As "Social Dealers", we work everyday to engage, inform and hopefully entice prospective customers to buy our vehicles or use our service and parts departments at some point. I would think we are working to have them become not only brand advocates of our manufacturer’s brand but also advocates of our personal brand as a dealership in the community.

By now, many of us are using Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Foursquare, LinkedIn and Blogs to help make ourselves known and gain attention in the community.  Hopefully there is a plan in place on the content you are posting and when you are posting.  We definitely do not want to turn off those who have taken the time to be a part of our social community. There are few common mistakes a dealership can make that will lead to customers signing off and never to be seen again. They could also tell their friends or family about their negative feelings which as we all know will go much further than any message we could ever post.

Social Media is rapidly changing every day and many ideas that we use today may not be around next year. There is so much potential that many of us are constantly discovering everyday. Listed below are a few annoying things dealerships could find themselves doing which are mistakes we all want to avoid:

No Presence

These days it is unacceptable for a dealership not to have a presence online. Most consumers now will research a vehicle or dealership online before deciding which vehicle to purchase and from what dealership. If you don’t have your dealership(s) on the Internet, consumers will likely not pay any attention to you. I find it very frustrating when searching for a business, even just a phone number or address, and being unable to find anything. Keep in mind, if a prospective purchaser can’t find you online, their level of trust in your dealership will diminish and they will move on to your competitor’s sites.

Keep Focused

This is an easy mistake to make especially if you are using multiple channels or have several people posting content. With social media, us as dealers should want to be known as experts in our industry.  With that being said, what would our followers want to see from us? While you can inject some fun into it by tweeting about dealership activities or sharing photos of something funny, make the majority of your updates, tweets or posts about our industry.  It certainly is good to mix it up some but let’s not change who we are and what we are here for. Keep the conversation going and occasionally have a converting message in there. If you have more than one person running your social media accounts, be sure they all know what content has already been posted to avoid being repetitive and confusing your followers.

Don’t Make It Complicated

We all love a clever marketing idea, but there is a difference between being clever and being complicated. If you try and trick your prospective customers, like I have seen many times in the “newspaper days”, you will lose their interest. We are all striving to be transparent dealers, let’s be transparent with our promotions too. Our prospective customers are looking for an easy and hassle free way of doing business with us. If we don’t do it, I promise the dealership down the street will.

Stop Trying To Convert Everyone

Us as dealers should know that it takes the building of rapport and some sort of a relationship before a prospective customer will sign on the dotted line. Social Media isn’t any different and it too is about building a relationship based on trust.  We can’t build that trust by sending out constant promotional messages, coupons, and inventory links.  This road has been hard enough to get where we are today.  Let’s not push them away. What value can we as dealers add to our follower’s lives? Be conversational and very careful when trying to convert.

Inconsistent

Once you start a Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Foursquare, LinkedIn or Blog page, be sure to keep it going every day. There is nothing worse than a stale site. In my opinion it looks unprofessional and shows a lack of pride for your dealership and brand. If a dealership couldn’t be bothered to update their sites at least once a week, I would think they wouldn’t want to be bothered to give great customer service even if they had a great product to sell. The key is to post or update regularly and a little more often for those on Twitter.

Now many of you may be saying this is all common sense and for the most part I agree. It is still amazing though on how many dealerships do and will get this wrong. We have some super effective tools to spread our messages through social media. Don’t take it lightly and be consistent by all means. Results will come. 

As "Social Dealers", we work everyday to engage, inform and hopefully entice prospective customers to buy our vehicles or use our service and parts departments at some point. I would think we are working to have them become not only brand advocates of our manufacturer’s brand but also advocates of our personal brand as a dealership in the community.

By now, many of us are using Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Foursquare, LinkedIn and Blogs to help make ourselves known and gain attention in the community.  Hopefully there is a plan in place on the content you are posting and when you are posting.  We definitely do not want to turn off those who have taken the time to be a part of our social community. There are few common mistakes a dealership can make that will lead to customers signing off and never to be seen again. They could also tell their friends or family about their negative feelings which as we all know will go much further than any message we could ever post.

