Posted on: 23 Jul 2024 | Post By: CitNOW Group
Managing customer conversations in an omnichannel world
It’s good to talk. In the car retailing business, where establishing a rapport with customers is paramount, it is even better when your staff have meaningful conversations which evolve into lasting relationships.
The most recent Consumer Attitude Survey by the National Franchised Dealers Association found 33% of customers were either “very satisfied” or “fairly satisfied” with the customer service delivered by retailers when buying a car. This dropped to just 26% when asked about their customer experience of aftersales.
How car retailers communicate with customers is a driving factor in measuring satisfaction, with these results indicating room for improvement across both departments.
Research by JudgeService, the customer reviews platform for franchised retailers, identified a direct correlation between customer satisfaction and the positive attitude of showroom staff, with communication being a key feature behind these successful relationships.
Its study of over 50,000 car buyers showed how positive attitudes and good communication skills resulted in high promoter scores and increased sales.
The research concluded that customers appreciate being looked after and feeling valued and are more likely to return to make future purchases; a reminder that building relationships does not happen by accident.
Having positive and proactive customer-facing showroom staff is vital. So is having the processes in place to ensure that every customer interaction with your business is as positive as it can be – day in, day out. Leaving this to chance is not an option, there is too much at stake.
Evolving your communication channels
As a sector which has evolved to embrace omnichannel retailing across physical and digital sales, the way your business communicates remotely with customers requires personalisation.
Customers have developed more sophisticated expectations in the way they interact with retailers across non-automotive sectors and expect the same level of flexibility from car retailers. They know which communication channels work best for them and will expect you to use them.
Today an increasingly typical scenario sees showroom and aftersales staff using business mobiles to communicate with customers via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, email and Live Chat, or a combination of any number of them depending on customer preferences.
The convenience and immediacy of all these channels resonates with customers but, as retailers are increasingly finding to their cost, these conversations can be virtually impossible to manage within the business, especially when a member of staff is unavailable, on holiday or has left. This is where the digital trail can go cold and customer resentment builds.
CitNOW Conversations – your communications hub
Our solution to this is CitNOW Conversations, a brand new, innovative solution delivering seamless, multi-channel, two-way, customer communications across your business.
Designed specifically for automotive retailers, this powerful communication tool supports and complements the showroom experience delivered by retailers with a compelling edge.
This centralised desktop hub, accessible through a browser, consolidates all those mobile based messages and provides a single point of reference for all conversations no matter which messaging channel is used, ensuring more coordinated and streamlined communication, 24/7.
Furthermore, customers can use whichever combination of communication channels they prefer. They can switch between Live Chat, WhatsApp and email and it does not matter as all the messages are consolidated and funnelled into the CitNOW Conversations dashboard.
And if the member of staff changes during the sales or aftersales journey, the conversation history is available to the new staff member, allowing them to review what has previously been discussed, avoiding frustrating the customer by asking them to repeat a conversation.
Having one platform for all communication channels, drives efficiency whilst elevating the customer experience and delivering valuable management insights.
Also, unlike messaging via mobile phones, it is GDPR compliant with user privacy and data protection in place, ensuring personal information is handled with care and security.
Additionally, because it was developed for the unique needs of car retailers, it works seamlessly across vehicle sales and aftersales departments, especially when integrated into lead management and aftersales management systems, such as Dealerweb.
Engaging with car buyers
The platform is designed to make it easier for car buyers to start conversations and saves time by efficiently qualifying leads and speeding up your sales processes with multi-channel communication and automation.
Conversations around new and used car sales, where customers are looking for quick responses, no longer need to be dependent on a particular member of staff being in the showroom on a given day. The system ensures the baton is picked up by a colleague, so the customer is not kept waiting.
Engaging with aftersales customers
CitNOW Conversations works in the same way when customers require aftersales work.
It can also help maximise workshop productivity by driving more service bookings with automated invites and by keeping customers updated on their vehicles through notifications.
Future possibilities
Our rollout of CitNOW Conversations started towards the end of 2023 when CitNOW partnered with a leading OEM and we are already seeing how it is delivering better communications management. Find out more by reading the full BMW and MINI press release.
Retailers are also appreciating the insights being generated by the platform and the way it replaces ad hoc mobile phone communications with something smarter, more professional and GDPR compliant.
With communications at the heart of all businesses, we are already exploring how we can integrate CitNOW Conversations with other CitNOW Group products, so we will keep you posted on future developments over the coming months.