MediaTrac's LoyaltyTrac Customer Loyalty & Service Retention Program Helps Auto Dealers Drive 24 Percent Increase in Customer Visit Frequency

SAN RAMON, Calif., March 22 /PRNewswire/ -- MediaTrac, LLC (http://www.media-trac.com), a marketing technology company providing customized frequency marketing, customer loyalty, retention and media tracking programs, announced today that it has reached a milestone for its customer loyalty and service retention program LoyaltyTrac. LoyaltyTrac has surpassed 6 million Service Rewards program members and in 2009, dealers using the program enjoyed an average increase of 24 percent in customer visit frequency and a 9.7 percent increase in customer spend, despite a down market. LoyaltyTrac is the largest auto dealership-based customer loyalty rewards program in the US and its membership base is equivalent to 58 percent of all the new vehicles sold in 2009.

According to Michael Gorun, Managing Partner at MediaTrac, dealers using LoyaltyTrac are currently seeing month over month increases in service department traffic and, in some cases, record revenue - even despite today's tough economic climate. "We are extremely proud of the results our dealers saw in 2009, in the face of such a volatile market. In times of stagnant vehicle sales growth progressive auto dealers are capitalizing on their existing service department clients and bucking the trend of traditional service marketing. They realize the focus has to be customer loyalty and retention and are turning to more proactive, more robust solutions like LoyaltyTrac that provide a definite and measurable ROI," Gorun said.

Dealers are having great success using LoyaltyTrac to market their service departments. According to Berge Ford, its loyalty card members purchased more than one million dollars worth of parts and service in the first year on MediaTrac's LoyaltyTrac^® solution. The loyalty program is delivering hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit to Berge with more than 100 percent return on investment in the first quarter.

"By more precisely marketing our services to customers, we were able to reduce our advertising costs by more than $120,000 per year," said Jim Crutcher, General Manager for Berge Ford. "The gains are significant and measurable. And best of all, the loyalty program is giving our customers another reason to continue to come back to us for vehicle purchases and service."

A comprehensive, value-based customer loyalty approach builds loyalty with a broad set of customers. But even more importantly, it focuses on the dealership's most profitable customer profile - those who are frequent patrons, and those who buy a variety of products and services. LoyaltyTrac builds loyalty by rewarding these customers, and provides incentive to the casual customer to buy more goods. This strategy fundamentally changes the customers' buying behavior so they buy more - and more frequently - from the dealership. It's a proven fact that customers enjoy getting rewards and are willing to buy more when they're rewarded for their loyalty to a particular brand. In fact, 80 percent of customers who participate in a rewards-based customer loyalty program say their membership in the program influences their purchasing decisions.  

Building a loyal customer base with LoyaltyTrac enables a dealership to drive higher revenue and improved profit. According to results from auto dealers using the program in 2009, if a dealership were to enroll each of their service lane customers, the increase in service revenue would be $190,000 after 12 months (based on 420 ROs per month).

Dealerships are increasingly realizing that building meaningful customer relationships while providing some form of member equity will lead to long-term success. MediaTrac, LLC expects to reach the seven million member plateau before the end of 2010, along with a further increase in customer visit frequency for its dealers. For additional information about LoyaltyTrac, contact Jeff Shenk at 925-415-1300 or visit http://www.media-trac.com.

About MediaTrac, LLC:

Headquartered in San Ramon, California, MediaTrac, LLC is a marketing technology company providing customized frequency marketing, customer loyalty, retention and media tracking programs. The company is one of the fastest growing privately held firms in Northern California. For more information, visit http://www.media-trac.com.

This release was issued through eReleases(TM).  For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE MediaTrac, LLC