In our industry, one universal sales practice is to tailor your techniques to the wants and needs of the customer in front of you. If you have a young male drooling over that sports car, you’ll probably be talking about performance specs, 0-60 times and horsepower. If you have a young family, you’re probably going to be reviewing all of the safety features of the vehicle. To anybody that’s been in sales for a while, this is old news. Now, however, we have a whole new group of consumers that are slowly, but surely, entering into their prime spending years - Millennials. The question is, are we really engaging them in a way that earns their business and encourages customer loyalty?

These will be the customers that your service department will try to retain, while also being repeat customers in sales for many years to come. While they still need cars and will buy them, the question is whether or not we know enough about the factors that contribute to creating a brand advocate out of a Millennial. Do they have the same types of loyalty traits that we’ve pursued in the past? A glimpse into this finicky group of young people published on Business Insider, may cause you to change your sales techniques.

In a study run by the “America@250,” it was found that sustainability is one of the most important factors to Millennials.

• 34% of Millennials find it important that the vehicle they purchase uses little to no fuel, versus 26% of Baby Boomers.
• Only 24% responded that the fact that the vehicle was made in America was important, as compared to 42% of Baby Boomers.
• 16% of Millennials said that whether the manufacturer takes care of the environment is important and matters to them, versus 6% of Baby Boomers.

Apparently, fuel economy is not only an important consideration in vehicle choice, but also an important attribute in whether or not the brand can earn their loyalty.

If sustainability and social responsibility are important to Millennials when it comes to brand loyalty, perhaps it makes sense at your dealership to consider adopting - or highlighting - ways in which you can fulfill these expectations. Items as small as clean waste disposal in service, recycling, community service and outreach, may go far into convincing a Millennial to buy a vehicle from you and to earn their loyalty. Next time you find a Millennial standing in front of you (whether that’s physically or virtually) thinking about purchasing a vehicle, you might want to include these details in your “why buy from us” pitch. It might just tip that prospect towards your dealership, versus your competition.

A hot topic of much discussion today is the decrease in the sales process. There are many opinions on whether shortening the time it takes consumers to buy a vehicle is the answer to providing a better customer experience. There’s no doubt that it can be arduous and exhausting for a consumer to buy a car - from finding the right one, to filling out paperwork, negotiating price, spending time in finance and then, ultimately, sitting through a lengthy presentation as the salesperson explains all of the vehicle’s features during the delivery process.

A recent story in Automotive News details how one dealership chose to take a different tactic.  Instead of making a buyer endure a lengthy but necessary tutorial on a new car at the time of sale, Jaguar Land Rover of Fort Myers delivers the lesson later, at the owner's home or business. And when it's time for repairs or maintenance, an owner can get a loaner car delivered to him or her and avoid the hassle of driving to the dealership for service.  As a result, the dealership’s CSI scores have “skyrocketed,” according to General Manager Brian Del Negro.

For the most part, customers already do their car shopping in phases, if you think about it. They start by researching or reading vehicle reviews and, according to some studies, will spend upwards of 10 hours or more online doing so. They key here is that it is highly unlikely they are doing this research all in one sitting. Then, after taking their time preparing themselves and narrowing down vehicles, they visit 1-2 dealerships. Then, in almost every case, they are pressured to make an instant buying decision (i.e. “What would it take for you to take this vehicle home today?) This, of course, is certainly understandable from the dealership’s side -- it doesn’t want to risk losing the sale to a competitor. But, what if the customer simply isn’t ready to buy right then?

Whether the customer experience proves to be a great one for the consumer certainly hinges on numerous things. For some it could be the lack of pressure. Others may want an expedited buying process. While some may want to take their time. While Jaguar Land Rover of Fort Myers offers the encore delivery service, it’s certainly not mandatory for those customers who are fine with going through the delivery process on the spot. That being said, it certainly helps differentiate them from their competitors and allows customers options that they don’t get at other dealerships. One intriguing dealership-centric benefit of encore delivery is that it allows the dealership a second opportunity to build on that relationship, rather than just have the customer feel really important during the sales process, then forgotten about the next day.

These services certainly add expenses to the bottom line of the dealership. But, ultimately, are paying off with increased service business and higher CSI scores. The relationship building phase also gets extended, which allows the customer to feel more important and appreciated. And, that is the beginning of customer loyalty and, ultimately, a brand advocate.

