It’s an old business adage that it’s cheaper to keep a customer than win a new one. Nowhere is this truer than for auto-brokers. Renewals are a huge potential source of income for leasing brokers and one of the best ways to secure predictable, repeatable revenue. Various research puts the cost of winning a new customer at anywhere from five to 25 times more than retaining an existing one, meanwhile numbers from Bain & Co. show that increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%. However, many brokers lack the visibility and tools to effectively track deals through their lifecycle, which leads to only contacting them towards the end of their contract when it’s too late.
The power of repeatable revenue
Over multiple sales cycles, retaining new customers adds significant extra revenue alongside focusing on new business, especially if deals can be scaled up with time.
Today, service levels are a more important driver for customer behaviour than ever. For car leasing brokers that means that the work towards securing a renewal begins from your very first interaction with a potential customer, and continues throughout their whole lifecycle.
The better the service you provide throughout customers’ interactions with you, including beyond the initial sale, the more likely they are to keep working with you. The challenge is to provide a consistent experience for your customers that can scale with your business. This requires a strategic approach and the right tools.
The benefits of this are two-fold. Firstly, the better the experience you provide, the more likely customers are to renew. Secondly, the more you focus on value through service, the less you rely on price as a distinguishing factor, increasing your potential margins.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the best practices, tips and tools for renewals and how you can nurture client relationships to increase return rates and revenue.
Building a foundation presale
The journey to a renewal starts from day one. Repeat business relies on creating a customer experience that provides value, and meets customers’ needs to the point that they want to go through it again. That’s why future business is all about customer service.
Prioritising customer insight
A modern customer experience should be personalised, simple and seamless. All of these require accurate data that you can easily share between your team.
From the moment a prospect fills out an enquiry form, through the discovery and due diligence processes, it’s essential to keep your records up to date in a way that your whole team can manage. The easiest way to do this is with a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solution.
Advantages of using a CRM include:
Consistency: Centralising information enables you to provide a consistent experience to customers. No matter which member of your team they’re dealing with, your customer can be sure that you have all their information to hand and understand their needs.
Efficiency: By digitising your customer information instead of managing it on paper, you can reduce instances of lost data or mistakes in the sales process. Not only does this save you time, but it guarantees a better experience for customers.
Relationship building: The more you know about your customers, the more you can tailor your service to their unique needs and circumstances. This helps your service stand out, while giving your customers more incentive to use you in future.
Get closer to your customers with accurate data
A CRM system is a must have for any customer-focused business. Accelerate by QV Systems is a flexible, end-to-end auto-financing platform designed specifically for auto brokers. With in-depth CRM functionality you can centralise your key customer data and create a customer centric experience based on accurate information, for every deal, every time.
- Track and tailor deals from enquiry to delivery and beyond, building valuable relationships that drive customer loyalty.
- Automate manual processes and minimise repetitive tasks to reduce unnecessary touch points while improving customer experience.
- Quickly assess and close deals with automated soft search and credit check functionality to spot issues in advance and improve conversions.
With full, in-depth visibility over every deal and easy automation, you can spend less time on manual tasks and more time on customer service.
Don’t just focus on the sale
Keeping in touch with customers has become more important than ever in recent months, as purchasing conditions become more uncertain due to supply chain issues in transport and production.
One of the core reasons customers work with a broker is to feel that they have someone to guide them through a significant transaction. For this to feel tangible, they should feel like you’re looking after them throughout the journey, rather than just a deal. Brokers should look to establish trigger points to talk to the customer throughout their presale journey.
This could look like:
- A check in personally at key junctions that could require support, such as understanding contracts or payment terms.
- Giving your customer peace of mind by introducing them to your customer service department to resolve any issues. This also demonstrates the depth of your organisation so they know it’s not just one broker or point of contact they deal with.
- A CRM is essential here to enable all your team members to have access to the same information. Without easily shared data, customers are limited to one point of contact who knows their deal personally.
Post-Sale Lifecycle Management
While your first deal is done once the vehicle has been delivered, your renewal journey is just beginning. By planning out your customer lifecycle and setting appropriate actions for your team, you can maintain your relationship and provide long term value.
First three months: referral focus
Since renewals are completely dependent on customer experience, the best time to make first contact with your customer is in the first 2 to 3 months. Tips for reaching out to customers include:
- A congratulations note on delivery of the vehicle
- A one month check to gather feedback on the sales process
- A three month check in to discuss any potential issues
Not only will the value you provided be fresh in their minds, but they’ll be enjoying their new vehicle.
While it’s too early to discuss renewals, this is the best time to talk about referrals. During this period, your new customer becomes the best person to recommend your business. The car is new enough to be spoken about to friends and acquaintances, as is their experience.
- By capitalising on that ‘new car feeling’, you can encourage them to recommend your service to their friends, family and colleagues.
- This is also the best time to request a third-party review through a service such as Trustpilot or Google My Business. Positive reviews make 91% of consumers more likely to use a business, so don’t miss out on the chance to acquire them.
