Bob Ciasulli Reflects on the Importance of Customer Service for Auto Dealerships in Tough Economic TimesCustomer service, it’s on each auto dealer’s brain. We’ve talked about the worth of surprising customer service and how it converts into real dollars in all of our pockets. Let’s return to how essential it is to handle every person who walk through the doors of our dealership in the most specialized and civil manner.
Next to buying a home, buying a new or used vehicle is the biggest purchase anyone will make in their lifetime. Yet, if we were to videotape our interaction with a lot of our customers you would think that this person was coming in to buy a TV at a local discount store. Wrong way to treat someone who will probably be expenses somewhere between,$10,000 to $40,000 on average. Think back to the last time you went to an upscale restaurant to have dinner. Let’s say for two people you were going to spend about $100. Now if it were an outstanding restaurant you would have been greeted in a very friendly manner by the maitre d’, thanking you for coming in. When the waiter took your order and throughout the meal, you noticed how professional everyone was and how responsive he or she was to your needs. Now remember, you’re only spending about $100 for dinner. Now fast-forward to how most people are treated at an auto dealership. The person buying a vehicle is spending 100 - 400 times more money than the $100 spent at a restaurant. Are they getting that much more in service? I would settle for equal conduct. That would convince me. Focus on how much the customer may spend at your dealership and treat everyone whether they purchase or not, with the utmost respect and courtesy. It makes good dollars and sense.
Memorize that everyone a customer sees in our dealerships forms an impression in the customer’s mind…the receptionist, office personnel, parking lot attendant, service advisor, sales personnel and managers. An honest smile and a feeling of concern for the customer is what we must project. The products we sell can be purchased and serviced at any of our competing dealerships. So whether it’s sales or service we have to sell ourselves. Please help our customers in order to help ourselves. Need I say more?
Next to buying a home, buying a new or used vehicle is the biggest purchase anyone will make in their lifetime. Yet, if we were to videotape our interaction with a lot of our customers you would think that this person was coming in to buy a TV at a local discount store. Wrong way to treat someone who will probably be expenses somewhere between,$10,000 to $40,000 on average. Think back to the last time you went to an upscale restaurant to have dinner. Let’s say for two people you were going to spend about $100. Now if it were an outstanding restaurant you would have been greeted in a very friendly manner by the maitre d’, thanking you for coming in. When the waiter took your order and throughout the meal, you noticed how professional everyone was and how responsive he or she was to your needs. Now remember, you’re only spending about $100 for dinner. Now fast-forward to how most people are treated at an auto dealership. The person buying a vehicle is spending 100 - 400 times more money than the $100 spent at a restaurant. Are they getting that much more in service? I would settle for equal conduct. That would convince me. Focus on how much the customer may spend at your dealership and treat everyone whether they purchase or not, with the utmost respect and courtesy. It makes good dollars and sense.
Memorize that everyone a customer sees in our dealerships forms an impression in the customer’s mind…the receptionist, office personnel, parking lot attendant, service advisor, sales personnel and managers. An honest smile and a feeling of concern for the customer is what we must project. The products we sell can be purchased and serviced at any of our competing dealerships. So whether it’s sales or service we have to sell ourselves. Please help our customers in order to help ourselves. Need I say more?
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