You don’t know what you got till it’s gone…

I read a great post on Drivingsales.com yesterday called Why You Lost your Best Customer that touched on an ongoing customer service experience that, despite many years of loyalty, ultimately led to switching brands. This got me thinking of my own experiences where because I had been a customer for so long the company started to neglect me. They got too comfortable with me. “Well Person A has been a customer for 10 years now so we can take care of Person B’s needs first since they are a first time customer, and we want to impress them.” Well… wait! Person A is still a customer and if anything should be considered just as important (if not more) than Person B.

“It takes less effort to keep an old customer satisfied than to get a new customer interested”

In a dealership setting it holds true as well. Person B may be buying that $70k car as opposed to the $20k vehicle Person A is purchasing, but over the last 10 years Person A has purchased $20k vehicles for his entire family and because they like your service so much, you can almost guarantee that his children will also be purchasing vehicles for their families as well. So basically being as loyal to Person A as they are to you is a lifetime investment.

“If we don’t take care of our customer, someone else will”

In addition to customer loyalty, just treating the customer right is in your best interest. Ever hear of word of mouth? So you got Person C coming in to purchase a car and their credit is not the greatest. Do you immediately disregard their needs? Or do you sit down with them and try to work out a plan? Bad credit doesn't mean they don’t make a decent salary or have a down payment available. Take the time to help them explore their options, advise them on how to clean up their credit so that they can come back to YOU when they are ready to purchase that vehicle. And even if you couldn't help them at that moment, they will be so pleased with how helpful you were to them that they would be sure to share their experience with their family and friends. Basically, Person C could ultimately become the loyal customer that Person A is.

“A happy customer will tell 3 friends, an unhappy customer will tell the whole world!”

So as cliché as this may sound it has held true through the times: treat others how you would like to be treated. This is relevant professionally, personally, and socially.

Any other customer service rules that you abide by? Share them below!

You don’t know what you got till it’s gone…

I read a great post on Drivingsales.com yesterday called Why You Lost your Best Customer that touched on an ongoing customer service experience that, despite many years of loyalty, ultimately led to switching brands. This got me thinking of my own experiences where because I had been a customer for so long the company started to neglect me. They got too comfortable with me. “Well Person A has been a customer for 10 years now so we can take care of Person B’s needs first since they are a first time customer, and we want to impress them.” Well… wait! Person A is still a customer and if anything should be considered just as important (if not more) than Person B.

“It takes less effort to keep an old customer satisfied than to get a new customer interested”

In a dealership setting it holds true as well. Person B may be buying that $70k car as opposed to the $20k vehicle Person A is purchasing, but over the last 10 years Person A has purchased $20k vehicles for his entire family and because they like your service so much, you can almost guarantee that his children will also be purchasing vehicles for their families as well. So basically being as loyal to Person A as they are to you is a lifetime investment.

“If we don’t take care of our customer, someone else will”

In addition to customer loyalty, just treating the customer right is in your best interest. Ever hear of word of mouth? So you got Person C coming in to purchase a car and their credit is not the greatest. Do you immediately disregard their needs? Or do you sit down with them and try to work out a plan? Bad credit doesn't mean they don’t make a decent salary or have a down payment available. Take the time to help them explore their options, advise them on how to clean up their credit so that they can come back to YOU when they are ready to purchase that vehicle. And even if you couldn't help them at that moment, they will be so pleased with how helpful you were to them that they would be sure to share their experience with their family and friends. Basically, Person C could ultimately become the loyal customer that Person A is.

“A happy customer will tell 3 friends, an unhappy customer will tell the whole world!”

So as cliché as this may sound it has held true through the times: treat others how you would like to be treated. This is relevant professionally, personally, and socially.

Any other customer service rules that you abide by? Share them below!

We talk about it in our 14-Day Quickstart. We talk about it in our videos. Getting in touch with people who have asked for contact has to happen as quickly as possible in order to improve your chances of successfully converting that lead into a sale.

Now, a Hubspot article published last week and featured on Automotive Digital Marketing  cites a Harvard Business Review study on online sales leads that found that companies that reach out within an hour are "nearly 7 times as likely to qualify the lead." By their definition, that means making contact with a key decision maker and having a meaningful conversation. According to that same HBR article (dated March 2011), corporate spending on online advertising to uncover those opportunities for a conversation topped $22.7 billion in 2009, and was continuing to climb.

