In this Freebie Friday quick-tip ELEAD1ONE partner and Automotive Sales expert, Bill Wittenmyer discusses the importance of body language in our interactions. When it comes to car sales especially - it's not what you say, but how you say it. 

As a seasoned road warrior, I don’t always look forward to the next airport, cab ride or hotel destination. There are definitely some aspects of traveling that are forgettable. However, over the years I have developed a list of favorites, as in favorite restaurants and hotels to visit.

When I walk into these places, I am immediately greeted like an old friend. They know my name, they know what I like and everything is ready for me. The service is authentic, meaning it feels real. I believe the employees in these establishments are genuinely happy to see me (if they aren’t, they sure do a good job pretending).

When I have a great experience somewhere, I will also sign up for its email list. Not only do I sign up for it, but I will actually open the emails to see if there are any special offers being promoted the next time I visit that hotel or restaurant. If there aren’t, that’s okay. I choose to go there anyway because of the experience.

Think about your service experience. When a customer pulls into your service lane, are they immediately greeted like an old friend, or are they ignored for several minutes because your service advisors are too busy helping other customers?

When your customers are greeted, do they feel like your advisors are genuinely happy to see them, or do they feel that your advisors are stressed and hurrying them through the process?

On the sales side, when a customer arrives on your lot, do they feel like your salesperson is there to help them make the best decision, or do they feel like your salesperson doesn’t care what they buy, as long as they buy something, now.

In this industry, we so often focus on technology and all of its benefits. While technology can help to improve the customer experience, it can’t replace the human touch.

To create a truly memorable customer experience, you need to set clear expectations with your managers and staff as to what that experience should be like, every time. Mystery shoppers are a proven way to ensure these expectations are consistently met and determine if additional coaching is needed.

What your customers like is not a big secret. Here’s what you should shoot for:

Become a Trusted Resource

As we all know, earning your customers’ trust is still a major obstacle for dealerships to overcome. The way to accomplish this is with transparent pricing, honesty and taking the time to answer your customers’ questions and provide information quickly.

Your customers want options, not obligations. Instead of pushing a specific vehicle or service repair, present several options and let your customers choose.

Provide an Authentic, Friendly Atmosphere

As much as possible, create a comfortable, open and inviting space. However, the key to an authentic experience really lies with your staff. Hopefully you have created a culture where employees are happy to come to work in the morning and they like what they do. If your employees are happy, your customers will be happy.

Additionally, once or twice a day, managers should take a “walk around” and try to observe their work space from the customer’s point of view. Is everything clean and organized? Are your employees relaxed and open, or do they look grumpy and impatient to go home? If the latter, you may want to try complimenting them for the effort they’ve put in lately. A little acknowledgment can go a long way in re-invigorating an employee’s attitude.

Become a Product Expert

Haven’t you heard? “Selling” is out and “guiding” is in. Most car buyers do substantial research before deciding on which dealership to visit. So, it’s really critical for your staff to be at least as knowledgeable as your customers are when it comes to presenting your product line. The customer wouldn’t be there unless they wanted to buy something. Their biggest question is which vehicle is right for them?

That’s why I believe 80 percent of sales training should be product and presentation training.  Coach your staff to take an advisory or consultative approach, rather than pushing the hard sell.

Be Appreciative

When you customers take the time out of their busy lives to visit your dealership, it’s really important to be genuinely appreciative. These days everyone is busy, so acknowledge and respect your customers’ time.

This is where technology can help. In sales, mobile tablets enable your sales force to spend more time with customers viewing and evaluating vehicles, instead of being attached to a desk. In service, mobile tablets can streamline the check-in and MPI process.

Also, remember to always thank your customers for their business.

Communicate

Your customer communications should be timely and relevant. Within 24 hours of a customer leaving, send another thank you.

Use multiple channels. Many younger people don’t open their emails, and prefer text or phone so make sure you have compliancy processes in place and that you are able to track this from your CRM, rather than personal devices.

Also, review your messaging. Is your verbiage direct, friendly and relevant? Or is it impersonal and look generic? Try to infuse your brand’s voice, image and personality into every communication.

Creating a memorable customer experience isn’t rocket science. However, it does require that you set clear expectations with your employees and provide them with the necessary training, so that they can be genuinely friendly and appreciative of your customers’ time.

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When it comes to increasing service revenue, there is no shortage of areas to consider – improving process efficiency, expanding facilities, hiring more technicians, just to name a few. With an ever-expanding list of action-items, many dealerships are overlooking one of the easiest ways to increase service revenue and the best part – it doesn’t involve spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in remodeling or new-hires.

The low-hanging fruit in most service department lies in declined service. No, seriously. If you don’t have a rock-solid process for recapturing declined services, your dealership is likely leaving a large amount in missed opportunities (and future sales) on the table. The good news is this is a relatively easy fix and a surefire way to add to your dealership’s bottom line.

Traditionally, most dealers only track accepted service business when it is listed on the repair order and entered into the DMS. Few dealers even bother to record declined services due to the difficult task of manually entering codes for services or repairs customers don’t even want.

We all know that you can’t improve what you don’t measure. Declined services account for a significant amount of missed opportunity in service, and as profits shrink on the sales side, dealers can no longer afford to let these dollars slip through the cracks.

Customers decline services for one of two reasons: they either don’t believe you, or they can’t afford it at that moment. Does that mean they will NEVER opt for that particular service? Not necessarily, and if you take the time to educate and build a trust-based relationship you stand a much better chance of performing the service than the independent service folks down the street.

The key reason you aren’t capturing these service opportunities is likely simple. Your service advisors need a better process for capturing the data you need – every declined service for individual customers that visit your service drive. Modern, affordable tablet technology can bridge the data gap, enabling the service advisor to quickly and easily document declined services during the multi-point inspection.

With a solid tracking process in place, you can focus on addressing the root problem – customers likely decline in the first place due to lack of trust or lack of money. Both situations can be overcome. Let’s focus on the outcome you can control – your relationship with the customer. Provide them proof of the problem with a personalized, video documenting the reason for each of your repair recommendations. Give your service advisors the power to completely eliminate disbelief from the equation by showing a set of bare brake pads alongside a new set. The beauty of video is, at that point, the customer no longer needs to believe you – they can see for themselves.

Now that you have overcome one of the two obstacles (you still can’t fill an empty bank account), what do you do with that video evidence and declined service information after the customer leaves? Remarket to them!

It’s time to think beyond serving up a generic service coupon. Modern consumers expect accurate, personalized marketing. Leverage the physical proof that the vehicle needs repairs, along with the necessary documentation to remarket to the customer. The return on this style of marketing is incredible and far more efficient than traditional efforts.

Look, we’re all seeking ways to grow our bottom line in ever-changing markets. The added value in recapturing this lost business is a compelling story itself, but this new technology provides an even more compelling opportunity – the chance to rewrite the stereotypical narrative of a customer leaving the service desk feeling scammed and heading right down the street to a competitor.

Each of these visits represents the unique opportunity to build stronger relationships based on transparency and trust. Every customer experience has the potential to result in a positive referral or a negative referral where consumers tell their friends to avoid your shop. What story will your customers tell?