Consumers want what they want, when they want it. They want personal service and the want it now. This is the concierge economy. And while the concept of personalization is all the buzz nowadays, it’s nothing more than the 2017 version of Burger King’s 1970’s slogan “Have it your way” — a slogan that lasted over 40 years.

A big driver in all of this is the prevalence of smart phones to order what they want and have it delivered wherever they are. Smart phones are always an arm’s length away encouraging immediacy and on-demand delivery of information, products and services, pushing companies to create a seamless experience from the phone to real-life. Whether it’s burgers or coffee or airline seats, customers are increasingly becoming used to the seamless experience from mobile to real life.

As a dealership, it’s critical to jump onboard this concierge economy to build a relationship with your buyers and show them that you’re here to help them “have it their way”— digitally.

So, how do you do it?

Digital Convenience is King

According to a Cox Automotive survey of over 4,500 U.S. consumers, 14 percent of service consumers booked their appointment online. Organizations like Westside Lexus in Houston strongly encourage their customers to book online, even enticing them to do so with rewards. By actively pushing customers in this direction. They have seen online appointment booking skyrocket from 10 percent to over 30 percent in just a couple years.

The benefits are two-fold: The customer is able to conveniently schedule their appointment quickly and easily, and the dealership operates more efficiently guaranteeing additional bookings.

The Days of Spray-and-Pray are Over

Customers are inundated with all sorts of marketing messages across multiple channels and devices. They’re aware of being marketed to and take appropriate measures to remove these digital distractions from their life. They only way to cut through that clutter and generate ROI is through personalization. By utilizing and understanding data, a dealership can deliver the right messages at the right time to the right customer.

The fact is, personalization generates revenue. “Studies show that 48% of shoppers will spend more when the digital shopping experience is personalized.”

Make It Available and Make It Easy

Being online is all about convenience. If it’s just as much of a hassle to schedule a service appointment online as it is by calling, then you’re doing yourself a disservice. The concierge economy is all about making daily life easier.

It’s crucial to let your customers know what tools you are making available to them because it’s likely almost half probably don’t even know that online scheduling exists.

Also, people are distracted easily so if you make it difficult to schedule an appointment, get more information or learn more about products or services, the customer is likely to abandon you and your site without any guarantee to return.

Let your customers know what is available and remove as many obstacles as possible.

Buyers have so much information and tools at their fingertips that comes with a level of personalization, convenience and availability like never before. This puts enormous pressure on today’s dealership to perform at the level of the Amazons and Starbuckses of the world. When shoppers know what they want, and they come to you for service, make sure you’re ready to meet their needs by providing a seamless experience from the smart phone to the service bay.

Want to personalize like the pros? OneClick Loyalty is a retention platform designed by dealers for dealers. By utilizing personalized messaging and delivering the right message at the right time, dealerships have the opportunity to truly engage with a customer and drive behavior. Let your customers have it their way and turn every vehicle buyer into a customer for life.