We all have them, customers that habitually blame your employees and your dealership for anything and everything. This particular class of people take away what you can offer your really great customers who may actually deserve something extra because you and your employees have been beaten down. All of you know exactly what I am I writing about! So in short I will give you examples from friend’s dealerships as well as my own and then pose my questions to you.
First, the woman who called in two weeks after her last routine service and stated the technician stole the batteries from her remote key fobs. Apparently the gas cap was also stolen from her car and she states that when the tires were changed in October of last year the technician took her tire valve caps and installed rusty caps from another customer’s vehicle onto her car.
The vehicle in question is a 2008 in which the fuel filler cap was replaced under warranty 16 months prior, due to a broken strap. The valve stem caps are aluminum and therefore start looking bad after a winter of snow and salt. After examining the vehicle history there is no record of this customer purchasing remote batteries either through parts or service yet she insists she wants new batteries mailed to her home for FREE or she will never come back. After reviewing the vehicle history, she has a habit of this type of behavior. Further, she claims she can read people’s minds and knows that the dealership is full of thieves.
How about the customer who claims he is owed a new sirious satellite radio for free, well a $1600 value or cost to someone. This gentleman owns a 2003 model year vehicle and after speaking with him and examining the vehicle history it is evident he purchased an upgraded radio in 2007. All parts as you know come with a one year unlimited mileage warranty for most manufacturers. A work order from 2010 shows that the radio was replaced again due to a malfunction of the display, however the work order shows only the installation and there is no $1600 part billed to the RO. Therefore the customer brought his own used satellite radio to the dealership for installation. This customer was expecting a free $1600 satellite radio unit and fought tooth and nail to get one for free.
The customer who brought his 2009 black sedan in for routine servicing and then upon pickup blamed the dealership for the application of swirl marks to the vehicle, the finger nail scratch marks around the door handles and the bent rims. After careful examination of the vehicle check in sheet, it was evident that the swirls were marked down along with the chips on the rims where the rims were bent. As well this customer has a history of this type of blatant negative behavior and therefore the vehicle was never driven off the lot. Therefore the rims were bent prior to visiting the dealership.
Further, this customer was given a loaner vehicle and proceeded to bring the loaner back with damage all over the vehicle, a total of $1400 damage on a vehicle that he was the first person to use. That’s right, the vehicle had .9 miles on it before it was loaned to him yet he claims he received the vehicle with the damage on it. He is disputing the credit card charge for the damages.
The vehicle that showed up for service covered in slush and snow along the front bumper approximately half an inch thick was pulled into the service drive. While being written up with the service advisor the snow and slush dripped off the vehicle allowing a full unobstructed view of the bumper at the front of the vehicle. Before the vehicle was even moved from the spot the customer had parked in, the customer turned to the advisor and stated what did you do to my vehicle that scratch was not on my vehicle when I brought it in; you are going to fix and paint my bumper for free!
Or how about the woman who owns a 2004 vehicle and drove into the parking lot with two blown front tires. She proceeded to enter the service area screaming that six months ago she purchased new tires and a wheel alignment and she lost control of her vehicle due to the fact that the alignment was out and she crashed her car into a curb and blew the front tires off the rims. This woman was cursing up a storm with no mind that children were sitting within ten feet of her. She wanted FREE tires and she wanted the cosmetic damage repaired on her vehicle at the expense of the dealership. It didn’t matter to her that she actually lost control of her vehicle on ice and crashed, someone else must take responsibility for her lack of judgment and carelessness.
A sales customer who purchased a BMW last fall for her 16 year old son came back to the dealership with the son wanting a refund because the son feels that the salesperson should have pushed him to purchase the all wheel drive (X-Drive) version because he couldn’t drive his vehicle during snowy days. Apparently the young man became so verbally violent towards the salesperson and his mother that he was asked to wait outside the showroom in the parking lot. During his exit walk through the showroom he spit all over the showroom demonstrator vehicles in front of employees and other customers while spewing obscenities about the product, the people and the dealership.
Are you starting to see similarities between these customers and some of your customers who frequent your dealership, or is this strictly a New York state of mind mentality?
My questions have some insight mixed in between them, so here goes.
1. Why do we, as a collective, meaning dealerships in general keep advocating and condoning this type of behavior? We keep believing that pacifying this type of lying, cheating deceitful customer will win the day! We keep telling ourselves that we can win them over and then we own them forever! Right? - - WRONG! Once you give in when you know clearly that the customer is lying, they’ve got you, and they will continue to push the envelope each and every time they visit your service department or your sales showroom.
