Most of the OEMs offer “Training” Incentives to help the Sales and Service Staff to boost their CSI Scores.  The OEM Reps offer additional assistance!

1. Access to incentive-based training and certification programs for dealership personnel who achieve the highest standards
2. Dedicated client account managers in the OEM to support and mentor dealerships achieving top ratings
3. Enhanced Training Programs – Increasing customer satisfaction starts with the dealer’s staff. Many manufacturers now provide additional training and certification options to their dealers to ensure they are better prepared to ensure customer satisfaction.
4. Improved access to OEM training programs
5. Make customer service training mandatory for all service department team members.
6. OEM specific customer service training for dealer sales reps and technicians.
7. Ongoing customer service training and workshops.
8. Online customer forums and resources.
9. Specialized training and resources specifically targeted to improving CSI scores.
10. Dealer training programs and employee bonuses for high CSI scores.

Most of the OEMs offer “CSI-SUPPORT”  techonlogy to initiate OEM Survey emailing to customers, receiving the survey returns, compute and share scores, and assist dealership staff in achieving  CSI Scores into tier-1,tier-2, or tier-3 levels and also offer so many CSI incentives. Most OEMs offer some additional technical support infrastructure.

1. Dedicated customer service teams who can respond quickly to customer issues and feedback
2. Develop comprehensive customer service guidelines and have them readily available for customer service team members to reference.
3. Ensure that customer expectations are being met by providing frequent customer service check-ins.
4. Establish customer-focused procedures for responding to customer feedback.
5. Hold periodic customer satisfaction surveys and open-house events.
6. Increased real-time access to customer feedback across all dealership locations
7. Leverage customer service tools, such as surveys and chats, to actively listen to customers.
8. Monitor customer service team performance and provide ongoing constructive feedback.
9. Monitoring Reports: OEMs should review monitoring reports of customer data and service department performance to identify areas of improvement and hone in on customer service initiatives.
10. Online Reviews: Collecting customer feedback and reviews online through websites such as Google and Yelp can also help to increase visibility for OEM service departments and lead to improved CSI scores.
11. Perform consistent customer service evaluations to ensure best practices are being implemented.
12. Provide customer feedback surveys to measure customer satisfaction.
13. Survey Automation: Automated survey and feedback systems can help to quickly collect feedback from customers, giving mechanics exponentially more opportunities to directly improve customer service scores.
14. Utilize customer service representatives, with the best survey results, in direct customer contact roles.
15. Utilize customer service technology such as live chat, mobile apps, and self-serve kiosks.

Most OEMs offer direct and indirect incentives to consumers for being loyal and also participate in completing the surveys and retaining loyalty to the brand for many years. Many of these incentives are sent directly to customers, and often the list of the local customers receiving these incentives is made available on the OEM portals for the dealership staff to download and follow up with the customers and bring them back to the dealership with incentives emailed and use those coupons before they expire!

1. Customer Loyalty Awards – A dealer may give customers special rewards for customer loyalty, such as cashback, discounts, free items, or other rewards.
2. Implement customer loyalty programs for returning customers.
3. Implements a rewards or points system that offers discounts, freebies, and other incentives to loyal customers.
4. Offer OEM- sponsored customer loyalty rewards programs for repeat customers.
5. Satisfaction Guarantees – Companies are often willing to back up their dealers’ customer service claims with money-back guarantees. In some cases, this could include a full refund for unsatisfied customers.
6. Special rewards or discounts for customers who provide positive feedback or reviews to dealerships with the highest CSI scores.
7. Special Incentives: Special incentives such as prepaid gas cards, car washes, or vehicle demonstrations may be offered as rewards for achieving exceptional customer service scores.
8. The dealer receives a return for their high marks on surveys and for meeting customer expectations.
9. Promotional programs and gifts to customers who are highly satisfied.
10. Provide bonus or bonus points for returned service customers.
11. Customer Loyalty Programs: OEMs can reward customers for returning to the service department by creating loyalty programs. Customers may receive a points system for each visit or purchase, which can then be redeemed for discounts or other rewards.
12. Establish customer loyalty programs to reward loyal customers.
13. Financing and leasing incentives and discounts to customers.
14. Exclusive vehicle lease and finance incentives for customers with the highest CSI scores.
15. Factory Certified Extended Service Plans: Extended factory certified service plans help to increase customer satisfaction by providing additional coverage for service after purchase.

