I recently received a call from a GM and here’s how it went:
GM: I need help. <AutoClient> referred you.
Me: Great. How can I help?
GM: I just feel like we’re not doing enough to reach our revenue potential. There’s a feeling of complacency around here, especially in the service drive.
Me: Roughly, what percent of vehicles you’ve sold in the past five years are returning for regular maintenance.
GM: Gosh, I don’t know. I don’t even know how to get to that number. But I know it’s important.
Me: It may not matter much, as long as your service drive is staying busy.
GM: I wish that were the case. We definitely have room for more business. In fact, our drives are active about 40-60% of the time on a monthly basis.
Me: Do you leverage your customer database to drive service ROs, vehicle trade-ins, in-market prospects, and repeat purchase activities?
GM: Not yet. We’ve been planning on doing this since before Covid, but we just don’t know how to move forward. I’ve been contacted by several agencies, but I’d rather work with someone that has hands-on experience.
Me: There are a lot of companies trying to get into the data driven game now, but you have to be careful. The lifecycle strategy we designed, built, and deployed with the Lithia&Driveway team has been a proven winner.
GM: We use the <OEM> journey program, but it doesn’t work hard enough. We feel pressured to use it. Anyhow, I know we’re leaving money on the table.
Me: Yeah, the <OEM> program doesn’t reach the used vehicle customers or certain aged vehicles. And customers who haven’t been in for over 36+ months tend to have an RO average 3x higher than most.
GM: Hey, I don’t have much more time today. How do we get started?
Me: Give me 48 hours and I’ll have a data driven omni channel strategy for you to consider
GM: Thank you! I feel much better. This has been eating at me for a long time. I feel like a weight has being lifted from my shoulders.
Me: No worries, Look for something from me soon.
48 hours later:
GM: Your plan looks great. I'd like your team to be our marketing arm. Thank you!
Construction Progress Monitoring, Document & Cost Review, Property & Facility Condition Assessment & Architect
3moCngrstulations!