Customer experience is increasingly important in business. Retail shops now compete for customer wallets with behemoths such as Amazon. As a result, stores now have to prove to customers they will receive a superior experience more valuable than the convenience of clicking a button to have their product show up at their door in 2 days.

In addition, customer experience can be a fuzzy concept, with many definitions floating around. While most know what a great customer experience FEELS like, it’s very hard to define. And, if you can’t define it, you can’t create it.

I came across an excellent article that outlined an interview with Brainshark COO Diane Gordon. In the interview, Diane shared the best definition I have seen of customer experience, outlining the five components that make a great customer experience. I thought I would share these points and how they can apply to our industry:

1. Relationship is mutually beneficial. For dealers to build customer loyalty, customers must feel as if they are not just a transaction. People don’t want to feel as if all they mean to you is money in the cash register. They’d rather feel that they’re helping your dealership succeed by paying money in exchange for you helping solve a problem for them – and that you are doing it with genuine and sincere intent.
    
2. Customers feel valued/respected. Remember the classic TV show “Cheers.” One line in the theme song resonates and illustrates this point, “You want to go where everybody knows your name.” Who doesn’t like walking into a business they frequent regularly and be greeted by name. Why does this make a difference? Because when this happens, customers realize that a business values them enough to remember them. You can also make a customer feel valued and respected through quality loyalty programs, and by taking the time to listen to customer feedback and then act upon it.
    
3. They believe doing business with you is easy. Everybody wants easy. That’s exactly how Amazon has grown so fast, put some companies out of business and disrupted entire industries. However, don’t immediately confuse easy as fast. There are things customers want done quickly, as time is valuable to them. But sometimes personalized attention, which makes the process easier and a better experience for the customer, can mean a longer process. Every customer will have different needs and wants. The ability to tailor the experience based on that particular customer is the key to your customers knowing that doing business with you is easy.
    
4. Sense that employees love working there. Genuinely happy employees are one of the best ways to broadcast your dealership is a good place for customers to do business. Typically, when employees love working for you, that translates into better customer service, empathy for customers, and the desire to ensure your business succeeds by providing extraordinary customer service.
    
5. Feeling that they (the customer) are part of a strong community. Feeling included has been important to most people their whole lives – from grade school sports and clubs all the way to the present. When your customers can tell that other customers are happy and enjoy doing business with you, it encourages them to feel the same way. So be sure to have a good review program in place that promotes good reviews, allows customers to post reviews and that has a way of contacting and handling any negative customer reviews.

A great customer experience is something that all businesses should strive for. But keep in mind that it is not just something you define, but rather something your customers do. Take time to examine these five components to a great customer experience as they relate to your business.

As consumers increasingly shift their shopping online, choosing to skip visits to traditional retailers, it’s become difficult for businesses to get that all important relationship-building face-to-face time.

In the automotive industry, a similar shift is happening. Industry disrupters are taking the whole purchasing process online, forcing major automotive companies to develop technology that allows consumers to do the same thing, but directly through the dealership.

However, the one thing that many fail to realize is that – without physical interaction – it’s hard to establish trust. A key differentiator franchised dealers still have going for them right now is their service departments. But, even there, customers want convenience, fast transactions and, most of all, good communication.

So, the most forward-thinking dealers take advantage of technology that updates customers via text message and allows approval of service recommendations online or via a smartphone.

And, some dealers are really personalizing the customer experience with this technology.

A friend of a friend, Blake, shared a wonderful interaction he had with a repair facility after his new Jeep, just two weeks old, was stolen. When the Jeep was recovered, it was in poor condition. As Blake waited for his vehicle to be repaired, he occasionally received text messages from the repair facility, updating him on the status of his vehicle. Blake is well known for his sense of humor and he sent a funny reply to one of those updates. Surprisingly, the repair shop played along and this resulted in a truly wonderful customer interaction, one that Blake will not soon forget. As a result, he has widely shared it with his family, friends and associates.

You can read the conversation for yourself.

Yes, believe it or not, this is a real conversation!