Mimicking customer behavior is one of the oldest sales techniques in the business. So is finding common interests and building rapport. However, with three generations of car buyers in and out of dealerships daily - Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y - it’s harder than ever for salespeople to accomplish this convincingly, let alone understand what type of experience each demographic is looking for. A recent article in Wards Auto, describes a dealer that provides generational training to his employees in an effort to assist them in better handling customers. The dealership first tries to match up salespeople with customers to optimize the experience – such as a Hispanic salesperson to assist a Hispanic customer. And, when that’s not possible, the training enables the employees to better understand what type of experience each generation is most likely seeking, and to then provide that. The dealer explained that every customer is different and that salespeople shouldn’t feel as if they need to provide the same experience to everyone, as not everyone wants the same thing. In his opinion, Boomers are more inclined to want to negotiate, while Millennials want something thrown in. Older customers aren’t necessarily seeking a fast buying experience, (as has been the hot topic of late) but Millennials are much more time conscious.

What does all of this have to do with customer loyalty?

In today’s automotive marketplace, OEMs and dealers are increasingly shifting the retail battlefield to customer experience. While that may be an excellent strategy, how do you create the perfect customer experience, and deliver it consistently, if all of your customers want different experiences? If your dealership decided that a one-hour sales process is the optimal customer experience, how will that Boomer, who wants to take his or her time shopping and negotiating, feel about the experience? They will probably rushed through the process, which will either run them off, or leave them dissatisfied. On the other hand, if a Millennial is forced to sit in your dealership for 6 hours, they’ll probably feel very unhappy too.

The customer’s perception of their buying experience affects a lot of things: the likelihood that they will recommend your dealership; the type of review they share, either online or with their family and friends; and whether or not they choose to continue to patronize your dealership. As consumers are holding onto their vehicles for much longer these days, customer retention heightens in importance and these points become ever more relevant.

If you recognize that there isn’t necessarily a single “best” customer experience, but, that the customer experience must be tailored for every customer, you may find it easier to retain customers of all demographics. By training salespeople on the types of experiences different generations would like. And, by giving them the flexibility to provide that experience on an individual basis, you will have happier customers across all generations.

Loyalty programs surround us. We live in a world filled with keychains on which multiple little plastic mini loyalty cards dangle. There aren’t many places where we spend our money that don’t offer a rewards program or, at the very least, track our purchases via a quasi-rewards program that only allows us to purchase items at the “loyalty” price, versus the normal price (think grocery stores). While adding a loyalty program into your offerings is certainly something you should consider, keep in mind that not all customers are created equal. Blanket offers to everyone enrolled in your loyalty program could actually cost your dealership some business. Let me explain.

Almost every business has their own version of a “best customer.” These customers typically continuously visit the business and generate most of the revenue. They may not be the most frequent visitors, but bring the most profit with their visits. In all marketing, segmentation is key. It is certainly not the best move to spam your entire DMS with the same offer. That would be a waste of time.

Is that customer that only visits your dealership to take advantage of an oil change coupon worth the same reward as the customer who regularly services and accepts service upsells?

Identifying who your best customers are in terms of profitability can reap benefits in two ways.

1)    It allows any rewards and/or specials to be precisely targeted to those customers who deserve it most and who bring the most promise in terms of upset opportunities. It’s fairly common to throw out a $20 oil change coupon in the hopes that some additional service business is earned when that coupon is redeemed. That being the case, what percentage of those redemptions are accompanied by service upsells? By blanketing your customers with discounts and coupons, you simply attract those customers who only patronize you if they have a coupon and, in most cases, decline any service recommendations you may present to them.

2)    Identifying that group of your “best” customers will allow you to find patterns, characteristics and behaviors that exist within the group. Once you know what qualities your “best” customers have, you can start identifying customers who have similar qualities or behaviors that aren’t quite at that “best” status yet. Then, you can tailor your marketing or rewards to that second tier of customers in an attempt to elevate them into that “best” customer category.

Rewards programs are dynamic. Members should be segmented and marketed to in a personal way designed to maximize the outcome. Any marketing should either encourage existing behaviors or nurture customers into adopting the attributes of your “best” customers. Don’t use a set-it-and-forget-it blanket reward for members. If you do, you’ll find that your reward program could actually cost you money as all those loss-leader oil changes come into service with no upsells.

