How Clean Is Your Data, Why Care?

How would you like an easy way to grab 20% more customers?

How clean is the data in your DMS or CRM?  Does it even really matter?  The simple answer is, YES.  The solution is also a simple one-word answer "training".  Training our team and our customers on why it is so important to make sure you have the correct contact information in your systems.

As part of our onboarding process we "clean" DMS data for our customers.  Each time we do it amazes me how much bad data is in the data.  On average we see over 20% of the data in a dealer's DMS is "bad" data.

You might say, "Stephen, what does that even really matter...."  Well, think about just this one.  You spent all that money gaining a customer, then your team put in bad data for that customer, so 20% of the people you paid to get as customers are just gone after the sale because you can't communicate with them properly.  That means, not getting them back in for service or for selling them another car because someone on the team put in "noemail@gmail.com" for the email address of that customer for some reason.  That is just one small example, I can go through 10 of them.  

Another big one is "bounce rates".  If you are doing a marketing blast to your customer base and over 20% of the emails you have are made up you are going to have a HUGE bounce rate.  You might ask, "why does that matter?  Just means fake emails aren't getting our emails, so what?"  Well, if that happens servers will start to block mail from.  If you get tags with high bounce rates companies like google, yahoo, and other email providers will block your mail and send it directly to spam.  So all the other 80% of your emails that are correct will not be getting the messages you want them to.

I think part of the problem stems from our industry pounding the importance of gathering emails.  The importance of "gathering" but not explaining the "why".  Team members know they have to "get an email" address in the system to do anything but may not be able to actually get the email from the customers, just wing it and put something in the system to get the task done that they are graded on.

Here are a couple of quick steps you can take to help fix this issue:

1st - Tell your people why it is important to put "real" emails into the systems you use.  Explain that a fake email, even though it will fill in the blank, at the end of the day is worse than no email at all.

2nd - Tell your customer why it is important to have their correct email address on file.  Explain that you aren't collecting their emails to sell them things but to make sure they have the most up-to-date information about their vehicle.  To keep them updated on issues with their vehicle like recalls, software updates, and other important OEM messaging you need to pass along to them.  

3rd - Work with your system vendors - If your team can not get an email from the customer make sure it is possible for the system to allow them to input customer information WITHOUT an email address.   I know, I know this goes against everything you have been told by people like us for years.  "NEVER LET ANYONE PUT ANYTHING INTO THE SYSTEM WITHOUT AN EMAIL...."  Well, a bad email is WAY WORSE than no email at all.  Also, this gives your BDC or customer service team another reason to reach out to the customer.  Run a report with customers that do not have emails.  Call to "check in" with that customer and "update" their information.  Maybe when they aren't being sold something they may be more willing to give their email address.

4th - Find someone who can help.  Find a vendor who can help you "clean" your data.  Get all of those fake emails out of your DMS or CRM.  There are several good companies out there that can help you with Data Hygiene or Data Cleansing.  We would love to help, but one of your partners may already be able to help you with this.  

Ok, now for the salesy stuff.  What is your process for getting customers with recalls into your store?  With a well-thought-out process, recalls can help dealers grow their customer base, help with retention/CSI, increase their average RO $'s and make HUGE profits.

We would love to talk with you about your process.  Even if you think, "Hey, my team is great.  I am sure we are doing everything possible..."  Set up a call.  Worst-case scenario you help your team learn something new they can add to their awesome process.  Best case, you realize there is a ton of money out there in your market waiting for you to grab it.

Click the link, set up a 15-minute call with our team to go over your process, tell you a little about what we do and see if we can help you drive more customers into service, make more per RO and make more money over the next 12 months.