NEW ANALYSIS of dealer customer records has revealed the true scale of missed revenue opportunities caused by basic inaccuracies.
Investigation of 15 dealer groups shows that they missed a total of at least £34.7 million in revenue over 18 months in the analysis by data experts Auto Data Solutions (ADS).
Almost two million valid VIN records were audited for an ADS ‘Data Health Check’, revealing that many customers had become uncontactable due to a failure to update contact details or even record keeper changes.
But ADS identified one of the biggest losses of potential revenue as 112,344 safety recalls that had been missed. With historical data proving that customers booked for a recall spend an average additional £309 with the dealer, ADS says that such oversights are among the biggest causes of dealers failing to reach full revenue potential.
Jon Sheard, Operations Director of ADS, believes a common problem for dealers is to settle for ‘good enough’ customer records when a fully up-to-date system is easier to achieve than they realise.
We consistently find that dealers have typically lost contact with up to 20% of their customers, but turn a blind eye to the scale of the revenue they are missing.
They justify this by mistakenly thinking that it’s harder and more expensive to improve customer record-keeping than it really is.
In reality, the true cost of lapsed customers is much more than the £34 million in missed workshop revenue we found in 15 dealer groups, which were due only to missed recalls.
They’re missing the entire spend of those lapsed customers on service and sales, because it’s all going elsewhere.
This latest analysis has prompted ADS to produce a free ‘coffee break’ briefing detailing the simple steps dealers can take to maintain more accurate records, re-contact lapsed customers, complete all safety recalls and learn from the successful US model of allocating marketing equally to sales and service.
Available on the ADS website the briefing is designed to be read during a busy dealer’s coffee break, with clear advice for reconnecting with the lost customers who represent major revenue growth opportunities.
Although the typical dealership falls short of revenue potential by at least £2 million, most groups can easily change this in weeks by improving data hygiene and recall follow-up.
Our 10 minutes of free advice will be a game-changer for those who take advantage of it.
Published Coverage
This industry wide issue has been highlighted in several leading industry publications:
AM Online: Dealers missing out on £2m each through poor customer data, says ADS
MotorTrader: Dealers miss £2m in revenue each through inaccurate customer records
Motor Trade News: Dealers down £35m over 18 months due to inaccurate customer records – ADS