Well-Done Sales-to-Service Turnovers Retain Customers

Showroom salespeople who properly introduce buyers to the service department during the vehicle-delivery process aid back-shop customer retention. But many dealerships trip up there.

“The first place we stumble in establishing a long-term relationship with the customer is at vehicle delivery, the sales-to-service turnover,” says Dean Estep, a former fixed-operations training director for the AutoNation dealership chain who now is a managing partner at Next-Level Automotive Group.

“It isn’t done, period, at many dealerships, because the sales persons pay is not tied to service-customer retention,” says Gary Edwards of Edwards & Associates Consulting.

It does not have to be this way, he says, pointing to a dealer client’s service- customer retention of 98%. 

That dealer defers paying sales commissions until the new-vehicle purchaser completes the store’s “First Connect Visit” program. It establishes a tentative appointment for the customer’s first maintenance service. 

This makes sure salespeople take an active interest in working with the service department to get the car buyer in to meet the service department as soon as possible.  

“Requiring sales staff to participate in getting every new-vehicle purchaser introduced to the service department must be a condition of employment and the sales and service staffs must be held accountable for complying,” Edwards says.

It can make a difference in fixed-operations customer retention.

“The managers who I work with measure first-service op codes,” Edwards says. “In those dealerships where the turnover process is not yet 100%, compliant first-visit appointment rates are just 40% to 50%.

“However, where both sales and service staffs do this well, nine out of 10 new buyers come back to the dealership for that first important appointment.”

Both Edwards and Estep suggest dealers train staff and then hold them accountable for conducting this hand-off.

“This drives the importance of dealers working with their sales and adviser teams to create the kind of delivery attitude and messaging that conveys importance to the team and to the buyer,” Estep says.

Even where the turnover is practiced well, some stopgap measures are helpful. For instance, both Edwards and Estep believe customers, salespeople and service associates should sign a turnover document.

Estep also suggested dealers provide buyers with printed material to help the staff introduce the service department and discuss the importance of the first visit.

This ensures buyers receive the correct delivery and dealership-branding messages as well as the service menu and hours of operation.

Zonic Design recently introduced TotalReach to improve first-visit appointment rates, says Executive Vice President Mark Altieri.

The program features new buyer welcome literature TotalReach forwards to buyers by mail and email within days of purchase.

The literature includes a “thank you for purchasing” communication and a reminder of the customer’s first service visit. It also includes options for changing that service date interactively.

If the dealership-management system shows the first appointment was not set as part of the sales-to-service turnover, the congratulatory communications has different content and messaging, encouraging the customer to set that first important service visit by QR code, website or telephone.

Edwards notes another reason personal turnover isn’t always done.

“We know that 55% of cars delivered today are delivered after the service department is already closed,” he says. “That’s a problem for first-service success. If your dealership is going to be open to sell customers a vehicle, your service department should also be open to service customer’s vehicles.”

Jim Leman writes about automotive retail operations from Grayslake, IL. He can be reached at [email protected]