Dealerships may ignore customers and it reflects in their poor CSI scores. However, the OEMs spend 100s of millions of dollars in generating marketing campaigns offering several incentives in wooing them to return back to the PMA-assigned dealership or other dealers in the area! Service Staff being extremely busy, often ignore the CSI incentives being mailed to customers and them getting expired. DealTimer offers Service-Marekting Solutions to convert several of these CSI incentives into Repair revenue before expiring.

1. Access to marketing materials and resources
2. Dealer promotions, advertising awards and appreciation events for top-performing dealers.
3. Dedicated marketing funds for dealers for target customer campaigns.
4. Give discounts for customers who refer others.
5. Implement monthly specials or promotions.
6. Promotional campaigns tied to meeting OEM CSI targets
7. Referral Campaigns: Referral campaigns or corporate partnership programs reward dealers who help to drive customer service ratings.
8. Updated marketing materials and sales support for dealers.

It is very very sad to notice that more than 80% of the dealership owners and GMs and FODs, being extremely busy with putting off fires in the dealership, often may not find time to download these documents and understand the types of rewards that are being made available to the dealerships to enjoy in retaining the customers from leaving the store for CSI reasons. To cash these rewards, the service manager needs to be extremely knowledgeable about the OEM-specific rewards, and use the REWARD for the specific situation that demands. DealTimer, being the CSI leader often helplessly oversees these REWARDS being unutilized by the management staff! Please take a moment to view these REWARDS and see if they ring the bell for your OEM brand!

1. After-sales incentives for customer feedback
2. Bonus and reward programs for sales staff
3. Bonus points for improved customer feedback
4. Co-branded marketing campaigns with dealers engaging in high CSI performance
5. Create reward programs that can be earned by customers for consistent visits, repeat services, and loyal patronage.
6. Customer loyalty rewards
7. Customer satisfaction measurement surveys.
8. Dealer access to special promotional offers from OEMs
9. Designated customer service representatives for special customer needs.
10. Implement customer-first programs that reinforce positive customer service.
11. Improved customer relations management (CRM) software
12. Increased repair acceptance rates for customers with high CSI scores.
13. Invitations to participate in future OEM events
14. OEM-sponsored customer loyalty programs and rewards.
15. Offer OEM-sponsored rewards programs for service and parts customers.
16. Opportunities for dealers to participate in exclusive OEM consumer forums
17. Point-of-sale bonuses and kickbacks
18. Reward customer service team members with recognition or bonuses for excellent ratings and customer feedback.
19. Rewards Programs: Rewards programs are designed to incentivize customers who demonstrate a certain level of customer service. Programs such as customer loyalty points or online discounts, can help dealers to increase overall customer satisfaction scores.
20. Social Media Recognition – Many manufacturers are now using social media to recognize top dealers. This recognition can help attract customers who are interested in customer service.
21. Special access to priority customer service support and service departments.
22. Special access to promotional events, like car shows
23. VIP trips, vacations, and other rewards for dealers and staff

The OEMs like Nissan, Chrysler, etc often direct Cash Incentives on vehicles sold for achieving tier-1, tier-2, tier-3 CSI scores and often these CSI bonus amounts can exceed over $200K per quarter or $800K per year. Still more than 60% of the dealerships do not qualify to receive hefty CSI bonus checks from OEM.
However, all the remaining OEMs they offer prestegious AWARDS for tier-1 CSI scores, and most of the following AWARDS qualify for either direct or indirect cashg benefits in several ways. The details of the incentives are often provided in the documents mailed to the owner or GM and they may not find time to review the document and utilize the AWARDS’ derived benefits. Achieving the AWARDS does not automatically qualify them to receive CSI benefits. For example, Tier-1 CSI AWARDS may grant them preference in vehicle allocation advantage, and it needs to cashed on to benefit from CSI score in tier-1.

