If you work in the dealership world, you should be familiar with telematics and how it can help to improve scheduling and route planning, clamp down on poor driver behaviour, reduce insurance costs and cut down on communications admin. But did you know it can also help you to improve customer service, and therefore aftersales revenue, too?
In this article, we’ll talk you through the link between vehicle tracking and customer service, and explain how telematics can help you build strong relationships with your customers.
Ability to offer extended and unaccompanied test drives
Though desirable to customers, extending test drives to periods of 24-48 hours can lead to costly insurance premiums and pose risks such as theft, vandalism and road traffic accidents.
However, using telematics allows you to have better visibility of how your vehicles are being used in real time during the test drive process. This reduces insurance costs, meaning that you can more easily offer extended test drives to your customers.
Find out more in our free guide: 5 things to consider when choosing a telematics supplier.
As well as being a valuable sales tool, extended and unaccompanied test drives also help you create strong relationships with your customers by highlighting your dealership as a modern and supportive business that puts the customer first. What’s more, if customers are happy, they’re more likely to recommend you to others, which in turn can lead to an increase in revenue for your business.
Ability to offer courtesy cars
Offering courtesy cars for drivers whose own vehicles are in repair can be risky, especially if it’s for a prolonged period of time. Without insight into how the customer will use the courtesy vehicle, day insurance rates can increase due to risks of damage, vandalisation or even theft.
But thanks to telematics, you’ll be able to reduce this risk and lower insurance costs. By having that real time information on the location of your vehicles, as well as time spent on the road and driver behaviour, you can monitor courtesy cars closely.
Again, being able to provide courtesy cars to those who need them is a big plus in the customer service stakes. It puts you in front of your competitors as a supportive company and is likely to keep your business name at the front of your customers’ minds when they require dealership services in the future.
Bear in mind, however, that some telematics are complicated to use and require you to be hands-on in your analysis; this can be a burden for a busy dealership. Make sure you look for a solution that helps your business draw value from the data provided by the telematics.
Better information on the whereabouts of your fleet
Having up-to-the-minute information on where your vehicles are at any given time means you can apply more accurate scheduling to your fleet.
It also allows you to know when vehicles will become available, which in turn means you can make sure your customers aren’t waiting around for too long for a courtesy car whilst their own is being repaired. This is especially important, as being without a vehicle can be a very stressful time; if you’re able to offer convenience when customers need it most, this will significantly improve their experience with you.
This small improvement to customer communication again helps you to build strong relationships with those using your service, which can lead to an increase in revenue in the long-term
Telematics also provide vehicle diagnostics data to help you assess the health of your courtesy cars. This helps you to plan maintenance and gives your customers peace of mind that their courtesy vehicle is reliable and in good condition. As a result, this will strengthen customer relationships with your business.
Want to improve your customer service with real time vehicle tracking?
Get our free guide and find out how you can ensure you can stay updated on the whereabouts of your fleet every minute of the working day.
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