Did you know that as human beings, no matter where we go we unconsciously form opinions about people, places and institutions? The average person assesses and gauges approximately 11 items when they come into any facility, be it a restaurant or a car dealership. They typically assess the facility and the people they meet. These impressions are generally made in the first 7 to 20 seconds. These impressions are based on the following criteria:
1. Cleanliness – Is the facility clean and bright?
2. Is the first person I meet friendly?
3. Are the employees confident?
4. Are the employees courteous?
5. Are the employees Responsive?
6. Are the employees well groomed?
7. Are the employees Sincere?
8. Are the employees Knowledgeable?
9. Are the employee’s patient?
10. Are the employees Empathetic?
11. Do the facility and its employees exude professionalism?
Concentrating on the items listed above will help in automatically stimulate a positive impression from your customers which leads to more repeat customers and more sales.
Customers fear the following when bringing the second most expensive items they own in for service. Customer fears are:
1. Having a preconceived notion of getting ripped off or of not receiving value.
2. Their special needs, wants or requirements will not be fulfilled.
3. Rude or unprofessional treatment.
4. Their vehicle will not be returned in a timely fashion.
5. The service waiting area and offices will be disorganized and dirty.
What are changing in your service department to stimulate a positive impression from your customers, how will you create an exceptional service experience to keep your customers coming back?
David
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Hiring Race Horses
I believe the automotive industry needs to evolve towards encompassing total customer care and customer satisfaction! In my opinion there are a lot of service facilities in business who have the wrong people working for them. You read about it every day, if you work in the industry you are exposed to it every day. Etiquette is gone in today’s society, it is more the exception then the rule. Being polite to people is reserved for a few members of a dying breed. People are more interested in what THEY can get out of others when they should be focused on serving the people, (customers and clients) that frequent their businesses. All it generally takes is a thank you or a may I help you to make a difference in a customer’s day. I would like to stress that the customers that have left your facility feeling like your business didn’t care about them, or their needs, probably won’t come back. These customers are your bread and butter! We all need to eat, so why poison the food supply.
If you are hiring to replace people within your facility it needs to be your priority to hire the right people to keep the customers you currently have, and win-back some of the ones you have lost. I cannot stress enough that we as an industry need to focus more attention on attracting talented people who can make a difference. Making a difference means different things to different people, my definition is this; hire a person for their attitude, develop them into a trained core member of your team so they can think on their feet. If more service advisors had the right attitude, they would be able to sell more servicing items to their customers because they had built a sustainable honest relationship built upon trust and mutually admiration! There are just too many people working in this industry that are lazy, irresponsible, rude, non committal, unreliable and they simply do not care about your customers, they are only showing up to work to make a paycheck. Have you ever thought what your own paycheck might be if you had exceptional people working for you? Hire race horses with good attitudes and you will always finish the race a leader in your field.
Good hiring practices mean you are hiring for specifics. Some specific items to look for in future potential employees are:
- Attitude
- Integrity
- Commitment
- Dedication
- Caring
- Reliability
- Responsiveness
- Assurance of action
- Empathy
Once you have these nine quotients filled you can target the intangibles. Good customer service is exactly an intangible that directly quantifies your businesses bottom line. You can always teach someone product knowledge however you cannot teach anyone any of the attributes listed above. Either people have these qualities or they don’t.
Employee training must be ongoing. The three main areas of training you should be concerned with are:
- Customer service training
- Computer training – on the programs your dealership uses every day for business
- Product knowledge training – requirements = all staff
Training cannot be stressed enough. All front line staff such as advisors requires customer service training, some form of dispute resolution training, product training and computer systems training. I would even stress that the BDC and porters take some form of product knowledge training. A customer should be able to ask a straight forward product knowledge question of any staff member and receive an intelligent answer in return. If you do not provide your most important asset with ongoing training they will eventually become obsolete and turn into your biggest liability.
David
If you are hiring to replace people within your facility it needs to be your priority to hire the right people to keep the customers you currently have, and win-back some of the ones you have lost. I cannot stress enough that we as an industry need to focus more attention on attracting talented people who can make a difference. Making a difference means different things to different people, my definition is this; hire a person for their attitude, develop them into a trained core member of your team so they can think on their feet. If more service advisors had the right attitude, they would be able to sell more servicing items to their customers because they had built a sustainable honest relationship built upon trust and mutually admiration! There are just too many people working in this industry that are lazy, irresponsible, rude, non committal, unreliable and they simply do not care about your customers, they are only showing up to work to make a paycheck. Have you ever thought what your own paycheck might be if you had exceptional people working for you? Hire race horses with good attitudes and you will always finish the race a leader in your field.
Good hiring practices mean you are hiring for specifics. Some specific items to look for in future potential employees are:
- Attitude
- Integrity
- Commitment
- Dedication
- Caring
- Reliability
- Responsiveness
- Assurance of action
- Empathy
Once you have these nine quotients filled you can target the intangibles. Good customer service is exactly an intangible that directly quantifies your businesses bottom line. You can always teach someone product knowledge however you cannot teach anyone any of the attributes listed above. Either people have these qualities or they don’t.
Employee training must be ongoing. The three main areas of training you should be concerned with are:
- Customer service training
- Computer training – on the programs your dealership uses every day for business
- Product knowledge training – requirements = all staff
Training cannot be stressed enough. All front line staff such as advisors requires customer service training, some form of dispute resolution training, product training and computer systems training. I would even stress that the BDC and porters take some form of product knowledge training. A customer should be able to ask a straight forward product knowledge question of any staff member and receive an intelligent answer in return. If you do not provide your most important asset with ongoing training they will eventually become obsolete and turn into your biggest liability.
David
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Customers Want Solutions
Automotive repair customers want solutions to their concerns and the most common concerns are:
- Satisfaction with the product
- Satisfaction with the service
- Personal contact – attention
- Service in a reasonable amount of time
- Staff interaction
- Professional polite attitude
- Timeliness
- Cleanliness of facility
- Cleanliness of returned vehicle
- Price point
Every customer that walks out angry, jilted, gouged or feeling abused or abandoned has the potential to frequent the competition. Losing a customer for life equates to losing large amounts of revenue over time. Customer service policies help to groom your employees, to provide a healthy business relationship with your customers, and thus provide you with a lifetime of increasing revenue.
Which areas affect your service department and how can I help you fix it?
David
- Satisfaction with the product
- Satisfaction with the service
- Personal contact – attention
- Service in a reasonable amount of time
- Staff interaction
- Professional polite attitude
- Timeliness
- Cleanliness of facility
- Cleanliness of returned vehicle
- Price point
Every customer that walks out angry, jilted, gouged or feeling abused or abandoned has the potential to frequent the competition. Losing a customer for life equates to losing large amounts of revenue over time. Customer service policies help to groom your employees, to provide a healthy business relationship with your customers, and thus provide you with a lifetime of increasing revenue.
Which areas affect your service department and how can I help you fix it?
David
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