One of the easiest ways to attract new customers is to have somebody else do it for you.
Past happy customers have the potential to be big advocates for your dealership. When cultivated correctly, you’d be surprised just how many referrals one good customer relationship can generate.
Here are three easy and innovative ways to help you spark customer referrals and get more deals from the customers you already have.
Referral Gifts
Everyone loves free stuff.
Immediately following someone’s purchase, send a gift basket to their office. Sending to their office is key. Why? Because birds of a feather flock together. That’s where you’ll make the biggest splash with your gift and hit a lot of other potential buyers.
Maybe you send freshly baked cookies that are going to smell up the office, something that’s going to get noticed and most importantly something that’s going to be shared. That’s why we like food best of all.
When people go to examine what’s going on and to share in the festivities they’re going to be curious about where the stuff came from. They’ll ask, “Where did the cookies come from?” If you include referral cards in the package the recipient will be able to give them out as an explanation for their fun gift.
Plus, this is easy to do.
Make a relationship with a local vendor. You could even do cross promotion (you hand out their marketing material at the dealership), so they give you a discount.
Service Incentives
If someone’s bought a car from you, chances are they’re going to need an oil change eventually. Remembering what we’ve already said about people loving free stuff, a clear referral opportunity starts to emerge.
Offer a free oil change to everyone who refers someone who not only comes into the dealership but actually purchases a car.
A free oil change is a small drop in the bucket compared to the advantage of gaining another customer and moving another vehicle. Plus, as small as a free oil change may seem to you, getting free maintenance on their car is a big deal for customers.
Use Customer Testimonials
People are naturally curious. They want to know what working with your dealership will be like before even visiting. So they turn towards online reviews.
You can’t control what people write about you online. And the truth of the matter is, the unhappiest people are always the first to leave reviews. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything.
Create a system that encourages people to fill out online reviews after they leave the dealership. Like a thank you card with a link to your reviews.
On top of written reviews, consider filming happy customers at your dealership who you’ve helped and are willing to share their story. An emotion driven testimonial video from a real person is ten times more powerful than an anonymous person’s bad review.
Plus, filming customer testimonials has never been easier since most people have video cameras right on their phone. And posting and sharing these videos is just as simple with social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
Don’t waste another minute.
Some dealers don’t see the real value in getting a customer. They don’t take the opportunity to leverage what they’ve already spent the time and money to do.
But when you execute strategies like we’re discussing here, you take control of the referral process by creating unique and clever ways to ask for and encourage referrals.
The beauty is this doesn’t cost that much money, and it takes just a little effort to set up the process. Unfortunately, that is where most dealers falter.
Don’t let a little money and a little work deter you from fully capitalizing on the work and customers you’re already getting and the marketing dollars you’re already spending.
Interested in more easy strategies to attract customers? Get our free eBook 5 Ways To Attract More Customers Without Spending More On Advertising to learn even more about attracting customers today.