Franchised dealerships are presenting the independent aftermarket with a golden opportunity, according to research by BTC.
The findings from the automotive training and consultancy firm shows that dealerships miss out on 57 percent of servicing work, which is costing them an average of £35.45 revenue per job.
The sample of 1,000 franchised dealerships show that those vehicles that registered a red or amber warning during the electronic vehicle health check were being ignored. This gives independents and rapid fits a large opportunity to benefit from the negligence of service departments and its unsatisfied customers.
Data shows that from 1,120,114 vehicle checks throughout January to June this year, a number of vehicles received a red warning, and in urgent need of servicing were not being repaired by dealerships. This means that £79,124 per year of urgent repair work is up for grabs for independents.
Meanwhile there was £89,702,200 of work needed doing to cars that registered an amber warning, which is likely to need work done in the near future. The data shows that only 17 percent of work was converted, leaving a large amount of work that could filter down into the independent aftermarket sector.
Guy Allman, Chief Executive at BTC, said: “Dealerships are letting too many sales slip away. What we regularly see is advisors struggling to sell red items because they have insufficient knowledge.
“A technician who understands a red item will be able to better communicate the risk to the customer and convince them the work is required urgently.
“Amber items should not be ignored as a sales opportunity. Identifying items with impending repair work to the customer is the most effective way to open up a channel of communication and build a relationship over time. This way, they will understand the value of having the work done at the time of the health check or that they are more likely to return when the repair work becomes more urgent.”
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