DO : Train your staff to be pleasant . Humans desire interaction with other humans . We all want to be understood . This is something the internet cannot compete with .
DON ’ T : Mistreat your employees . You can always tell how employees are treated by how they regard their customers . Treat your employees exceptionally well and they will do the same for your customers .
DO : Thank your customers for their business . Give them a thank you card signed by the servicing employee . Then ask for an online review if they loved the service . Ask the customer to let you know if they were not satisfied . Provide them the name and email of the department manager for feedback .
DON ’ T : Focus on how much money you can make off a customer . Any person can sense this a mile away and will turn around and leave . When you focus on solving a customer ’ s problem , the money will follow organically .
Make it Easy to Buy Customers should not have to work at spending their money in your dealership . Because of the internet , the paying process needs to be as painless as possible .
DO : Accept as many forms of payment possible . PayPal , Apple Pay and other internet methods has made the buying process fast and easy . Your shop must compete with that .
DON ’ T : Do not place restrictions or refuse some credit cards because the merchant fees may be higher than others . This poses too big of an inconvenience in today ’ s world . If a merchant fee is causing you hardship , you have much bigger fundamental problems to address .
DO : Provide a hassle-free way of doing business . Make it policy to allow hassle-free exchanges and refunds .
DON ’ T : Tell your customer that they are out of luck .
DO : Always go to bat for the customer . When a customer returns with a defective product after the warranty period has expired , offer to help them . Offer to send the part back for them . Offer a discount on a new replacement . Offer a different product at a discount . No matter what the manufacturer decides , you will remain the hero .
Experience Will Always Trump Low Price Your customers will research for countless hours on the internet before they narrow down what they want to buy , and most likely they will still be somewhat apprehensive when buying from a site . Customers really do want to buy from a brick and mortar business such as yours . They will expect you to mitigate or remove the risk and anxiety of making a purchase online .
Customers want to participate in a great buying experience because , when it ’ s done correctly , it can be a lot of fun for everyone ! Isn ’ t that the way it ’ s supposed to be ? No customer will withstand a horrible customer service experience for the sake of a low price and then walk out with a smile on their face . Follow these steps to create “ customers with irrational loyalty ” because a customer with irrational loyalty will never think of spending their money anywhere else but your dealership . For more information , please go to www . markpodeyn . com .
22 NATDA Magazine www . natda . org