ACDelco Is Dedicated To Helping Shop Owners Increase Business And Improve Customer Relations

GRAND BLANC, MICH. May 13, 2004; ACDelco is helping service center owners increase business and improve their customer relationship through the use of simple technology, illustrating its dedication to their success.

The Web-based MechanicNet Customer Retention System (CRS), a service offered to ACDelco Total Service Support (TSS) members, is designed to help shop owners improve customer loyalty by providing them with everything they need to remind, thank and communicate regularly with their own customers.

"Frequent communication with your customers is key to retaining them. Unfortunately, shop owners are often too busy to send service reminders to their customers," said Jamie Albertini, ACDelco e-Business product manager. "One of the many benefits of the MechanicNet CRS system is that it requires little or no time on the part of the service center owner and is easy to use."

The software integrates with a service center's shop management system to generate and send automated service reminders to customers who are due for specific maintenance based on their vehicle manufacturer's specifications, along with follow-up correspondence such as thank-you notes, in both postcard and e-mail form.

The postcards, consistent with ACDelco's new "Real Car Guys Know" brand campaign, contain a personalized message and special money-saving offers and coupons from the service center.

A subscription to MechanicNet CRS includes the LinkUptm software and a customized Web site, which features online coupons, an interactive map to the business, and a vehicle history that customers can manage themselves through the password-protected site. In addition, shop owners receive a Monthly Return-On-Investment (ROI) Report that shows how much they spent on customer communications and the revenues generated by the program.

"This technology seeks to give shop owners a more consistent revenue stream by driving traffic into their business throughout the month," Albertini said. "Based on results from our initial pilot program, the amount of service performed increased by about 10 percent with customers who received a maintenance reminder. Chances are, the vehicle-specific maintenance reminder prompted them to have additional service done on their vehicles that may have been delayed or avoided."

One service that is being well received by Independent Service Centers (ISCs) and Warehouse Distributors (WDs) is the MechanicNet CRS Vendor Managed Inventory Report. The shop and the WD agree to share information, MechanicNet provides a daily consumption report on what parts were used and the WD restocks the parts at the service center the next morning.

To learn more about MechanicNet CRS or to sign up for the program, call 1-800-825-5886, prompt #4, or visit acdelcotechconnect.com.

ACDelco is a global leader in automotive replacement parts and services offering products for virtually all vehicles. ACDelco is headquartered in Grand Blanc, Mich., and markets automotive replacement parts worldwide under its brand name.