2. Why do we pacify yelling screamers that swear at your employees and degrade them? I will tell you why. Because it is easier to give in then it is to weed the garden of toxic plants where you are trying to grow fruit. Have you not noticed that customers who pull this type of behavior actually stifle your employee’s motivational level? Have you not noticed that they infect other customers who may be present to hear their dissertation on HOW BAD YOU ARE?
3. When was the last time you actually witnessed this type of behavior from people in a doctor’s office, dentist’s office, the hospital, the lawyer’s office or in most other professional settings? If you have it is probably far and few between. This article was sparked after speaking with a colleague who is consistently dealing with this at his dealership. Why do we collectively try to pacify these people by giving in?
4. In life when you are married to the wrong person and their behavior becomes more then you can handle you DIVORCE that person! Why is it so hard for people to DIVORCE a customer who is obviously hurting the business and taking advantage of you, your employees, your generosity and your good character?
5. Did you know that it takes twice as much energy to deal with a negative situation then a positive situation? So why do you waste so much time and energy on dealing in negative when you could have an abundance of energy to offer positively to the people who really do deserve your attention?
6. Are you starting to get my point? Negative people SUCK the energy right out of you, whereas offering positive energy to those that genuinely need and deserve it builds more positive energy within due to the awesome feeling that giving really offers to the person that does the giving.
7. Why do we continually allow and condone this type of behavior? Is it because we are afraid of losing a customer? Is it because we are afraid this customer will tell his/her friends and family? Let me ask you another question. If their friends and family are anything like they are, why do you care? Get rid of these people before you become mired down in the sticky smelly muck or negativity this behavior breeds. There is a saying, “If it looks like shit and smells like shit, it must be shit”! Rid yourself of the shit!
Next time you are dealing with one of these ungrateful, deceitful cheating customers ask yourself if this customer is really worth the time and trouble to save. Check the history and examine if this is an ongoing ritual of giving away freebies and of getting nothing in return. If this is a one way street you may be eligible for divorce court.
Shame on you if you give in and shame on them for being the lying cheating people they have become. It is sad to know that we as an industry are exposed everyday to underhanded, sneaky conniving cheats that will try all sorts of things to get free repairs or painting on their vehicles that they themselves take no responsibility for. It is a good thing these people generally only make up only approximately .5% of your clientele.
The good news is 99.5% of your customer base is made up of really great people who will frequent your business because you offer awesome sales and service experiences. Concentrate on giving these people the attention and your positive energy, weed the garden of negativity and you will grow your business and have a much happier work environment for your employees and your appreciative customers!
David
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Dealership Fixed Operations
Have you bothered to look at your own website or that of your competition lately? We all do a great job promoting new and used car sales on our web pages, yet we place the service tab somewhere on the home page. Since the service department sells the second, third and forth vehicles wouldn’t it be prudent to have something regarding your fixed operations on the home page to peak your customer’s curiosity?
When I studied various dealership websites around North America, I was stunned by the miniscule amount of dealerships that have an introduction to service staff. What a great way to promote your business and raise morale, have your staff represented on your website? Posting a few videos of your shop foreman or team leader explaining your repair processes or an advisor performing a vehicle walk around are powerful tools to attract new customers and a great way to coach your existing ones.
Why are we as an industry constantly posting coupons? Coupons are a great offering however why are we not utilizing our sales department to offer discounts? What if we develop, advertise and display signage that states, “We offer the best price and service - everyday”? Nothing! If dealerships posted that they have the best price and services and backed it up with additional 10% off servicing if the customer takes a test drive in one of your new vehicles, you are sure to sell more vehicles.
Customers who test drive a new vehicle will be so impressed with it, they will tell their family, friends and coworkers. This is marketing at its best. Advertise this feature right on your home page. Place your online appointment scheduler tab right on your home page - don’t make your customers jump through hoops to book the next appointment. Your customers want ease of serviceability from the use of the on-line scheduler through the service experience itself. Stop being old and out of date and start being BOLD, REFRESHING and GREAT!
The more you inform your customers that you have the best price and service, the more they believe it because they read it wherever they go within your establishment or when they visit you on your web page. Place posters in the service write up area, in the lounge, the coffee bar area and heck even post it in the showroom. The more you tell them the more it becomes reality. "Geez they MUST be the best priced, I read it everywhere I go".