1. Coveted trophies and accolades for dealers with the best CSI scores
2. Dealer Recognition – Many auto manufacturers recognize dealers that have achieved high levels of customer satisfaction. This recognition usually comes in the form of awards, certifications, and other recognition.
3. Dealership recognition programs for superior customer service.
4. Employee recognition programs or bonuses for exceptional customer service.
5. Impactful Advertising – Many car makers advertise the customer satisfaction scores of their top dealers, which in turn, can influence the purchasing decisions of customers.
6. Manufacturer awards for excellent customer service scores
7. Opportunity for dealer partners to participate in national level consumer-focused outreach campaigns
8. Preferential placement of vehicles on dealer showroom floor for those with the highest ratings
9. Priority access to new model cars and vehicles for top performing dealerships
10. Priority Priority Scheduling: Priority scheduling of customers and dealers who demonstrate exceptional customer service scores can help to increase customer satisfaction.
11. Regional or national prize and recognition awards.
12. Special award and recognition programs for dealers achieving higher levels of customer satisfaction and service.
13. Special in-store promotional events for customers of dealers that have achieved the best CSI ratings
14. Targeted customer loyalty programs based on repeat customers from those
15. dealers with exceptional CSI scores

These incentive programs vary from OEM to OEM, region to region, or even to dealer to dealer based on several criteria. However, it is very important for Service and General Managers to be conscious of these direct and indirect cash incentives often hidden in the lengthy documents being emailed to the management staff! Technically, the BDC managers are supposed to be on top of these incentives and empower the BDC staff and ensure to make every dollar is worth being made available by OEM in the form of CSI incentives. Cashing the indirect CSI incentives can be very rewarding if the GM can employ DealTimer engineers to build a custom campaign to monetize the incentives.

1. Advertising support for those dealerships with high Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) scores
2. Bonus payments for dealers based on customer satisfaction
3. Corporate support of dealership customer service initiatives such as increased phone lines and other customer communication channels
4. Dealer satisfaction incentives
5. Financial incentives and bonuses to be awarded to the top-performing dealerships
6. Incentive Programs – Many manufacturers offer special incentives for dealers that attain the highest level of customer satisfaction. These incentives may range from additional advertising funds to special discounts.
7. Incentives such as travel rewards, dealer car giveaways, and consumer specials.
8. Increased allowable allowance percentage and/or holdback.
9. Increased co-op advertising allowance.
10. Increased intra-brand advertising sharing and/or marketing/promotion programs.
11. Increased trade-in allowances.
12. Limited discounts for customers with above-average OEM CSI scores
13. Offer appreciated customers incentives such as discounts or free services.
14. Offer trade-in credits for old parts or vehicles.
15. Other incentives, such as discounts on apparel or corporate memberships
16. Priority allocation of vehicles from factories.
17. Provide incentives for leaving positive customer reviews.
18. Provide in-house financing options such as extended service contracts, GAP insurance, and maintenance plans.
19. Rebates, incentives, and discounts to dealers and customers for upsells or loyalty.
20. Residual value assurance programs and warranties.
21. Special financing or leasing offers
22. Special financing programs and/or factory interest rate support.
23. The ability to offer preferred financing and lease rates to customers
24. Volume-based discounts for OEM maintenance part

Some of the following CSI-based incentives are made available to only the service department. Please read the documents on the OEM portal if any of the following service department incentives are available to monetize them.

1. Provide awards and recognition to service staff that shows customers outstanding service.
2. Technician Recognition Programs – Recognizing technicians for their level of customer service by tying performance bonuses to OEM score performance.
3. Customer Service Excellence Incentives – Offering bonuses or rewards to dealerships that exceed customer service standards according to OEM CSI scores.

Please review the documents on OEM portal and see any of the following cash incentives are available for the dealership to cash on.