Identify your most profitable group of customers. Then leverage your loyalty program to instill in that second tier of customers the qualities from your most profitable customers. In this way, the base of customers that are generating the most income for you will grow and help to create a more solid foundation for your dealership’s future.

When done properly, Google Ads are an effective piece in any multi-channel marketing strategy. The ability to target traffic to specific behavior and keyword searches is invaluable. Well, Google is now following in the footsteps of Facebook and Twitter and on September 27 announced the roll-out of a new Google Ad feature named Customer Match. This new feature allows Google advertisers to upload first-party email databases and serve ads via Google search, YouTube and/or Gmail to the business’s specific customers. Facebook and Twitter advertising platforms have had this feature for some time and it has been a very effective tool for businesses to market to existing customers.

Dealers that have used these features in any digital marketing efforts on Facebook and/or Twitter should understand how powerful this type of targeted marketing can be. Imagine using targeted Google Ads to market offers and specials purely to members of your loyalty program. While not everyone uses Facebook or Twitter, nearly everyone uses Google in some form or another - whether that’s as a search engine, email service or to simply watch video content.

Dealers could also use this new feature to target service customers, shoppers that visit but do not purchase, and just about any combination of a segmented audience. If you can create a segmented email database, you can now precisely target marketing to that specific list of people using Google. When you factor relevance into the equation, this new feature opens up a world of possibilities for dealers to use in their marketing.

It’s been proven that consumers who receive relevant offers and information respond at a much higher rate than to mass campaigns of any kind - whether that’s via email, direct mail, or digital marketing. The ability to precisely target these segmented groups with offers via Google is a highly effective tool for dealers to add to their arsenal.

This new Google feature could also decrease the costs of the ads themselves. Instead of getting into a bidding war over keyword searches, targeting specific individuals that are already connected to the business itself, should certainly produce better results for less money. Since it’s your data, nobody else can use it to target your customers. Therefore, you eliminate any competition with others for those specific customers. Sure, those customers will still be targeted through keyword searches and behavioral targeting.  However, the edge that Customer Match provides dealers is the ability to send hyper-relevant messages to their customers, rather than just generic ones to the masses.

If you’re a dealer that utilizes Google Ads, consider immediately integrating this into your marketing ad spend. If it performs as well as Facebook’s Custom Audiences and you should find that it’s one of the most valuable advertising paths available.

In life, not everything goes our way. Things happen. Planes get delayed. It rains during a wedding. Life intervenes. In business, the same holds true. If a situation is handled improperly, or is unaddressed, customers are likely to get ignored. With proper attention, however, customers can be forgiving.

Take for example, the story relayed in this article on Business2Community. The author explains how he was a loyal customer of a hotel. On one occasion, he booked the hotel as he had previously had excellent experiences there. However, upon arrival, he found the hotel was under construction. Many of the qualities that he had come to love – such as the contemporary bar - were not completed. He had planned to have some colleagues over at the hotel. However, after seeing it under construction, was displeased. He wished he had been given notice by the hotel about the on-going construction. He may have changed to a different hotel. But, to the hotel’s credit, the one thing that was the same - and ultimately what kept him there - was the hotel staff. Their customer service attitude and familiarity with him as a customer kept his business.

Another example is airlines. Flight delays. Cancellations. Most of the time, these major customer inconveniences are beyond their control. They certainly cannot control the weather. And, it is probably a smart decision on their part to delay a plane that isn’t in tip top shape. Yes, it’s annoying. But, I would argue that HOW they handle it is more important than the situation itself. By being empathetic, accepting responsibility for the situation and apologizing, many customers will understand and continue to patronize the airline. But, I don’t care how many award miles you have with an airline, if they fail to deliver too many times, you will probably find another airline.

I’m fairly certain that situations occur at your dealerships that are beyond your control. Sometimes, things go wrong. And, regardless of how sorry you are, or how bad you feel, you just can’t fix them immediately, no matter how much you want to.

Your customers are, for the most part, willing to give you a second chance. Perhaps even a third. Mistakes happen and how you handle them could be the determining factor in whether that customer stays, or defects to the competition. Take a deep breath, be calm and put yourself in your customer’s shoes. While you perhaps can’t fully solve the problem, would you feel better with the solution you are offering? Once you know the answer to that, chances are that you’ll be able to defuse the situation, calm the customer down and show them that they matter. And that’s all most people want.