Search through your database and find out the mileages that most vehicles are coming in for multiple services and package those services. For example if your customer base that keeps their vehicles four or five years and have high mileage vehicles that require brake, transmission, power steering and coolant flushes - package these services and bundle them together. Your technicians and the dealership will still make money and probably more of it due to the fact that there is overlapping labor. The tools are already out, equipment is out and therefore the task becomes easier. Sell more, make more and be seen as offering a deal… Bundle your services - large internet and cable companies spent millions to find out ways to make more money - learn from others -BUNDLE!
Tires! I personally love tires. Tires give you the ability to examine the vehicle in detail, sell brakes, front end repairs and perform alignments. Now I know what you are all saying in your heads right now, “Tires have the lowest gross profit margins in the service department”! You are right, they do! Yet tires enable you to offer a commodity that is always in demand and allows you the opportunity to inspect and up-sell additional work. Therefore my question is this, “Why do dealers try and make a profit on the tire sales”? Why not sell tires for just above cost and use them as your loss leader to entice YOUR customers into YOUR dealership. Advertise TIRES right on your home page! WHY NOT?
Express lube anyone? Dealerships that have express lube lanes have much higher retention rates then dealerships that have not incorporated this strategic offering in their lineup. Express lube also enables you to capture a segment that is most likely going to your competition, and this competition is not even your same brand competition. Your customers are frequenting the Jiffy Lubes, Midas’s and Goodyear stores because they have done the research and found that a large segment of their business is generated from performing rapid lube or express lube along with discount tire installations.
It doesn’t matter what your dealership decides to place in its advertising and marketing lineup, some of this MUST be on your dealership homepage to showcase your offerings and your uniqueness to your customers. Why be the same old dealership when new and exciting can win the day.
We are a business sector that prides itself on selling new, bold, fresh and unique products, such as the model lineups of our vehicles. We advertise that OUR vehicles have such and such benefits and features yet we don’t place a high priority on listing WHAT IT IS THAT WE DO up front and center on our dealership home page. To be unique and different entails doing more than the same old things we have always done. Isn’t doing the same old things over-and-over again expecting different results, the definition of insanity?
David
When I studied various dealership websites around North America, I was stunned by the miniscule amount of dealerships that have an introduction to service staff. What a great way to promote your business and raise morale, have your staff represented on your website? Posting a few videos of your shop foreman or team leader explaining your repair processes or an advisor performing a vehicle walk around are powerful tools to attract new customers and a great way to coach your existing ones.
Why are we as an industry constantly posting coupons? Coupons are a great offering however why are we not utilizing our sales department to offer discounts? What if we develop, advertise and display signage that states, “We offer the best price and service - everyday”? Nothing! If dealerships posted that they have the best price and services and backed it up with additional 10% off servicing if the customer takes a test drive in one of your new vehicles, you are sure to sell more vehicles.
Customers who test drive a new vehicle will be so impressed with it, they will tell their family, friends and coworkers. This is marketing at its best. Advertise this feature right on your home page. Place your online appointment scheduler tab right on your home page - don’t make your customers jump through hoops to book the next appointment. Your customers want ease of serviceability from the use of the on-line scheduler through the service experience itself. Stop being old and out of date and start being BOLD, REFRESHING and GREAT!
The more you inform your customers that you have the best price and service, the more they believe it because they read it wherever they go within your establishment or when they visit you on your web page. Place posters in the service write up area, in the lounge, the coffee bar area and heck even post it in the showroom. The more you tell them the more it becomes reality. "Geez they MUST be the best priced, I read it everywhere I go".
Search through your database and find out the mileages that most vehicles are coming in for multiple services and package those services. For example if your customer base that keeps their vehicles four or five years and have high mileage vehicles that require brake, transmission, power steering and coolant flushes - package these services and bundle them together. Your technicians and the dealership will still make money and probably more of it due to the fact that there is overlapping labor. The tools are already out, equipment is out and therefore the task becomes easier. Sell more, make more and be seen as offering a deal… Bundle your services - large internet and cable companies spent millions to find out ways to make more money - learn from others -BUNDLE!
Tires! I personally love tires. Tires give you the ability to examine the vehicle in detail, sell brakes, front end repairs and perform alignments. Now I know what you are all saying in your heads right now, “Tires have the lowest gross profit margins in the service department”! You are right, they do! Yet tires enable you to offer a commodity that is always in demand and allows you the opportunity to inspect and up-sell additional work. Therefore my question is this, “Why do dealers try and make a profit on the tire sales”? Why not sell tires for just above cost and use them as your loss leader to entice YOUR customers into YOUR dealership. Advertise TIRES right on your home page! WHY NOT?