Blake got such a kick out of it that he shared it on social media, where many of his friends also found the humor in it. The repair shop brilliantly injected personality into its communications and engaged the consumer. Blake was certainly frustrated that his 2-week old car needed to be in for repairs and the clever banter back and forth with the car repair shop injected a little light-hearted humor into the conversation and accomplished its goal – to keep Blake informed on the status of his vehicle.

As a result, the experience with this car repair shop is certainly memorable for Blake – and in a very good way. The communication had a very personal touch and is obviously not automated. This personal interaction has already led to exposure via word-of-mouth on his social network.

And, there is a very strong chance that, should Blake need repair services in the future, he will return.

Today, customer experience is King. It’s more important than ever to stand out, provide memorable experiences and personalized interactions in order to differentiate your dealership.

This car repair shop figured out a way to personalize the experience by interjecting humor, while keeping the customer informed. By so doing, it will definitely stand out to its customers, and, these unique experiences and interactions should lead to increased retention, word-of-mouth customer acquisition, exposure and, ultimately, more customer loyalty. 

At the recent Adobe Summit, executive vice president and general manager, Brad Rencher, advised businesses that if they wish to survive in the future, they have to become “experience businesses.” He feels this is what will separate market leaders from the rest of the pack. In fact, he stated, “Automotive companies are transforming into experience businesses. In the past, they sold cars. But cars are evolving into ‘experience pods,’ where technology personalizes your experience with music, playlists, temperature controls, speed settings and more. Pretty soon, the least interesting thing you will do with your car will be to drive it.”

This, of course, offers an interesting dilemma. If cars become more of an afterthought, and the experience becomes the primary allure of cars, what does that mean for dealers?

Rencher offered these four tenets that successful experience-focused business follow:

1. Know and respect customers (and know what they want before they ask)
2. Speak in one voice
3. Transparent technology
4. Delight

Consumers are changing. They have less and less time and are used to getting things on THEIR terms. As I am sure you all know, it has become more and more about the customer experience. It is important today to ensure that the car buying process is as seamless as possible and delivers the experience that your customers desire.

With the many integrations and new, upgraded technology on the horizon; combined with a future of autonomous cars; younger generations will not be focused on what vehicle they are driving – or not driving – but rather what they can do while commuting from point A to point B.

In the wake of the backlash from the recent United Airlines incident, it has been widely reported that many airline CEO’s salaries are, at least in part, connected to customer satisfaction scores. In the case of United’s CEO Oscar Munoz, poor customer satisfaction ratings can cost him about $500,000 in bonuses. The CEOs of Southwest Airlines and Delta have similar contractual clauses.

On top of that, one poor experience – especially if it’s perceived by many as being egregious – can, by itself, ruin an airline’s entire quarter, or even the year. In fact, in the case of United Airlines, at one point their valuation dropped about $1 billion, according to USA Today.

But what about an industry closer to our hearts, that is similarly hyper-competitive and also has financial repercussions for poor customer satisfaction scores?

Yes, I am talking about the automotive industry.

Manufacturers penalize franchisees that fail to meet customer satisfaction expectations through loss of revenue including stair step money and other incentives. And some dealers even include CSI expectations in their managers’ and salespeople pay plans. Failure to meet these goals can have a trickle-down effect that costs everyone in the dealership money.

Poor customer satisfaction can also lead to outraged customers who defect to your competitors – taking friends and family with them. This can then force your dealership to increase spending on acquisition, which is much more expensive than retention.

As consumer choice continues to expand, customer experience is increasingly more important. Customers are no longer willing to put up with a bad experience – and they are more than happy to share that poor experience with the world via online review sites and social media.

It really doesn’t matter whether the customer is right or wrong. It’s about how the experience is perceived. That specific United flight needed four volunteers to leave the plane. Three complied without incident. One customer chose not to. While it’s probably safe to say the other three people also had a poor experience and were inconvenienced, we don’t know their story. However, because that one person was treated extremely poorly, and it was captured on video by several customers, we know what happened on that flight. And, because of that, while it did not happen to them directly, other United customers are cutting up their United loyalty and branded credit cards. They are outraged that a company they had been loyal to would allow such a poor customer experience. A single bad experience – and arguably poor employee handling at that time - put United at risk and became the catalyst for a mass defection.

