Achieving customer engagement by offering after-sales service is critical for automotive dealers to attract new customers and retain existing clients to strengthen their financial viability

After-sales service in the fiercely competitive automotive marketplace is renowned for fickle customer loyalty. Typically, the relationship between a dealer and the customer is transactional and temporary, even the slightest mistake can result in a dealer losing a seemingly loyal customer and potential recurring revenue.

Given that omnipresent data and individualized recommendations based on consumer behavior are typical of the current times, the distance between dealers and their clients is startling. Customers typically seek out other dealer service centers due to lack of transparency and communication rather than hefty repair costs. Other challenges and gaps in the after-sales automotive market include paper-based processing errors, disparate and siloed systems, human errors due to overworked technicians, and resource barriers such as inadequate training.

“All the challenges in the automotive after-sales service market directly impact customer satisfaction. This explains why a lack of transparency and lengthy repair delays result in customers losing their trust. However, effective communications and updates about the cost and time required for a job can prevent most of the issues. A simple straightforward communication system provides customers with an achievable, realistic expectation,” said Mukul Krishna, Global Supply Chain & Logistics Practice Leader at Frost & Sullivan, in the whitepaper “Intelligent Planning: The Magic Sauce for Building Customer Loyalty.”

To download the White Paper, click here.

“After-sales service enables automotive dealers to build more sustainable long-term relationships with their clients. Customer experience through after-sales services has the potential to create a substantial and dependable recurring revenue stream,” stated Russell Younghusband, Global Automotive Director at Getac.

Dealer management systems (DMS) and customer relationship management (CRM) can be combined with rugged handhelds and digitization to give dealer services center workers access to customer information, including their relationship history. Dealership service centers should:

• Adopt a system based on simple deductive algorithms to help technicians discuss predictive maintenance with the customer.
• Empower customers with a front-end web and/or mobile interface to let the dealer know their needs beforehand.
• Allocate a dynamic timeslot based on the requirements for the customer to visit, availing the correct technician and auto parts while providing the customer with a more accurate time and cost estimate.
• Automate sending push notifications based on customer preferences as reminders for the next scheduled maintenance visit.
• Provide data access to customers, scale up it across the service department, and integrate it with the DMS.

Getac Technology Corporation is a global leader in rugged mobile technology, including laptops, tablets, software, and video solutions. Getac’s solutions and services are designed to enable extraordinary experiences for frontline workers in challenging environments. Today, Getac serves customers in over 100 countries spanning defense, public safety, ambulance, fire & rescue, utilities, automotive, natural resources, manufacturing, transport, and logistics.