The other day, a friend of mine was in the market for a new tech toy. As he researched the different available brands, he noticed a huge difference in pricing - from $325 all the way up to $1800 -- but was unable to tell the difference between any of the brand offerings. The features seemed the same. They all looked the same. He read reviews, even those were similar -- consumers were generally happy, regardless of brand.

My friend was most interested in the premium-priced brand, because an associate had purchased and recommended it. However, this associate stated that this premium brand was probably the same as the less expensive $325 brand. In an effort to find out why the brand he wanted was priced so high, my friend turned to the brand’s Twitter account.  He found daily posts offering a discount if retweeted, so he did. Minutes later, he was messaged with a coupon code offering 10 percent off the purchase. Not swayed, he engaged the brand asking what made their product more expensive. He was given the following reasons:

1. It was a better quality than the less expensive brands.
2. The other brands were made and shipped from China. Therefore, it would be very difficult to obtain any customer service or warranty work should something happen. One the other hand, their product was made in the United States and came with a one year warranty.
3. It offered some additional features that the other brands did not.

These value propositions swayed my friend and he purchased the more expensive model. So, why would someone - all things being equal - choose a more expensive brand, at more than twice the price? For him, it was these unique selling propositions. Not the discount.

In our industry, consumers are constantly barraged with messages about low prices, coupons for service and many other similar offers. Dealerships tend to neglect to ensure that their primary message always reinforce any unique selling propositions. In many cases, consumers are willing to pay more if they feel that the additional cost benefits them. I recall seeing a dealership that had a chalkboard in its service department that listed their service pricing as well as all of their competitors - both franchise and independent. This same chalkboard also listed the reasons why they weren’t always the lower price and the benefits of choosing them over their competitors. They weren’t always the lowest price. However, their thought process was that the information made customers feel more comfortable to make on-the-spot decisions. The customer was no longer left to “think about it,” which is really code for “let me do some research, price shop and get opinions from my friends and family.”

With all the information and resources available to consumers, dealers feel they are in a race to the bottom. It has certainly become more challenging.

Consider perhaps focusing messaging on why customers should do business with YOUR dealership - even if you aren’t the lowest price. You may well find that customers are willing to pay more if they see the benefit of doing business with you versus the competition.

Find your unique selling proposition and make sure that it is broadcast in all of your messaging. As a result, consumers may well get more interested in doing business with you, rather than your price. When that happens, you’ll see your customers explaining to their networks the reason they chose you -- just like my friend did to me.

Human beings do have a tendency to overcomplicate things. In our industry, there are so many things that we need to deal with on a daily basis - customers, co-workers, employees, bosses, technology - at times it gets overwhelming. I believe that most dealers understand the importance of customer loyalty and retention. There are plenty of ways to entice customers and gain their loyalty. However, no matter how good the effort, every one of us will see customers leave at some point. Sometimes it’s your fault, sometimes it has nothing to do with you. Regardless of which, sustaining and nurturing customer loyalty can, at times, seem a daunting task.

I came across this quote from an unknown author today and, as I reflected on it, it occurred to me that this was the perfect - and simple - roadmap to customer loyalty.

Respect is earned.

Honesty is appreciated.

Trust is gained.

Loyalty is returned.

Everyone wants to be respected. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a customer, the business owner or a porter. Respect in a business organization is the foundation for everything - company culture, employee loyalty, and customer experience – to name just a few. If managers don’t respect their subordinates, a hostile environment is created where nobody wants to work. This in turn stifles productivity and negates motivation. Disrespect will make that $20 spiff worthless. In fact, that disrespect could easily result in employees performing poorly on purpose so as to cause the manager to fail.

Sadly, the auto industry is perceived as one of the least trusted of all businesses. The stereotype of the used car salesperson has transcended time and become one that dealers have found difficult to overcome. A policy of treating both employees and customers with respect and honesty can help create stronger bonds and also improve customer perception. A customer may expect a salesperson to be deceitful, but can be won over through honesty. Don’t promise things you’re unable to deliver. Customers desire transparency and in today’s world of online research, there are many resources for the customer to easily find the information they desire. So, be up front in the transaction. Customers may not like the answers you give them. But, if they’re honest answers, they will respect you for it.