Social Media is rapidly changing every day and many ideas that we use today may not be around next year. There is so much potential that many of us are constantly discovering everyday. Listed below are a few annoying things dealerships could find themselves doing which are mistakes we all want to avoid:

No Presence

These days it is unacceptable for a dealership not to have a presence online. Most consumers now will research a vehicle or dealership online before deciding which vehicle to purchase and from what dealership. If you don’t have your dealership(s) on the Internet, consumers will likely not pay any attention to you. I find it very frustrating when searching for a business, even just a phone number or address, and being unable to find anything. Keep in mind, if a prospective purchaser can’t find you online, their level of trust in your dealership will diminish and they will move on to your competitor’s sites.

Keep Focused

This is an easy mistake to make especially if you are using multiple channels or have several people posting content. With social media, us as dealers should want to be known as experts in our industry.  With that being said, what would our followers want to see from us? While you can inject some fun into it by tweeting about dealership activities or sharing photos of something funny, make the majority of your updates, tweets or posts about our industry.  It certainly is good to mix it up some but let’s not change who we are and what we are here for. Keep the conversation going and occasionally have a converting message in there. If you have more than one person running your social media accounts, be sure they all know what content has already been posted to avoid being repetitive and confusing your followers.

Don’t Make It Complicated

We all love a clever marketing idea, but there is a difference between being clever and being complicated. If you try and trick your prospective customers, like I have seen many times in the “newspaper days”, you will lose their interest. We are all striving to be transparent dealers, let’s be transparent with our promotions too. Our prospective customers are looking for an easy and hassle free way of doing business with us. If we don’t do it, I promise the dealership down the street will.

Stop Trying To Convert Everyone

Us as dealers should know that it takes the building of rapport and some sort of a relationship before a prospective customer will sign on the dotted line. Social Media isn’t any different and it too is about building a relationship based on trust.  We can’t build that trust by sending out constant promotional messages, coupons, and inventory links.  This road has been hard enough to get where we are today.  Let’s not push them away. What value can we as dealers add to our follower’s lives? Be conversational and very careful when trying to convert.

Inconsistent

Once you start a Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Foursquare, LinkedIn or Blog page, be sure to keep it going every day. There is nothing worse than a stale site. In my opinion it looks unprofessional and shows a lack of pride for your dealership and brand. If a dealership couldn’t be bothered to update their sites at least once a week, I would think they wouldn’t want to be bothered to give great customer service even if they had a great product to sell. The key is to post or update regularly and a little more often for those on Twitter.

Now many of you may be saying this is all common sense and for the most part I agree. It is still amazing though on how many dealerships do and will get this wrong. We have some super effective tools to spread our messages through social media. Don’t take it lightly and be consistent by all means. Results will come. 

According to J.D. Power & NADA, almost 90% of retail customers are never contacted after delivery.  That statistic alone shows many dealers do not have a loyalty process in place.  It’s sad to see and hear.  As hard as we all work to capture someone’s business, we seem to want to continue to work just as hard to find another customer to earn their business and not focus on those we already have earned their trust and respect.  Not to mention it is 5 times more expensive to find that new customer.

Loyalty is very fragile and is earned at every customer touch point throughout their entire ownership.  Touch point is also known by a term you may have been hearing quite often lately, “moment of truth.” You see, somewhere in your dealership, you have a “customer loyalty bank” that is hidden and only your customers know where it is.  Each “moment of truth” is when a customer forms an opinion of your dealership through a recent experience.  Depending on that experience, the customer can either make a deposit into your “customer loyalty bank” or they could also make a withdrawal.  It’s more of an “emotional bank account” for them.

The road to keeping a customer once they have made a purchase with you should begin the day after they take delivery.  It’s nice to spend money on reminder cards, loyalty cards, or any other of those glitzy third-party mailings that make a dealership feel good because they are keeping in contact with their current customers.  It all sounds good, but does the client feel good about them? Thinking back to the dealerships “customer loyalty bank”, how many of the client’s “moment of truths” have been positive each time they have been in your dealership since taking delivery? Positive “touch points” keep the customer making those deposits into your “customer loyalty bank” which will make it easier to recapture that customer for their next purchase.

There are a few “leading practices” that show to produce the best results during the four phases of the customer buying cycle and can be tailored to each individual dealership.  They should be monitored by management on a daily basis and are a great roadmap for new hires. 

Here is how the following leading practices can be implemented to each phase:

PHASE 1: (0 – 1 Years) New Car Phase or the “Honeymoon Phase”

• Customer should be contacted immediately after delivery for satisfaction and reminded of the “New Owner Service Clinic” date and time.
• Customer should be met during each service visit to reinforce relationship.
• Customer personally contacted 9 times by telephone in the first year.
• Managers in the beginning before reassigning to another salesperson handle orphaned customers.

