Best Practices

The lifetime value of a car dealership customer is between $250,000 and several million dollars.  Stay with me…

Far too many dealers are living in a bubble, knowing a lot, but doing a little.  When dealers fail to execute, the lost dollars add up quickly.  I speak with Dealer Principals, General Managers and various internet personnel on a regular basis that believe their processes are solid, only to find out the truth reveals the opposite.  Let me share with you a real world example where a lack of communication process cost a dealership a potential lifetime customer.

Toyota Dealership in Arizona

A kind, loving woman (my mom) is ready for a new car and her son (me) happens to be visiting from out of town.  She asks her son to help her through the process and her amazing (and devilishly handsome) son agrees without question.  The woman talks about a personal experience she had recently when she rented a Toyota Camry.  Since that time she has noticed more Camry’s on the road and she has browsed the internet for Toyota Camry information.  Hmm… should the rental car company get credit as the actual lead source?

Still with me?  Good, I’ll fast forward a bit.  My mom’s experience included impressions delivered by television advertising, display ads, PPC and maybe even some good old fashioned SEO, none of which were free for the dealership.  They paid for my mom’s attention and the opportunity to sell her a car.  They earned it because I went with her to pick out and purchase her new Toyota Camry.  The process was pretty smooth.  Not the best I’ve seen, but very good including how the sales person worked appropriately to encourage a woman in her sixties to write a positive review for the dealership post-purchase.  Before you give this dealership five stars, let me tell you how the movie ended.

Count the Cost

On the hood of the Camry my mom picked out was a small blemish that required a visit to the body shop.  The sales person made my mom very comfortable about how they this minor repair would be handled.  Unfortunately, reality proved him to be very wrong.  Not only did the minor repair take much longer than was promised, the dealership put 60 miles on my mom’s new Camry over a two day period, even though she was supposed have her car back the same day.  When my sweet, non-confrontational mother asked the service guy about the 60 miles, he delivered a condescending explanation of how they had to send her car out to someone else to have it fixed.  He was clearly irritated my mom would even dare to question him about the additional miles driven in her new car.  So, it wasn’t a service they performed at the dealership.  Fair enough, but that was never disclosed and people like to know what the hell you’re doing with their car.  So, guess what happened?  She will never go back there for service, will never buy another vehicle from them, and will never tell her friends anything but the truth about her experience.  No one wants that experience.

How much does the average dealer spend advertising/marketing each month?  On average, dealers pay over $600 to advertise each new vehicle they’re trying to sell.  It adds up fast!

Dealers, you spend too much money attracting potential customers to allow your sights to be set on anything but turning each one into a lifetime customer.  Process isn’t exclusive to the internet part of your business, so make sure you have established communication processes in your service and parts departments. If not, they may be sending the lifetime customers you’re earning to your competition.

Level Set

Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Charlie Sheen, Celebrities, Politicians, Musicians and… BUSINESSES.  If this is the first time you’ve heard that your business reputation is important you should consider early retirement.  Okay, maybe that’s a bit harsh, but the truth still suggests 99.999% of those reading this understand the critical importance of a good business reputation.

Why Is Reputation So Important Today?  

We live in a world of instant gratification and the internet has only helped increase what we expect from technology, people and… businesses.  This is a selfish group known as… EVERYONE and we have zero patience.  Why should we when we have access to almost anything we want no matter what time of day?

Consider that the smart phone in your pocket makes waiting for news of any kind unnecessary.  Checking the weather includes the option of viewing Doppler radar.  I bet you haven’t bought or used a map in years.  You use your smart phone for EVERYTHING…including shopping and purchasing decisions.

How is this all affecting your business reputation?  When we don’t want to wait for anything and we don’t have to wait for anything, businesses are forced to adjust their processes to support speed and quality of service.  This is no longer an option for businesses hoping to survive long term.  I think you get the point.  Our expectations are higher than ever.  So, how is your dealership handling this today and how is your dealership going to handle the next generation of entitled, selfish brats?

There’s A Big Difference

It’s critical to understand the difference between product reviews and business reviews. Your dealership must have a process that includes every department.  Every employee must be focused on providing your customers excellence in all areas of your business.  Think Disney.  There’s a reason why they have one of the best business reputations in the history of EVER.  Your dealership isn’t reviewed the way someone writes a review about an iPhone case they bought on Amazon.  Your business has the dynamic quality of people and this makes or breaks dealerships.  Hold your team accountable to high customer service standards and the word on the street regarding your dealership will be music to your ears.  Don’t forget your reputation is a reflection of how you treat people in person, so why not be great?

You’ll Need A Plan

I talk to dealers almost every day about a wide variety of topics.  When the subject of reviews, reputation and social media come up I always talk about planning.  Success with increasing, improving and responding to reviews comes much easier to dealers that have the tools to see what’s going on.  A dealership must have complete visibility to effectively manage their online reputation.  DealerOn offers Reputation Intelligence tools that not only make monitoring all reviews in one place super simple, the tools also show dealers social signals, online mentions and increase their number of reviews.

May you find the determination and conviction to work hard on the reputation of your business.  You won’t regret making your customers happy and they’ll be glad to tell everyone they know about their experience.