Think about it in terms of your business: how much are you spending per month on advertising? Do you know what the results are? And to take it a step further, if you do get a hit off of one of your campaigns, do you know what happens to it? How is it handled?

Take a look at your team and your process to make sure that you're making the most of your opportunities by responding quickly to consumers who want you to get in touch. If you're filling the top of the funnel using marketing and advertising but not making the most of what you generate, how much money have you thrown away?

On the flip side, think about how much busier your team could be if they make that call within the first hour -- and improve their chances by 7X.

You'd take that bet in Vegas, wouldn't you? Why not add that requirement at your store?

We talk about it in our 14-Day Quickstart. We talk about it in our videos. Getting in touch with people who have asked for contact has to happen as quickly as possible in order to improve your chances of successfully converting that lead into a sale.

Now, a Hubspot article published last week and featured on Automotive Digital Marketing  cites a Harvard Business Review study on online sales leads that found that companies that reach out within an hour are "nearly 7 times as likely to qualify the lead." By their definition, that means making contact with a key decision maker and having a meaningful conversation. According to that same HBR article (dated March 2011), corporate spending on online advertising to uncover those opportunities for a conversation topped $22.7 billion in 2009, and was continuing to climb.

Think about it in terms of your business: how much are you spending per month on advertising? Do you know what the results are? And to take it a step further, if you do get a hit off of one of your campaigns, do you know what happens to it? How is it handled?

Take a look at your team and your process to make sure that you're making the most of your opportunities by responding quickly to consumers who want you to get in touch. If you're filling the top of the funnel using marketing and advertising but not making the most of what you generate, how much money have you thrown away?

On the flip side, think about how much busier your team could be if they make that call within the first hour -- and improve their chances by 7X.

You'd take that bet in Vegas, wouldn't you? Why not add that requirement at your store?

Social media is simple for the most part as long as you follow best practices and use common sense. With Facebook being one of the most popular we have a few tips for dealers to consider with regard to having a successful Facebook page.

1. Address complaints on Facebook. I have seen many dealers who are active on Facebook but do not address customer complaints. Why aren’t you doing this? What if a prospect goes to your page and reads unresolved complaints? They may not want to come into your dealership. The response can be very simple and later resolved ‘off-line’ but nonetheless it should be addressed.

2. Encourage feedback on Facebook. If a recent car purchaser comments on your wall how fantastic the experience was be sure to thank them right away. It shows that you are not only active on the site but also that you are excited about their purchase. Invite them to share a picture of their new vehicle or tag your dealership if they post it to their personal page.

3. Post personalized updates/status’s to your page. There is nothing worse than automated status updates. They are boring and automation can be taken as your dealership not being active on the site which may discourage feedback or interaction from your fans. If you post an article be sure to leave a comment before the link such as ‘I never knew that you could save gas by by doing this. Will you try it?’ followed by the article link. Posing a question will invite interaction.

Any other rules your dealership follows? Share them below!

Social media is simple for the most part as long as you follow best practices and use common sense. With Facebook being one of the most popular we have a few tips for dealers to consider with regard to having a successful Facebook page.

1. Address complaints on Facebook. I have seen many dealers who are active on Facebook but do not address customer complaints. Why aren’t you doing this? What if a prospect goes to your page and reads unresolved complaints? They may not want to come into your dealership. The response can be very simple and later resolved ‘off-line’ but nonetheless it should be addressed.

2. Encourage feedback on Facebook. If a recent car purchaser comments on your wall how fantastic the experience was be sure to thank them right away. It shows that you are not only active on the site but also that you are excited about their purchase. Invite them to share a picture of their new vehicle or tag your dealership if they post it to their personal page.

3. Post personalized updates/status’s to your page. There is nothing worse than automated status updates. They are boring and automation can be taken as your dealership not being active on the site which may discourage feedback or interaction from your fans. If you post an article be sure to leave a comment before the link such as ‘I never knew that you could save gas by by doing this. Will you try it?’ followed by the article link. Posing a question will invite interaction.

Any other rules your dealership follows? Share them below!

In the 90′s the closest thing we had to social media were AOL Chat rooms (do those even exist anymore!?) Today the options are in the dozens. Social media has definitely impacted our culture in the past few years and absolutely everyone is using some form of it in one way or another.

Here are examples of ways social media is being embraced by those you would never have thought would use it or even know about it!

