Bill Stasek Chevrolet, located in Wheeling, Illinois, is the largest Corvette dealer in the Midwest as well as a Chevrolet Business Elite dealer. Brothers Bill and Bob Stasek have worked together for years to achieve this. They have developed dealership processes and have built a dedicated team who pays special attention to every customer’s needs and makes every customer experience something positive to remember.
Because of this, Stasek Chevrolet enjoys customer retention in excess of 85 percent. This is truly an incredible stat, and it wasn’t easy to achieve. Several years ago, Bill and Bob Stasek decided to develop a customer retention program. They considered several ideas — loyalty cards, point systems and more. They visited several dealerships with existing programs and listened to just about every idea they could find to increase customer retention.
We all have heard tons of reasons why retention can be such a catalyst to dealership success. Repeat and referral customers are easier to work with because they already trust you and you have an established relationship. Repeat and referral customers return again and again to your service department because they feel comfortable. These happy customers don’t grind your sales and service staff and the result is happy employees who stick around to continue to develop even stronger relationships with your customers. With strong retention, a dealership can be quickly converted from a battlefield into a comfortable place for customers and staff to interact with friends while doing business.
This is an actual Stasek customer review from a review site: “Great friendly place to do business with. From the moment I stopped in the store and searched for a Silverado, to visiting them for service and the free car wash. They have earned a customer for life.” Here is another:
“The Corvette perks that Stasek adds at no cost are incredible.” Many reviews mention Bill and Bob Stasek personally taking the time to meet customers and to thank them for their business. The benefits of a retention program are easy to see, but how did the Stasek brothers get to where they are today?
Eighteen years ago, Bill and Bob Stasek decided to go with a vehicle protection program for their customers. Today, Jeremy Stasek makes sure every new and pre-owned vehicle is treated with an exterior protection solution that is applied by an automated paint sealant polishing machine. Included with every sale is the invitation to bring the vehicle back twice per year to the have the exterior protectant reapplied. A paint sealant/polishing machine protects the vehicle’s exterior from environmental attackers like acid rain, bird droppings, tree sap, road salt, UV rays and a host of other threats that can cause harm to the paint and luster of the vehicle.
“We wash it for them whenever they want and we apply the exterior treatment twice per year,” Bob Stasek said. “How much better does it get then that? They love it. It keeps them coming back. Anytime you give somebody something that has legitimate value and you don’t charge them for it, they are predisposed to come back. Why wouldn’t they?”
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