When a southern Jaguar Land Rover dealer started working with Reynolds and Reynolds to install Advanced Service in 2019, their goal was to improve communication across the service department during the course of a repair order: saving time, keeping techs active, and creating an accurate record of services recommended and performed.
It worked. After installation, the dealer was finally able to pinpoint the profits generated from recommended services.
Not all their problems were solved, though. The transparency Advanced Service provided also brought a gaping hole to their attention. While the new process required their techs and advisors to perform and follow through on multi-point inspections and upsells, declined recommendations were left on the table with no process in place to recapture those customers and profits.
Problem, Solved
The easy answer might be, “Just make your advisors call or email customers after they leave and remind them to schedule another appointment.” But there are a few problems:
- Service advisors already juggle dozens of tasks. Between communicating with current customers, booking new appointments, managing a handful of techs, and more, asking them to manually follow-up with customers who have just declined service may feel like a waste of their time.
- Customers are often saying no to unexpected repairs because they need to consider the cost and urgency in their budget. They’re likely buying themselves time when they say no during their initial appointment.
Instead, the dealer needed a solution that could take the heavy lifting off their advisors and make follow-up simple.
Enter Naked Lime. The partnership between Naked Lime Marketing and Reynolds and Reynolds provides visibility to the red and yellow flags associated with each recommendation, enabling an automatic follow-up strategy.
Naked Lime started sending email and direct mail reminders to customers highlighting their specific declined services, with a note from the dealership detailing how badly they needed the repairs.
Look at the Numbers
The Jaguar Land Rover dealer saw growth within two quarters. Let’s break it down.
The service department saw more returned work across their advisors. Dealerships with some success recapturing declined services could point to their top performers simply going above and beyond. But with automatic service follow-up for Advanced Service, success wasn’t confined to a few top-performers. In fact, the lowest performing advisor became number two in returned work!
After adding automatic follow-up, this dealer saw a 37% increase in returned service recommendations between the first and second quarter
In total, the dealer increased their total sales nearly $50,000 in one quarter, resulting in an overall increase of over $25,000 in gross profits.
Customers came back for a range of services. Between oil changes, brake replacements, and more, advisors were able to recapture work many customers consider getting from independent shops.
It’s important to note this isn’t just recapturing work from previous MPIs. Reminding customers of recommended services, with a sense of urgency, gets them back in for another appointment so advisors can upsell and address other necessary services.
All's Well that Ends Well
While Advanced Service helps with efficiency, productivity, and your overall effective labor rate, following up on recommendations increases customer lifetime value. Dealerships everywhere have argued they are at capacity: “we don’t need more service work, we’re already busy in service.” But dealers do need loyal customers, and service is where that loyalty starts.
Automatic follow-up in service is a hands-free, loyalty-driving solution. Customers engage with brands who understand their needs and communicate in a relevant, convenient way.
When your system knows a customer just left the service drive without completing all recommended work, use that knowledge to your advantage. Recapture profits automatically and help your service drive close the profitability gap.