While your dealership probably doesn’t have to worry about an incident of this magnitude, it’s all a matter of scale. The United incident is simply a good illustration of the backlash that can happen due to a poor customer experience, along with poor employee decisions and actions in the heat of the moment.

In the end, it’s far less expensive to suck it up and fix the problem and/or apologize, than it is to take the chance that a customer chooses to share their experience with the world.

Customer experience has grown into one of the biggest differentiator for any business– so the choice is to either embrace that change and ensure a great customer experience, or watch your customers flock to competitors.

It’s no surprise that Disney has created one of the largest groups of loyal customers in the world. Of course, this isn’t by accident. Everything Disney does is by design. According to an article in Automotive News, and another one by DrivingSales, Porsche wants to do a similar thing and create its own brand loyalists by bringing a little Disney magic to its dealerships.

Porsche has enlisted the Disney Institute to help train all of its customer-facing dealership personnel. It has also asked dealers to create a new position in their stores, Customer Experience Manager, responsible for ensuring staff embrace customer experience. The Customer Experience Manager will also watch and analyze customer satisfaction in their stores at each point of contact.

Customer loyalty begins at the first point of contact a customer has with a dealership. Regardless of if the first experience is in service, via the Internet, by phone, or in person, if this first experience is poor, it’s much harder to win over their loyalty. Through creating a company culture that focuses on the customer experience, similar to Disney, Porsche is on the right track to increase their Customer Satisfaction scores, along with dealership and brand loyalty.

The Disney Institute is a world-renowned training group that has ongoing relationships with other manufacturers, including GM. It has trained dealers in several areas, including leadership and management skills, and attendees largely have very positive things to say about the training.

Low CSI scores can cost your dealership thousands of dollars in lost OEM incentives, to say nothing of the loss of sales and service revenue and the scramble to replace those customers, along with high acquisition costs.

Take a look at what Porsche is doing and consider analyzing your customer experience at every touchpoint. Strive to improve areas that are lacking and reward any staff that perform well. Whether you choose to send your staff to the Disney Institute or not, an internal program designed to improve the customer experience at your dealership can certainly mean future business and revenue growth.

It’s great to see a manufacturer take this move to improve the customer experience and thereby loyalty. Hopefully, other manufacturers and dealerships will follow their lead. It can only mean an improved perception of dealerships by consumers. And that will lead to more business for everyone.

It’s a logical conclusion that customer retention and loyalty are important to the survival and growth of any dealership, yet many dealers focus on growth by intangible metrics, simply looking at numbers – 100 units last month vs. 125 this month, or $125,000 in service revenue last month vs. $175,000 this month – without knowing whether that growth was influenced by customer acquisition or retention.

Most dealers spend a lot of money on marketing every month and it’s very easy to attribute any growth to successful marketing campaigns, technology or vendors, when, in fact, it could very easily be coming from successful retention strategies.

An excellent article on Customer Think spells out precisely why loyalty in the automotive industry is incredibly important, and how you can better leverage retention, loyalty and acquisition strategies to increase growth, revenue and volume.

The article suggests the use of data to predict when sales are ripe as one way to help your dealership thrive. Your CRM has many data points which can help indicate that a customer is ripe for a new vehicle based on things such as marriage or kids, along with many others. Hopefully, these customers are coming to you for service, which gives you a running profile on what has changed in your customer’s lives. This allows for more targeted, personalized and relevant offers which ultimately will convert into sales.

Of course, service plans (pre-paid maintenance) are also huge retention drivers, with a retention rate of close to 60 percent, according to the article. Pre-paid maintenance keep customers visiting your dealership for years. Assuming they’re having a good experience, this also helps them decide to get their next vehicle from your dealership, rather than a competitor.

You can’t always rely on your customers to tell you when lifetime changes occur that could indicate they are ready for a new vehicle. Pro-active marketing and continual, relevant communication with your customers is imperative to retaining their business – for both service and sales. Without a continuous conversation, it’s very easy for the competition to conquest away your customers. This worst-case-scenario, when it happens, means it’s too late, in most cases, to continue the customer relationship. It may not even be that anything went wrong, simply that a customer was attracted by a competitor’s offer. However, it’s very hard to win them back. So, keeping in touch, being relevant and anticipating your customer’s needs, rather than reacting to them, is incredibly important.

