Digital Dealer - August 2017 - 43

EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT, DON'T
DEFLECT. SYMPATHIZE WITH THE CUSTOMER,
AGREE IT'S A TERRIBLE THING AND LET THEM
KNOW YOU REALLY WANT TO FIX IT."
about recalls is that
because they are a safety
concern, dealerships are
not prohibited from calling
customers on a do-notcall list, as in regular
marketing campaigns. In
fact, the onus is on the
dealership to get hold
of the customer. Take
advantage of this loophole
and be aggressive on the
phones. If you don't have
the internal resources to
conduct outgoing phone
campaigns, consider
outsourcing.
You'll also want to
create targeted email
campaigns to segments of
your database. Identify all
of your customers with the
same make/model recall
and craft very specific
messages that educate
them about the issue. Additionally, you can create
an ongoing messaging
campaign as part of your
regular customer communications. In every email
newsletter or marketing
message, include a
short message about the
dangers of unrepaired
safety recalls. Direct your
customers to call your
service department to see
if their vehicle has a safety
issue.
Texting/SMS campaigns
to your customers who
have opted in are also an
inexpensive and effective

way to send notifications.
4. OWN THE
PROBLEM

Customers may be angry or even scared when
they discover their new
vehicle has a safety issue.
Even though it's not your
fault, don't deflect. Sympathize with the customer,
agree it's a terrible thing
and let them know you
really want to fix it.
Education is also an
important component
here. If the safety issue is

checked their VINs for
safety recalls.
Position your dealership
as recall experts and as
the dealership that cares.
Encourage service people
to use mobile tablets
to check VINs for recall
issues. As a bonus in the
service lane, previously
declined services can
easily be identified at the
same time as recall work.
This provides the opportunity to segue into an
upsell.

ative. Hold a monthly contest between your service
advisors on who can bring
in the most recall work.
Give the Winner-Winner
a gift certificate for a nice
dinner!
The sheer volume of
vehicles on the road without recall repairs, as well
as the continued stream
of recall notifications from
manufacturers, represents
millions--possibly billions-of dollars of unclaimed
service revenue. Be

...ONE IN SIX VEHICLES HAS
AN UNREPAIRED SAFETY RECALL.
THAT'S AN ASTONISHING 63 MILLION
VEHICLES JUST WAITING TO BE
SERVICED!"
not severe you'll want to
ease their concerns. The
dealership that does the
best job at notifying, caring about and educating
the consumer is the one
who will win their trust.

5. TRAIN EMPLOYEES
TO ASK AND CHECK

Most consumers don't
get their vehicles repaired
when there is a safety
issue because they don't
know about the problem.
As a dealership you can
choose to take a very
proactive stance on this.
Train employees to ask all
customers and prospective customers if they've

Don't limit this proactive activity to your
service employees. Even
salespeople, if they have
mobile tablets and are
trained to do so, can ask
prospective customers if
they have checked their
VINs against a safety
recall database. Who
knows, perhaps discovering their current vehicle
has a safety recall issue
will provide an extra bit
of incentive to trade their
vehicle in.
The more recalls your
dealership identifies, the
more service revenue you
will generate. Get cre-

proactive and formulate
a game plan to get your
dealership's share!
BILL WITTENMYER
serves as a partner of
ELEAD1ONE. He has over
20 years of experience
in the automotive space
and currently oversees
multiple divisions within the
organization including sales,
marketing, OEM relationships
and large-client accounts.
Wittenmyer speaks at several
prominent automotive forums
each year and contributes to
top news publications and
television business shows
that reach industry business
leaders across the U.S.
EMAIL: billw@eleadcrm.com

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

AUGUST 2017

43
http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - August 2017
