Driving Customer Loyalty in the Subscription-Based Automotive Industry
Frédéric Baroin
Global Head of Automotive Business at Anyline
Look around, and you’ll quickly find that the subscription-based method of building sales is growing. It’s possible to get a wide range of items delivered right to your home or sign up for recurring access to TV programming through an app. The automotive industry is also poised to adopt more of these subscription-based models. By doing this, it will be easier to increase the features and services that can be offered to customers and generate ongoing revenue. Consider how this may work and how to enhance it.
Subscription-Based Services Are All the Talk
In a recent podcast with Nodar COO Brad Rosen, we discussed the use of subscription-based services within the automotive industry. He noted an experience he personally had in which he took his vehicle, a Volvo, to a service provider. However, because of the high cost of the new software that required servicing, the service provider could not adapt to the technology. That forced Rosen to have to take his vehicle to a different location, the actual vehicle dealership, to have the service completed.
More and more, we are seeing manufacturers developing enhanced features that are “locked away” to the owner of the vehicle unless the subscription service is set up. That could be enhanced features like heated seats or safety tools, like vehicle GPS tools, WiFi, and vehicle performance.
OEM Manufacturers and Dealerships can develop programs for their Customers
Considering how much consumers love the subscription model, OEM manufacturers and dealerships have a unique opportunity on their hands to enhance the service they provide and increase revenue streams. The key is to position the offering in a way that makes it ideal, desirable, and perfectly suited to the customer, so they want to use it.
Implement programs should be as hassle-free as possible for the customer
One of the core limitations of subscription models is making the process effortless while still beneficial for the customer. There are large-scale ways to do that, such as by enhancing the features of the vehicle or working on adding digital content to the car’s systems.
A simpler tool can be put into place immediately. For example, consumers consistently worry about tire health and lack the skills or time to determine when they need to replace or upgrade tires. Tread depth is a component of this. Organizations can empower customers by providing them with access to a tread depth scanner, a simple download on their smartphone. They can then use this to scan their vehicle’s tires and find out if they need to bring it in for repairs or not.
Ultimately, this type of service helps to encourage consumers to be safe on the road, but it also creates a more personalized and easy support tool that consumers appreciate. It also helps to get them in for new tires or repairs sooner, potentially avoiding an accident.
Anyline’s tread depth scanner is a seamless integration that dealerships and service providers can install and recommend to their customers. Within moments, accurate information is scanned, uploaded, and can be used to help keep drivers safe. It is also very convenient, because now the consumer doesn’t have to go to the shop just to have their tires checked. That enhances the customer’s experience with the provider.
There is significant value in creating and effectively managing these programs. Programs like this can work to keep people safe on the roadway, but they also enhance the overall perception a customer has of the provider, dealership, and manufacturer. Ultimately, they build loyalty because they can trust that they have the information and tools they need to manage their needs.
No matter what type of subscription-based solution is offered, by making it an opportunity to better the customer’s experience and providing easy-to-access value to the customer, it will be desired and even sought-after resource. Organizations that take the first steps in creating and implementing customer-forward, subscription-based services are most likely to get into the forefront of this industry and capitalize on it as a direct result. Anyline’s solutions can be a starting point for many organizations to do just that.