PHASE 2: (1 – 3 Years) My Car Phase or the “Comfort Years Phase”

• Sales Manager contacts customer to ensure satisfaction yearly.
• Customer should be met during each service visit to reinforce relationship.
• Customer contacted by salesperson 3 times by telephone during each of these years.
• Additional service contacts can be made supported by discounts.
• Begin the End of Term Process conversation during this period.  It will strike up questions and is a good time to discuss current programs and incentives.

PHASE 3: (3 – 4 Years) Just A Car Phase or the “Blah Phase”

• Sales Manager contacts customer to ensure satisfaction yearly.
• Customer should be met during each service visit to reinforce relationship.
• Customer contacted by salesperson 3 times by telephone during each of these years.
• Contact customer regarding End of Term Process and look to see what their intent is regarding next vehicle.
• Offer to give some pricing on current year models.

PHASE 4: (4 – 5+ Years) Next Car Phase or the “Shop / Divorce / Convert Phase”

• Sales Manager contacts customer to ensure satisfaction yearly.
• Customer should be met during each service visit to reinforce relationship.
• Customer contacted by salesperson 3 times by telephone during each of these years.
• It’s time to get serious with pricing new vehicles for customer and setting appointment to discuss next purchase if not recaptured already.  After all, you have earned every right to ask for the business once again after following the leading practices set forth during ownership.  The customer should have made more deposits into your “customer loyalty bank” versus “withdrawals.”

Not only will you have a better chance now to recapture the customer but will also give the dealership a reduced selling and marketing expense.  Many of us have heard the phrase, “cheaper to keep,” well it proves true in this case.  What else comes from recapturing the customer?  I can think of a few such as, improved closing ratios, improved preowned vehicle acquisition and an increase in fixed gross.

Whenever I hear the term, Customer Loyalty, I think of all that goes on during the phases of ownership from a dealership standpoint written above.  I don’t think of what can I have mailed to the customer that will hopefully make them come back and do business with me again.  It’s much more than that as you see and requires effort but not as much as you would have to put forth to a brand new customer altogether. 

Good Selling. 

According to J.D. Power & NADA, almost 90% of retail customers are never contacted after delivery.  That statistic alone shows many dealers do not have a loyalty process in place.  It’s sad to see and hear.  As hard as we all work to capture someone’s business, we seem to want to continue to work just as hard to find another customer to earn their business and not focus on those we already have earned their trust and respect.  Not to mention it is 5 times more expensive to find that new customer.

Loyalty is very fragile and is earned at every customer touch point throughout their entire ownership.  Touch point is also known by a term you may have been hearing quite often lately, “moment of truth.” You see, somewhere in your dealership, you have a “customer loyalty bank” that is hidden and only your customers know where it is.  Each “moment of truth” is when a customer forms an opinion of your dealership through a recent experience.  Depending on that experience, the customer can either make a deposit into your “customer loyalty bank” or they could also make a withdrawal.  It’s more of an “emotional bank account” for them.

The road to keeping a customer once they have made a purchase with you should begin the day after they take delivery.  It’s nice to spend money on reminder cards, loyalty cards, or any other of those glitzy third-party mailings that make a dealership feel good because they are keeping in contact with their current customers.  It all sounds good, but does the client feel good about them? Thinking back to the dealerships “customer loyalty bank”, how many of the client’s “moment of truths” have been positive each time they have been in your dealership since taking delivery? Positive “touch points” keep the customer making those deposits into your “customer loyalty bank” which will make it easier to recapture that customer for their next purchase.

There are a few “leading practices” that show to produce the best results during the four phases of the customer buying cycle and can be tailored to each individual dealership.  They should be monitored by management on a daily basis and are a great roadmap for new hires. 

Here is how the following leading practices can be implemented to each phase:

PHASE 1: (0 – 1 Years) New Car Phase or the “Honeymoon Phase”

• Customer should be contacted immediately after delivery for satisfaction and reminded of the “New Owner Service Clinic” date and time.
• Customer should be met during each service visit to reinforce relationship.
• Customer personally contacted 9 times by telephone in the first year.
• Managers in the beginning before reassigning to another salesperson handle orphaned customers.