Express lube anyone? Dealerships that have express lube lanes have much higher retention rates then dealerships that have not incorporated this strategic offering in their lineup. Express lube also enables you to capture a segment that is most likely going to your competition, and this competition is not even your same brand competition. Your customers are frequenting the Jiffy Lubes, Midas’s and Goodyear stores because they have done the research and found that a large segment of their business is generated from performing rapid lube or express lube along with discount tire installations.
It doesn’t matter what your dealership decides to place in its advertising and marketing lineup, some of this MUST be on your dealership homepage to showcase your offerings and your uniqueness to your customers. Why be the same old dealership when new and exciting can win the day.
We are a business sector that prides itself on selling new, bold, fresh and unique products, such as the model lineups of our vehicles. We advertise that OUR vehicles have such and such benefits and features yet we don’t place a high priority on listing WHAT IT IS THAT WE DO up front and center on our dealership home page. To be unique and different entails doing more than the same old things we have always done. Isn’t doing the same old things over-and-over again expecting different results, the definition of insanity?
David
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Life is Fragile
When I turned on my television set and watched the horrific events unfold in Japan, my first thought was, “What is this movie” then reality set in that this was a real event unfolding live for the entire world to witness. It was strange to still see other non trivial, but deadly events unfold around the globe, such as Gadhafi killing his countrymen and I had a thought. When we really look into the human mind and the behavior we display as a collective species around the globe, the view from the outside really isn’t that awe inspiring at times.
I would like to state that I would personally like to see more charity from everyday people, possibly the events of this last week will awaken in people the kindness and the pleasantries that exist in everyone. Our society over the last forty years has become much to self centered and closed minded. We live in a me-me era and it is not getting better anytime soon.
I remember as a teenager in school being told that technology was going to make our lives better, easier and more relaxed, because we would have more time to do and experience things that were meaningful. To a certain extent the people who stated this, to all of us thirty some years ago were partially right. Technology has made our work easier however technology has also increased the speed that all we move. We are able to produce more, which gives us the ability to want and have more, but the wants and haves are all things.
These are inanimate objects that we fill our lives with and we are diluted to believe that we think these items will give us happiness. The things that mean the most are people and the experiences that each one provides the other. Learning lessons from others trials and tribulations is really what this life is all about, “personal development, growth and a commitment to help in a time of need”.
Technology has also enabled us to become much more complacent and alone within our own zone. We just don’t interact with people as much as our parents or grandparents did on a personal level. That face-to-face connection has receded and continues to fade away for the most part induced by the power of technology. We are all connected via Facebook, twitter and all of the other social networks yet we lack the ability to have a personal coherent conversation built upon self respect and respect for others because we have zoned out.
I have witnessed people having an argument at a shopping mall over the most ridiculous things. These people have no sense of proper interaction whatsoever. They become hostile and expose everyone around them to their violent language and perverse body and hand gestures. This is not what society was predicted to become! Yet unfortunately, here we are.
A recent study shows that text messaging has increased exponentially over the last two years and it has almost overtaken the spoken word. Have you taken the time to watch people interact with one another at a shopping mall, train station, restaurant or an airport? People who don’t really know one another really want to keep to themselves. Most times they couldn’t care less about you, your issues or your small talk. They want to be left alone. In a sense, this is a sad state of affairs we have gotten ourselves into. Don’t get me wrong, I love my I phone and all the other technological gadgets that we own, yet they are creating the ability for all of us to be impersonal with each other.
We saw what happened in Japan and yet the uprising and the killing still exists in the Middle East and elsewhere around the globe. It is great to see that countries around the world are stepping up to the plate and helping the Japanese people in one of the worst recorded disasters in history. If only we all had that same sense of charity within our own communities, places of work and our own countries.
If only people could really see how fragile life is, not just for someone else, but for us all. Maybe that would be the day that everyone would cry out in one voice that we need change, positive change and fast. Collectively, as a world we have been doing the same thing over and over again and we always expect different results, isn’t that the definition of insanity?
People need to start showing more respect to one another, use proper etiquette and exude pleasantries towards one another. I liken our society to a sports team in disrepair. You cannot win games if there is constant infighting. Teams that share together, pray together, eat together and speak about positive things together, yes these are the teams that succeed and win the day. This is what we as a society needs to be doing now to get back on the right track. Again this starts at home and needs to flow through the workplace and into our communities to make a verifiable difference.
