There’s a little-known secret in the auto industry and that best kept secret is that recalls are a huge money maker for auto dealers. In fact, 80% of manufacturer’s safety recalls are never serviced. That’s a huge chunk of revenue being left on the table for auto dealers to take advantage of.

This sizeable amount of money can be captured by effective notification of manufacturer’s recalls through modern technology; in particular texting. One major reason why customers are not bringing in their vehicles for recalls is because they are usually unaware that there is a safety recall in the first place.

Therefore, traditional communication is lacking in this instance and needs to be addressed. Let’s take a look at how important recalls are, to not only protecting customers and making sure they are safe, but also the revenue potential.

RECALLS: The Auto Dealership’s Best Kept Secret

If you work in the automotive industry, you know that there’s a secret which people in the industry usually keep to themselves and that secret is the amount of money which is generated from manufacturer recalls.

The statistics surrounding recalls are staggering. There are at least 1 in 10 vehicles on the road today are in some way or the other affected by recalls. Yet 80% of these recalled vehicles NEVER GET SERVICED.

Recalls drive huge revenue to auto dealerships because, although the service is free to the customer, the manufacturer of the recalled vehicle has to pay the auto dealership for the service. This means, more revenue into the dealership and more opportunities to upsell the customer when he or she enters your service department.

As newer models come to market and these models become more dependent on technology, you can bet that there will be more safety recalls in the future. These parts are not only new but are more and more expensive, which means incremental revenue opportunities for auto dealerships.

Recalls are nothing new, however the ways in which auto dealers are informing their customers about these recalls are becoming more and more sophisticated by the day. Gone are the days of ONLY sending recall notices by mail. Auto dealers can now legally supplement mailing notices by using technology such as email.

However, the true winner when it comes to informing the customer about safety recalls is text messaging. Yes! Texting is the most effective way to inform your customer about recalls to their vehicle. It has an unsurpassed open rate of 98% and has the hands down best return on investment (ROI)

Other Opportunities From Vehicle Safety Recalls

Another important aspect of getting more OEM recalls into your dealership are the opportunities to perform maintenance, manufacturer’s recommended services or review previously declined services while you have the customer’s full attention.

This is the perfect occasion for a service advisor to shine and maximize the cash flow into the register.

It’s also a perfect time to possibly take in a highly sought-after trade-in vehicle that the dealership can make a large profit margin from. In some cases, the selling of a brand-new vehicle.

As the old saying goes, “it’s better to try and fail than fail to try.” The more chances you get to have customers inside of your dealership, the more revenue you’ll be able to generate.

With text communication you can easily upsell products and services to your existing customers. Services such as, manufacturer’s recommended maintenance, wear and tear products like tires or brake pads, service and detailing promotions and much more. Once the customer is in your service bay, offer packaged deals at a discounted price and they are sure to take it.

Using Text Messaging Effectively To Inform Customers About Recalls

Studies have shown that using text can increase customer reach and have increased revenue by up to 50% on average; sometimes a lot more.

A recent study from J.D. Power even notes that recall related services are seeing an increase in customer satisfaction. Currently, dealer service communication overwhelmingly takes place either in-person or over the phone, with just 2% of all customers receiving service updates from text message or email. Despite surveys that indicate 37% of Generation X, 38% of Generation Y, and even 22% of baby boomers would prefer dealerships text them.

This shows that there is a lot of room for improvement within the auto industry to grow and increase profit. There’s also a lot of regulatory changes taking place in terms of how auto dealerships interact with their customers and it’s moving towards text communication.

Companies now have the power to drive more traffic to their storefronts and increase overall revenue.

TEXT2DRIVE Brings Texting to Auto Dealers

If you are reading this and wishing that there was a technology service out there that allowed text communication within the auto industry, so you can better inform your customers about recalls, TEXT2DRIVE was created for you.

Our customers (dealerships just like yours) have seen, on average, more than an 11,000% increase in ROI since adopting TEXT2DRIVE. TEXT2DRIVE brings text messaging to the auto dealers with a legally compliant and easily adoptable communications software platform.

Total Pay from recall text exceeds a monthly average of $161,000 for our clients. Take for example, one of our Denver Chrysler clients. This company had a Total Pay ROI of over 34,000%. These increases in revenue through texting are phenomenal. But don’t take our word for it, check us out today and let’s prove it to you.

Lack of communication is no longer an excuse for not giving your customers the proper attention that they need. If you’re experiencing pain points that can be easily remedied through open communication within your organization, then consider implementing the TEXT2DRIVE text messaging platform.