GROUP DATABASE MARKETING

To: Directors, Brand Managers, Dealer Principals, Group Managers and Departmental Managers

Cc Claire Ellis, Jason Lewis, Neil Hallidayr, Helen Redfern, Julie Fowle, Sharon Thayer, Lucy Greenfield

From: Jeremy Cuff & Steve Mawby

Date: 22nd January 2014
_______________________________________________________

EMAIL & GENERAL DATA CAPTURE

Please find attached the latest statistics for Data Capture up to the end of Dec 2013, and the tracking sheets showing the month on month variations for last year (which most of you should have already received).

Please ensure that all of your customer facing team members are aware of the importance of data capture

As a group we have seen the following trends in 2013;

• Across the group, visits are up from 2012 by over 1500, this has been due in most cases by the increase in recalls that our Franchises have had throughout the year

• MOT and Service data capture has remained very good across the group with occasional dips due to staff changes and holidays, but with 95% of the Service teams back up to full strength we should be able to maintain a consistent high level in the accuracy of our data capture.

• In relation to MOT data capture, December produced a poor result for a few of the Franchises. You can see from the attached summary that all of these sites had poorer capture for the Franchises that they are now approved for rather than a Dealer of. It is vital that managers make sure the focus on these customers data remains the same as for their current franchised operation thus slowing the decline/migration of these databases as much as possible. 

• Currently we have 11 of our branches running under 50% for email capture with 9 branches that finished this year improving from where they finished in 2012 which shows good progress. However our benchmark of 30% for email capture has only been achieved on the odd occasion by 5 of the branches. In 2014, we all need to re-double our efforts to try and capture a minimum of 70% of the email addresses from our customers.

• In summary as a group we saw an improvement of 2% at year end from 2012, but we have found that the capture by some of the branches has not been as accurate as first thought; during a recent group Eblast we had 1700 of the emails held on the database fail and bounce back. Please make sure the information gained is accurate and then updated onto the database with care. Not only did we have to pay to send these failed emails out but they then had to be removed from the DMS on an individual basis taking over 9 hours to do. Anything other than accurate data capture is a pointless and expensive exercise.

Well done to those who have improved their capture or continued to show focus on it. To those who haven’t, please re-double you efforts to get the trend going the right way again with the objective of reaching the 30% missed benchmark. Also, please read the following paragraphs about why this is important and our objectives for 2014.

Email Capture for Trade Parts

For Parts Managers, please ensure that we are collecting Trade Customer emails and other contact information, so that we have options for customer contact going forward – see paragraphs following.

WHY IS DATA CAPTURE IMPORTANT?

There are a number of reasons why full and accurate data capture is so important to the business going forward. Here are some of the most critical reasons;

• So that we can contact the customer in any way that they or we require

• So that we can use digital means of communication that can cover high percentages of our active database

• So that we can contact the customer with information that is accurate and relevant to them

• So that we can save money (where appropriate) on letterheads, postage and other printed matter such as booklets, brochures, fliers etc

• Because manufacturers will insist that we do this for future marketing purposes (in some cases this is already happening)

OUR OBJECTIVE FOR 2014

By the end of 2014 we are again looking to achieve an email capture of a minimum of 70% which with focus and drive from the teams should be achievable.

Previously, staff and customer objections to disclosing emails have centred around customer fears that they will be bombarded by marketing and spam, so we have to reassure any customer that their email address will not result in deluges of emails or be shared with a third party (though the relevant manufacturer might be excepted in some circumstances).

Instead, we can focus on the “green” aspect of saving paper where appropriate, and that we would only communicate information and offers to them in a way that is useful, relevant, responsible and proportionate.

To achieve our objectives, each team member must contribute their part and ensure that we ask the customer each and every time for this piece of information, whilst at the same time maintaining the fantastic efforts made with MOT and Service Date capture.  

It is also important that when the corrections are identified and given to your branch that they are updated on the database by the Service team straight away to prevent any chance of them being forgotten about and then lost as customers to our competitors.

To assist with achieving and exceeding your budgets, the service prospecting calling must be allocated time to ensure that it is carried out and ideally done on a daily basis.

Also, remembering to check customer contact information on each and every subsequent visit will ensure that the data held remains accurate. We are in the process of building additional systems to assist in achieving our objectives in each department which evolves around email correspondence so by capturing it now will help everyone as we move forward.

Should any member of staff have any questions about this memo, please approach Jeremy Cuff or Steve Mawby.

Please make sure all your customer facing staff are aware of the importance of data capture for every transaction or enquiry.

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