Also, be sure that your dealership always offers a superior customer experience. It’s much harder to conquest a loyal customer than it is a satisfied one. Don’t mix the two up because they aren’t the same. A satisfied customer simply means that they are fine with the service they are receiving, but are still vulnerable to competing offers. A loyal customer, on the other hand, is much more likely to stick with your dealership.

In the end, it’s important to develop a way to measure, manage and cater to both new and existing customers. If you can’t differentiate between the two, growth is easily attributed to acquisition efforts, while retention gets ignored.

Remember that it’s much less expensive to keep an existing customer than acquire a new one.

Customer experience has become an industry “buzz term” of late when talking about customer acquisition and building loyalty. Most of the time, the focus is on the small things that turn a customer off -- attitudes, inefficient processes, or other such actions. But what happens when, well, everything goes wrong?

Imagine if a couple visited a showroom where they were met by a salesperson. Before visiting the dealership they conducted some online research – as is the case for most customers nowadays. They had pretty much decided on which vehicle model they wanted – a Toyota Sienna, but had some trim level questions. They also, of course, wanted to touch and feel the vehicle. The couple proceeded to ask the salesperson questions and, to each one, received the answer “I don’t know.”

They went on a test drive and the salesperson was literally watching YouTube videos while on the test drive in order to answer the customer’s questions. Based on their own research, the customers decided they wanted a premium model loaded with features. The dealership only had one available and the salesperson went off to find it leaving the couple waiting in the showroom. While waiting they attempted to ask questions of other salespeople. Sadly, they were again met with blank stares and “I don’t knows.”

After about 20 minutes, the salesperson returned only to discover the vehicle sitting right on the sidewalk in front of the dealership. By then, the couple had figured out that they could build a car on Toyota’s website and informed the salesperson that they would just go home and do it themselves. In a panic, the salesperson begged the couple to stay and let the manager introduce himself (sound familiar?). After a long 25 minute wait, no manager had arrived and the salesperson couldn’t even find a business card to give them. The last interaction they had was a call later that evening from the manager apologizing that he had been busy and had not been able to service them.

Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong with that couple’s visit did. Well, I’m sad to say that it’s a true story.

So, what caused this whole chain reaction of bad experiences and misfortune?

1. Lack of Product Knowledge - None of the salespeople had any product knowledge, which is imperative when selling vehicles that cost tens of thousands of dollars. Especially in the hyper-competitive retail automotive market.
    
2. Lack of Organization - A habit of any successful salesperson is to walk their lot daily to see WHAT they have in stock and WHERE the vehicles are. Vehicles get moved all the time. Knowing what inventory is in stock and the location of any vehicle is key both when a customer is standing in front of you and for any customer enquiring about inventory over the phone – they may want to come right in for a test drive.
    
3. Lack of Management Support – The salesperson was no doubt instructed to never let a customer leave without talking to a manager. That’s pretty standard in retail. But what happens when that salesperson tries to comply and no manager shows up? Frankly, I’m surprised that the couple waited 25 minutes before they left -- I guess the Toyota website was keeping them busy in the Toyota showroom.

In the end, the dealership lost a sale. It’s a pretty good bet that the dealership was the closest Toyota dealership to the couple’s home. But they ended up buying the vehicle from a more distant competitor who delivered it to their house. What are the chances that this couple now uses the local dealership for service?

This story illustrates how important it is to ensure that everything is in place for an excellent customer experience: That the staff is knowledgeable; that resources are available and that managers are there to support them – for every customer that visits. Failure to do so is a slippery slope.

An associate of mine recently told me an interesting story about their 75-year-old father, who purchased an import, rather than a domestic vehicle, for the first time in over 60 years. This was sometime around 2010.

When it was time to replace his domestic minivan, the first thing my associate’s father did was to check the Sunday paper to see in any big sales were happening. His preferred domestic dealer had an ad that mentioned vehicles listed online. He then got on his computer to see their inventory. However, while online, the import dealer managed to conquest his business away from the domestic dealer, offering more detailed inventory and transparent pricing information.

