Dealers have been urged to recognise the importance of aftersales and servicing to offset the fall in trade as the new car market declines.
Paul Humphreys, managing director at DMS supplier Incadea UK, said: “While the used car market is performing strongly, it has been a challenging time for new, and for many dealers, this has hit their bottom line. However, there is a huge opportunity for dealers to counter this downturn and increase profitability through improving their aftersales service.
“Reviewing service capabilities not only helps the sales process by making it more appealing to new customers, it is also a significant retention opportunity for existing customers, and certainly should not be overlooked. At present, we believe dealerships are not speaking loudly enough about their capabilities, and as such, they are missing key opportunities to maximise profit.”
Last week Karl Davis, managing director of Coachworks Consulting, said dealers can improve their workshop productivity by increasing their vehicle health check (VHC) penetration levels.
“We’re seeing significant gains being achieved by dealers with processes in place to increase the number of VHCs performed each and every day. Some sites are happy with an 80% completion rate but that’s still one in five cars not having a VHC; that’s a lost business opportunity and a failure of their duty of care responsibilities,” he said.
Humphreys said: “Loyal customers are essential to dealership survival, through repeat purchases and recommendations, and ensuring quality levels of service are maintained is how they will return time and time again.
“Many dealers may not have considered the impact on customer loyalty that can be gained simply by improving their aftercare. If service levels are poor, or non-existent, customers will not remember the experience well, if at all, and will undoubtedly seek alternatives when it comes to their next purchase or service need.”
The largest dealer groups are already building profitability with their aftersales business, including Vertu.