PHASE 2: (1 – 3 Years) My Car Phase or the “Comfort Years Phase”

• Sales Manager contacts customer to ensure satisfaction yearly.
• Customer should be met during each service visit to reinforce relationship.
• Customer contacted by salesperson 3 times by telephone during each of these years.
• Additional service contacts can be made supported by discounts.
• Begin the End of Term Process conversation during this period.  It will strike up questions and is a good time to discuss current programs and incentives.

PHASE 3: (3 – 4 Years) Just A Car Phase or the “Blah Phase”

• Sales Manager contacts customer to ensure satisfaction yearly.
• Customer should be met during each service visit to reinforce relationship.
• Customer contacted by salesperson 3 times by telephone during each of these years.
• Contact customer regarding End of Term Process and look to see what their intent is regarding next vehicle.
• Offer to give some pricing on current year models.

PHASE 4: (4 – 5+ Years) Next Car Phase or the “Shop / Divorce / Convert Phase”

• Sales Manager contacts customer to ensure satisfaction yearly.
• Customer should be met during each service visit to reinforce relationship.
• Customer contacted by salesperson 3 times by telephone during each of these years.
• It’s time to get serious with pricing new vehicles for customer and setting appointment to discuss next purchase if not recaptured already.  After all, you have earned every right to ask for the business once again after following the leading practices set forth during ownership.  The customer should have made more deposits into your “customer loyalty bank” versus “withdrawals.”

Not only will you have a better chance now to recapture the customer but will also give the dealership a reduced selling and marketing expense.  Many of us have heard the phrase, “cheaper to keep,” well it proves true in this case.  What else comes from recapturing the customer?  I can think of a few such as, improved closing ratios, improved preowned vehicle acquisition and an increase in fixed gross.

Whenever I hear the term, Customer Loyalty, I think of all that goes on during the phases of ownership from a dealership standpoint written above.  I don’t think of what can I have mailed to the customer that will hopefully make them come back and do business with me again.  It’s much more than that as you see and requires effort but not as much as you would have to put forth to a brand new customer altogether. 

Good Selling. 

I do hope this posting finds you all closing out a great October and you are ready to move into November.  After all it is the first of the month right?

I consider myself a student of the process in this business and crave new knowledge daily to become better at what I do in which I can then help others become better as well.  At the end of each month, I like to take a mental snapshot of each department and look at what made them successful or what may have hindered their success and think of ways I can apply it to my department or leave out if need be.

Looking at our sales department over the past eleven months and how the BDC / Internet department has become a cornerstone to the success as whole, I enjoy seeing how the two departments keep the two-way communication going on a daily basis. 

It begins every morning in the managers meeting as we discuss the previous days appointments and outcome plus the current days appointments and what the game plan is for each.  This is key as now you have everyone on the same page and if you are a dealer that is having trouble getting the sales managers on your side, this will begin to change their thought process and will look towards the BDC / Internet department as a key to their success. It’s a relationship that needs to be developed but don’t waste time doing it because it has a huge impression on the client once they arrive for their appointment set by the BDC / Internet department.

By now I hope that dealerships with a BDC / Internet department have a good understanding of what is going on behind the scenes.  This staff spends a majority of their time of generating and cultivating the leads received online or by telephone and eventually turning them into an appointment.  Sometimes it happens the same day and other times it could play out over a series of weeks or months.  Nevertheless it takes time and effort to get the client standing in your showroom.   The first thing I would like to say is all managers should be aware of this client arriving before they get there as I discussed earlier about the morning managers meeting.  If the appointment is made after the fact, let’s get the correct sales manager up to speed prior to their arrival.   Now my question is:  What type of reception does the client receive upon arrival?

Once the client arrives, MAKE IT A BIG DEAL.  Why wouldn’t you?  I consider it an honor to be of service to anyone that chooses to stand in our showroom and is considering doing business with us.  It shows you played a great game the first half and now its time to keep it going through the second half and win the game or what we know as selling a vehicle.  Now your BDC / Internet member should be notified on the arrival of the appointment immediately. We have a BDC in one area of all of our showrooms with an appointment board so a staff member is always available right away. Whether it’s myself or another staff member, we always greet the client with a big smile and thank them for coming in.  At that point, offer them something to drink, sit them down and go get the sales manager that will be involved.

