Growing your service customer retention rates and generating consistent revenue is an important part of your fixed ops, and a dealership rewards program can be a great way to help get you there. Our recent National Consumer Survey discovered that incentive-based rewards programs inspire stronger customer loyalty, with nearly 90% of consumers indicating that being enrolled in a rewards program moderately or greatly influences their decision to return to that business. In addition, over 40% of consumers acknowledged that they would not service their vehicle elsewhere if they were enrolled in a rewards program with their dealership.

Vehicle owners will always need routine care as well as the occasional larger repair—and they love earning rewards—so the right loyalty program can help entice them to choose your store for continued service (and draw new customers away from the competition). Here are five tactics to help you develop a dealership rewards program with enticing benefits that strengthens customer loyalty and retention.

How to Create a Rewards Program That Retains Customers

1. Promote Your Loyalty Program

Once your dealership loyalty program is ready to launch, spread the word quickly with your current customers as well as the potential ones browsing online. Some of the ways you can advertise your rewards program include:

• In-store marketing: Place signs at your front showroom desk, your service check-in lanes, and your parts department to promote the program, helping remind customers to enroll and start earning rewards.

• Email campaigns: Send your customers communications to introduce them to your new service rewards program, detailing the benefits and encouraging them to enroll with a clear call-to-action link.

• Social media posts: A new loyalty program provides excellent content for your social media pages. Create eye-catching posts and reach out to your followers to generate excitement about the program.

2. Ensure the Enrollment Process Is Simple

Just like your other online tools, your rewards program enrollment options should be easy to find and use. A clunky or complicated tool may cause customers to abandon the program altogether, skipping potential benefits or even seeking service elsewhere. Cast a wide net to capture more customer interest by integrating your enrollment options into as many platforms as possible. A few of the channels might include:

• Your dealership website 
• Your dealership social media platforms 
• An email or text message campaign 
• In-person during a visit to your store 

3. Make the Rewards Attainable 

Your customers join loyalty programs to take advantage of as many benefits as possible. However, those rewards are only valuable if customers can attain them—and use them. What are some of the rewarding ways your store can offer your customers appealing benefits?

• Points: Offer your customers points for purchases which they can later use for free or discounted services, parts and accessories, or other gifts. 

• Frequency Cards: After each purchase, award customers with a physical or digital stamp, earning them a complimentary service or discount. 

• Referrals: Encourage customers to refer a friend to receive a discount code valid for redemption if the friend books a service. As a bonus for your store, these referrals help grow your customer base while building a more positive reputation. 

• Cash Back: Give customers points that are redeemable for a predetermined cash amount.

• Non-monetary benefits. Customers who earn a certain number of points or progress to the next tier receive a free service or a discount. 

• Community Rewards: Consider partnering with your local neighboring establishments to offer discounts to repeat customers. 

4. Make the Rewards Family-Friendly

By family-friendly, we mean allowing the rewards to be expanded to include the entire household. As many of your customers most likely have multiple vehicles in the family, allowing the loyalty program points to be transferred between vehicles can benefit your customers (and your store) by encouraging customers to bring in their other vehicles for service, too. 

5. Partner with an Expert Rewards Program Provider

If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by the service loyalty program development process, we understand. Developing an effective rewards program can be time-consuming. Fortunately, there are advanced technological tools available to help you streamline the process while monitoring members and program performance. This rewards program solution should allow you to:

• Increase retention through personalized rewards offerings 
• Provide enrollment and communication options via multiple channels 
• Quickly identify and denote loyalty program members with service appointments 
• Enable members to track their points at any time 
• Manage member accounts and view activity via a single interface 
  
  

Discover a Rewarding Fixed Ops Retention Tool

By boosting awareness of your service rewards program, providing an easy enrollment process, and making the benefits attractive, you can offer your customers a program that promotes customer retention and boosts service revenue—but choosing the right software is essential for your success.

Affinitiv Loyalty can help you create the ideal rewards program with flexible administration, a personalized web portal, and convenient integrations. Contact us today for your live demo of Loyalty, and get started building long-term and rewarding customer relationships.

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