Learn How to Increase Your CSI With These Strategies

Let's talk CSI. You interact with it daily as it reflects your customer relationships, affects your OEM position, and impacts your bottom line.

Your dealership's Customer Satisfaction Index serves as your official manufacturer report card, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Strong scores give you access to significant perks and increase loyalty, while poor scores hold back your growth.

Recognizing the importance of CSI is one thing. Consistently improving it across departments requires something else entirely.

It demands focus and smart strategies, especially as customer expectations continue to change.

Why is a CSI Score Important for Your Dealership?

In theory, your dealership's Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) score reflects your customers experience and signals the health of your relationships. A good score doesn't just feel nice, it brings real advantages to your dealership.

Here’s why focusing on your CSI score is essential:

Access to Valuable OEM Incentives

Car manufacturers (OEMs) pay close attention to CSI scores. They are often connect a wide range of incentives to specific performance tiers.. These rewards have a real impact your finance. They often include:

Building Customer Retention and Loyalty

It's simple. Happy customers are loyal customers.

A good experience, reflected in a high CSI score, makes customers much more likely to return for their next service needs or vehicle purchases. And has you know, customer retention is crucial, as keeping an existing customer is usually cheaper and easier than constantly finding new ones.

Driving Growth Through Positive Reputation and Referrals

When customers are happy, they talk. They tell friends and family about their positive experience. It's a powerful word-of-mouth advertising that cost you nothing.

Go beyond just satisfying customers. Aim to wow them.

Truly "excited" customers become your best advocates. This often ties into the Net Promoter Score (NPS), which measures how likely someone is to recommend you. Studies show dealerships with higher NPS often grow faster.

Strengthening Service Department Profitability

Happy service customers are profitable customers.

When people trust your service team (thanks to clear communication and good inspections), they're more likely to approve needed repairs and return for regular maintenance. High CSI scores in your service department directly help your bottom line through more business and better absorption rates.

How to Know if You Have a High CSI Score?

Knowing precisely where your dealership stands on the official CSI scale is important to get access to those incentives. Performance is officially tracked and confirmed through these key channels:

• Official OEM Reports: These reports are your main source. Your manufacturer sends them regularly, showing your scores based on customer surveys. They often break scores down by department (sales, service, parts), helping you see exactly where you're excelling or need work.
• Meeting OEM Performance Tiers: OEMs often group scores into levels or tiers (like Tier-1, Tier-2, Tier-3). Hitting the top tier consistently is a clear sign you're doing well and usually unlocks the best incentives – cash, better car allocations, or awards.
• Manufacturer Awards and Recognition: Receiving official awards or accolades from your OEM specifically for great customer satisfaction is a clear confirmation that you have a high CSI score.
• Industry Benchmarks (for example J.D. Power): While your OEM score is what counts for incentives, checking industry studies like the J.D. Power CSI Study gives you context. These rank car brands based on service satisfaction. Seeing how your brand stacks up (like Porsche/Subaru leading in 2025, or Lexus/Buick in 2024) gives you a general idea of industry performance.
• Internal Customer Feedback: Many dealerships use quick text or email surveys right after a visit. While not official, getting lots of positive feedback here is usually a good sign your official CSI scores will be strong too.

A Quick Reality Check:

Just because a customer seems happy driving away doesn't always mean a perfect survey score later. Things outside your team's direct control can sometimes influence the results.

We often hear from dealerships surprised by survey results after a customer seemed perfectly satisfied in person. That’s why focusing on the entire experience matters so much.

How is the CSI Score Measured?

Your official CSI score starts with detailed customer surveys sent out by the OEM after someone buys a car or gets service. The questions cover key parts of their experience, though the specifics vary by manufacturer.

The OEM collects these survey answers, crunches the numbers, and gives you your score in regular reports, often showing how different departments are doing. While these official scores are the main focus, looking at industry benchmarks (like J.D. Power) provides helpful context.

There's an ongoing talk in the industry about CSI limitations. Some feel the surveys are too long, or scores get dinged for minor things outside a staff member's control. This is partly why metrics like the Net Promoter Score (NPS), measuring the likelihood to recommend, are also popular, as they offer a different angle on customer loyalty.

