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Today we live in an era in which we are bombarded with a wealth of information. Today more than ever it is important to sell not only automobiles but also experiences.
Automobile companies invest millions of euros in advertising, spokespersons and events. It has almost become a habit for many brands to be open on Sunday, dictated by the company, which is costly for the dealer.
On the other hand, few give their clients a memorable experience, an experience that remains indelibly in the buyer’s mind. In today’s situation, besides the obvious and indisputable importance of the product’s quality-to-price relationship, service and attention to the customer make a big difference in terms of a dealer’s sales results.
As I already wrote in my comment published on an article by Pietro Montagna, Qualitative and Quantitative Standards, I still don’t understand the behaviour of the sales personnel.
How many sales people, when they see a customer enter their showroom, go to meet and welcome that customer?
Many of them, even if they have nothing to do, keep their head down on their desk, oblivious to what is going on around them, unaware that a new potential customer has entered the dealership to buy a car and make them earn money.
How many salespeople, after having delivered the car to the customer, keep in touch, even only with a phone call, to find out the customer’s impressions on how it drives and if the customer is satisfied with their purchase?
How many of you reading this, when a new model of the car you purchased comes out, have been contacted by the dealer to invite you to take a test drive?
I’m not talking about a simple invitation sent by mail, all of them do this. It isn’t memorable, it’s normal. But rather a telephone call like: “Good Day Mr. Rossi, this is Mario at the Verdi dealership, how are you doing? I’m calling to let you know that we just received the new model of your car and we’d like to invite you to test drive one because we would really like your personal opinion.”
This is memorable, something that, if it happens once in your life you’ll always remember it, a simple phone call that puts the customer in the spotlight and makes him feel very important. It’s never happened to me, how about you?
Today we live in an era in which word of mouth is very valuable, not only the verbal kind, but also on the internet. We all advise our friends and family to make purchases where we have been treated well, where they knew how to listen to us and make us feel, even if only for a second, like an important person. Most buyers consult the internet before making an important purchase.
I haven’t yet found in the various dealers’ sites a page where customers can express their personal opinion, maybe because they are afraid of a negative judgement.
It is essential that everyone, at all levels, realize that their earnings, the administrator’s salary and the company profits come from the customer who purchases the product.
Automobile companies and dealership owners must realize that it is time to change. There would be many other initiatives and attention to outrageous costs in order to give the customer a memorable experience that would have a much higher ROI than investing huge sums of money in advertising and spokespersons.
Is there really a desire for change?
Paolo Camerin
