Secrets of Success - Used Cars

Tip of the Week – Communication

It might be a generalisation but I’m not convinced we’ve ever communicated particularly well as an industry. Maybe that’s one of the reasons for our poor reputation. In the past customers were often seen negatively, at best as a “hurdle” to overcome, at worst as someone to exploit. It’s almost as if the interaction with a customer was a battle or a confrontation and was certainly worse in the used car trade. Sadly, I still see it in some dealers. They’ll argue that it’s not of course, but it’s embedded in their culture and often driven by the way they recruit, incentivise and manage their staff. But that’s a story for another day.

Social Media

You shouldn't underestimate the power of social media in the motor industry today. Buyers will want to communicate in their preferred style whether that’s via What’s App, Messenger, Instagram, LinkedIn etc. This has revolutionised the industry because until relatively recently customer contact was largely conducted face-to-face or by telephone. This does concern me because there are still many dealer staff who you simply cannot get hold of by phone and an even larger number who don’t even read their emails. So, what chance is there of them adopting social media?

Some dealers believe they have addressed this problem by hiring experts in this area. Whilst this does provide a solution to an extent, the issue runs much deeper than that. Social media must become a culture throughout your dealership. All staff need to engage with it and make it an integral part of their daily routine – not only for communicating with existing clients, but for identifying new prospects. I see quite a few business owners of a certain age who are very active on social media. I won’t name them, but they know who they are. Now I’m pretty sure they’re not there by choice because they come from the old school, but they are intelligent enough to realise that if your customer is on LinkedIn then you communicate via LinkedIn. It’s as simple as that. They get it!

A Communication Culture

Today’s buyers are drawn to people who communicate via their world and will be very loyal to them as individuals and to your brand. So remember, whoever is the first point of contact represents the face of your business and is key to the client relationship. This rule has always applied in the past and is still true today. I spoke to one dealer last week and had to repeat my name 4 times to the receptionist. I was constantly asked how to spell my surname. How many ways are there to spell Gregory?? In the end I gave up. I‘ve also lost count of the number of times I enter a dealership, walk up to service reception and find myself ignored or grudgingly welcomed as if I'm an inconvenience. How much business do we miss out on because we are not effectively communicating with buyers?

Bad news about a dealer spreads like wildfire today, so it’s absolutely in your business interest that all customers are treated and communicated with in an exceptionally professional manner. If you are a business owner or dealer principal it’s worth taking the time to have a close look at the customer contact points in your business – whether that’s receptionists, sales executives, sales managers – and ask yourself “how effectively do they communicate?"

Occasionally some business owners and dealer managers perceive requesting an independent view as a sign of weakness. However, in my experience most see it as a professional and essential approach to maximising their profits. Remember, even the very top sports people use coaches to tweak their performance, so they can be the best they can be.

Join me again next week for more useful hints and tips on topics like sales, aftersales, culture, training & development and finance. Alternatively, please visit our website for information on our Profit Builder tool that helps find ways to increase gross profit in your dealership.

https://www.rtsgroup.com/rts-retail-profit-builder/

Carl Gregory

Account Director, RTS Retail (a subsidiary of RTS Group)

Working in partnership to drive automotive dealership profitability

Tel: 01249 449600

Email: [email protected]

W: www.rtsgroup.com/profit-builder