RobMax Web SolutionsCustomers are more willing to forgive service problems if they are recommended to your auto repair shop by a friend. Are you actively asking your customers for recommendations? RobMax has a number of tools to encourage personal recommendations and help build a loyal following of great customers.
Friends forgive
A study by People Metrics1 revealed that customers who experience a service problem were more likely to remain a loyal customer if they were recommended rather than if they found the company on their own.
Stronger company loyalty
Nearly 40% of recommended customers who experienced a service problem remain devoted to the company, where as just 25% of customers who had a problem with a business that was not recommended to them remained a customer.
Long lasting benefits
One of the most powerful conclusions of the study was that personal recommendations have benefits far beyond just generating new sales. Recommendations provide “insurance against a less than stellar (customer) experience.”2 The feeling of loyalty and trust the recommendation creates allows the customer to overlook the odd service problem.
How to get recommendations
As the PeopleMetrics study shows personal recommendations are extremely valuable to any business. Auto repair shops need to constantly encourage their customers to recommend them to their friends and associates.
P.S. Here is my article that highlights two other findings in the PeopleMetrics study: maintaining contact with your customers can assist in finding service problems, and quick and efficient handling of service issues can help you retain your customers.
1 PeopleMetrics 2009 Most Engaged Customers Study (exectutive summary). retrieved on 2009-07-07.
2 PeopleMetrics 2009 Most Engaged Customers Study (exectutive summary). retrieved on 2009-07-07. Page 4.