How To Implement a Successful Referral Program at Your Car Dealership

When managing a car dealership, you must juggle many complexities to stay afloat. You need to manage your fleet, acquire customers, partner with financers, comply with car dealership regulations on pricing, and much more. A car dealership advocate program can help you streamline a few of these tasks. 

With a car dealership referral program, your current customers ask their friends and family to visit your dealership the next time they need to purchase a car, typically in exchange for various incentives. To see success through this form of marketing, we recommend the following:

Choose Who You’re Going To Request Referrals From

Referral rewards for car dealerships can go multiple routes. First, you may start with your lowest-hanging fruit by choosing high-value customers with potentially large networks. 

Rather than offering the incentive program to the general public, you would only provide the exclusive deal to people you think would be able to bring in multiple new customers. If you choose this route, you will need to research your customer base carefully to select highly satisfied clients. 

Another strategy you could take would be casting a wider net. If you aren’t offering exceptionally large incentives, you may advertise your referral program to a wide client base or across your social media channels to attempt to reach as many people as possible. Regardless of the strategy you choose, you should define who you’re going to request referrals from in advance so you know how to shape your program.

Offer Incentives

Referral bonuses for car dealers can include anything from gift cards and free oil changes to cash bonuses, car accessories, and more. The incentives you provide with your referral program are how you encourage people to promote your brand. Here are some ideas of different incentives you may choose to offer:

• Discounts on the purchase price
• Free maintenance jobs (car washes, oil changes, tire rotations, etc.)
• Free vehicle upgrades (leather seats, floor covers, premium wheels, etc.)
• Gift cards
• Free car accessories
• Free dealership swag (mugs, stickers, shirts, etc.)
• Tickets to local events or concerts
• Lower interest rates on the purchase
• An increased trade-in value
• Points to be accumulated and claimed for any of the above

You could offer these incentives to the current customer, the friend they refer to, or both. Offering incentives to both buyers can create the strongest strategy, assuming you’ve crunched the numbers to ensure the program will still be profitable for your business. 

Make the Referral Process Easy

Finally, the referral process must be simple and convenient for your current customers. If you’re sending out emails or social media posts, people should be able to easily share the referral link with their friends or family. 

When using digital processes, be sure to have tracking mechanisms in place so you know who referred each new customer. Failing to track your referrals properly can lead to a messy situation, so you need to get your system in place first. 

Need Help Reaching More Customers?

A car dealership referral program can help you easily expand your customer base. If you need help getting these new customers approved for loans, call 1803 Capital today at (866) 890-2415 to learn about our car dealer financing.