Interview with Frederick Duodu, Account Executive at Wiraya
Did you know that after a lease expires, every day that the lease car is off the lot results in lost revenue? Calling or emailing drivers to remind them of return details is an option, however a huge waste of time and resources. Not to mention, an unreliable communication strategy in the long-run. On top of this, returning a lease car is low on a driver’s list of priorities – no amount of letters, instantly ‘junked’ emails or badly timed phone calls is going to change that. This is yet another reason why today’s car manufacturers need a better means of communication for powering their customer engagements. By taking a proactive approach in your communication flow, the likelihood of a customer renewing their lease with your brand is high!
We spoke with Frederick Duodu, Account Executive at Wiraya, to highlight the challenges in the market when dealing with lease renewals, and more importantly, how brands can boost their revenue by taking on a proactive approach instead of a reactive one!
What are the significant challenges brands should tackle when evaluating their leasing renewal strategy?
A closer look at the automotive sector, in particular the vehicle leasing industry in the current economic climate reveals that the industry should brace for more impending challenges in the immediate future. Some present-day challenges faced by leasing companies are those issues directly linked to the companies’ existing customers and how to ‘retain’ them or in industry terms, ‘how to compel them to renew their vehicle lease.’ As a result, customer centricity, the level of customer satisfaction, and the consistency in customer communication has become the key differentiator in whether or not a leasing company can increase its lease renewals, meanwhile providing a seamless customer experience.
In light of the challenges facing leasing companies (such as lack of communication, the absence of information and awareness, and the changes in a customers’ lifestyle), there are a set of strategic elements that automotive brands or dealerships should undertake in order to stay ahead and curb these challenges.
To begin, it is crucial for companies to have full comprehension of how important it is to constantly engage customers at all times in their overall lifecycle. Consistent communication is a significant strategy that should be employed by leasing companies in order to rid themselves from dissatisfied or unrelatable customers. By maintaining a constant relationship with the customer through consistent communication, it becomes effortless when informing the customer of the status of their lease. Therefore, providing additional information for a potential lease renewal!
It’s evident that the status or lifestyle of a customer can possibly change. Therefore it is worthwhile to have regular contact with the customer to better understand their present situation and adjust their lease terms if possible. This approach I find is advantageous as the leasing company manages to retain a customer whose lifestyle might have changed, as opposed to allowing them to churn due to that lifestyle change.
In a nutshell, keeping a consistent communication approach with the customer, and providing information about different offerings, are key elements for success in getting customers to commit to renewing their vehicle lease, and this is where, I believe Wiraya’s efficiency comes into play. As a value driven CPaaS player and with our highly vetted approach to customer activation (Precision Customer Activation), we are able to pinpoint those critical moments of the driver’s lifecycle (that can make or break your customers’ experiences), and leverage each of those moments with precision (i.e., the right channel, the right message, the right tone and the right timing for every solitary customer, based on verifiable customer insights). With one brand we previously worked with, we were able to reach 90% of the target group and increase lease renewals by converting an impressive 12% of those customers!
Why is a proactive approach imperative to the success of a lease renewal?
In light of the current and looming challenges facing automotive companies, it is essential for companies within that arm of business to take a proactive approach in order to succeed in increasing the amount of lease renewals. Having a proactive approach means leasing companies must communicate in time, with regards to any information pertaining to the deadline of the individual’s lease contract. How successful a leasing company is in increasing the amount of lease renewals will potentially depend on how rapidly information about lease ‘expiration’ date is communicated.
That said, the only way for leasing companies to stay actively involved in the driver’s lease plan is by employing a dynamic approach to stay on top. Consequently, failure to adopt a proactive approach will result in churn of the customer. A good awareness for leasing companies to consider is that customers are constantly seeking better offers/benefits from competitors, therefore communicating with the customers about offers etcetera during the period of their lease is crucial in order to avoid churn.
However, one might argue that there is a risk of customer intrusion. There’s no doubt that consistently reaching out to the customer may feel very pushy and intrusive. Nonetheless, I believe that’s where the power of Wiraya’s precision customer activation approach comes into play. Our approach removes any friction and simplifies the life of the customer, while reducing any strain on your customer service teams.
“Using Wiraya has proven to significantly increase the conversion of leasing renewals resulting in increased customer lifetime value. But more importantly, by using personalised landing pages that integrate with our existing CRM tools, it gives us the customer data we need to be able to create relevant customer interactions across the entire customer journey.”
Volkswagen Financial Services
Click here to get in touch with us and find out how we can reduce the risk of churn and increase the number of lease renewals with your brand!
