As an auto manufacturer, you know that your dealers and service centres are the bread and butter of your business. They drive revenue and attract new customers, while keeping the loyal ones satisfied.
You role is to attract customers to your dealerships, incent them to buy, and reward them with ongoing perks to keep them happy and loyal. With this in mind, what steps are you taking to increase dealer foot traffic and improve service loyalty? How are you supporting your dealers and ensuring they have the best tools possible to deliver ongoing business results?
Following are five ways that prepaid programs can help you to drive dealer foot traffic and service loyalty:
Auto Rebates
A great perk when buying a new car is often the rebate offered at the time of purchase. According to Autotrader, 54% of consumers would buy from a dealership that offers their preferred experience, even if it didn't have the lowest price.
To ensure dealers deliver a preferred experience to their customers, create a fully branded payment card that incents your customers to purchase. As the card will take up valuable real estate in your new customer's wallet, it will remind them time and again that the reward is from your brand, while enabling you to feed that rebate back into your own dealers' revenue streams.
Whether it's $100, $500, or more, you can Merchant Category Code (MCC) or vendor restrict your rebate payment card to ensure that funds loaded to the card can only be used at your dealerships.
Increase Test Drive Stats
Just launched a new car model? Trying to get customers on the lot to buy? Sometimes all that is needed is for people to get in the car and try it out to see how great it is. With 81% of car buyers rating test drive processes an 8 out of 10 or higher, the test drive could be a major deciding factor in whether you make the sale.
To drive dealer foot traffic, try creating a test drive reward card. With this type of program, every customer that test drives a new model is rewarded with a $25 or $50 prepaid card. This gets them on the lot and in the car, and also leaves them with a favourable and lasting impression.
Build Ongoing Service Loyalty
Your dealership service centres are a great way to increase service department revenue and establish ongoing client lists. With nearly 61% of Americans feeling as though dealerships take advantage of them (2016 Beepi Consumer Automotive Index), create a recurring service loyalty program to assuage their concerns and build trust.
When they buy a car, they could receive a reloadable prepaid card with $100 towards servicing or accessories. When they bring their car in for service, they can automatically receive an additional $30 dollars on the card towards their next appointment, and so on. When you incent your clientele to return time and again, you build trust and loyalty in your brand while guaranteeing consistent dealer foot traffic.
Upsell to Past Customers
Do you have past customers that need an auto upgrade? Often, a large segment of potential customers that go unnoticed are ones you've already done business with in the past. By sending prepaid cards loaded with funds to past customers, you are incenting them to use the funds to service their older cars or perhaps purchase new tires. Then, when they come into the dealership, you can sell them on your new models. You can even configure prepaid cards to be loaded on activation so the funds are only loaded when a sale is made.
Target Geographical Hotspots
If you have a new dealership opening, or one that is underperforming, consider a hotspot campaign. Send prepaid cards to residents within a geographical area close to the dealership along with a promotion for services, test drives, or new vehicle purchases. This will get the promotion in the hands of everyone in the neighbourhood, and encourage them to drop in.
Whether you're looking to issue rebates for purchases or reward your customers for loyalty, there are many ways prepaid can help support your dealers increase sales revenue, drive foot traffic, and bolster service loyalty.
