Automotive CRM and Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction could not appear to be more straight forward of a concept.  As a business, we want customers to be happy. End of story, next concept, who has the best buffet at NADA (besides TCC of course)?

The concept of customer satisfaction and how it relates to your dealership and marketing is crucial however, to making sure revenue is maximized.  The correlation between customer satisfaction and share of wallet is a complicated one, based on a number of factors.  The connection between customer satisfaction and loyalty has long been recognized, but the importance of wallet share and satisfaction has not always been as clear.
A study of these connections revealed the significance that customer satisfaction truly has (Cooli, Keiningham, Aksoy & Hsu, 2007, http://www.owen.edu/vanderbilt/data/research/1668full.pdf).  The study focused on following over 4,000 households over a five year period, specifically looking at their banking choices.  They decided to focus on share of wallet, as the appropriate metric.  Ultimately, a brand wants to increase their share of a customer's expense in a particular area, and increase loyalty to include total spending.  Consumers have proven to be less and less "loyal," as increasingly they find themselves more open to using other brands (Bennet & Rundie-Thiele, 2005).  Cooli, et. al., found that there was significant correlation between customer satisfaction level and share of wallet percentage.  As customer satisfaction increases, firms are able to control a larger market share and bring these customers back away from competitors.

How does a dealer then affect and change customer satisfaction?

It is important to differentiate the initial meeting and subsequent changes in satisfaction.  Both were tracked as having significant influences on loyalty.  From the minute a potential customer walks in the door, to every moment thereafter, customer satisfaction is being cultivated.  The satisfaction level will affect not only loyalty in terms of returning for the same service, but as well as wallet share, so similar rivals are no longer used for related services either.  There is also a clear correlation between certain demographics and situations that can affect loyalty.  Age and income level were identified specifically in the study, targeting specific attempts to generate satisfaction will create a more specialized approach that takes note of these important differences.

Increasing revenue from loyalty will most likely come from increasing the wallet share of your loyalist customers.  Is your CRM system able to increase satisfaction and make sure that customers continue to return to your dealership? Do they understand the nuances necessary to increase your market share?  Can you afford for it not to?  TCC can tackle your customer satisfaction needs and make sure you are maximizing your retention of your hard earned customers.