Exceptional customer service in your dealership will enhance sales, build customer loyalty, and increase repeat and referral business.  You will gain a competitive edge over other dealers when every facet of your organization is committed to superior customer satisfaction.  True customer service happens when highly motivated and competent employees demonstrate an attitude of "we will do whatever it takes to ensure your complete satisfaction".   

      This article assumes you have read or been exposed to books like Carl Sewell’s Customers of Life , listened to tapes about service, attended seminars on customer satisfaction, and truly believe that customer service is a critical part of your success.  Rather than reiterate the obvious importance of having a clean facility, friendly employees, answering the phone properly and being nice to everyone, this article is written from the customer’s view point and approaches you as a business person first, who owns or manages a successful dealership.   When I refer to “we” I mean customers.  When I refer to “you” I mean the reader.

First rule:  Life is not fair. 
     You don’t have to read this article to know that.  Your experiences in the workplace have shown you that many times.   You are not only competing with other successful dealerships in your area, you are competing against such Puget Sound companies as Amazon.com, Starbucks, Nordstrom, Costco and REI. 

For example, you must compete with the competent, knowledgeable and friendly employees at Nordstrom; against the cutting edge technical/electronic internet customer service at Amazon.com; against the reality of the low prices and perceived high value at Costco.  You must compete against the fun, friendly and laid back culture at REI, the killer service we receive at Starbucks and with the standards of service and food quality at the Metropolitan Grill.  If you are saying, that’s not fair -- that selling a latte, a pair of shoes, a book on the Internet, a back pack or steak dinner is hardly the same as selling a $40-75,000 car or truck, then you get the point.  It is not the same at all, but we, your customers, make the rules and can compare the attitudes of your employees, the appearance of your facility, your attention to detail, computer literacy, how you handle complaints, if you keep your promises, and overall service commitment to any vendor we choose.  They don’t have to be in automotive sales and service.

Second rule:  We make the rules.
      You know all about the wonderful symbiotic relationship between a customer and a vendor.  Business schools and trainers are preaching about the warm fuzzy partnership between vendors and customers and how they are constantly seeking a win-win relationship.  Don’t you believe it!  You are in a 100% unilateral relationship with your customers and once again, there is nothing fair about it.  You take all the financial risks, borrow money, extend your line of credit, buy or lease valuable real estate, pay to train your employees, invest in new equipment, pay overtime in order to keep your promises, and pay for health insurance and retirement benefits.  And who makes the rules and has all the authority?  We, the customers, do!  We don’t have to have one day of experience or training in a dealership.  In fact, we don’t even have to know the year make and model of our car when we call for a service appointment, yet we can judge your service and whether you are doing a professional job or not.  Fair?  Hardly, but that’s how it works.  You invest all the money and take all the risks, and we get to make the most important decision of all… whether we will do business with you or not.  And, here’s the final straw.  We can use the most illogical, arbitrary, and stupid reasons we want and you can’t do anything about it. 

Third rule:  It’s a race without a finish line.
     I am reminded of Pogo’s famous quote:  “We have met the enemy, and they are us.”  The higher you raise your customer service bar, the more your customers will expect.  You are only as good as the last great customer service experience.  But what is your alternative?  Once you realize you are in a race without a finish line, the race itself becomes important, not the finish.  The joy of the customer service race is doing your professional best every single day.  You can’t rest on yesterday’s successes, doing things right, good attitudes, answering the phone properly, thanking customers, and showing your appreciation for their business.  Every day the curtain goes up, the red carpet is rolled out, the drum rolls, the spot light focuses, and your dealership takes center stage in the new race -- proving to your customers that you are the best dealer in the Puget Sound region.

What exactly is Customer Service?
     "Every interaction between one of your team members and a customer proves to your customers that they made the right choice.”  Your job is to prove, our job is to choose -- and if you snooze, you loose.

     When Jan Carlson was CEO of SAS, he was asked why the airline was so successful in the European market.  He said: Customer service.  In his book, Moments of Truth, he described how on one route segment, over several months, 10,000 business passengers flew SAS.  On an average, each passenger had contact with five SAS employees.  “Do the math”, he said.  “We had 50,000 moments of truth (each interaction) to prove to our passengers that they chose the right airline.”  How many opportunities will you have in your service department, parts department, and new and used car sales department to prove that your customers chose the right dealership?  Actually hundreds of times a day!  You will have a moment of truth every time an employee answers the phone, sells a part, greets a customer at the counter or in the show room, does a demonstration drive, mails out an invoice, sends a thank you note, helps solve a problem, or has any other interaction with a customer.

The 5 key words that lead to exceptional Customer Satisfaction
     There are five reasons why we, the customers, choose a vendor.  This should serve you well as a heads up.  If you know why we buy, doesn’t it make sense for you to address those reasons?  I have listed the words in order of importance and I highly recommend you emphasize them with your employees.

