As a business, you want your car dealership to succeed in customer satisfaction, but how do you measure that factor? Thankfully, there is the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) which is a tool measuring the extent customers are satisfied with your service.
After a sale, your dealership, the parent company of your dealership if you are part of a chain, or the manufacturer will send out CSI surveys directly to customers. These surveys are typically sent via letter, phone call, or email within 24 to 48 hours after the sale. The survey will ask customers to rate their experience on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. It will also include several “yes” or “no” questions covering topics like the quality of your dealership’s facilities and the professionalism and friendliness of your staff. These survey results will determine your dealership’s CSI score and provide insights into your customers’ satisfaction.
In today’s competitive market, your dealership needs to learn how it can increase its CSI score as your dealership’s CSI score can impact:
- Improve brand reputation
- Enhance the dealership’s overall reputation
- Bonuses earned by your employees
- The number of cars the manufacturer releases to your dealership
- And much more
Let’s take a deep dive into how your dealership can increase its CSI score.
Take Customers on a Vehicle Tour
To enhance the sales process and boost customer experience, auto industry professionals need to do more than just list the car’s features. With the TradePending’s Video for Sales app (formerly known as Snapcell), you can create high-quality walk-around tour videos with a running commentary that demonstrates all the key features of the car, and easily share them. These videos can also serve as customized feature guides for your customers.
Follow Up with Your Customers
With a CSI survey sent to customers the two days following a sale, you must remember to send them a follow-up email after a purchase has been made. Even if a purchase hasn’t been made, you should still send a follow-up email, to encourage the customer to return to your dealership in the future.
Implement these personalized follow-up emails into your dealership’s strategy, which will be even more impactful if your team includes a personalized video along with it.
Make the Car Shopping Process Simple
It’s important to understand that a frustrated customer is unlikely to give your dealership a high CSI (customer satisfaction index) score. A convoluted car shopping process can lead to customer frustration. Therefore, your dealership must create an easy and hassle-free vehicle buying experience. This seamless end-to-end customer journey can enhance the customer experience and increase their satisfaction, which will ultimately lead to a higher CSI score for your dealership.
It’s important to remember that the responsibility of creating a seamless customer journey doesn’t just fall on the sales department. Service technicians also play a crucial role by providing excellent customer service and maintaining prompt communication. All employees at the dealership should be readily available to answer any questions that customers may have. To achieve this, your team can leverage video in the service department to connect with customers to visually show them needed repairs, as well as what’s still in great condition.
Overall, it’s important to make customer engagement personal, convenient, and easy at every point along the customer journey. By doing so, you can create a positive experience for your customers and increase your dealership’s CSI score.
Remember Employee Satisfaction
While it is easy to focus solely on customer satisfaction with the proverbial “the customer is always right” motto impressed upon employees, you need to remember the satisfaction of your employees as well. If your staff is not happy, that will come through in their work which will have a direct effect on the customers and their overall satisfaction. Nurture your employees and listen to their needs, so you can optimize staff engagement levels. Your sole focus shouldn’t only be on numbers and profit but on creating a satisfactory environment that encourages a first-class working performance.
Ready to Increase Your CSI Score?
No question that boosting your dealership’s CSI Score should be at the top of your agenda, but with your limited time, it can be difficult to add your CSI Score to your dealership’s to-do list.
If you’re interested in using video as a part of your CSI process, take a look at TradePending’s Video for Sales and Video for Service apps (formerly known as Snapcell).
Designed with automotive dealerships in mind, this app is bursting with features that will help enhance customer experience and in turn affect the increase of your CSI score. Schedule a demo today.