It’s a new year full of possibilities. Twists and turns we take today will seem like ancient history a year from now. As we start a fresh trip around the sun, there’s one question that’s keeping dealerships up at night. How can you build dealership loyalty if customer expectations keep changing? Glad you asked.

What's Customer-Centricity?

Customer-centricity is more than just another marketing buzzword. It’s a way of doing business that puts the customer at the center of each process, task, communication, and effort. This approach influences a buyer journey before, during, and after the point of purchase.

You already know that your car-buyers expect to be front-and-center when interacting with your dealership. A recent Forbes list of statistics on digital transformation and customer experience includes nuggets of customer-centricity that dealerships can leverage right now. Here are a few that stand out:

“76% of consumers expect companies to understand their needs and expectations.”

Your customers don’t just want to be understood. They expect it. It wasn’t so long ago that consumers shied away from sharing personal data with businesses. But in 2020, we’re all about it - as long as it’s used in a way that’s relevant to your customer.

You’ve seen the ads that pop up related to things you’ve been researching or reading about online. They help serve up more info and keep those items or subjects top-of-mind. But when that browsing data is misused or outdated, it’s annoying. Ever notice that all of a sudden, websites are flooded with digital ads for something you bought yesterday? Nobody likes that and the experience is definitely not customer-centric.

“73% of shoppers use more than one channel during their shopping journey.”

Dealership loyalty bottom line: Provide continuity across all channels, online and offline. Create experiences that seamlessly translate from your website to your dealership sales floor with customer-generated data. Two-thirds of a company’s competitive edge are a direct result of friction-less experiences.

• 83% of consumers say they want the ability to move between channels as they shop online.
• 80% of companies invest in an omni-channel customer experience, even if only half seem to have mastered it.
• Companies that provide the most seamless transition between online and brick-and-mortar see an 89% retention rate.
• That same percentage of customers reports frustration when they have to repeat a question during the buying experience

“Only 31% of companies are actually experience-led.”

Dealership loyalty bottom line: Put your customers at center of your dealership.

All aspects of your business, from employees to your processes, should center around the experience that your customers have with your brand. Dealerships that are doing this well are leveraging their data to manage customer relationships. Basically, they’re meeting consumer expectations and they’re way ahead of pack.

So, now that we’ve addressed the how we’ll stay ahead of ever-changing customer expectations, we have a question for you. Is your dealership part of that 31% leading the way with customer centricity, or are you behind with the other 69% that are still not with the program?

Either way, we’re all about harnessing your data and delivering customer-centric tools that build and protect your dealership loyalty. See how our customer experience platform can help you put the customer at the heart of your business in 2020.