To implement the “Customer for Life” philosophy of Carl Sewell, it has to be carried out in all departments in your dealership, not just the new- and used-car departments.

Your dealership must be a place your customers come back to again and again for all their automotive needs. In short, the “Customer for Life” philosophy has to permeate every department in the dealership. 

This brings us to the Cinderella of the dealership: the detail department.

One dealer stated his personal philosophy about retaining customers, which was to compete honestly on new car and truck sales, and to provide more for his customers. He indicated that he wanted customers to come back to his dealership for future vehicle purchases, but it is just as important to have them come back for their service needs, as well.  However, unlike most dealers, service to him is more than mechanical, it is cosmetic too.

As he pointed out, “We have an in-house need to detail cars and wash cars, so why not offer that to our customers, too?”

And the dealership does that! The in-house detail department is equipped with the latest detail technology, and the store performs its in-house detailing, new car make-ready, and sell detailing to service customers. In addition, with an automatic car wash, they give new- and used-car customers free car washes for a year.

By implementing both of these programs, they have truly made a commitment to keeping their customers for life.

The Car Care Council reports there is $60 billion in annual unperformed vehicle maintenance. A goal of their Be Car Care Aware campaign is to reach out to the motoring public and reverse that trend in unperformed maintenance, of which car washing and detailing is a huge percentage. Think of it: two industries — the car wash and detail industries — make big money off “your customers.”

This is a good reason to make sure that your detail department is capturing your share of this market that has slipped away.

As warranty work becomes less of a factor in most dealerships, capturing car wash and detail business is the key to expanding your dealership’s revenues.

A few dealers recognize the value and importance of their detail department, bt you must have a good marketing plan in place to market these services to current and prospective customers; otherwise you will not enjoy the revenues.  
There are some resources available to assist you in creating new business opportunities with your detail department and carwash. Remember, new customers to a detail department can become prospective customers for new or used cars as well as service work.

But you have to recognize the opportunity and move to take advantage.

Two key factors are vital for a progressive and profitable detail department — setting up with the “latest technology” and training the “right” people. Most dealership detail departments are operating with 1940’s technology and people who are basically unemployable anywhere else and un-trainable because they already “know everything”.

As the owner, you need to look for and be willing to invest in technology that will increase productivity, reduce labor and improve quality. Then hire and train competent people; that is, people with good values that can learn the necessary detailing skills. Frankly speaking, most experienced detailers are not these kinds of people.

There are some detail industry consultants, including my company DETAIL PLUS, that can assist you in your effort to setup and staff your detail department so it can be a revenue producer, not an expense, and at the same time drive current and new customers to your showroom and service department. All you have to do is take action.|

A user-friendly website is vital to the success of a successful detail department. Most dealers market their service departments on the store sites, but many fail to include the detail department. Alternatively, they do not provide adequate information to allow customers to understand online what is offered or make appointments.

Make it easy for customers to locate the detail department section of your site; clearly describe your hours of operation, detail department location and special services offered. Most importantly, make it quick and easy for the customer to enter their vehicle information, as the use of online appointments is growing rapidly with a computer literate society.

Follow-up with detail customers is very important. You want to be in regular contact with customers, so follow up with phone calls and mailings. Create a separate line on your work order that describes detail services needed.

Then follow up with that customer by mailing or emailing a discount coupon for the specific detail service. Have a person who calls customers for the service department also follow up for the detail department and schedule new detail appointments. Remember, people have two to three cars per family.

If you do not have the resources or systems to gain customers for your detail department or follow up with existing customers, there are several services available to dealers.

While most dealers recognize the value of well-trained personnel and the importance of employing ASE-certified parts specialists and technicians, this is an area completely over-looked when it comes to detailers. They just hire anyone who says they have experience.

This needs to be improved, and it will not improve if the dealer does not “drive it”.

If I can assist you in this area, please feel free to call or email me at 1-800-284-0123 ext. 4 or buda@detailplus.com