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.

1. Outbound Marketing
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.
Customer value Outbound Objectives
Retention
The primary objective of any outbound
activity is to increase sales with new and
Cross/Upselling
existing customers. As the diagram
opposite shows these sales can come
Churn Prevention
from several areas: up-selling, decreasing
the rate at which customers leave the
Winback
brand i.e. improving retention. However,
Time
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.

2. 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:
Average gross ROI Dealer ROI Client ROI Total
Campaign*
price per car Perspective Perspective Perspective
Customer Contact
50.000 € 14.2 7.1 10.8
Program
Quality
Reassurance 60.000 € n.a. 1.03 1.94
Program
Basic Outbound
40.000 € 6.34 1.95 2.73
Program
Total ROI 2008 2.61
*Further assumptions: 15% profit margin for dealer on sales, 20% profit margin for manufacturer on sales, 20% profit margin for dealer on part
sales.

3. 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
exc ellen t ve ry go od
26 % 59%
Programme, all customers were asked for their satisfaction.
The outcome of this was 85% of customers giving feedback that the very b ad
0%
g o od
13 %
b ad
campaign had a very good (59%) or even excellent (26%) impact on 2%
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.