1. Quality
2. Speed
3. Service
4. Innovation
5. Flexibility

     What about price?  You are undoubtedly thinking… price is not there and it is at the top of every customer’s list.  How could I be so naïve not to include price?  I left price off on purpose and for two significant reasons. 

     First, you cannot control the price other dealerships charge.  If they want to decrease their profit margins, if they negotiate a higher discount from their vendors, if they cut their costs by not providing the same benefits and perks to their employees, if their overhead is lower than yours, if they don’t invest in the latest technology and equipment, if they don’t pay to train their employees… if, if, if.  You can’t control what other dealers do that impact their prices and profit.  Don’t focus on what you can’t control.  Focus on what you can do. Establish a fair price based on your business principles, ethics and values.

     Second, if we, the customers, have the ability to pay for your product or service, price is not the issue… it’s value.  If we cannot afford your prices, regardless of your service and professionalism, we are not a prospect.  But just because we can afford your prices doesn’t mean we will choose your dealership.  Your job is to prove to us that we will get our money’s worth at your dealership.  Price is very important in my buying decisions, but when I pay for something, receiving a corresponding value is my major concern.  Your customers will definitely expect a high value when they purchase a new or used vehicle or have their vehicle repaired at your dealership, so give it to them.  Here’s how you do it.

Quality           
     The first criterion we use for choosing a vendor, any vendor in any industry, including your dealership, is quality, excellence, and reliability.  We are looking for a plug and play experience.  When we order a processor or terminal from Dell, we expect to open the box, plug it in, and have it work.  We expect the same from your dealership.  We expect your cars and trucks, parts, and repairs to work -- work the first time and work all the time.  That means in your service department, inspections are done thoroughly, the repairs meet the manufacturer’s specifications, quality parts are used, and there are no comebacks.  It means you fixed the problems and they stay fixed.  Quality happens when employees follow policies and procedures that produce consistent, accurate results with no surprises.  It is critical that your dealership is process driven, with best practices in place, so employees don’t have to guess or make up the rules as they go. 

Speed             
      If two dealerships have the same consistency of quality and reliability, then the next criterion we use is speed.  Doesn’t that make sense?  If you can get us a new car delivered faster, why not buy it from you?  If you can do the service work faster, why not use your service department?  However, speed should never trump quality.  We are not interested in having your mistakes delivered to us sooner.  We don’t want our car back if it’s not fixed properly.  We don’t get a new truck sooner if it doesn’t have the options we ordered.  We don’t want an invoice that is not computed properly.  All you do is waste our time by giving us a product or service that is not satisfactory.

     Teamwork produces speed.  If you want the service or body shop department to finish the vehicle sooner, get the techs and service advisors to work together and communicate effectively with each other.  If you want the parts department to give the right parts to the techs, the techs must provide accurate and complete information about the parts they need.

Service           
     If we cannot distinguish between the quality and reliability of a dealership, and the speed and delivery time is within a millisecond of each other, then the next criterion we use is service.  Service is where most people begin; however, it needs to be third on the list.  No amount of “pleases and thank-yous,” or “I’m sorrys,” or clean shop floors, or great looking show rooms and friendly well-dressed employees will make up for a crappy product that is delivered late.  Instead of sending your employees to charm school, focus on quality and speed.  Eliminate the need for agonizing apologizes, costly comebacks, and all the other nonsense created by not providing a product or service that works and is delivered on time.  Of course it is very important to have pleasant, positive and helpful employees, a clean and comfortable dealership with all the comforts (nice chairs, coffee, play area for the children, computer outlets where customers can plug in their laptops, telephones available for customers without cell phones), but once again, no amount of bedside manners will make up for not keeping your promises and wasting our time.  Would you go back to a restaurant that loses your reservation, makes you wait an extra 45 minutes to be seated, and then serves food that isn’t prepared properly… just because the wait person was friendly?  I don’t think so. 

Innovation     
     If two dealerships are in a virtual dead heat in terms of quality, speed and service, the next tie breaker is innovation.   Innovative employees are your best and brightest.  You pay top dollar for experienced sales people, technicians, parts, paint and office employees, who can offer suggestions and recommendations, work with difficult and out of the ordinary situations, and still “put the deal together.”  This is especially important in your sales team.  These creative employees are excellent at listening to us and drawing on their wisdom and experience to take care of needs.  They often know what we want before we do.  Their greatest challenge is communicating with us in a way that does two things:  prevents us from getting embarrassed or defensive, and builds our confidence in them and your dealership.  Top sales people quickly gain our trust and confidence by sharing ideas and information that prove they understand our thinking and are capable of providing a solution.  We admire and respect those sales people.  You may be wondering why this criterion is fourth on the list.  Remember, we don’t care how bright and clever your employees are if our experience with your dealership is that your ideas don’t work (quality), are delivered late (speed), and we have to deal with non-professional or rude employees (service).

