Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017 - 14

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

Head to head

DIGITAL
continued from Page 13

The service department of Ganley Subaru East in suburban Cleveland posts prices
charged by local aftermarket competitors on its website along with its own. The
dealership notes the expertise and training of its technicians, their use of factory parts
and specialized tools, and the multipoint inspection that is part of its service jobs.

with it, so the adviser can see everything that's
being done on the vehicle and can make sure
to communicate to you in a timely manner via
text," he says. "When you're all done, you can
pay for it online."

You've got email
Email has emerged as the preferred method
of sending service specials and reminders to
customers at many dealerships. Wright says
email is producing higher response rates at
Shaheen Chevrolet than old-school marketing.
Where the response rate from direct mail
campaigns was typically 2 to 3 percent, he
notes, some of the dealership's targeted email
promotions have attracted a rate of nearly 50
percent.
"We have completely abandoned direct
mail and TV and radio," Wright says, "because
of the intelligence of digital marketing and
what they can do to pinpoint marketing, versus blasting a whole bunch of stuff out there
and hoping something sticks."
Shaheen has a database of 30,000 customer
vehicles that it mines for service promotions,
sent via email, based on vehicle age and service history.
"If I know you've got a vehicle with X number of miles and you got your brakes here the
last time you were in and your tires here, I can
send you a coupon that's a specific offer pertaining to your vehicle and what you need,"
Wright says.
"Email is the first choice because it doesn't
cost us anything to do that versus snail mail,
which typically cost $1.15 to $1.30 per piece,"
he adds.
Getting noticed in a daily stack of incoming
emails can be a challenge. Del Grande likes to
use offbeat hooks to get customers to open its
messages, such as "Hug Your Plumber Day" or
a promotion built around the backward
speaking style of Yoda, the Star Wars character.
"You have probably a quarter to half a second before they hit the delete button," Williams says. "But if I can give them a joke, and I
have your attention for a full second, then I've
won the battle because at that point you would
have thought, hey, I need an oil change."
Using humor as a hook means that customers also will be more willing to open the next
promotion from Del Grande, he says.
Roche says service departments must be as
transparent in posting prices for their products and services online as are other retailers

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JUNE 2017

and the dealership's vehicle sales department.
"The most egregious error dealers make in
their digital marketing is not having their prices online," he says. "When we buy anything,
we want to know, what do I need, when can I
get it and how much does it cost?
"If I'm shopping for a service appointment,
and I don't know how much it costs, I'm hard
pressed to make that commitment," he says.
Xtime is owned by Cox Automotive, whose
latest maintenance and repair study showed
that 71 percent of consumers said that seeing
a price estimate was the most important attribute when they scheduled service online -
even more so than the day and time of an appointment.
At Ganley Subaru East in the Cleveland suburb of Wickliffe, Ohio, the dealership posts
prices for routine service and maintenance
work next to comparisons with local repair
shops and tire dealers. It also lists its prices for
parts and accessories.
This practice, says service director Phil Almas, helps dispel the myth that dealerships
are always more expensive, though he adds
that his store doesn't try to beat everyone else
on price.
"We train our staff to focus on value: the skill
levels of the technicians we have here, the facility we have is beautiful, the equipment is state of
the art, and we have the friendliest people on
the east side of Cleveland," Almas says.
"Some customers comment that though our
tire rotation is $5 more than down the street,
they'd rather pay here because our guys are
well trained."

Del Grande also posts its service prices online. It groups service items into menus that
follow the manufacturer's recommended
maintenance schedule.
Prices are keyed to existing customers' specific vehicles, Williams adds, so they know
what it will cost when they schedule a service
appointment.
"If you have a Corvette or a pickup truck or a
diesel, [the service department] will automatically know what car it is," he says. "So when I
give you a price, it's locked in 100 percent."

More competitors
With consumers browsing the web for vehicle service options, Roche says, a robust online presence for service departments is urgent, not merely desirable.
Cox Automotive reports that franchised
dealers get only about 30 percent of vehicle
service and repair business. Roche says competitors are working to poach even more customers from dealerships.
The mobile repair and maintenance provider YourMechanic, and even technology companies from outside the auto industry, could
leverage their online expertise to satisfy service customers' needs, he says.
"If dealers can't deliver to consumers the
experience they expect, then somebody else
will, because the dollars are so big," Roche
says. "If Amazon and some of these other
companies decided they wanted to take a big
bite out of automotive service, could they reimagine the way to do it?
"Sure they could." 

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal - June 2017