Service Clinics

[JERRYC]

Greetings all-Just searching for new ideas on service clinics-not to be confused with new car clinics.

I usally do 2 service clinics per year on a Saturday from 8-2pm. I offer a free inspection and usally give away a small inexpensive gift to encourge customers to show up for their appointment. The turn out is somewhere around 75-100 vehicles.

So if you have done anything similar with success I would be intrested in hearing your ideas and suggestions.

Thanks

[Matt Parsons]

Jerry, in a previous role I had, I supported literally dozens of service clinics at varying dealerships across New Jersey and New York.

I was always amazed that more dealers did not invest in these type of activities as the return on investment was significant. The clinics I participated in were basically large 'parties' where the dealership invited their client base to attend an event at the store during which a detailed evaluation was done of each vehicle. The entire dealerships service and sales team was in attendance, and the vehicle was literally inspected at every 'station' in the shop including putting the car on an alignment machine, a diagnostic computer (such as Techline for GM), outstanding recall campaign search, etc. Where at all possible, printouts from equipment were provided to show clients the relative health of their vehicle. In addition, the used car team put an appraisal on each vehicle that was past a certain number of years old so the customer might be swayed to look at a new vehicle.

The dealers I worked with claimed that within 2 weeks they generated tens-of-thousands of dollars of additional service work they would not have received, in addition to it never failing that 2-3 customers entered the new vehicle purchase process that evening with a sales person. For many customers, there was little if anything their cars/trucks needed, however it created a sense of goodwill that their vehicle was in good shape.

Best of luck to you.

[This message has been edited by Matt Parsons (edited 05-10-2004).]

[David Cates]

Sounds like a very good idea to me; a way to increase customer satisfaction as well as create additional sales and service revenue opportunities.

Seems like it would be a good idea to tailor these to the types of customers you would like to attract for a particular event. In other words, analyze the database for specific types of customers that should need the most service, or perhaps have high mileage, warranties near expiration, etc... in order to create the most opportunties.

I also like Matt's idea of having everything ready for them once you know who is attending, etc.. if that is possible.

Putting together a long-term personalized strategy designed to keep each and every customer coming back in for all types of service (maintenance, etc..) as well as getting them ready for their next purchasing process is a very good idea in my opinion.

[This message has been edited by David Cates (edited 05-10-2004).]

[This message has been edited by David Cates (edited 05-10-2004).]