VW servicing.

Franchise dealers should redoubling their efforts to sell service plans to make the most of the five-year warranties being introduced by some manufacturers.

That’s according to advice from dealer management systems specialist Pinewood, which says that the extra warranty length should be used by dealers as a means to build longer-term customer relationships.

Managing director Neville Briggs told ModernSelling.com: ‘Traditionally, dealers have found it difficult to retain the aftersales business of customers and cars much beyond three years. This is the point in time at which a standard new car warranty normally ends and also when the vehicle is sold to its second owner.’

Continue the relationship

He said: ‘What five year warranties provide is a new opportunity for dealers to continue that relationship. If a customer is returning to the dealership for warranty work, then they should also be targeted for servicing and other routine maintenance.’

He added: ‘Ideally, to cement the relationship, the dealer should be selling them a service plan to run alongside the five-year warranty that ensures that this business is guaranteed for the future. This is true whether the car is on its first or subsequent owner.’

CRM tools

Briggs claimed that dealers needed to look to the CRM tools available to them to make the most of this opportunity.

He explained: “It is a question of using the marketing tools at your disposal to their fullest in order to promote service plans. However, a good first step is to work out the service plan cost for each customer covered by a five-year warranty and send them a text, e-mail or letter from within the DMS which gives them an idea of how cost-effective a service plan can be.

‘The system can also be set up so that each time a customer comes into the dealership for servicing, they are referred to someone who can explain how the bill they have just paid could be made more affordable by monthly service plan payments.’

Briggs concluded: ‘This is a real opportunity for dealers and one that should be taken seriously.’

VW plan

Meanwhile, Volkswagen has launched its ‘most straightforward and comprehensive fixed-price servicing offer yet, aimed at providing great value to customers who own Volkswagen cars aged between three and 10 years old’. 

VW’s head of customer services and aftersales, Stephen Butt said: ‘We’re launching this fixed-price servicing programme as an extension of the service promise we introduced last year, allowing customers of older Volkswagens to enjoy the same standards of aftersales care as owners of newer cars.’ 

He continued: ‘When we asked customers what they wanted, transparent servicing costs were top of the list.  We’re confident that by introducing these and offering service and maintenance by Volkswagen experts with the latest training who have instant access to the right tools and technology, there will be no reason for owners of older vehicles to look outside the network for aftersales care.’

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