1.  The Amish – According to socialmediatoday.com, Amish communities have had to allow some technologies into their culture to keep it thriving. For instance, while they do allow landlines they do allow cell phones for emergency use. Their children get access to cellphones and this is how many are checking out the ‘online world’.

While an approximate number of what percentage of Amish are on Facebook is not known, it begs the question: Could social media access within the youth in the Amish community deter them from the Amish church and culture in the future?

2. Monks – I read an article in the NY Times about the monks, who for centuries have shielded away from any outside distractions, but because they are struggling to find new members they have taken to the Internet with an elaborate ad campaign featuring videos, a blog and even a Gregorian chant ring-tone. Basically they know that in order to attract a younger following they have to go online.

They went as far as to have a Facebook page to promote their cause as well as a website to shed light on their purpose and answer questions. Could the younger generation of prospective Monks having access to social media in anyway influence their behaviors as Monks?

3. The President- Who would have ‘thunk it.’ The President and First Lady promoting their campaigns on Youtube and Facebook? No other president has done it. Currently Michelle Obama is working on her Lets Move! campaign that has exploded on the Internet. It also helps that superstar Beyonce has also teamed up with her for a video that has had 10 million plus Youtube hits.  Than we have President Obama who gets the Internet and social media the way that Kennedy got TV.

He has presence on about 16 social media sites  including MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.  His use of social media/Internet can be credited for his success in the polls. His (official) Facebook page alone has over 21 million fans, and this doesn’t include the millions of fans on other pages made by his supporters. Will presidential candidates to come look to social media as heavily as the president to help gain them popularity?

4. Inmates? – Inmates are using social media, particularly Facebook, in a couple of different ways. The first way is themselves- obviously not legal in some states (although rules on prisoner internet access vary from state to state, more and more correctional facilities now argue that online access allows convicts to remain productive individuals even while incarcerated, preparing them for eventual reentry into society).

According to Foxnews.com Inmates are accessing the popular social websites using smartphones smuggled inside prison walls and aren’t just using Facebook to update their status or share interesting videos. Some victims and victims’ families have complained that the inmates are using popular social networking sites to stalk, harass and threaten them. So what’s your take? Will inmates (maybe non-violent) having access to social media channels help them be more productive once released?

There were a few more users that I wanted to add… but I will let you all share your thoughts and see if you can guess them! Did I miss any?

In the 90′s the closest thing we had to social media were AOL Chat rooms (do those even exist anymore!?) Today the options are in the dozens. Social media has definitely impacted our culture in the past few years and absolutely everyone is using some form of it in one way or another.

Here are examples of ways social media is being embraced by those you would never have thought would use it or even know about it!

1.  The Amish – According to socialmediatoday.com, Amish communities have had to allow some technologies into their culture to keep it thriving. For instance, while they do allow landlines they do allow cell phones for emergency use. Their children get access to cellphones and this is how many are checking out the ‘online world’.

While an approximate number of what percentage of Amish are on Facebook is not known, it begs the question: Could social media access within the youth in the Amish community deter them from the Amish church and culture in the future?

2. Monks – I read an article in the NY Times about the monks, who for centuries have shielded away from any outside distractions, but because they are struggling to find new members they have taken to the Internet with an elaborate ad campaign featuring videos, a blog and even a Gregorian chant ring-tone. Basically they know that in order to attract a younger following they have to go online.

They went as far as to have a Facebook page to promote their cause as well as a website to shed light on their purpose and answer questions. Could the younger generation of prospective Monks having access to social media in anyway influence their behaviors as Monks?

3. The President- Who would have ‘thunk it.’ The President and First Lady promoting their campaigns on Youtube and Facebook? No other president has done it. Currently Michelle Obama is working on her Lets Move! campaign that has exploded on the Internet. It also helps that superstar Beyonce has also teamed up with her for a video that has had 10 million plus Youtube hits.  Than we have President Obama who gets the Internet and social media the way that Kennedy got TV.

He has presence on about 16 social media sites  including MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.  His use of social media/Internet can be credited for his success in the polls. His (official) Facebook page alone has over 21 million fans, and this doesn’t include the millions of fans on other pages made by his supporters. Will presidential candidates to come look to social media as heavily as the president to help gain them popularity?

