Have you ever taken the time to look up in the dictionary the definition of the word client? A client is one that is under the protection of another: DEPENDENT, a person who engages the professional advice or service of another. The client therefore is dependent upon you for accessing parts and service, and you are dependent upon the clients to sustain your business and prosper. (A client is YOUR customer) This is a mutual business relationship that benefits both parties so long as the client feels they have been fairly treated, and not overcharged.
The word service has an interesting meaning as well. Service is the occupation or function of serving in active service b: employment as a servant, entered his service, 2a: the work performed by one that serves, good service b: glad to be of service c: contribution to the welfare of others d: disposal for use – I’m entirely at your service, e: useful labor that does not produce a tangible commodity.
The definition of the word customer is: one that purchases a commodity or service. In the word customer is another word. CUSTOM – a usage or practice common to many, or to a particular place or class b: long established practice considered as unwritten law c: repeated practice d: conventions that regulate social life.
What is interesting is the relevance each word has when we make a statement such as “We give good customer service!” To sum up this phrase would be to say, “Good customer service equals a long established practice or unwritten law, to be at the service of those who seek you out for a commodity, product, service or advice, and to provide a custom tailored experience based upon the product or commodity offered”.
Every single person at your dealership that has contact with a customer is perceived by the customer as the overall perception of the dealership, and the customer service that you provide. The mantra of good customer service starts with the GM and dealer principal, and filters down to the porters, drivers and lot attendants. Everyone needs to be on the same page, “All the world is a stage – even at your dealership”!
Perception is reality!
“If you’re not offering exceptional service – someone else is, and it’s hurting you!”
David
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Insanity
Have you ever sat and watched a fly buzz around banging into the window wanting to get out of the house? The fly will keep hitting that window until the day he dies. It only wants to get outside into the big bright wide open world and explore, yet it continuously does the same thing over-and-over again. The fly’s results never change because it doesn’t have the capacity to see the bigger picture. The fly will continue to hit the window not knowing that if it just fly’s down to the bottom of the glass, the window is open, so the fly keeps on hitting the glass expecting a different result, this is the definition of insanity.
Do your employees act like the fly at the window? Is your business performing the same tasks day-in and day-out expecting different results? Do your employees have the capacity to see the bigger picture or are they stuck in complacency not really seeing the big bright wide open world that awaits them individually or collectively? Every business has the capacity to grow beyond its current physical size, yet the physical size of your business is dependent upon your customer base.
Therefore to grow your business you must grow the mindset and aspirations of the people that represent you. Once your employees can see the bigger picture and see benefits that directly impact them in positive ways will you begin to move forward and find success as a business entity? This starts with a plan that is customer centric, forward thinking and creative.
One of the first places to start is the five foot rule. The five foot rule basically means that any employee who comes into visual contact with a customer asks them, “Have you been looked after”, or “Is there something I can help you with”. This is powerful and your customers will notice it right away. Customers do not want to feel ignored, forgotten or feel like just another number. Your customers are your bread and butter and that of your employees, yet your employees for the most part feel that customers are your responsibility, not theirs.
The general sense of most employees is that it is the job of the business to attract new business, keep existing business and promote the business. This mindset to me is the fly at the window not able to see the bigger picture. To me the employees ARE the business and if your employees want a big bright future they must be conditioned to treat customers as if they were their own individual customers.
Wage increases, new technology, new equipment, bonuses and perks only come when a business succeeds yet employees grumble day-in and day-out about not having this or that. Have you as the manager or owner informed your employees that each one of them has a direct responsibility to ensure the business success? Have you told them that their personal and monetary success is directly linked to the businesses financial health and its ability to retain and attract new customers?
Critical customer service skills that all of your employees need to be successful are;
1. A passion for taking care of customers
2. Integrity and commitment
3. A willingness to be flexible to THEIR customers needs
4. A work ethic based on dedication to the company and its ongoing mission
5. Self motivation and goal oriented in every endeavor
6. An eagerness to continuously grow and learn new aspects of the business
7. Persuasive sales skills
8. Excellent communication skills
9. A willingness to go the extra mile to help the business succeed
10. A mindset that exudes THIS IS MY BUSINESS and I MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Have you taken the time to show your employees that;
- The business is the most valuable thing we own collectively
- Personal honesty and integrity are the foundations for our mutual success
- Customer service is our way of life
- Our business is a fun friendly place where teamwork rules
- We work hard… and we reward hard work
- Great things happen when we listen… to customers and to each other
- We strengthen communities, one neighborhood at a time
- We make a difference in people’s lives
- Our doors are open for all to enter
- Good things happen when we all succeed
The following list is an example of setting out a plan to achieve your business goals.
