After-sales communication with customers in the automotive industry is often negligible, resulting in the loss of potential future business.
"12 percent of dealers contact their customers three days after they have bought a vehicle, four percent after 30 days, and none after 60 days," says Jim McGraw, president of US-based DataVision. Renowned for his passion and dedication to customer retention management, McGraw was in South Africa recently as a guest of Dimension Data company, Auto-Mate.
"In the US, only eight percent of customers remember the name of the person from whom they bought their car six months later," says McGraw. "This holds true for Japan, the UK and South Africa as well. The fact that there is no customer loyalty to dealerships is an international problem."
McGraw says this environment must change.
"Dealerships have to become process driven," he says. "They must have control, accountability and responsibility."
The Data Vision product has been integrated with Dimension Data`s specialist motor dealer software, the Auto-Mate Dealer Management System, to form Auto-Vision. This is an introductory product which will ultimately grow to become Auto-Alert!, a solution encompassing all aspects of the dealership including sales, service and parts.
"There was a natural fit between the two offerings," says McGraw, adding that the SA skills within the automotive software industry are excellent. "We came to South Africa to help integrate our product into Auto-Mate, but our help was minimal due to the high level of local skills."
Auto-Vision is an integrated, interactive customer management solution specifically for the retail automotive industry. Designed to assist sales staff and management to develop, maintain and manage their customer database, it is a comprehensive tool that plays a vital role in efficient and effective management.
It measures the strengths and weaknesses of the sales staff and process, and its multi-level control process enables managers and dealers to measure key decisions made by sales staff about their customers.
Its features include a logbook, to enter customer information to begin the sales process, and a daily planner, which ensures that every customer contact can be followed up. A letter processor, email and electronic bulletin board ensure efficient communications.
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