In the automotive industry, outbound marketing campaigns are one of the most popular ways for manufacturers to

increase vehicle sales and customer satisfaction/loyalty rates. The challenge for many manufacturers is the ability

to track each stage of the process to allow a true return on investment (RoI) to be calculated. Percepta has

developed a process for one of our German clients that has found a solution to this problem. This has resulted in a

RoI of 1:2.61 for this client. This paper explains how this was achieved.

Campaigns can provide more than a simple contact with a customer, they can increase the customer base by

raising awareness of the brand or by generating interest with a former customer, bringing them back to the brand.

Outbound Objectives

The primary objective of any outbound

activity is to increase sales with new and

existing customers. As the diagram

opposite shows these sales can come

from several areas: up-selling, decreasing

the rate at which customers leave the

brand i.e. improving retention. However,

they serve other equally important

purposes such as data cleansing, gauging

customer satisfaction with the brand and

helping dealerships improve their customer service by finding out where any issues may lie.

Percepta Campaigns Modular System

Percepta’s outbound campaigns are designed as individual packages based on client requirements and campaign

objectives (as mentioned overleaf). These modules are chosen by the client and are used to determine the overall

format of the campaign.

Managing Customer Data

As mentioned above, data cleansing exercises can also be carried out whilst conducting outbound campaigns. This

can be extremely useful for industries like automotive, where the customer data comes from a variety of different

sources i.e. dealerships. The data collected from different dealerships can vary in quality; therefore part of the

contact has to be to confirm that the customer’s details are accurate. One of the major advantages of this exercise

is that data can then be segmented and used for future campaigns, be it outbound, direct mail or any other means

of communication.

Time

Customer value

Retention

Churn Prevention

Winback

Cross/Upselling

Time

Customer value

Retention

Churn Prevention

Winback

Cross/Upselling

Outbound Marketing

Benefits of a Percepta Outbound Campaign

When Percepta conduct an outbound campaign on behalf of a client, it isn’t just the outbound calling that takes

place. Our clients also benefit from:

• Benchmark reports based on pre-determined criteria, measuring the performance of the dealers, sales and

after-sales;

• Feedback mechanisms documenting the activities of the dealerships; and

• A clear measurement on customer satisfaction before and after contact has been made.

By implementing these tools Percepta is able to provide a detailed return on investment for each activity back to the

client. Based on information provided by clients before the activity takes place, Percepta is able to forecast the

return on investment prior to carrying out the campaign.

Depending on the type and complexity of the campaign, a Percepta representative was able to contact between

600 and 1200 customers per calendar month. With this in mind, it is now apparent to the client that this type of

campaign has an attractive rate of return considering the cost involved in conducting the campaign and the revenue

generated from new sales.

Using the aforementioned module based campaigns for these clients Percepta generated the following return on

investment for each module:

*Further assumptions: 15% profit margin for dealer on sales, 20% profit margin for manufacturer on sales, 20% profit margin for dealer on part

sales.

Campaign* Average gross

price per car

ROI Dealer

Perspective

ROI Client

Perspective

ROI Total

Perspective

Customer Contact

Program 50.000 € 14.2 7.1 10.8

Quality

Reassurance

Program

60.000 € n.a. 1.03 1.94

Basic Outbound

Program 40.000 € 6.34 1.95 2.73

Total ROI 2008 2.61

bad

2%

very bad

0%

very good

59%

excellent

26%

good

13%

In addition, Percepta used its expertise as a Customer Relationship

Management expert and measured the impact the campaigns had on

customer satisfaction. After initial contact in the Quality Reassurance

Programme, all customers were asked for their satisfaction.

The outcome of this was 85% of customers giving feedback that the

campaign had a very good (59%) or even excellent (26%) impact on

their satisfaction with the brand. Using these measures, we were able to

show the client that the campaign not only had an impact on sales and profitability, but also customer satisfaction

and loyalty to their brand.

For further information on how we can support you on engaging with customers contact Amanda Noble on: Office: +61 (3) 8627 6191 or email: amanda.noble@percepta.com.au or check out our website: www.percepta.com.au

Percepta is a global customer contact specialist talking to over 10 million people across the world on

behalf of organisations such as Jaguar, Land Rover, AGCO, Automotive Associations, Helm, Volvo, Ford

and Mazda. We partner with you to build trust in your brand, through the contact we have with your

customers, at every stage of the customer journey.