If your employees or customers don’t trust you, you will never earn their loyalty. Chances are that you’ll have to prove that you can be trusted and believe me when I say that customers will challenge that trust and look for third-party validation - whether that’s through a price confidence site, a CarFax report or simply an online payment calculator. If everything checks out, and the customer knows that you’ve been honest with them, you will begin to earn their trust and build loyalty.

Companies increasingly invent new and creative ways to earn loyalty from their customers. Every year we hear of companies pulling off interesting and creative ways to gain exposure and foster loyalty through acts of kindness, goodwill or just being fun. For the fourth consecutive year, Uber became the ice cream man. It seems that every year for the past four years, Uber holds what it calls an “ice cream social.” On this day, the Uber app opens up a new feature - rather than simply being able to choose which type of Uber you want, on that day you can order up some ice cream. For $25, Uber will send one of its drivers to your house, workplace or wherever you wish and hand deliver five ice cream treats in a goodie bag all from an “Uber Ice Cream” branded vehicle. Needless to say, people went crazy over this on social media. Just search the hashtag #UberIceCream on Twitter and you’ll see what I mean. This annual event has been an excellent way for Uber to engage its customers in a fun way while reinforcing its branding and generating buzz.

Car dealers can use the same idea to engage their community. No, I’m not talking about delivering ice cream for $25 but rather finding creative and fun ways with which to provide an unexpected surprise for a customer. A dealer in North Carolina holds “Free Gas Friday” every week. This amounts to no more than a sales manager and second employee (to film) driving around town armed with balloons, a goodie bag filled with a dealership shirt and hat and a gift card for $25 in gas until they find a vehicle bearing their dealership’s license plate or sticker. When they find somebody, they cause a big scene thanking the customer for their business and awarding their loyalty with the prizes. Since they make sure that they start this quest at lunchtime, more often than not the person they find is in the midst of eating lunch at a restaurant or other food establishment. Simply by being in public and raising a little ruckus, they gain positive exposure for the dealership and return to the dealership armed with some excellent video content for social media use. This content is by far the most engaged with on their social media accounts and adds some fun into their dealership’s personality.

There are many paths to earn customer loyalty. They are, however, becoming harder to navigate as customer loyalty becomes more fragile through new technologies centered around price or convenience. Dealerships should look for unique ways in which they can engage their customers and their communities. Small things like this can generate buzz and exposure while not only directly affecting a single customer but also indirectly affecting many others. And a little ice cream on a hot day or some free gas will almost certainly score your dealership some brownie points.

Today’s customers are fickle creatures -- one misstep and they never return. So, how is a dealership supposed to identify true customer loyalty if it can’t simply be judged by repeat business?

According to an article in Inc., the Disney Institute’s opinion is that businesses today need much more than a simple repeat customer. What they need is a brand promise. This is similar to a unique selling proposition, just more comprehensive. Disney states that a brand promise is “a succinct statement of the tangible and intangible benefits provided by the ideal brand experience… in other words, a brand promise is a statement of how you want the customer to feel when they interact with your product or service.” The company further states that there are four main things customers want from a brand promise: They want to feel important, the promise must be credible (i.e. the customer must believe the promise is possible), it should be exclusive and it should be differentiating.

Customers are constantly bombarded with generic overly broad marketing messages. When every marketer yells the same thing, the message gets tuned out. Wal-Mart advertises low prices. What makes one Wal-Mart any different from the next? Nothing. Consumers will simply go to the one that’s the closest, or most convenient. Car dealerships that promise the same things are in danger of potentially losing a customer simply because they are all perceived as the same.

Auto dealerships today use all sorts of unique selling propositions in their marketing efforts. Free car washes or oil changes for life, guaranteed low prices and great customer experiences, to name a few. If you really look at your unique selling proposition, how different is it compared to the dealership across the street, or your nearest competitor? Almost every dealership will claim they’ll beat a competitor’s price apples to apples. Many have perks for buying at their dealership. According to Disney, these broad selling propositions just don’t cut it. Successful dealership marketers tend to understand that each person has their own individual “hot” button. Some consumers are price shoppers. Some look for great experiences -- which could mean anything from transaction time, to customer service, to ease of buying experience, to amount of inventory, to convenience in service.

In order to emotionally connect with your customer and create a brand loyalist, rather than simply a repeat customer, you must find your niche and stop trying to be everything to everybody. Research what your competition is offering, what their message is, and make sure you have something else.