BLOG

Everyone wants referrals, but a lot of salespeople are reluctant to ask for them.  It can be off-putting to some customers, and there seems to be a sense that if a referral comes without having to ask for it, it is more “deserved.”  There is nothing wrong with asking for a referral from customers that are satisfied after doing business with your dealership.  Here are some creative ways to make asking for the business of your customer’s friends, family, and colleagues:

Expectation:  After the sale of a car, tell each customer that you expect they’ll be satisfied with the process, and will check back with them in 30, 60, or 90 days to ask them if they know of anyone else who needs a new vehicle with a hassle-free experience and superb follow-up.  Of course, fit this to your dealership, and make sure that you actually do follow through with this promise.

Giveaway:  A lot of dealerships already send coupons, promotions, or discounts to their existing customer base through email.  Add some text instructing those customers to feel free to forward the email newsletter (including the discount) to anyone that might need it.  Your customers will refer their loved ones to your dealership while looking like the good-guys by saving them money.

Refunds:  Although this is essentially buying referrals, doing it in a round-about way makes it a little more interesting.  Tell satisfied customers that you will offer a certain percentage off of their next bill (service, parts, purchase, etc) for each referral they send to the dealership.  This allows you to track who is sending the most new customers to your dealership (they’ll have to tell you who sent them in order for the referrer to receive the discount), and they’ll be more likely to get their vehicle serviced with your dealership, bringing in additional money.

Asking for referrals from satisfied customers doesn’t have to be painful.  Try asking in a different manner (link to older post), or put a creative spin on rewarding those who refer customers to your dealership.

Every sales person I have ever met is always looking for referrals.  Referrals tend to come with a level of built-in trust, which especially in the auto industry, can make it much easier for you to sell them their next car.  The struggle comes in knowing how to get your existing customers and salespeople (referral sources) to recognize potential referrals.

When most people ask for a referral, it’s a straight forward question like “Do you know anyone who might be in the market for a new car?”  When asking your customers this question, try tweaking it a bit so that it provides a solution to a problem your future customers may have.  This can increase the number of referrals your dealership gets, simply by helping your existing customers really think about the people they know who might need a new car.

For example, try asking your happy customers questions that address the reasons people purchase cars.

• “Do you know anyone who has an unreliable car?”
• “Can you think of anyone who needs to replace their existing car (accident, stolen, etc)?”
• “Has anyone in your life received a promotion or had a baby?”

Another way to make this mindset work to increase dealership sales is to remind the salespeople you work with to listen for these key phrases in their daily life.  Expanding the view of the “I need a new car” that some salespeople may be listening for can help increase your dealership sales.

Referrals can come from a variety of sources, and helping your referral sources (customers, salespeople) recognize these key phrases can do wonders for your auto dealership’s bottom line.