Keep in touch with Customer Milestones
QV Milestones help you create a structured customer contact strategy for getting customers to re-engage with your brokerage when it matters most. You can set a Contract Milestone for any point in time during a contract. It can be either day one of the contract when it has gone live, the day a contract matures or any point between the two.
Mid-way through contract: Check-in to pre-empt issues
Touching base halfway through their contract to see how your customer is getting along gives you a chance to keep the relationship going. It’s also a chance to remind them of the value you provide with some advice or content.
For example, getting them to check current mileage against the mileage of the contract can help them avoid an excess mileage bill. Instead of a nasty surprise at the end of the contract, you can help them adjust their payments to spread the cost.
Automating reporting and renewal management
Milestones created for 180 days before contract maturity (around 6 months out) can trigger actions within QV Accelerate.
- Renewal Opportunity Created: Flags that that an opportunity is available and can help sales forecast potential revenue.
- Automated Task Creation: When a contract hits a milestone, you can create a custom action to follow up. This could be setting a task for one of your sales team to follow up, or sending an automated email or SMS to the customer, personalised with their details. You can also include a link back to your website for the latest deals.
These conversations are also an essential opportunity to update your customer data in your CRM. Discuss their experience with their current vehicle and get advance warning of any changes in circumstances that might shape their decisions in the future or impact your sales.
Possible factors include:
- Moving house and needing a more robust vehicle for a longer commute
- Needing a larger vehicle for a growing family
- Changes in finances needing a more economical option
- New emissions regulations in their local area
Creating a value-driven renewal experience
The renewal process shouldn’t be a sudden re-introduction into your clients’ lives. If you have maintained a relationship throughout their contract it should be a natural culmination of their vehicle’s lifecycle.
Be the early bird
With lead times for vehicle procurement now extended it’s important to reconnect with customers in advance of their renewal date. The best time to sow the seed of thinking about their next car is five or six months before the end of their contract lifecycle.
Reaching out early provides several advantages:
- You can start the renewal conversation proactively rather than waiting for them to think of it.
- Since invoices are paid to their finance provider and not your brokerage, there is a risk that if a customer isn’t contacted until a month before, they may have forgotten which broker they used.
- With the extra information you hold, you can position yourself as a trusted partner before they restart their buying journey.
- Your team can use this as a chance to provide advice which enables the customer to make informed decisions, giving them time to understand their options and ask questions.
- Moving first gets you ahead of the competition before your customers even think about pursuing other options for their next vehicle.
Tailor the experience
When it becomes time for the renewal, you want to make the customer feel like they’re being looked after rather than starting again. This is when maintaining contact during your customers’ contract lifecycle pays off.
- If you checked in throughout their contract, you should have up to date information on your customer in your CRM. You can use this data to shape the options you present to them, demonstrating your unique knowledge of their needs and circumstances.
- This also removes the need for them to provide the same information again, effectively making you their most convenient option to securing a new vehicle.
Together, these factors maximise the chances of your customer choosing to renew their lease with you based on your unique value and service. By selling based on the relationship you’ve built, you remove price as a distinguishing factor and can instead focus on value.
Unlock a relationship focused sales model
As competition increases in the auto-leasing and market, your relationships with existing customers are your most important asset. Not only are they the engine that drives repeat business and renewals, but they can also be a valuable source of new business, recommendations, and referrals.
Selling on experience
Providing a best-in-class customer experience is all about knowing your customer and tailoring your service to their needs, providing maximum convenience and value. By using the right tools to track and manage your renewals process, you can create a chain reaction that adds value throughout the sales process.
Once you have visibility and accountability across your customer data, you make the experience easier for your team, simplify decision making for your customers and can create more predictable, reliable revenue streams for your business.
QV Systems is proud to be supporting the automotive broker industry to prepare for the future. Our cutting-edge technology fits seamlessly into your existing processes to help you build stronger relationships with your customers that drive long term growth and renewals. While we can’t guarantee you’ll win every renewal, we can ensure that you’ll never miss one.
Accelerate your firm
Accelerate by QV Systems is an all-in-one sales and customer management solution for automotive brokers.
Attract customers, capture information and process enquiries efficiently with online forms and easy automation.
Streamline your sales process with real-time connectivity. Quickly create quotes, track proposals and connect to dealers and funders, all online.
Monitor, retain and resell with centralised customer data. Manage deals across their lifecycle, set custom milestones and simplify communication via email and SMS.
To find out how QV Systems can help your firm deliver a best-in class online sales experience, get in touch with our team today.
Acknowledgements
Our sincere thanks go to industry expert Graham Prince, who provided invaluable support and insight for this guide, sharing his experience of how to maximise renewal rates.
Graham was the MD and Shareholder of Neva Consultants, who supplied and managed over 6000 vehicles on lease agreements for both business and personal contracts. In 2019, he successfully sold and exited his business before becoming the Relationship Director for the Leasing Broker Federation, which he exited in 2021. He now works as a consultant for the industry, providing support to a range of exciting businesses.