How to Increase Your CSI Score

Improving your CSI score requires a smart approach focused on making optimizing customer interactions with your dealership. When you get this right, you’ll see higher scores, more loyal customers, and unlock those valuable OEM perks

But remember, poor CSI scores can definitely hurt customer retention.

1. Improve the Sales Experience

This is your first impression. Make it count by being positive, clear, and efficient.

1.1. Knowledgeable and Helpful Staff

Your sales team need to know vehicles inside and out. Train them to be able to answer customer questions accurately and clearly. They should help them find the right car without  being pushy. Survey questions often assess salesperson helpfulness.

1.2. Transparent Pricing and Financials

Be upfront about all costs. No ones like hidden fees. Present all pricing, fees, and financing details clearly and upfront. Customers value honesty in financial discussions.

1.3. Efficient and Respectful Processes

Respect your customer's time. The purchasing process should be organized to be as smooth and time-efficient as possible. Some OEMs survey questions may ask about the process duration.

1.4. Memorable Vehicle Delivery

Make the final vehicle handover special. Don't rush it.

Take time to explain the car's features, making sure the customer is comfortable before they drive off. Your team should be there to answer any final questions. A positive delivery experience leaves a strong lasting impression.

2. Optimize the Service Experience

The service department has a significant impact on long-term loyalty and CSI scores. Modern Service Lane Technology (SLT) plays a key role here.

2.1. Offer Convenient Appointment Scheduling

Offer multiple, easy ways for customers to book service appointments (online, phone, app). However, simply offering booking options isn't enough, minimizing actual appointment wait times is a crucial satisfaction factor.

Recent J.D. Power study reported average dealership appointment wait times of around 5.2 days for mass-market brands and 5.4 days for premium brands, significantly longer than pre-pandemic levels. The same study found 35% of mass-market customers chose aftermarket service primarily for immediate availability, even more often than lower cost (34%).

Dealer auto tools like Kimoby can help manage scheduling communication and send reminders.

2.2. Have Attentive & Communicative Service Advisors

Advisors are key contacts. Train them to listen well, explain repairs clearly (no confusing jargon!), and give proactive updates. Feeling heard and informed is huge for customers.

Their communication skills are also really important. Advisors should be able to explain complex service needs clearly and without jargon so your client understand easily. They should also provide proactive status updates. Effective communication is critical for all aspects of your dealership operations.

2.3. Offer High-Quality Service & Repairs

Aim to fix it right the first time, every time. Repeat visits for the same issue are frustrating. Perform thorough multi-point inspections to consistently diagnostics repairs needed.

Shockingly, the 2025 J.D. Power study found 12% of repairs aren't done right initially, and only half those customers plan to return. Service quality heavily impacts CSI scores.

2.4. Give Transparent Communication During Service

Keep customers updated. Use texts, photos, or even short videos of needed repairs. This builds trust and helps get approvals faster

Tools like Kimoby make it easy for advisors to share video MPIs, estimates, and updates directly.

2.5. Offer Comfortable Facilities & Amenities

Maintain a clean, comfortable waiting area with amenities like Wi-Fi. Small touches like a simple car wash can help.

Our data shows that Offering loaner vehicles can also positively impact repair order values, and systems like Kimoby Go can simplify managing your loaner fleet.

2.6. Make Vehicle Pick-Up Easy & Efficient

Vehicle handover post-service should be smooth and efficient. Clearly explain the work done and charges. Digital payment options integrated with your dealership engagement system (DES), like Kimoby, can simplify and speed up this step this step.

2.7. Do Consistent Follow-Up

Reach out after service to check satisfaction and address any potential issues quickly. This lets you fix problems before the official survey goes out. Automating this with texts via tools like Kimoby can be efficient for managing CSI and reputation.

3. Make Sure Your Parts Department Efficiency

Even if it's often behind the scenes, the parts department plays a crucial supporting role in your CSI score.

3.1. Timely Parts Availability

Maintain efficient processes for ordering and stocking parts to minimize delays for service repairs or counter sales.

In 28% of cases were a customer problem wasn't fixed the first time was cause because the necessary parts weren't available.

3.2. Make Sure your Parts Staff is Knowledgeable

Well-informed parts staff help customers, advisors, and technicians get the right parts quickly. Internal communication tools, possibly within systems like Kimoby, can help streamline questions between departments

3.3. Be Transparent About Parts Pricing

Clearly communicate parts costs with your customers

4. Take Advantage of Data and Customer Feedback

You can't fix what you don't measure. Use feedback to continuously improve.

