Women’s Wednesday #16: The Good + Bad News about Your Service Drive: What Women Want
Posted: October 1, 2014 by Anne Fleming, Car Buying Advocate
Today we are looking at the Service Drive. This is the critical department where your female customers visit in between purchasing or leasing their vehicles. With all the touch points in the service department, it's also happens to be the highest gross margin department in your store. It's the place where retention happens – or doesn’t.
The Good News?
Women are having very good experiences on the front end of the dealership. 93% of women report it was easy to schedule their service appointment. Furthermore, a stellar 95% of women report being satisfied with the way they were greeted by the service advisor. Better yet, 96% were completely satisfied with their dealership experience. Bravo!
The Bad News?
There is a drop off at the end of the interaction. How so? Only 69% of women report receiving follow-up communication from their dealership… a huge miss! Why not send them a personalized email for a free car wash? A free tire rotation or oil change? Additionally, 13% of our reviews report the service was not completed correctly, on time or at the estimated price. This is more troubling, as over one in 10 women can be leaving your dealership, and because you don’t even know it , you can’t resolve the issue and retain that customer.
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Good Selling!
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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.