Everyday you put your heart, soul and a lot of effort into growing your RV dealership’s business. You have a tremendous reputation, you’ve been around a while and you are considered a pillar in the community. But even with all that longevity and goodwill, you, like most RV dealers, have a customer retention problem. You have to constantly spend to attract new customers because you can’t depend on your existing ones to buy parts, accessories or supplies from you.
In my opinion, customer retention and owner loyalty are more important than ever. There are hundreds of places customers can shop for RV’s, accessories, service, parts and supplies and some are more convenient and are perceived as more competitive. In addition to your normal competition from other RV dealers, you now have to compete with Wal-Mart, Target, auto and boat supply stores and thousands of online companies that are marketing to and stealing away your customers everyday. Face it, now more than ever, you need to give your customers a reason to do business only with you.
You know that owner loyalty makes sense. You know that loyal customers spend more in your parts and service departments and you know that retained customers are much more likely to buy their next RV from you. So how do you increase customer retention and owner loyalty?
Airlines, hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, credit card companies and lots of other businesses realized long ago how important customer loyalty was to their business and they did something about it. They needed to fight the competition and increase sales – and they did it by making their customers feel special with a membership in their owner loyalty club that rewards members with points that can be redeemed as extra discounts on future purchases. Imagine using your dealership’s owner loyalty club as an extra advantage, something that sets your dealership apart from the rest and something that adds more value to your RV deal - something that could actually be used as a closer; a reason to only buy from you!
Once they’ve bought, imagine saying “Thank You” with your owner loyalty club that entices customers back in your store with special “Members Only” discounts for service, parts, accessories or supplies. Imagine your customers earning loyalty points for every purchase that could be redeemed as extra discounts on future purchases, only at your store
Finally, you can give your customers a real reason to only do business with you. Most shoppers go elsewhere because they think you charge too much or are inconvenient, but with your owner loyalty club customers will drive out of their way to buy from you. Think about it - special recognition, special discounts, loyalty points and “Members Only” benefits - why would they ever go anywhere else?