Resource Using Text to Deliver a Better Customer Experience Feb 2020

Using Text to Deliver a Better Customer Experience at your Dealership

J.D. Power 2019 Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study
J.D. Power 2019 Customer Service Index (CSI) Study

*Prepared for Podium


Executive Summary

• Based on feedback from over 28,000 sales customers and 58,000 service customers, dealership use of text messaging during the shopping experience and after-sales process supports a significantly improved customer experience.
  
• While customer preference for text communications has increased at a steady rate, dealership usage has not kept pace. Service customer preference for text updates has increased from 21% to 34% over the past five years. Meanwhile, actual usage has only increased from 1% to 9%.
  
• Almost all brands benefit from increased text usage. Non-premium sales customers report a 10 point increase in satisfaction while service customers report a 26 point CSI lift. Yet no brands consistently provide their customers a text-friendly customer experience.
  
• Among all communication channels, text contributes to the most significant decrease in sales process time; 33% of customers who use text spend less than two hours at the dealership purchasing their vehicle.
  
  
• Use of text service updates creates the highest intended service loyalty among communication channels with 61% of non-premium customers and 64% of premium customers intending to return to their dealer for paid service.
  
  
• Across both purchase and after sales, text is the communication channel that creates the highest lift in both customer satisfaction and loyalty. Particularly in service, the progression from no contact at all to service text updates (172 points) is striking and addresses the more significant engagement that customers are seeking.

Download the study / white-paper