Now at this point we have the client, the BDC / Internet member and the sales manager that knows exactly what the client is looking for.  I like at this point for the sales manager to reset the stage with the client giving them the assurance that we are all on their side.  This can also be a time to take a few minutes to answer any urgent questions the client may have.  Now these few minutes that just went by upon the client arriving and what they encountered with the staff shows hands down that this dealership they are at is totally committed to their positive experience and understand what they are looking to accomplish.

Finally, right before the customer is paired with a sales consultant, the sales manager should make it known that they will be the one working all the details once the client finds the vehicle they like and have driven it.  It can be summed up in one little word track that can be similar to this:

“Mrs. Anderson, I want to first thank you for visiting us today and let you know that I will be the manager involved working out all the details on the vehicle you select.  Do me a favor, once you find the vehicle you like and drive it, I will be happy to get you all the special pricing, payments, interest rates and if you have a trade I will get you figures on that as well.  We don’t pressure anyone to buy and you will certainly see why we don’t have any competition. Fair enough?”

How many other dealers out there have similar processes as the one I have discussed?  Would like to hear your best practices on what you see working or doesn’t.  Here is to a HUGE November 2011 everyone.

Good Selling. 

I do hope this posting finds you all closing out a great October and you are ready to move into November.  After all it is the first of the month right?

I consider myself a student of the process in this business and crave new knowledge daily to become better at what I do in which I can then help others become better as well.  At the end of each month, I like to take a mental snapshot of each department and look at what made them successful or what may have hindered their success and think of ways I can apply it to my department or leave out if need be.

Looking at our sales department over the past eleven months and how the BDC / Internet department has become a cornerstone to the success as whole, I enjoy seeing how the two departments keep the two-way communication going on a daily basis. 

It begins every morning in the managers meeting as we discuss the previous days appointments and outcome plus the current days appointments and what the game plan is for each.  This is key as now you have everyone on the same page and if you are a dealer that is having trouble getting the sales managers on your side, this will begin to change their thought process and will look towards the BDC / Internet department as a key to their success. It’s a relationship that needs to be developed but don’t waste time doing it because it has a huge impression on the client once they arrive for their appointment set by the BDC / Internet department.

By now I hope that dealerships with a BDC / Internet department have a good understanding of what is going on behind the scenes.  This staff spends a majority of their time of generating and cultivating the leads received online or by telephone and eventually turning them into an appointment.  Sometimes it happens the same day and other times it could play out over a series of weeks or months.  Nevertheless it takes time and effort to get the client standing in your showroom.   The first thing I would like to say is all managers should be aware of this client arriving before they get there as I discussed earlier about the morning managers meeting.  If the appointment is made after the fact, let’s get the correct sales manager up to speed prior to their arrival.   Now my question is:  What type of reception does the client receive upon arrival?

Once the client arrives, MAKE IT A BIG DEAL.  Why wouldn’t you?  I consider it an honor to be of service to anyone that chooses to stand in our showroom and is considering doing business with us.  It shows you played a great game the first half and now its time to keep it going through the second half and win the game or what we know as selling a vehicle.  Now your BDC / Internet member should be notified on the arrival of the appointment immediately. We have a BDC in one area of all of our showrooms with an appointment board so a staff member is always available right away. Whether it’s myself or another staff member, we always greet the client with a big smile and thank them for coming in.  At that point, offer them something to drink, sit them down and go get the sales manager that will be involved.

Now at this point we have the client, the BDC / Internet member and the sales manager that knows exactly what the client is looking for.  I like at this point for the sales manager to reset the stage with the client giving them the assurance that we are all on their side.  This can also be a time to take a few minutes to answer any urgent questions the client may have.  Now these few minutes that just went by upon the client arriving and what they encountered with the staff shows hands down that this dealership they are at is totally committed to their positive experience and understand what they are looking to accomplish.

Finally, right before the customer is paired with a sales consultant, the sales manager should make it known that they will be the one working all the details once the client finds the vehicle they like and have driven it.  It can be summed up in one little word track that can be similar to this:

“Mrs. Anderson, I want to first thank you for visiting us today and let you know that I will be the manager involved working out all the details on the vehicle you select.  Do me a favor, once you find the vehicle you like and drive it, I will be happy to get you all the special pricing, payments, interest rates and if you have a trade I will get you figures on that as well.  We don’t pressure anyone to buy and you will certainly see why we don’t have any competition. Fair enough?”

How many other dealers out there have similar processes as the one I have discussed?  Would like to hear your best practices on what you see working or doesn’t.  Here is to a HUGE November 2011 everyone.

Good Selling.