The current automotive climate is looking a bit rocky for new and used vehicle sales. With inventories, MSRP, and interest rates increasing, profits from the Sales department of the dealerships are likely to soften year over year. Dealers must shift with the consumer climate and prepare themselves to capture and serve the vehicle maintenance and repair market. There are many different options for doing so, highlighted below are five tactics that you can employ immediately to put yourself in the pole position for market share.
Promotions and Discounts
In today’s economy, everyone is actively seeking opportunities to save wherever possible, including ensuring optimal performance and maintenance for their vehicles. Offering special promotions and discounts on routine maintenance like oil changes, tire rotations and brake inspections is an excellent way to build brand quality and customer service awareness that will lead to profitable relationships down the road. These types of specials are most effectively communicated through social media, email campaigns and direct mail advertising. In every scenario, establishing a target audience and message is crucial. Curating an engaging piece is pivotal to effectively engage your audience.
Customer Loyalty Programs
Implementing a customer loyalty program that rewards consumers who return to your business will help you maintain a steady flow of service appointments and profits. These loyalty programs can include discounts, free services and items, or exclusive perks. Loyalty programs don’t have to be complicated. It could be as simple as having some absorbent stone coasters or air freshener vent sticks made with your logo and offering a 5-10% discount on return services when your service writer sees the coaster or vent stick in the vehicle before checkout.
Online Booking and Convenience
Chances are, you already have an online scheduling tool on your website, but are you utilizing it to its full potential? Generate a QR code that leads to your online service scheduler and print that on everything you can! Are you advertising in a local paper? Put your QR code in the paper ad. Sending a direct mail piece offering service specials? Print that QR code directly on the postcard. Better yet, print it on your oil change stickers so that your customers can scan it when they see they’re getting close to their mileage or date. With the average smartphone user spending 4.5 hours a day on their phones, chances are they’ll have it in their hands when they encounter your ad, make sure they can act immediately.
Educational Content
When you produce content for social media, including blog posts, videos, and infographics, include information that educates the customer on the importance of vehicle maintenance. Many consumers today are not familiar with the different components of a vehicle, what they do, why they’re important and how they can become ineffective or inoperable. Providing educational information to consumers builds trust and encourages them to prioritize their vehicle maintenance. Many video-based social media users, such as Tik Tok users, interact more with content that teaches them something new.
Community Engagement
Engaging with your local community builds visibility for your brand. You can engage with the community by sponsoring local events, participating in charity drives, and hosting educational workshops related to vehicle maintenance. When participating in these high-visibility activities, it’s vital to ensure that everyone involved is representing your brand; outfitting the team with matching apparel, and including branded merchandise for attendees will help you achieve higher ROI on your investment.
Whether you choose one or all these methods to increase and maintain your service market share, American Solutions for Business can assist you in deploying these strategies. Our sales associates understand the power of print, promotional and digital marketing as well as the Automotive industry. Reach out to your sales associate today to get started! Click here to find your local associate.
To learn more about American Solutions for Business, visit www.americanbus.com.
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