Marketing Repurchase Quotes to Your Entire DMS Customer Base

 

Chip King

Dealer Marketing Magazine

March, 2010

 

We all know that your existing customer base is your best resource for future sales and that if a customer is happy with his current car, he will likely repurchase a newer model. What he wants are the facts, not a desperate plea.

 

Building an exact repurchase quote for every previous customer in your DMS that combines the details of their previous purchase with their current trade value, payoff, new vehicle price, plus current rebates and incentives, can produce a return on investment that far surpasses any of your other marketing efforts. This is not an “equity letter” or “we desperately need your trade letter” type promotion, both of which fall far short of providing the details that instill customer confidence.

 

What I am talking about is an exact quote with only four caveats.

1. Are they current on their payments?

2. Is their credit rating still good?

3. Is their estimated extrapolated service mileage close?

4. Is their vehicle in good condition?

 

The key to this type of marketing is the trust factor gained when the marketing message provides exact details relevant to that customer’s previous purchase and the specific details of their repurchase options.

 

What kind of details does this include?

1. The delivery date of the vehicle they currently own

2. The name of their original salesperson

3. Their current payment

4. Their last service visit and their estimated mileage

5. How many payments they have remaining

6. The VIN no. of their current vehicle plus the year, make, and model

7. Their new payment on a vehicle of the closest trim model to what they currently own

8. The current factory rebates and incentives that apply to their new quote

 

It’s all about trust. Ongoing accurate information to your customers results in greater response and sales opportunities versus a single promotion or periodic offers.

 

The marketing program should combine a majority of the following communications with direct mail being the most essential.

1. An initial direct mail piece that is informative and accurate and that they can expect to have delivered on a consistent basis

2. An email announcing the same

3. Consistent phone follow up from your BDC or ideally their original salesperson

4. A website where customers can go and append the data that is incorrect in their offer

5. Marketing to three segments: customers whose payments go down, customers whose payments go up slightly, cash to cash customers

 

Dealers that consistently apply these parameters can expect to achieve the following results:

1. A monthly 1.17 percent sell through rate marketing to same customer base (Example: Marketing repurchase quotes to 3000 customers monthly will consistently produce 35 sales per month)

2. Tripled annual customer sales repeat rate

3. Gross profits that average $400 higher by model

4. Increased customer satisfaction scores

5. Increased service revenues

 

Accurate information repeatedly communicated builds trust and results in increased sales far above traditional marketing. Given a choice, where should you spend your marketing funds?

Is it time for you to begin getting more out of your marketing efforts?