When did you last walk through the customer entrance of your dealership and look at what is truly being experienced by the customer? Forget for a moment whether a sales consultant’s work area is messy, or if there are smudges on the windows. Let’s look a little closer at what a customer could see, hear[…]
As we enter 2013, the business world remains in a state of uncertainty. Will the economy recover? Will new taxes be in place? Regardless of what happens, your key to success will lie in one thing: customer loyalty. Customer loyalty builds your business when times are good and keeps you in business when times are bad.[…]
A couple generations ago, if you didn’t carry cash on your person, perhaps a personal check was accepted at your favorite store. Then credit cards became an option, followed quickly by debit cards. And now, with technology changing seemingly overnight, two new payment options are becoming available to consumers at select and very notable retailers.[…]
“The British are coming” shouted Paul Revere in his famous midnight ride frantically trying to warn colonists of the impending attacks by England. Did you know that statistically only 4 in 10 people cared about this news? Only 40% of colonists supported the revolution, with some historians even estimating support in the 20-30% range. The[…]
Competition in business is usually a good thing. Sure, we’d all like to have the market cornered, but without a little competition we would perhaps never figure out ways to improve our products or services and keep our customers coming back. In an interesting article on Infusionsoft’s “Big Ideas Blog,” a few examples of businesses thinking outside[…]
In the automotive world, the bottom line is that many dealerships experience very high turnover rates with employees, especially in sales. Our world is one of high stress, long hours and feast or famine. (This might not be as true in the service departments.) However, the face of your dealership to a customer who bought[…]
As social media gets more and more entrenched in our daily lives, it’s becoming the easiest and most visible place for one of the most important things your company can have but can’t buy – word-of-mouth marketing. You can have your customer experience down pat, a loyalty program that rocks and customers lined up to[…]
When consumers think of loyalty programs, they typically think of racking up miles, or frequenting a business in exchange for rewards, perks or freebies. No matter what business you patronize, there is a good chance that it is offering some sort of loyalty incentive. In fact, many argue that loyalty programs are so prevalent nowadays[…]
It sounds backwards, at first, but when was the last time you asked your customers for a complaint or some constructive criticism? If you’re like most dealerships, you’re doing everything you can to avoid complaints and negative reviews. In the past, you may have even ignored customers that voiced a complaint. However, in today’s world[…]
Dealer-branded prepaid maintenance (PPM) programs that are 100 percent funded by customers are boosting service revenue by 15 percent and customer retention to 60 percent (and even higher). These findings and other auto dealer reports are featured in a new white paper from Performance Loyalty Group. Ancira Winton Chevrolet in San Antonio, Texas, enjoys $80 additional up-sell per repair order[…]