- Building leadership builds businesses opportunities
- Focusing on departmental financial discipline
- Business growth – driven by process and policies
- Talented people focusing on productivity and customer service
- A team that shares common goals and values
- A team vested in customer service equals retention and growth
- Ongoing training for every aspect of customer contact
- Cloning what is working effectively throughout the business
A customer wants to trust the business they are dealing with. If the trust is not established, or if it is lost you will not have commitment from your customers to stay loyal to your dealership. Your customers will become transient and visit your business infrequently. The first order of trust is training! If your customers see your employees as consultants working for them, the customer will be retained into a long term relationship. Once trust is established the customer will become your biggest advocate.
To sum it all up; don’t run your business like the fly at the window. See the bigger picture and escape from the confines of being a mediocre business by instilling the mindset that bigger better things come with the reality that customers belong to the business and the business is your employees. Therefore the customers belong to each individual of the business, collectively forming the business. The success of the business is directly linked to the ownership that every single employee commands within their daily work ethics and habits.
Refuse to work in a world of insanity, try new things to motivate and invigorate both your employees and your customers. You will soon find yourself within the big bright future of endless positive possibilities instead of banging your head against the glass trying to get to the other side.
David
Do your employees act like the fly at the window? Is your business performing the same tasks day-in and day-out expecting different results? Do your employees have the capacity to see the bigger picture or are they stuck in complacency not really seeing the big bright wide open world that awaits them individually or collectively? Every business has the capacity to grow beyond its current physical size, yet the physical size of your business is dependent upon your customer base.
Therefore to grow your business you must grow the mindset and aspirations of the people that represent you. Once your employees can see the bigger picture and see benefits that directly impact them in positive ways will you begin to move forward and find success as a business entity? This starts with a plan that is customer centric, forward thinking and creative.
One of the first places to start is the five foot rule. The five foot rule basically means that any employee who comes into visual contact with a customer asks them, “Have you been looked after”, or “Is there something I can help you with”. This is powerful and your customers will notice it right away. Customers do not want to feel ignored, forgotten or feel like just another number. Your customers are your bread and butter and that of your employees, yet your employees for the most part feel that customers are your responsibility, not theirs.
The general sense of most employees is that it is the job of the business to attract new business, keep existing business and promote the business. This mindset to me is the fly at the window not able to see the bigger picture. To me the employees ARE the business and if your employees want a big bright future they must be conditioned to treat customers as if they were their own individual customers.
Wage increases, new technology, new equipment, bonuses and perks only come when a business succeeds yet employees grumble day-in and day-out about not having this or that. Have you as the manager or owner informed your employees that each one of them has a direct responsibility to ensure the business success? Have you told them that their personal and monetary success is directly linked to the businesses financial health and its ability to retain and attract new customers?
Critical customer service skills that all of your employees need to be successful are;
1. A passion for taking care of customers
2. Integrity and commitment
3. A willingness to be flexible to THEIR customers needs
4. A work ethic based on dedication to the company and its ongoing mission
5. Self motivation and goal oriented in every endeavor
6. An eagerness to continuously grow and learn new aspects of the business
7. Persuasive sales skills
8. Excellent communication skills
9. A willingness to go the extra mile to help the business succeed
10. A mindset that exudes THIS IS MY BUSINESS and I MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Have you taken the time to show your employees that;
- The business is the most valuable thing we own collectively
- Personal honesty and integrity are the foundations for our mutual success
- Customer service is our way of life
- Our business is a fun friendly place where teamwork rules
- We work hard… and we reward hard work
- Great things happen when we listen… to customers and to each other
- We strengthen communities, one neighborhood at a time
- We make a difference in people’s lives
- Our doors are open for all to enter
- Good things happen when we all succeed
The following list is an example of setting out a plan to achieve your business goals.
- Building leadership builds businesses opportunities
- Focusing on departmental financial discipline
- Business growth – driven by process and policies
- Talented people focusing on productivity and customer service
- A team that shares common goals and values
- A team vested in customer service equals retention and growth
- Ongoing training for every aspect of customer contact
- Cloning what is working effectively throughout the business
A customer wants to trust the business they are dealing with. If the trust is not established, or if it is lost you will not have commitment from your customers to stay loyal to your dealership. Your customers will become transient and visit your business infrequently. The first order of trust is training! If your customers see your employees as consultants working for them, the customer will be retained into a long term relationship. Once trust is established the customer will become your biggest advocate.