While online he saw several detailed photos of new vehicles on the import site, but just a red-X-in-a-box next to most of the domestic dealer’s new inventory -- the same domestic dealer that had drawn his attention to their website by bragging about their HUGE online inventory in their newspaper ad. He was impressed with the basic price break down on the import site, compared to the words: “CALL FOR PRICE” on the domestic dealer’s website. He chose to contact both dealers, and ended up at the import dealership in a matter of hours. By the time the domestic dealership called him, there was a brand-new crossover sitting in his drive way.

I’m not sure exactly what the import dealer did to get on his radar, but once they got him, they blew him away with such an impressive shopping, purchase, and follow up experience, that he never looked back.

He continued to be impressed with the import dealership during the two years he owned his first import model, due to the consistent level of contact, service and ownership guidance they provided. Once he acquired a bit of equity in his vehicle, he was even more impressed when offered a new model, at a comparable, if not lower, monthly payment. In fact, he ended up purchasing two more vehicles from that same import dealership.

He left the domestic dealer he had loyally conducted business with for decades, and is now fully and continuously engaged with the import dealer. He even managed to convert a few of his friends from die-hard domestic shoppers to at least visit the import dealer that treats him so well.

My associate was shocked the first time he saw his father behind the wheel of an import vehicle, so different to what he had been loyal to for his entire life. He had thought that his father would never in a million years even consider a “foreign” car, let alone transition from a minivan to a crossover. 

That experience was a real wake up call for my associate. It taught him a valuable lesson about the importance of transparency when it comes to retention, not just for millennials, but also for non-millennial generations. Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers all research purchases, and have the same appreciation for transparency.

The ease my friend’s father enjoyed with this import dealer is enjoyed just as much by every generation, just as every generation shops and researches online. Transparency is an important part of every generation’s decision making. It is in fact no more a marketing fad than the internet itself!

Consider this story the next time your dealership votes against advertising price, or chooses to do the whole “Get ‘em in” routine. Consumers know that game and simply choose not to play it any longer. Ignoring consumer demands erodes trust and could easily push loyal brand – or dealership – customers towards your brand competitors.

When it comes to customer loyalty programs, customers like to feel appreciated and recognized for their loyalty. And, if they are not, it doesn’t take much to turn them away from being loyal customers into brand advocates.

I recently came across an interesting story about an Uber customer who wrote an open letter concerning his experience with the company. He wasn’t just any old Uber customer. According to Uber’s leaderboard (yes, apparently they have one), he was the TOP customer in the world, as he had utilized Uber for more rides than anyone else.

In his letter, the customer shared that, while he still loved Uber’s service, he never felt special, recognized or even rewarded for being Uber’s top customer. He stated, “I’ve more rides in an Uber than anyone else on Earth. Has your company once thanked me for my undying loyalty? Not even once.” He went on to state that he feels as if Uber is “missing the boat when it comes to fostering great relationships with its customers…your faithful clients are your biggest potential evangelists… treating them with a special touch would turn them into brand advocates who would spread good cheer about the company on their social networks.”

According to this customer, when he tells friends that he is Uber’s top customer, they inevitably ask what perks he receives. However, he has none he can tell them about.

Let’s translate this into the automotive world. Think about that loyal, repeat customer. The one that has purchased the most vehicles, referred the most people and made the most repeat visits to your service department.

What if they were never thanked, recognized, or rewarded for their loyalty and support. I’m pretty sure that eventually that customer will go away. Sure, they may, if asked, still tell people that they’ve been doing business with you. But the real value lies in them proactively inserting themselves into conversations, encouraging their friends, relatives and networks to check you out first – whether that’s for sales or service.

Customers nowadays may be used to loyalty programs – and some retailers think that the mere fact that they are used to them makes them less valuable. But think about this for a minute: the loyalty program may be why they came to you in the first place. However, that experience quickly fades if you do not look after them and maintain an exceptional customer experience with each visit. If that customer is not acknowledged and appreciated for their loyalty, they may still leave satisfied, but don’t necessarily feel like their business is appreciated, valued or rewarded.

And that’s where loyalty programs come in.

Loyalty programs offer your dealership a way to recognize and reward those customers who have supported – and continue to support you -- through sales, service or both.

