How Women Rate Fixed Ops Follow-Up Communication by OEM

Posted: May 19, 2021 by Anne Fleming, Car Buying Advocate

Did You Know? 25% of women defect annually from their dealer’s fixed ops dept due to communication inconsistencies. That translates to an avg. loss of $1.03M in sales.

REVIEW EQUALS RETENTION

Let’s take a closer look at these numbers and what they really mean. Below, Women-Drivers.com showcases the latest 2021 Women’s Fixed Ops Trends on the percentages of women reporting by brand and where they had zero follow up after their service visit. Not even the obligatory CSI, review ask, let alone a ‘thank you’, or educational blog. Some of these numbers are staggering.

Follow up stats

Below are the national responses highlighting women’s communication preference. On WD’s continuous survey that comes after reviewing the dealership, a question appears asking the reviewer their communication preference.

With about 70% preferring email and phone calls, this might be an inefficient way to get in touch with your clients.

Preferred communication stats

CHALLENGES

  1. Consider, women get a lot of emails, and yours could sit in her in-box for a long time.
  2. Spam – customer never gets your email at all.
  3. Phone call – there’s wasted time attempting to reach clients this way. When they don’t pick up do you leave a message? Do you call back? How many messages are appropriate to leave?

Of course, some of your customers are not going to budge from email or phone.

OPPORTUNITIES

  1. The quickest and most direct way to communicate with them is with text.
  2. Make the ask to convert them to text and the advantages of this service. Have a cascade of communication preferences. If you don’t reach them one way, go another route.

WOMEN PURCHASE FOR THE EXPERIENCE. COMMUNICATE IN NEW WAYS

WHY THIS MATTERS

  1. SMS will improve loyalty and retention with this market.
  2. Keep texts relevant and short.
  3. Let customers know that you will be using text. Get an opt-in.
  4. Be sure your dealership is recognizable and is identified on her phone
  5. Watch boundaries, don’t always be selling.

Connect with More Women Drivers:

Communicate tangible value-adds in your advertising.

If your store provides overnight loaner cars, include this in your messaging. It’s the #1 concierge item requested by women.

A confident, pleased buyer who writes a great review of her experience can influence countless other women to follow her lead.

Ask, track, and always respond to reviews.

Reviews are 3 times more influential than advertising when women buy a car.

Women want to read others’ experiences to help verify what dealerships to visit. Showcase these valuable testimonials on your home page or their own navigation section to build trust and credibility – don’t hide them in ‘About Us.’

One Size Does Not Fit All.

Step back and ask, who does your advertising really speak to?

Women are looking for connections with car dealerships.

Enhance your advertising by investing part of your ad dollars into what’s in it for her. Include dealer reviews and ‘Dealer of the Year’ awards. Remember to also sell your dealership, not only cars.

Never miss a simple action to upsell your store.

Offer a 3-minute tour, share about extended service center hours, mention that you offer overnight loaner cars, and give a free car wash coupon. Always look to surprise and delight.

Develop relationships with online guests.

Provide informative, helpful content in your BDC email response as well as link to reviews highlighting authentic consumer experiences.

76% of women rated their dealership’s website 3 out of 5 stars.

As the first point of engagement for customers, be sure your website represents your brand well, conveys trust, is welcoming, and contains educational content that adds value.

The #1 digital resource women use when buying a car is the dealership’s website.

Include images of women throughout your digital assets and online marketing campaigns.

It takes more than having a female spokesperson to market to women.

The #1 reason women choose to buy is TRUST which requires implementing new behaviors, attitudes, processes, and messaging.

Make your dealerships a welcome destination for all customers.

Always greet your customer through active listening, use empathy and understanding, and taking an interest in what they need or want – even if it’s outside the car purchase.

Include informative, engaging content on your website.

It helps build trust and ensures guests get value from your brand.

Behavior Economics demands tracking when your customers fall off.

Dealers with outdated behaviors and attitudes are losing traction with women in this competitive industry.

Measure and track the number of women leads and buyers each month.

You can’t grow what you don’t know.

Create the right conditions for the sale on the first visit.

Ask questions, listen, and get to know the customer. Never interrupt and don’t assume. Consider there won’t be a second visit.

Dealers need to shift the paradigm to effectively engage, market and optimize sales to women.

What is your Trust Dashboard with this market?

53% of millennial car buyers are women. Almost 4 in 10 women are the breadwinners in their family.

How is your current and future customer demographic represented in your front line team?

Crack the code by turning reviews into real-time data to make yours the go-to store.

Our platform collects unprecedented pre- and post-purchase analytics about what your #1 buyers want and prefer from participating dealers.

Transform your messaging and make the showroom more customer-centric.

92% of reviewers choose to opt into a 25-question survey summarizing their visit. This unbiased data is available in predictive analytics WSI (R) Dealer Data reports chronicling what these buyers want and experience.

Game-Changing Predictive Analytics.

What women want at the dealership has predominantly been an absent dialog; those statistics and conversations have generally been national. Dealers now have access to their own proprietary data through our platform. This provides leaders at each business the ability to have honest insights allowing for predictive awareness of behaviors, preferences, and experiences.