To sum it all up; don’t run your business like the fly at the window. See the bigger picture and escape from the confines of being a mediocre business by instilling the mindset that bigger better things come with the reality that customers belong to the business and the business is your employees. Therefore the customers belong to each individual of the business, collectively forming the business. The success of the business is directly linked to the ownership that every single employee commands within their daily work ethics and habits.
Refuse to work in a world of insanity, try new things to motivate and invigorate both your employees and your customers. You will soon find yourself within the big bright future of endless positive possibilities instead of banging your head against the glass trying to get to the other side.
David
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Combating Negative Customers On and Off the Web
Negative people are like acid. They burn you and try to take the positive life energy right out of you! Most people try to stay in a positive frame of mind and stay focused on what it is they want from life and how to get there, however negative people seem to sap the life from your employees and your business if you let it.
All businesses cater to both owners and victims in this world. It is a choice you and your business must make each day, “Will you become an owner or a victim” by the events going on around you. We all have them, customers that you can never please no matter how hard you try. That’s unfortunately life! What you choose to do with the negativity you are exposed to is a choice. Again, are you going to be an owner or a victim?
Becoming a victim can pervade your mind and cloud your judgment when dealing with normal mentally stable customers who are genuine and loyal to your business. I hear horror stories all the time from friends at various brand dealerships, the extreme encounters with rude, abusive, abrasive customers who want-want-want. I can hear it in their voice as they relate their stories that they themselves are stressed out dealing with this attitude day-in and day-out. Unfortunately this has become the reality of our culture and the choice is ours to deal with the behavior in a way that will not permeate our thoughts into a negative abyss.
Most negative customers want something, this could be a discount, a free service or they need to vent because their lives are filled with negativity and you or one of your employees happens to be right in front of them, in the line of fire. The problem with these types of people is that they know how to push people’s buttons and they use web based media as their weapon of choice to hurt you if and when they don’t get what they want.
Most negative people think the only way they can get what they want out of life or your business is to become manipulative and overbearing. This type of person has the belief that if they don’t complain, rant and rave, their opinions will never be heard therefore this is the only outlet for them, albeit a negative outlet. Sometimes these types of people decide to shower everyone around them with expletives and intrusive language not caring who might be within earshot. The simple thing to do is to oust them from your business if they are becoming completely unruly, yet the customer who complains and is looking for a little extra something, might be worth saving. I say this because once you win them over you OWN THEM, FOR LIFE!
Don’t let the customer you could have saved out the door before saving them because they just might come back to bite you and then you will have to save yourself. According to a recent American Express’ survey just over half of the respondents "57 percent" said they hold more belief in negative reviews than positive ones on blogs, their study also showed that 48 percent believe more in negative reviews on social networking sites.
The good news is that customers will talk more about a positive experience they have had with a company than a negative one. Three-quarters of the participants said they are very likely to speak positively about a company after a good service experience, conversely 59 percent said they are more likely to speak and post negatively about a company after a poor service experience.
The American Express findings substantiate that nine in ten Americans consider the level of customer service extremely important when deciding to do business with any company. About one-quarter of participants believe companies value their business and will go the distance to keep it.
The Internet has proved to be a valuable tool in marketing most businesses because it has made service and product quality more transparent than before the age of online reviews. Online reviews tell that positive recommendations are important however people often give more validity to the negative reviews. This event takes place because consumers can post their opinions so vividly online. Because transparency and interaction between businesses and consumers is mainly kept online, every interaction a company has with its customers becomes even more critical.
The most startling fact is that 81 percent of respondents have decided never to go back to a business again because of poor past customer service experiences. Half of the participants stated it only takes two poor service experiences before they stop doing business with a company permanently.
A customer that receives an exceptional experience will usually tell between 3 to 5 people, but a customer who has a lousy experience will tell more than 20 of their closest friends, coworkers and relatives. As this trend permeates through the web, numbers rapidly multiply and could potentially become disastrous for brands that haven’t yet put strategies in place to combat online negative postings.
The best way to combat this widespread problem of web based business bashing is to have the company ask satisfied customers to post positive reviews on the same site, or respond to reviews if the site allows comments. Slowly but surely, companies are in the learning curve and navigating through the tough lessons regarding customer empowerment. If your business gives your customers reasons to communicate, good or bad, they will do so very willingly, most times in ways that are beyond your control.
When one of your customers takes the time to post complaints about your company’s customer service or lack thereof, your company had better be paying strict attention – because that is exactly what other consumers and current customers are doing.