Technology has given us some great advances such as the ability to have early warning monitors to warn people of impending disaster as well as the ability to know that something as devastating as this is happening instantaneously somewhere on the earth. Just think, five-hundred years ago nobody would be at the aid of Japan if this disaster would have occurred, they would be on their own. Nobody would know and therefore nobody would care!
We could all benefit as a private citizen, a community, a workplace, a state or a country if people could be charitable, giving, kind, receptive and pleasant to everyone they come into contact with, do unto others what you would want done unto you. Use technology for all of its benefits but don’t be caught up in the stigma that is starting to permeate our society of being along, ultimately that could spell disaster for each and every one of us!
David
I would like to state that I would personally like to see more charity from everyday people, possibly the events of this last week will awaken in people the kindness and the pleasantries that exist in everyone. Our society over the last forty years has become much to self centered and closed minded. We live in a me-me era and it is not getting better anytime soon.
I remember as a teenager in school being told that technology was going to make our lives better, easier and more relaxed, because we would have more time to do and experience things that were meaningful. To a certain extent the people who stated this, to all of us thirty some years ago were partially right. Technology has made our work easier however technology has also increased the speed that all we move. We are able to produce more, which gives us the ability to want and have more, but the wants and haves are all things.
These are inanimate objects that we fill our lives with and we are diluted to believe that we think these items will give us happiness. The things that mean the most are people and the experiences that each one provides the other. Learning lessons from others trials and tribulations is really what this life is all about, “personal development, growth and a commitment to help in a time of need”.
Technology has also enabled us to become much more complacent and alone within our own zone. We just don’t interact with people as much as our parents or grandparents did on a personal level. That face-to-face connection has receded and continues to fade away for the most part induced by the power of technology. We are all connected via Facebook, twitter and all of the other social networks yet we lack the ability to have a personal coherent conversation built upon self respect and respect for others because we have zoned out.
I have witnessed people having an argument at a shopping mall over the most ridiculous things. These people have no sense of proper interaction whatsoever. They become hostile and expose everyone around them to their violent language and perverse body and hand gestures. This is not what society was predicted to become! Yet unfortunately, here we are.
A recent study shows that text messaging has increased exponentially over the last two years and it has almost overtaken the spoken word. Have you taken the time to watch people interact with one another at a shopping mall, train station, restaurant or an airport? People who don’t really know one another really want to keep to themselves. Most times they couldn’t care less about you, your issues or your small talk. They want to be left alone. In a sense, this is a sad state of affairs we have gotten ourselves into. Don’t get me wrong, I love my I phone and all the other technological gadgets that we own, yet they are creating the ability for all of us to be impersonal with each other.
We saw what happened in Japan and yet the uprising and the killing still exists in the Middle East and elsewhere around the globe. It is great to see that countries around the world are stepping up to the plate and helping the Japanese people in one of the worst recorded disasters in history. If only we all had that same sense of charity within our own communities, places of work and our own countries.
If only people could really see how fragile life is, not just for someone else, but for us all. Maybe that would be the day that everyone would cry out in one voice that we need change, positive change and fast. Collectively, as a world we have been doing the same thing over and over again and we always expect different results, isn’t that the definition of insanity?
People need to start showing more respect to one another, use proper etiquette and exude pleasantries towards one another. I liken our society to a sports team in disrepair. You cannot win games if there is constant infighting. Teams that share together, pray together, eat together and speak about positive things together, yes these are the teams that succeed and win the day. This is what we as a society needs to be doing now to get back on the right track. Again this starts at home and needs to flow through the workplace and into our communities to make a verifiable difference.
Technology has given us some great advances such as the ability to have early warning monitors to warn people of impending disaster as well as the ability to know that something as devastating as this is happening instantaneously somewhere on the earth. Just think, five-hundred years ago nobody would be at the aid of Japan if this disaster would have occurred, they would be on their own. Nobody would know and therefore nobody would care!
We could all benefit as a private citizen, a community, a workplace, a state or a country if people could be charitable, giving, kind, receptive and pleasant to everyone they come into contact with, do unto others what you would want done unto you. Use technology for all of its benefits but don’t be caught up in the stigma that is starting to permeate our society of being along, ultimately that could spell disaster for each and every one of us!
David
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