Flexibility
     The last criterion that we look for in a dealership or any vendor we do business with, is flexibility.  Flexibility is a euphemism for common sense.  Once you prove to us you have quality, speed, service and innovation, then, just make it as easy as possible for us to do business with you. Eliminate rigid bureaucratic policies or procedures.  Don’t make us jump through hoops.  Don’t tell us what we “have” to do.  We don’t have to do anything except walk out of your dealership with our unwritten check still in our pocket and your unwritten sales or repair order still on your desk.  We want everyone in your dealership to demonstrate an accommodating and flexible attitude.  Help us find the fastest and easiest way to do business with you.  Don’t build walls and barriers that get in the way.  Don’t violate common sense.

      In addition to these critical reasons why customers choose your dealership, there are four ways to enhance every interaction with a customer.  If your employees follow these guidelines, you will see customer satisfaction improve in your dealership.

Four steps to ensure customer satisfaction:
     Because sales are a major focus in every automotive dealership, consider these four steps through the framework of sales communication, or more specifically -- features, benefits and objections.

      1.         Always create a good first impression, in person and on the phone (feature), so customers feel welcome and comfortable (benefit).  What do you do when you find yourself in a situation where you are not comfortable or you think people don’t care about you?  You probably make up a phony excuse (objection), leave as soon as you can, and don’t come back.  That’s exactly what can happen when a person is not greeted properly, is not put at ease, and feels embarrassed or not welcomed in your dealership.  Answer each phone call by saying, “Thank your for calling ABC Dealership, this is John, how may I help you?”  Put a smile on your face when you greet customers in person.  Shake our hands and thank us for the opportunity to serve us.  And don’t forget to apologize if we have to wait too long… for any reason.

2.         Communicate effectively, by asking questions, listening, answering questions completely, and giving customers your full attention (feature) so customers feel special and important (benefit).  Most of us want to have a strong self worth and value.  If you ignore us, pre-judge us as not worth your time and professionalism, and generally blow us off, we will not come back (objection).  Don’t judge us too harshly by how we are dressed or what kind of car we drive into your dealership… you may be surprised at how much is in our bank accounts.  Always remember, after our home, our vehicle(s) is probably the second most expensive asset we own.  Isn’t that worth your professional best? 

3.         Handle each transaction fast, accurately, and professionally (feature) so you don't waste the customer's time or your time by having to do things over (benefit).  What did you learn in high school chemistry?  I learned that water and electricity take the path of least resistance.  So do customers.  Our time is important.   Time for your employees is absolutely crucial to the success of your dealership.  Employee time translates into more billable hours, time for selling more vehicles, time to prevent comebacks, time to prevent getting involved in too many warranty claims.  Don’t waste our time, and don’t waste your employees’ time.  Be professional, competent, straight forward and efficient.  How much profit is there in repainting, working on come backs, and fixing your employees’ errors and mistakes?  What impact do mistakes have on quality and speed?  Wasting anyone’s time, for whatever reason, is just bad for business.

4.         Thank your customers for the opportunity to serve them.  Make sure they are completely satisfied. Express regret if they are inconvenienced in any way (feature).  This lets customers know they are appreciated and will be treated properly in the future (benefit).  Everything you do, every decision, every attitude, every behavior, should have one goal:  earning repeat and referral business.   When you are dealing with an upset customer, say these words:  “I’m sorry.  I know you did business with us because you expected (better service, your car delivered on time, a loaner available, friendly employees… you fill in the blank).  There is nothing more important to us than a satisfied customer, so let’s find out what happened and make it right.  We don’t want this to prevent you from doing business with us again and when you leave we want you to be satisfied with every aspect of our dealership.”  Now it takes a real pro to communicate like that when your customer is not pleased, but when done properly, it establishes a very professional relationship and helps you retain a valuable customer.  At the same time you impress us with your customer satisfaction skills.  Always be supportive of your company.  Admit problems that impact us, but never blame a supervisor, owner, technician, estimator, parts, office staff or anyone within your company … and don't complain about company policies or procedures you don't agree with.  You might think it is humorous or effective to play the blame game, but all you are doing is giving us reasons to lose respect and confidence in your dealership.   

In closing, remember…

1. Customers go where they are invited (advertising)
    

2. Customers don’t complain when they get what they expected (price, delivery)
    

3. Customers return and recommend their friends when they are totally impressed with your dealership and the professional attitude of the team members. (quality, speed, service, innovation and flexibility)

      Customers will pay more for quality, speed and innovation when they are accompanied by outstanding service and flexibility.  

If you would like to have Beau Hamilton conduct training for your employees, please contact him at Hamilton Consulting, Kirkland, WA, 425-821-1115 www.hamiltonconsulting.com or beau@hamiltonconsulting.com.