4.1. Analyze your OEM Reports

Dive into your official CSI reports. Look at scores by department and even by question to find specific areas that need work.

4.2. Use Internal Feedback

Use quick internal surveys (like post-visit texts) to get instant feedback. This helps you spot and fix issues quickly, potentially before they affect your official scores

4.3. Monitor Online Reviews

Keep an eye on platforms like Google and Yelp. While not official CSI, these reviews impact your reputation and offer real customer insights. Have responses ready for common feedback and make sure to address these feedback promptly.

4.4. Gather Team Insights

Your frontline staff (sales, service, parts) hear directly from customers. Create ways for them to easily share that feedback and suggest improvements.

5. Invest in Your People

Your team is the face of the dealership and critical to delivering exceptional experiences.

5.1. Offer Comprehensive Training

Regularly train staff on products, OEM standards, customer service skills, and dealership processes. The auto world changes fast, so ongoing training is important. Make customer service training mandatory for relevant roles and use OEM training incentives.

This includes how the vehicles work (product knowledge), what the OEM) expects from dealerships (OEM standards), the best ways to talk to and help customers (customer service best practices), and the steps they need to follow for different tasks (process adherence).

5.2. Foster Employee Satisfaction

Successful dealerships often notice that happy employees lead to happier customers (and better CSI score). When your employees feel valued and supported, they're more motivated to go the extra mile for customers.

Prioritize a positive work environment and involve staff in improvement initiatives. This could involve things like fair pay, good benefits, respect among team members, and a supportive management team.

5.3. Implement Recognition and Incentives

Recognize staff for great customer feedback or CSI results. However, be cautious tying pay directly to CSI scores, as scores can be affected by things outside an employee's control

While it might seem like a good way to motivate service advisors or salespeople by directly linking how much get paid to the CSI scores they receive, it can be tricky. Sometimes, a customer might give a bad score for something that wasn't really the employee's fault

5.4. Provide Necessary Tools and Support

Give your team the tools and clear processes they need to succeed. Make sure your team knows the proper steps and procedures for different customer interactions. This could be things like how to greet a customer, how to handle complaints, or what the process is for a service appointment.

Tools like Kimoby can help you communicate with customers in convenient ways, like sending text messages with updates on their car repairs or appointment reminders

6. Organize your Processes & Use Technology

Efficient workflows and smart tech make everything smoother for customers and staff.

6.1. Standardize Key Processes

Having standard procedures for important things makes sure every customer gets a consistent and good experience.

Implement and enforce a standardized, comprehensive MPI for every vehicle in your service lane. This systematic check helps identify potential safety issues early, builds customer trust through demonstrated thoroughness, and can uncover legitimate service needs

6.2. Develop Robust Follow-Up Protocols

Establish clear, consistent processes for customer follow-up after both sales and service interactions.

Contact customers after purchase to make sure they are satisfied with their new vehicle and answer their questions.

For your service clients, follow up after their visits to confirm satisfaction with the work performed and promptly address any concerns, demonstrating commitment.

6.3. Leverage Technology Effectively

Make use of technology to enhance efficiency and customer convenience. This includes a modern communication platforms like Kimoby for seamless customer engagement (text, video, status updates, payment options).

Maintain and track customer interactions and vehicle history to personalize communication, send relevant service reminders, and create targeted marketing offers.

6.4. Implement Fixed Ops Marketing & Retention Strategies

Use available tools, potentially including engagement systems like Kimoby, to send targeted maintenance reminders, recall notifications, or personalized service offers based on customer data, driving retention and repeat business.

Conclusion

Improving CSI scores isn't about chasing numbers. It's about building stronger customer relationships. This effort touches everything:

• How you sell cars
• How you service them
• How you communicate
• How you support your team

No single magic solution exists. Success comes from consistently applying these strategies across your dealership. Listen carefully to customer feedback through official surveys and online reviews, empower employees with training and tools, and continuously improve processes for greater transparency and efficiency.

By focusing on creating positive experiences for each customer, you'll see better CSI scores while building loyalty, earning manufacturer support, and growing your dealership long-term.