Some of the blogs that I’ve written of late have highlighted examples where either sales process, customer experience or both simultaneously have failed, resulting in lost opportunities and frustration. So, for this month’s musing I thought it would be good to highlight an example where it all went right.
My sister needed to change her car, an ancient 17-year-old diesel Corsa. She contacted me and asked me if I knew anyone in the industry who would look after her – she had absolutely no reference point in buying a car from a dealer having never done it before. I suggested to her that she deal with a local business; apart from the fact I’m 220 miles away I always believe that spending your money with a local business should ensure that they will want to look after you once you’ve purchased.
She drew up a shortlist of the cars that she wanted to view and set about making some appointments. What is worth noting here is that she was very, very nervous – she found the idea of visiting dealers quite daunting and had a very real fear of being patronised or not taken seriously. I’m not going to highlight the poor experiences as this covers ground I’ve talked about before but needless to say there are still lots of examples of dealers failing to manage their enquiries effectively or create an environment that encourages customers to buy.
The one I’m going to focus on is the dealer who got it spot-on and this is what happened. The Sales Executive involved initially didn’t talk about cars or attempt a ‘paint-by-numbers’ qualification of needs – he talked to my sister, took an interest in her as a person and built not only a great rapport with her but crucially (and these are my sister’s words) “He just got me”.
He continued to build rapport and tailor the car’s features and benefits around her and her lifestyle. Once the demonstration had been carried out (again tailored to her typical useage) it was pretty much a done deal; there was no attempt at an early “If I get the figures right are you buying now?” close, just a focused presentation that created an overwhelming desire to buy.
After the order was taken the sales executive sent her a personalised CitNOW video (lots of use of her name) of the car shining in the valeting bay along with a presentation re-stating her buying motives. When she came in to collect it he had remembered it was her birthday and filled the car with balloons.
The following day the dealer’s Facebook page featured a post with her collecting the car – the unbridled joy in her face wasn’t forced!
So, put people first and spend time understanding them and profitable business will follow. I may have been able to source a car for a little bit less than she spent but it would have been a transaction and not the great experience that she ended up having – profitable customers are happy customers.