Here’s a look at the concerns he heard about consistently along with just a few of the ways Kukui is addressing them.
Customer retention
This is an issue that’s becoming increasingly hard for shop owners to ignore. With increased competition for business and better built cars on the road, luring customers in for return visits is getting tougher and tougher. It’s estimated that half of a shop’s customers are new each year. To drive retention, many shops (and retailers in general) have instituted email systems, hoping that consumers will be prompted to take action when a special offer hits their inbox. Unfortunately, our research has shown that this approach has been heavily overused, with some retailers sending out multiple emails a week to encourage a purchase. Consumers are simply starting to ignore the marketing emails arriving in their inbox.
Our belief at Kukui is that less is more. Rather than bombarding customers with generic email blasts, personalize your communications based on what services the customer has asked for in the past and what they might need in the near future. The new version of our software, Kukui 4.0, takes retention to a new level by allowing shop owners to more easily integrate phone calls into their follow-up plan.
Our system will automatically generate a call list for service writers consisting of customers who have maintenance requirements in the near future. We’ve found that incorporating these more personal interactions can make a significant difference in landing additional appointments. One shop that tested the system went from never making reminder calls to actively scheduling appointments through these follow-up calls. As a result, the shop experienced a large increase in sales, proving that having a human element in your retention efforts is essential
Marketing mayhem
These days, shop owners need to be digital marketing masters. In addition to keeping their shops running smoothly, they’re expected to pen engaging social media posts, create compelling email blasts and send customized text reminders for follow-up service. Direct mail is also making a comeback, so shop owners should be well-versed on how to utilize this old-school, but very effective marketing approach. But how can already overwhelmed shop owners stay ahead of all these evolving marketing vehicles? The simple answer is, they can’t – at least not without some outside support. Some shops have tried to outsource these tasks to a variety of vendors. The problem with that type of solution is that it can become cumbersome to manage three or four different vendors.
Kukui’s platform offers shop owners the ability to handle all of their marketing efforts through one system and includes a dedicated marketing coordinator to provide guidance. We’re clearly biased in favor of our solution, but if you decide to outsource your marketing, consider consolidating as many services under one umbrella as possible to make it easier to manage.
Analysis paralysis
Analysis paralysis. It was once difficult to determine how many customers came in from your website or how much money they spent at your shop. But now, data abounds and sometimes it can be difficult to make use of all that information. Taken alone, performance data might not mean much to a shop. A shop owner needs some type of comparison data to determine if they are performing well in the key areas that ultimately drive their success.
Kukui has provided a way to quickly show shop owners their critical metrics along with industry benchmarks for comparison. These rankings allow the owner to quickly see if there are hidden problem areas that could be undermining the shop’s success. In addition, our system also reveals areas of outstanding performance, which can be very helpful for boosting employee moral and productivity.