4. Inmates? – Inmates are using social media, particularly Facebook, in a couple of different ways. The first way is themselves- obviously not legal in some states (although rules on prisoner internet access vary from state to state, more and more correctional facilities now argue that online access allows convicts to remain productive individuals even while incarcerated, preparing them for eventual reentry into society).

According to Foxnews.com Inmates are accessing the popular social websites using smartphones smuggled inside prison walls and aren’t just using Facebook to update their status or share interesting videos. Some victims and victims’ families have complained that the inmates are using popular social networking sites to stalk, harass and threaten them. So what’s your take? Will inmates (maybe non-violent) having access to social media channels help them be more productive once released?

There were a few more users that I wanted to add… but I will let you all share your thoughts and see if you can guess them! Did I miss any?

The great news (for lead providers like us) is that in the last 6 months, banks have really loosened up, and dealers are back in the business of adding to their bottom line by supplementing their own advertising with third party leads.

The bad news (for everyone) is that there is a seemingly limitless supply of leads available in wholesale markets, and that just about anyone can set up a server in their basement and call themselves a "lead provider."  Even worse, all of the pitches are the same: "Our leads are all fresh" or "We make getting credit for bad leads really easy."

As a dealer, how do you know who is really going to provide you with opportunities to sell cars, and who is just full of it?  Just asking a couple of simple questions can help you make the right decision.

First, ask specifically which sites they use to originate the leads.  This one question will help you to figure out who is generating leads and who is just buying whatever they can get on the open market.  I'm not suggesting that a lead is by definition bad because the retailer didn't generate it, but it does increase the likelihood that you're getting a "lead" that has no intention of buying a car.

Second, ask about how the leads are filtered and validated.  This can be a little tricky, because some filters that sound great actually leave you with a lead of lesser quality.  Credit score is the big one.  The only way to legally sell leads with a firm credit range (ie, 520-640) is for someone to have already done a hard credit pull.  Trigger leads are a part of our business (we can debate their value in another post), but you can buy them really cheap -- why would anyone pay a premium for them when they are repackaged as proactive finance leads?

Finally, just use a little common sense.  If the best sales pitch a provider has is how easy they make dealing with bad leads or how easy it is to cancel, you're probably talking to the wrong folks.  

Remember, your goal is to sell cars, so ask specifically how they can help you sell more cars.

The answer you get should really help to narrow down the list of providers you're considering.

Prior to joining Carloan.com six and half years ago, Bob Harwood worked on both sides of the financing process -- first at Capital One and then at a dealership here in Richmond. You can reach Bob at 804-521-8581 or via email at bharwoodATcarloan.com.

The great news (for lead providers like us) is that in the last 6 months, banks have really loosened up, and dealers are back in the business of adding to their bottom line by supplementing their own advertising with third party leads.

The bad news (for everyone) is that there is a seemingly limitless supply of leads available in wholesale markets, and that just about anyone can set up a server in their basement and call themselves a "lead provider."  Even worse, all of the pitches are the same: "Our leads are all fresh" or "We make getting credit for bad leads really easy."

As a dealer, how do you know who is really going to provide you with opportunities to sell cars, and who is just full of it?  Just asking a couple of simple questions can help you make the right decision.

First, ask specifically which sites they use to originate the leads.  This one question will help you to figure out who is generating leads and who is just buying whatever they can get on the open market.  I'm not suggesting that a lead is by definition bad because the retailer didn't generate it, but it does increase the likelihood that you're getting a "lead" that has no intention of buying a car.

Second, ask about how the leads are filtered and validated.  This can be a little tricky, because some filters that sound great actually leave you with a lead of lesser quality.  Credit score is the big one.  The only way to legally sell leads with a firm credit range (ie, 520-640) is for someone to have already done a hard credit pull.  Trigger leads are a part of our business (we can debate their value in another post), but you can buy them really cheap -- why would anyone pay a premium for them when they are repackaged as proactive finance leads?

Finally, just use a little common sense.  If the best sales pitch a provider has is how easy they make dealing with bad leads or how easy it is to cancel, you're probably talking to the wrong folks.  

Remember, your goal is to sell cars, so ask specifically how they can help you sell more cars.

The answer you get should really help to narrow down the list of providers you're considering.

Prior to joining Carloan.com six and half years ago, Bob Harwood worked on both sides of the financing process -- first at Capital One and then at a dealership here in Richmond. You can reach Bob at 804-521-8581 or via email at bharwoodATcarloan.com.