included the retail behavior of 2,006 consumers and also surveyed loyalty business practices of 1,216 decision makers from small to medium sized businesses. It  found that 59% of consumers stated that loyalty to a business began with a smile. More interestingly, only 54% of the decision makers said that they practiced this in their businesses.

Other notable statistics from this study are that only 36% of consumers attributed their loyalty to great customer service, 22% said that the business remembering and recording previous transactions influenced them and 60% said that they are “always, often or sometimes willing to pay more” for those services.

Customer retention is important not only for company growth but increased profitability. “Cutting customer losses by 5 percent can boost profits by 25 to 125 percent,” according to an article in the Houston Chronicle.

This survey was done for Barclays Bank, (the seventh largest bank in the world; with over 48 million customers in 50 countries), to determine whether a loyalty program was a wise investment.  They’ve since begun implementation of a customer loyalty program that rewards their most loyal customers with decreased fees.

It amazes me that only a little over half of these decision makers reported that smiling at their customers was a practice they employed. Humans are, by nature, emotionally driven. If your dealership isn’t training your employees to smile and be friendly, no automotive loyalty program will be able to help you. My guess is that while you expect your employees to smile and be friendly to your customers, it is probably not a policy.

And a smile is just the start of a great customer loyalty program. When a repeat customer comes into your dealership, do your employees have the ability to see all of that customer’s transactions? Take service for example; many customers patronize a single place for all their service needs for the simple fact that all of their vehicle’s service records are maintained there. Automotive loyalty programs can help you extend this into all departments of your store making your loyal customers easily identifiable by your service, sales and parts departments.

Don’t forget that personal touches are imperative to your dealership’s long-term success. When you go into a business and are greeted by name by an employee who smiles at you and has knowledge of your history with their business, you are impressed and in turn, keep coming back. 

Efforts in increasing customer retention and loyalty today will help your business grow and increase your dealership’s profitability. Smiling at a customer is only the start, however. Customer retention isn’t easy in today’s hyper-competitive world, especially in the automotive industry. If a smile, great customer service, recording previous transactions and a dealership loyalty program are all aligned, you can increase customer retention and develop life-long loyalty.