1. Increase quarterly bonuses based on achieving customer satisfaction service goals.
2. Offer free car wash or detailing with purchase or service.
3. Offer free loaner vehicles and discounted service rates to customers who are loyal and provide positive feedback on the dealership’s performance.
4. OEM auto care programs and maintenance incentives.
5. Extended service and parts warranties.
6. Discounts or free maintenance packages
7. Provide discounts on service or repairs.
8. Offer financial incentives to service employees for meeting or exceeding customer satisfaction goals.
9. Offer free inspections or discounted diagnostic services to customers who purchase vehicle parts.
10. Utilize promotions and coupons for service discounts.
11. Offer extended warranties on repairs or services.
12. Provide incentives to service advisors and technicians for achieving exceptional CSI scores.
13. Incentive trips for service technicians.
14. OEM Auto Manufacturers Incentives for Service Department:
15. Offer exclusive deals for using online appointment booking services.

1. Pre-scheduled Maintenance Programs – Automating maintenance scheduling using OEM customer service CSI scores.
2. Targeted Promotion of Service Department: OEMs can incentivize customers to use the service department more often by offering special discounts or promotions. This can include discounts on parts and labor, free diagnostics, or free upgrades and additions.
3. Develop a “customer for life” program that rewards customers for repeat service and purchases with discounts, gift certificates and other perks.
4. Customer Retention Programs – Offering incentives for repeat customers based on their customer service satisfaction according to OEM CSI scores.

1. Customer Satisfaction Rewards Programs: These programs are designed to reward customers for providing positive feedback on their experience at an
2. OEM service department. Rewards may include gifts, discount coupons, or other incentives.
3. Loyalty Rewards Programs – Offering customer loyalty rewards for customer satisfaction surveys linked to OEM service and quality CSI scores.
4. Offer rewards and discounts to customers for returning or when they complete a service.
5. Visiting technician support for dealers and customers.
6. Employee Incentives: Employee incentive programs can be used to reward employees for their demonstrated efficiency and dedication to excellent customer service. These programs may include cash bonuses, days off, product or service discounts, or other types of rewards.
7. OEM factory-certified technician and parts rewards programs.
8. Increased service appointments for customers with high OEM CSI scores
9. Free car washes for customers with better-than-average OEM CSI scores
10. Extended service hours for customers with high OEM CSI scores

1. Quality Control Processes – Implementing controls, processes and procedures that work to ensure quality standards are meeting customer expectations established by OEM CSI scores.
2. Utilize customer feedback surveys to drive continuous improvement in customer satisfaction.
3. Customer Service Surveys – Understanding customer feedback after service or repair jobs by sending a survey linked to OEM customer service CSI scores.
4. Provide customer service staff with needed resources such as tools and technology.

1. Offer specialized training or educational opportunities to improve customer service skills.
2. Training Programs: Training programs can be a great way to ensure that staff is properly informed and up-to-date on the most recent policies and procedures. This can also translate into more accurate diagnosis of problems, faster repairs, and better overall customer service.
3. Implement certifications and recognition for customer service excellence.
4. Staff Training Programs – Developing training programs to ensure dealership mechanics and customer service staff are meeting or exceeding the standard set by OEM CSI scores.
5. Educate and train service staff on proper customer service procedures.
6. On-Site Training and Development Programs – Bringing OEM trainers and technicians to the dealership to focus on key customer satisfaction indicators tied to OEM CSI scores.

1. Targeted customer loyalty programs based on repeat customers from those dealers with exceptional CSI scores
2. Designate customer service and parts champions that serve as mentors and examples of customer service standards.

1. Discounts or rebates on parts and accessories
   Offer discounts on customer service andparts products, especially at the end of each quarter.
2. Parts and Labor Discounts: OEM parts and labor discounts can be provided to dealers and customers as an incentive for achieving high customer service scores.
3. Implement “thank you for choosing us” cards, newsletters, or other promotional material to customers who purchase parts from the dealership.
4. Preferential parts pricing and/or delivery.
5. Free parts, services, and training for dealers
6. Increase part availability by providing customers an option to purchase parts online or through mobile apps.

1. Increase the availability of parts from the manufacturer, either through stocking of more parts in-house or offering preferred access to OEM parts.
2. Improved parts ordering and delivery services

1. Offer customer service and parts promotional items such as t-shirts, hats, and mugs.
2. Provide access to customer service andparts experts, such as service andparts specialists, to assist customers and ensure satisfaction.
3. Track customer service and parts CSI scores and provide rewards or recognition for achieving or exceeding goals.