Lessons of Customer Engagement during a Crisis

There are a lot of things that can be learned from a crisis or any kind of sales slowdown.  One lesson is the following:

Customers who have developed a trusted relationship with the dealership based on consistent, individualized engagement remain loyal and continue to buy and service even through difficult times.

Outsell’s Virtual Customer Engagement platform continued to send communications on behalf of dealer customers throughout the recent sales declines from April through July 2020. Dealers agreed that, especially during slow sales periods, it is important to maintain communication to their best and most engaged consumers. Progressive dealers provided real-time updates, special “dividend” offers, and other vital information through Outsell’s custom offers and ‘Important Update’ sections.

The results clearly make the case cited above. The share of dealership sales from engaged customers who received Outsell communications grew by more than 20% from the six months of October 2019 to March 2020 compared to the three months of April, May, and June 2020. During the slowest sales periods, more than 22% of dealership sales came from these highly engaged customers.

The chart below shows the results.

During otherwise slower sales periods, having an active Virtual Customer Engagement platform that communicates with a dealership’s best customers is vital to maintaining business.