The most valuable dealership customer isn't necessarily the customer buying a vehicle today. It's the customer who buys from you today, services with you for years and returns to your dealership when they're ready for their next vehicle. That's the foundation of building customers for life.
During the Fixed Ops Roundtable event at Paragon Honda, David Lampel joins Brian Benstock, Ted Ings and Sarah Vantine to discuss why Fixed Operations plays such an important role in creating long-term dealership relationships.
Customer retention isn't created by one email, one service visit or one promotion. It's built throughout the ownership lifecycle.
Dealerships have opportunities to strengthen that relationship at every stage:
- First service
- Routine maintenance
- Recall communication
- Declined service follow-up
- Seasonal service
- Customer reactivation
- At-risk customer communication
- Vehicle replacement
Every interaction gives the dealership another opportunity to demonstrate value and remain relevant.
As a former new car dealer who now works with more than 1,000 dealerships nationwide through Dealerwing, David's approach is built around one fundamental principle: The sale should be the beginning of the customer relationship—not the end of it.
When dealerships combine good customer data with consistent and relevant communication, they can improve retention, increase Fixed Operations revenue and dramatically increase the lifetime value of the customer relationship.
Dealer resource
Build Retention on Data You Can Trust
The Dealerwing Data Hygiene Guide helps franchised dealers identify the customer data issues that can weaken lifecycle communication and retention.
About David Lampel
David Lampel is an automotive industry veteran, former new car dealer and President & CEO of Dealerwing. Today, David and the Dealerwing team work with more than 1,000 dealerships nationwide, helping dealers improve customer retention, Fixed Operations marketing and the use of customer data and emerging technologies. David is a frequent contributor to automotive industry discussions on dealership data, AI, customer communication and Fixed Operations growth.