This is nothing new – Cox Automotive found that in 2023, dealerships accounted for 30% of all service visits in the U.S., down from 35% in 2021. With Customers holding on to their vehicles longer due to negative equity and higher interest rates, this downward trend is disconcerting.
One reason for Customers shunning dealerships is that they erroneously believe dealerships are way more expensive than the alternatives. 51% of those surveyed said they wouldn’t return to a dealership for fear of being overcharged. The Cox Automotive research found “that dealership service costs are mostly on par with non-dealer providers. The average dealership service visit in 2023 costs $258; a visit to a non-dealer service provider costs an average of $249, indicating that the suggestion dealers charge more for service is mostly unfounded.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can dispel the idea that your Service Department is more expensive when you post your prices in comparison to the competition’s. A “We Shopped the Competition, So You Don’t Have To,” with prices posted on a large sign or TV screen in the Service Lane and Customer Lounge, can alleviate some Customers’ fears about paying too much. For maximum impact post it on your website and social media. Pick a few standard services and shop your competition – Pep Boys, Jiffy Lube, and tire stores – not other dealerships. You can get some prices from their websites; for other services, call for prices. Understand what is covered so you can compare similar services. Even an oil change can have various prices. Add Free Video Inspection to your comparison board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You don’t have to be the cheapest, but you need to be close<\/strong>. Posting your prices helps in the latest buzzword \u2013 transparency and with transparency comes more trust. The Salespeople can also use the signs when they take the Customers on a tour of the dealership; they can point out how competitive your Service Department is. The signage will build a “halo effect” (positive feelings in one area, influencing feelings in other areas) for other services and perhaps even vehicle sales. We need to build trust from the first Customer interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo longer is it good enough for companies to have the best product or the best service. To grow and succeed, companies must have the trust of their Customers.\u201d Natalie Oldfield from Forbes. You can dispel the idea that your Service Department is more expensive when you post your prices in comparison to the competition’s. A “We Shopped the Competition, So You Don’t Have To,” with prices posted on a large sign or TV screen in the Service Lane and Customer Lounge, can alleviate some Customers’ fears about paying too much. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14,36,34,33,35],"class_list":["post-124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-best-practices","tag-customers-trust","tag-dealership-service-pricing","tag-dealership-transparency","tag-dealership-trust"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.profits4dealers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.profits4dealers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.profits4dealers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.profits4dealers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.profits4dealers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=124"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.profits4dealers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134,"href":"https:\/\/www.profits4dealers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions\/134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.profits4dealers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.profits4dealers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.profits4dealers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Continue to build trust with a maintenance menu to show the “Why” we recommend this for each maintenance service and the necessary intervals. If you try to sell system flushes at 15,000 or 30,000 miles, you will lose the Customers’ trust. If you can’t say yes to the question, “Would I sell this to my mother at this mileage?” then don’t recommend it to your Customers.
The best trust builder is video inspections. If you aren’t using videos to show your Customers what you found during the Multipoint Inspection, you are missing a pivotal opportunity to build trust and sell needed work. Several of my previous newsletters delve into this topic. Still, one underutilized opportunity is to edit an MPI video and use it in your social media marketing and on your website. The ability to “wow” Customers with videos won’t last long as non-dealer service centers get in on this latest trend.
Based on my recent service experience, I’m surprised that the Cox survey found (only) “48% of vehicle owners were frustrated with at least one aspect of their recent service experience at a dealership.” Three key frustrations include:
Service taking longer than expected,
Struggle to schedule an appointment,
Dealers pushing additional services.
<\/em>If you have any of the above issues, start to resolve them today. Select one and determine the reason, then craft a resolution. Below are some ideas to reduce the Customers’ frustrations
(1 & 2) Hire additional technicians, train technicians, don\u2019t interrupt techs in the middle of a job to work on something else, introduce efficiencies from the advisors to techs to the parts counter, preview appointments two days before the appointment, invest in the right tools, and much more.
Use Video Multipoint Inspections and have printed \u2018features & benefits\u2019 for your maintenance recommendations. Don’t let the sales reps from MOC or BG influence your Service Advisors with spiffs for selling flushes and chemicals.
Whether it’s vehicle sales, service, body shop, or the parts department: to build trust, put everything in writing so there is no miscommunication and actively listen to your Customers. Every interaction with your Customers is an opportunity to build trust and, thus, more loyal Customers.
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