Fixed Ops Journal - May 2016 - (Page 56)

" FIXED OPS JOURNAL Send suggestions for future Shop Talks to foj@autonews.com SHOP TALK Looking for ways to boost customer retention? We asked fixed ops managers: What's your most effective strategy for getting customers to return for service? " " " "What we call the Fred Anderson Family Plan: lifetime oil changes, lifetime powertrain, lifetime loaner cars, lifetime car washes, loyalty discounts. That's the whole idea. We have a high 70 percent retention number over a 10-year period." BRYAN GALLOWAY " " "Setting ourselves apart from the competition - having my service advisers smiling, making customers feel welcome, making things convenient, being good listeners. I try to keep our name in front of the customer so they don't forget us, whether it's a postcard in their mailbox or a coupon in their email box." KEITH SMERCHEK Fixed operations director, Anderson Automotive Group, Raleigh, N.C. "Prepaid maintenance. We sell a lot of Audi Care (the automaker's prepaid maintenance program). We do a lot of tire and brake business. We compete directly against tire stores and are very competitive. That keeps the back end of the business flowing." Service and parts director, Rickenbaugh Infiniti, Dacono, Colo. "We have a rewards program. Customers get a point for every dollar spent. They get 1,000 points when they buy a car, new or used. An oil change is 600 points, so their first one is basically free." "We have evolved and have done a better job of retaining our customers for at least three to four years because of prepaid maintenance and extended warranties. Improvement in customer handling has afforded us an opportunity to retain our customer base a bit longer, but yet there is defection. So we depend on selling more vehicles to start the next cycle." DENNIS LEDER MICHAEL WELDON Service manager, Mike Riehl's Roseville (Mich.) Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram Fixed operations director, Hansel Auto Group, Petaluma and Santa Rosa, Calif. PAUL JENSEN Operations director, Qvale Auto Group " "We operate with the same local staff with multiple years of tenure. Every time our customers return for service, it is the same service advisers and the same technicians. We even have some customers who work exclusively with a certain adviser and tech team." ZACH BRANDT Fixed operations director, Capitol Ford-Lincoln, Santa Fe, N.M. PAGE 56 MAY 2016 Compiled by Jack Walsworth

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal - May 2016

Fixed Ops Journal - May 2016
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Service Counter
Legal Lane
Profit Builder
‘Grease monkey’?
Hail
Photo story
Richard Truett
High light
Service satisfaction
Certification
Tsunami
Recalls
90-second oil change
Financing fixes
Supreme Court
Tech trends
Top 50
5 Minutes With
Shop Talk
Fixed in Time

Fixed Ops Journal - May 2016