What is omnichannel and why is it essential for you?

Omnichannel is how the whole dealership communicates with its customers.

It’s about creating a consistent customer experience across all parts of the dealership, from sales to service, to phone calls and in-person interactions. It becomes the lifeline to encourage your consumers to continue engaging (and do additional business transactions) with the dealership after they purchase a new vehicle.

When consumers visit your service shop or body shop (if you have one), how you communicate with them needs to be synchronized. Even though a customer may be a repeat buyer, the same report may not be automatically carried over and felt in other departments.

This happens most with the service department.

Remember: Customer loyalty is built in the service department and not in sales. Sales can get a customer in the door while service keeps them coming back. Omnichannel connects the two.

The public perception is that dealership service departments will be more expensive and apply more pressure than independent service shops. This is exactly why communication styles need to be in synch, or omnichannel, between the sales and the service departments.

Sales and service shouldn’t feel disconnected. Little things like regular customer loyalty recognition – thanking them for being a new customer or acknowledging a repeat buyer coming back for service — will go a long way to make the customer feel as welcome and invited to the service department as they are in the sales department. Offering additional discounts for being a loyal dealer customer and not just a service customer creates an omnichannel presence for consumers.

Future growth in the automotive industry will be won by the dealers who can turn car shoppers not only into buyers, but who can keep them coming back to service to maintain their vehicles.

To make this happen, they’ll have to remove roadblocks and get rid of any stereotypes that stand in the way of transitioning shoppers to the service department. Customers see one dealership, so their experience should feel like one relationship, too.

Robert Grill is the vice president of strategic client services at CARFAX