03 December 2020

PARTNER FEATURE

Earlier in the year the UK Government approved a six-month MOT extension for all vehicles with an MOT due between 30 March and 31 July 2020. This was a practical measure to facilitate social distancing during the lockdown period, but it will result in increased demand for MOTs from September onwards. For dealers that are already wading through a backlog of sales enquiries, this provides yet another challenge to overcome.

A busy time for dealers, made busier

Naturally there will be an influx of new MOT business as the extension draws to a close. Coupled with significant numbers of naturally expiring MOTs, the typical number of service bookings, and anticipated high demand around the September plate change, and dealers could face a bottleneck as they deal with high volumes of sales and aftersales enquiries.

To stay ahead of the curve, it is important that dealers manage customers’ expectations and encourage them to book in as early as possible. Electronic customer relationship management (eCRM) tools allow dealers to automate much of the communications process, sending relevant, personalised messages to the right customers at the right times.

Our earlier research suggests 60% of motorists are more likely to book a service or MOT with a workshop that reminds them at an appropriate juncture. Programmatic email campaigns make this effortless.

Workshops can also enhance their ability to retain aftersales custom by putting processes in place to capture a customer’s full contact details. Recent Marketing Delivery data indicated that 21% of dealers’ aftersales customer records don’t include an email address; 11% didn’t include a mobile phone number.

Opening communication with customers a suitable amount of time before their MOT is due won’t just help dealerships to maximise their workshop utilisation, it could also help customers avoid a situation where they forget their MOT has lapsed.

MOT marketing

Marketing Delivery is also launching a new aftersales service to help dealers address any weaknesses in their data collection. Called MOT Box, the new system is designed to help those dealers struggling with an aftersales bottleneck, cross-checking customer vehicle data against the DVSA’s MOT database to fill gaps and address inaccuracies.

Automatically identifying potential MOT customers at the click of a button, MOT Box effortlessly helps aftersales staff to create a tailored programmatic email campaign, targeting all customers with vehicles over three years old.

This is another example of how automated, digital systems can save dealers a significant amount of time.

It is crucial that dealers now use this opportunity to ‘think digital’, and unlock the possibilities that it offers. Many workshops could, in fact, find that automated aftersales interaction could be the competitive differentiator that sets them apart.

By Jeremy Evans, managing director, Marketing Delivery

Tags: Marketing Delivery, partner feature