The reason I say this is the fact that that the average annual revenue generated per customer in the automobile service industry usually triples between year one and year five, but you will only see this revenue if you can keep them coming back to you for that length of time. Loyal long term customers will recommend your business to their closest friends, coworkers and relatives. This type of referral tends to be of a higher caliber customer, these types of customers are more profitable, they follow your business longer and spend more over a longer duration.
David
All businesses cater to both owners and victims in this world. It is a choice you and your business must make each day, “Will you become an owner or a victim” by the events going on around you. We all have them, customers that you can never please no matter how hard you try. That’s unfortunately life! What you choose to do with the negativity you are exposed to is a choice. Again, are you going to be an owner or a victim?
Becoming a victim can pervade your mind and cloud your judgment when dealing with normal mentally stable customers who are genuine and loyal to your business. I hear horror stories all the time from friends at various brand dealerships, the extreme encounters with rude, abusive, abrasive customers who want-want-want. I can hear it in their voice as they relate their stories that they themselves are stressed out dealing with this attitude day-in and day-out. Unfortunately this has become the reality of our culture and the choice is ours to deal with the behavior in a way that will not permeate our thoughts into a negative abyss.
Most negative customers want something, this could be a discount, a free service or they need to vent because their lives are filled with negativity and you or one of your employees happens to be right in front of them, in the line of fire. The problem with these types of people is that they know how to push people’s buttons and they use web based media as their weapon of choice to hurt you if and when they don’t get what they want.
Most negative people think the only way they can get what they want out of life or your business is to become manipulative and overbearing. This type of person has the belief that if they don’t complain, rant and rave, their opinions will never be heard therefore this is the only outlet for them, albeit a negative outlet. Sometimes these types of people decide to shower everyone around them with expletives and intrusive language not caring who might be within earshot. The simple thing to do is to oust them from your business if they are becoming completely unruly, yet the customer who complains and is looking for a little extra something, might be worth saving. I say this because once you win them over you OWN THEM, FOR LIFE!
Don’t let the customer you could have saved out the door before saving them because they just might come back to bite you and then you will have to save yourself. According to a recent American Express’ survey just over half of the respondents "57 percent" said they hold more belief in negative reviews than positive ones on blogs, their study also showed that 48 percent believe more in negative reviews on social networking sites.
The good news is that customers will talk more about a positive experience they have had with a company than a negative one. Three-quarters of the participants said they are very likely to speak positively about a company after a good service experience, conversely 59 percent said they are more likely to speak and post negatively about a company after a poor service experience.
The American Express findings substantiate that nine in ten Americans consider the level of customer service extremely important when deciding to do business with any company. About one-quarter of participants believe companies value their business and will go the distance to keep it.
The Internet has proved to be a valuable tool in marketing most businesses because it has made service and product quality more transparent than before the age of online reviews. Online reviews tell that positive recommendations are important however people often give more validity to the negative reviews. This event takes place because consumers can post their opinions so vividly online. Because transparency and interaction between businesses and consumers is mainly kept online, every interaction a company has with its customers becomes even more critical.
The most startling fact is that 81 percent of respondents have decided never to go back to a business again because of poor past customer service experiences. Half of the participants stated it only takes two poor service experiences before they stop doing business with a company permanently.
A customer that receives an exceptional experience will usually tell between 3 to 5 people, but a customer who has a lousy experience will tell more than 20 of their closest friends, coworkers and relatives. As this trend permeates through the web, numbers rapidly multiply and could potentially become disastrous for brands that haven’t yet put strategies in place to combat online negative postings.
The best way to combat this widespread problem of web based business bashing is to have the company ask satisfied customers to post positive reviews on the same site, or respond to reviews if the site allows comments. Slowly but surely, companies are in the learning curve and navigating through the tough lessons regarding customer empowerment. If your business gives your customers reasons to communicate, good or bad, they will do so very willingly, most times in ways that are beyond your control.
When one of your customers takes the time to post complaints about your company’s customer service or lack thereof, your company had better be paying strict attention – because that is exactly what other consumers and current customers are doing.
The reason I say this is the fact that that the average annual revenue generated per customer in the automobile service industry usually triples between year one and year five, but you will only see this revenue if you can keep them coming back to you for that length of time. Loyal long term customers will recommend your business to their closest friends, coworkers and relatives. This type of referral tends to be of a higher caliber customer, these types of customers are more profitable, they follow your business longer and spend more over a longer duration.
David
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