Two Florida Hyundai Dealerships Connect with Lost Service Customers Using Recalls

Service Activity and New Car Sales Jump Unexpectedly, Boosting Revenue and the Dealership’s Outlook on Recalls

A funny thing happened on the way to doing the right thing by Hyundai owners facing recalls in Florida – it turned out to be a huge revenue opportunity. Cocoa and Coastal Hyundai, have increased service revenue and sell a significant amount of vehicles out of their service drive through implementing a full-service recall management program that helps capture secondary vehicle owners; customers that were previously lost to them.  Recall Masters, Inc., the leading provider of automotive recall news, data, training, and communications, spearheaded the effort for these two Florida Hyundai stores through comprehensive recall management.

From July to December of last year the program drove $386,574 in additional service revenue for Coastal Hyundai, consisting of $275, 304 warranty revenue and $111,271 Customer Pay, with an average RO of $356. Cocoa Hyundai realized $312,494 additional service revenue, consisting of $185,501 warranty revenue, $126,984 Customer Pay and an average RO of $380.  And that’s not all – between the two dealerships, they also sold an additional 134 vehicles off the service drive.

According to Sean Sanger, General Manager at both Cocoa and Coastal Hyundai, Recall Masters is now the dealerships’ external recall department and handles much of the process for them.

“When dealing with recall customers, it’s difficult to squeeze any Customer Pay work out of them and, with this program, we have very strong numbers for Hyundai. This proves a couple things: Recall Master’s call center does a good job planting the seed in the consumer’s mind about any additional needed work by simply asking them if there’s anything else they would like the certified technician to look at. The communications sent to the customer also offer exclusive benefits including a free car wash and shuttle. The complimentary electronic MPI then enables the tech to find additional work and the advisors at both stores do a great job upselling their customers and closing on CP work,” Sanger stated.

Recall Masters assists the dealerships by taking over where the Hyundai factory recall program leaves off. It identifies all vehicle owners in the dealership’s marketing area with unperformed recalls since the year 2000; leveraging more than 40 data sources to identify up to three times more open recall vehicles than Hyundai can, along with hard to find secondary owners with more current addresses than the DMV.

The program was implemented at the two stores as follows: First, owners were identified in both dealership’s DMAs with open recalls which were not in their customer database and who had not yet visited the dealership; along with active and lost customers from the dealership’s DMS.

These all became prospects to receive sustained recall communications. A total of 4,739 vehicle VINS were identified with open recalls at Coastal Hyundai and 5,998 at Cocoa Hyundai. Recall Masters then began a concerted multi-channel communications effort to alert these customers of their recall status.

Recall Masters reached out to customers via telephone and email, informing them of a possible recall on their vehicle. This was followed by a recall reminder via first class mail, which specifically outlined the recall associated with their VIN. Each vehicle owner received multiple emails and phone calls with voicemail messages left as needed; and a mailed notice, alerting them of their recall status, urging them to visit the Hyundai store to have their vehicle repaired at no cost.  Recall Masters handled all customer calls and appointment setting for the dealership as its external recall BDC.

“Recall Master’s does a really efficient job of handling our recall customers and potential customers. They also expand our reach by going through research data and finding secondary owners that have no idea a recall exists. The OEM recall mailer only goes to the original owner registered through our dealership, so now we are getting customers we would not otherwise have a chance to see. Any customer like that is potential revenue down the road. When we first implemented the program, in under 10 days our customer pay was up significantly from these owners who were new to us, and it has continued to do well since. Our technicians do thorough MPIs and find safety issues other than the recall, as these are mostly older vehicles. It is a huge opportunity with a different customer base,” said Sanger.

According to Sanger, the program, has more than paid for itself at both his stores. For a total spend over a six month period of $18,610 at Coastal and $21,060 at Cocoa, the additional Customer Pay work alone has paid for the program six times over.

“Believe me, when we first started we did not want to spend around $3,000-$3,500 per month at each store.  We were already busy in our service departments before this successful recall program added even more business. However, the ROI in service at both stores has been substantial; to say nothing of the additional sales the program creates and the increase in our customer service scores. Our Recall Masters’ program creates opportunities to increase sales and service revenue and develop relationships that can produce customers for life – and the great thing is they make it easy by handling most of the customer conquest and communication process for us,” said Sanger.

The recall program is currently ongoing at both dealerships. Recall Masters conducts a weekly/monthly sweep to find any recall opportunities that exist and then sends recall communications out to those vehicle owners to generate new revenue opportunities for the service departments.

To learn more, or to schedule a demo or a free trial, call: 888-651-4480; email info@recallmasters.com; or visit: http://www.recallmasters.com.

 

 

About Recall Masters:

Recall Masters is the leading provider of automotive recall news, data, training, and communications. The company is dedicated to helping automakers and their dealers expedite the repair of recalled vehicles and make the roadways safer for everyone. Greater recall awareness and proactive management helps automakers protect their brand and build trusting relationships between automotive dealers, rental car agencies, auto auctions and consumers alike. Recall Masters is privately held and based in the Aliso Viejo, CA. www.recallmasters.com.