ATLANTA, Feb 09, 2011—Recognizing automotive dealerships are always looking for ways to increase the profitability of fixed operations and customer loyalty, Summit Resources, LLC, has launched a free version of its’ innovative LoyaltyCash(TM) program for dealers. The easy-to-use web-based rewards program keeps dealers’ customers coming back month after month, year after year—and spending more money at the dealership.
LoyaltyCash gives dealers a competitive advantage by rewarding clients for repeat business. The program tracks every customer transaction, from new and used car sales to parts and service purchases. The more customers spend at a dealership, the more LoyaltyCash they earn to apply toward future transactions, including service or a vehicle purchase.
“Dealers like the program because it increases repeat business, is highly cost-effective, easy to manage and integrates with their databases,” said Jonathan Lucenay, CEO of Summit Resources. “Moreover, dealers find LoyaltyCash is a powerful tool to help increase the profitability of fixed operations and makes a rewards program a profit center.”
Results from Summit’s LoyaltyCash pilot program confirm that dealers who averaged one year using the program saw a 76 percent jump in service revenue, a 66 percent increase in dollars spent per repair order, and a 15 percent rise in the number of repair orders per month.
Another attractive feature is that LoyaltyCash is extremely easy to use and allows clients to enroll themselves. Most automotive loyalty programs require finance managers or service advisors to go through a time-consuming setup process for every customer—time that could be better used selling other products such as service contracts and service work. LoyaltyCash eliminates that time drain.
“LoyaltyCash is efficient and has definitely increased our sales and service retention rates,” said Michael Brown, vice president of operations for Atlantic Auto Group in Long Island, New York.
Dealers also like the fact that LoyaltyCash is scalable and fully customizable; dealers decide what percentage of cash on the dollar to assign as a reward as well as how much customers can redeem on repairs, parts or other purchases.
Mike Breyfogle, general manager of Tempe Dodge Chrysler, Jeep, Kia in Tempe, Arizona agrees. “I’ve always believed a well-managed loyalty program would benefit our dealership and improve customer retention. Several years ago, we developed our own loyalty program but quickly found it was a nightmare to administer and didn’t produce the results we wanted. The Summit software is simple to use and automatically tracks clients’ entire repair order history, how much they spend with us and their LoyaltyCash balance. Our customers appreciate the additional savings and like the fact they can access their service records 24/7.”
Hundreds of Tempe Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Kia customers are signing up for the program every month and have already achieved significant savings on products and services.
“Since it’s six to eight times more expensive to acquire new customers than retain existing ones, and repeat clients spend about a third more than new customers, it makes sense for dealers to do everything they can to build repeat business,” added Lucenay. “Summit is proud to be the first company to offer a tested loyalty solution that dealers can implement free of charge.”
A premium version of LoyaltyCash is available that provides expanded features like monthly (rather than quarterly) reports and unlimited customer emails.
LoyaltyCash complements Summit’s core products, Client Command Connect and Client Command Insights, which identify likely buyers in a market and offer “guaranteed vehicle sales.” Dealers can order sales just as they would order inventory and only pay for closed sales. Lucenay said that dealers working with Summit Resources can expect to see a 15-20 percent increase in sales right away, with an increase of 25-30 percent after a year, plus reduced expenditures for marketing.
ABOUT SUMMIT RESOURCES
Summit Resources, LLC, is an Atlanta-based marketing company that provides ‘guaranteed sales’ for auto dealers (new and pre-owned) throughout the U.S. The company’s proprietary Inteliprofile(TM) Technology and Intention Indicator(TM) Technology are unique in the industry and proven to be effective at increasing dealer sales and customer retention. Summit works with 1,500 clients in all 50 states and has closed more than 60,000 sales for auto dealers with an estimated value of more than $1.5 billion in sales revenue. The company has been featured on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in America in 2007, 2008 and 2009. For more information visit: www.srppm.com.