Dealerships have no problem offering coupons and discounts for customer acquisition efforts -- low price offers with disclaimers that state “for first time customers only.” How do you think that makes your loyal customers feel?

Loyalty programs can incentivize future visits, increase the volume of visits per customer and the amount of money spent per visit.

Consider the argument by Uber’s top customer: Even though he’s a loyal customer and continues to love the service, he wrote a letter and published it online simply to share with Uber how unappreciated he feels.

Lack of customer recognition and a less than exceptional customer experience will certainly fail to attract new customers or increase the loyalty and frequency of visit of existing customers. It only serves to show that no matter how often they spend money with you, they’ll continue to be treated like any other customer.

One of the advantages of Pre-Paid Maintenance Programs (PPM) is that they span the generational gaps. Regardless of which generation consumers happen to be in, none of them like surprise repairs, or other expenses. That’s why dealers focus on payments – and not price – when selling cars.

Consumers want fixed expenses. When it comes to millennials, they tend to be saddled with all sorts of debt including those credit cards they eagerly accepted while in college, and the student loans they end up with in order to launch their careers. Older generations are at, or close to, the point of fixed incomes from retirement plans or social security. Peace of mind that their vehicle is covered, and they are protected against any unexpected repairs, is perhaps more valuable to these consumers than ever before. That’s why many service industries have navigated to fixed price service plans.                                                  

Consider cell phones. The big rage nowadays is the “All-inclusive price” plan. Consumers simply choose a carrier and have all the service they need for a fixed amount. I’m sure you’ve seen the advertisements and commercials. Why are these plans so attractive? I would argue that it’s the fact that consumers don’t like surprises or variables in their monthly expenses.

PPM programs are attractive for exactly the same reason. They provide car buyers with peace of mind that their monthly vehicle expenses will remain the same and that their vehicle will be reliable.

However, while these items may be missed (or declined) in the finance office, there is a perfect opportunity that many dealerships miss to pursue them later in the service drive. Just because someone said “No” in your finance department, doesn’t mean that they will say the same thing later. Lots of factors are in play when buying a car – emotions are high, anxieties over payment could be in play, and exhaustion from being at the dealership for several hour could also be part of the problem. Once the sun comes up and all of those factors settle down, a consumer could perhaps have a clearer view of the advantages of a PPM.

Recent research suggests that almost 65 percent of dealers are ignoring the opportunity to offer dealer-branded PPM plans to current customers that visit their service lanes. While many offer OEM branded plans in the F&I department, the service lane is generally overlooked, not only as a selling opportunity, but as a chance to reengage hundreds of customers for a guaranteed period of time. Dealers are in fact losing two thirds of their possible customer service affinity as well as potential missed revenue measured in millions of dollars.

Really? Millions of dollars left on the service drive floor? Yes. It is so simple.

There is no argument that PPMs significantly raise dealer service retention. It is in fact documented that many dealers experience a retention rate of over eighty percent among those customers who purchase a PPM. So, why are so many dealers’ service retention numbers so much lower than that -- anywhere from thirty, to, in rare cases, maybe sixty percent? That’s a huge loss in retention and potential profit.

In my thirty-five years in the automotive business dealers have shared many different rationalizations as to why they choose to overlook the potential of PPMs in service. While many of the reasons are beyond sensible business logic, such as “I can’t handle anymore service business,” or “My advisors are too busy to sell anything else,” they all escape the fact that, as a dealer, they likely see more customers in the service department in two months then they sell in new vehicles in an entire year! Yet only about 35 percent of franchise dealers offer service drive PPMs today.

It really is simple, but it takes a good eye on both new and used vehicle buyers in your service drive. Just like any other service lane up-sell, it should be positioned as an additional customer advantage on top of what the dealership is already doing, and should be included on all service product menus. By including it on your service menu it serves as a tool for your advisor to sell other services by utilizing any discount the plan may offer on the service the customer is contemplating purchasing during that visit.

Don’t be afraid to keep discussing the benefits of pre-paid maintenance with your customers – whether you sold them the vehicle or not – as it only serves to benefit both your dealership (by maintaining a customer relationship) and the customer.