Using Data to Earn Customer Trust

There are more resources available than ever before for car shoppers to evaluate their options and choose the most reliable vehicle at the best price.

A decision that used to boil down to which dealership was closest or which brand was the family favorite is now less certain. Instead, automakers are competing with one another through more robust marketing initiatives and increasingly competitive pricing.

However, with this increase in available information, there also has been an increase in the information that can be gathered on customers in order to improve the sales process. Between Facebook posts, tweets, customer-service emails, online chats and dealership satisfaction surveys, there’s a wealth of information that can be used to strengthen customer relationships and build trust.

In the past several years, research has shown consumers don’t always choose their vehicle based on price. This is good news for automakers and dealers, because slashing prices in order to increase sales often isn’t a feasible (or sustainable) option. Instead, consumers have listed reliability, durability, gas mileage, safety, styling and more critical factors in their decision-making.

In addition customer feedback shows consumer perception of marketing efforts also is critical. With this in mind, executives should take a look at their own makes and models and how consumers rate different aspects of the vehicles and offers, and then market accordingly.

Take Nissan, for instance. When we looked at customer feedback for the brand last year, the Titan came in as the best-rated truck, ahead of leading seller the Ford F-150. Nissan could be well-served by marketing this model more aggressively, perhaps pulling from those consumer reviews, to rival the competition.

It is obvious product quality is paramount, but hand-in-hand with the vehicle itself is the customer’s experience with your brand: financing, sales and service. In fact, when looking at Facebook comments about vehicles, more than half of the conversation centers on the overall corporate experience and not the car itself.

This means that as many automakers franchise their dealerships, it’s critical that communications are made early and often between the two sides of your business. This is why Tesla’s choice to sell directly to consumers, albeit controversial, offers a particularly strong learning for automakers: Without the divide between sales/service and product development, brands can give consumers a consistent experience throughout their customer journey. By reinforcing that experience – from shopping through to purchase and service – consumers will feel a better sense of loyalty to your brand.

In light of recent recall crises, it’s no question many automakers and vendors are searching for ways to prevent potential tragedy going forward. While no one system is perfect, consumers often are talking about their concerns or frustrations long before the brand may identify, and react to, those challenges en masse.

When it comes to safety issues, this is especially valuable. In 2010, Toyota began recalls for a floormat and subsequent acceleration issues that affected over 9.3 million vehicles. However, when looking at customer comments, mentions of sticking and binding skyrocketed over a 2-year period preceding that recall.

Monitoring what customers are saying about you won’t solve every problem, but as anyone who has been frustrated by a brand or product knows, the first course of action is usually airing that grievance – a habit automakers can use to their advantage.

When it comes to customer trust in any industry, it’s about communication, clarity and consistency. For a consumer to trust your brand, your communications need to be honest and clear, and that customer’s experience has to line up with the expectations set in those communications.

This is all the more important for automakers. A car is an investment, and if your customers feel the product, the purchase and the service of that investment are positive experiences you take seriously, they’ll be loyal return-buyers down the line.

By listening to your customers, celebrating their likes and priorities and acting on their dislikes and frustrations, you can turn those buyers into loyal advocates. 

Dheepan Ramanan is Data Scientist at Clarabridge, a software company that provides intelligent customer experience management solutions for some of the world’s top brands.