Customer Communication – A Recent Experience Relayed

The keys to your dreams

Recently I have been in the market for a vehicle. The shopping experience has been fascinating and something I will blog about in the future.

We had decided on what car to get and it was just a matter of finding the right dealer. This to me meant my local dealership. It’s better for all involved if I do my best to be a buyer coming from the dealership’s PMA (Primary Marketing Area) and get the best dealer I can.

When we arrived at the local dealership, we spent some time looking at the model we wanted on the dealers lot. We noticed folks inside and there were plenty of customers outside, but not enough sale staff for the people. After about half an hour of looking we decided to go and get someone to help us.

The staff member we asked then went to get a salesperson. The salesperson was pleasant enough and we took the vehicle on a test drive. We were sold, this was definitely the car we wanted.

We arrived back and sat down to talk. The dealing process was ok. As usual it was a bit of a struggle at times but ended up getting $2K below what we wanted to pay and with the options we wanted. Stock was searched and they had nothing in our requirements on site but there was a car coming in. We were informed car would be delivered just under 3 months later. I was a bit miffed and was now a bit reticent, especially since this was the first dealer I had visited for the brand of car we were buying. I decided it was worth the wait.

I was informed they would need a $1000 deposit to reserve the car for myself. The Sales Manager was introduced to us and informed us that we were under no obligation to purchase the car as it was ‘ordered stock’ anyway. If we changed our minds, we would both come out no worse and the $1000 would be refunded whether we purchased the car or not, all we needed to do was confirm the finance.

The dealer printed off the car purchase form and made notes on that form that purchase was ‘subject to finance’ to give us an ‘out.’

I signed, shook hands and left excited to have a new car soon.

That week, a situation arose in our life that made buying a car seem like not something we also needed to deal with at this time. We could afford to wait while things settled down. We weren’t happy with the finance quotes we had started to get or the blasé service we got from the finance companies. The planets weren’t aligning, it felt rushed, wrong and wasn’t worth the possible risk. We went with our gut.

I called the sales person that week to explain the situation and that we would not be proceeding with the purchase of the car. I relayed the situation and that we weren’t happy with the finance options. I assured him that the deal was fine, the sales process was fantastic, it was nothing that they had done. The salesperson got slightly annoyed and stated that they would not be able to refund me the $1000, in “ill play a difficult game” tone. I reminded him of the conversation we had with him and his sales manager. He acknowledged and told me to put it all in and email and send it to him for the refund to be completed. Done.

After a week I checked my account. The money had not been refunded. I emailed the sales person to check the progress and asked him to let me  know if any issue arose, to please contact me.

Two days later, there was still no email reply. I called the dealership. The sales person had left for the day, I left a message for him to call me back.

The phone call was not returned after the weekend. I called again late Monday afternoon. I was informed Monday is the salespersons day off. I asked for the sales manager. If was his day off too.

I emailed the sales person after the phone call and wrote that I had not received the refund as yet and would like him contact me as soon as possible.

I still had no reply by this weekend(a week after the previous email), so my partner and I decided to go into the dealership to sort it out. Why weren’t they communicating with me? I was getting worried as I certainly didn’t want to be loosing $1000 at this point in time. Seemed very strange.

We saw the Sales Manager in his office as we walked by and checked into reception. We were attended to by the Corporate Sales Manager. We politely introduced ourselves and asked if we could see the Sales Manager. He went to the Sales Manager and came back to ask us what it was regarding. We explained the situation, lack of contact and thought that there must be an issue and we would like to help rectify it today.

The Corporate Sales Manager had a look of disbelief and slight embarrassment and asked if we had filled out a refund form yet. We said we were not aware there was one and we had not.

He sat us down in the cafe and went and got the paper work. It was all completed in five minutes. The Corporate Sales Manager apologised and asked if there was anything else we required. Not at the moment, we thanked him for his help and told he had been a pleasure to work with.

After thinking about the situation all day, I can’t help but think this all could have been a lot better and a lot less stressful if I had just been communicated with.

If the process was to simply fill out a form, that’s fine, put me through to the person who can help me with that if it is not your area to do so. I am happy to come in to do it if that is the requirement. Just communicate with me.

When the time is right to buy in the next few months I would have happily gone straight back to the dealership to buy again. However after this, never again.

I would think that in any case, it might have occurred to the salesperson that I, the customer, might one day be in the market again. Wouldn’t the salesperson want to make sure their dealership is the first positive thought of a dealership in my mind. To leave on a great note, until next time?

I also won’t be recommending anyone go to that dealership after this experience. I don’t expect to be pandered to after getting out of a deal. I also don’t expect to be totally ignored if they not completed there end of the deal.

A lost profitable sale and minimum 3 years of service work, negative experience relayed in conversation; simply due to a poor attitude leading to poor communication, over $1000.

In the end, good communication is a simple necessity in a customer service process. It can go a lot further than is immediately apparent.

What are your thoughts on the situation? What would have you done differently?

Related articles

• Five things to do before you go the dealership (becarchic.com)

10 Customer Service features Automotive Dealerships can learn from Luxury Hotels

I am lucky enough at times to be able to stay in a Luxury Hotel. Whether it be a Shangri-La, Sofitel, Hilton, Westin, Hyatt etc. the experience is most of the time, faultless.

Being in Customer Service in the Automotive Industry I pay close attention to the processes, systems and little touches that make one want to come back to a hotel. After all, it seems most Automotive Customers don’t really want to get their car serviced. It’s something that has to be done regularly and when something is wrong; like a dental or medical check up.

I am not for a moment saying the Automotive Industry does not do any of the below at all. Some of you may be well versed in the below.

Here are 10 things I have spotted in a luxury hotel that could be used to improve customer service in an Automotive Dealership:

1. Be a good Host

I personally think the best hotels ultimately get it right because someone is always there for you, willing to help. No request is to great or too small.

Be there for your customers. Accompany them from the moment they step out of their car to the service advisor. Show them the necessary facilities and the features of the dealership that will help them. e.g ask if they would like wi-fi access, ask if they would like something to drink or eat. Check on your customer every so often.

The host should treat the customer as if they were in their own home.

2. Check up on the check in

About 10 minutes after you arrive in your room at a luxury hotel, what do you get? Usually it’s a phone call to check if everything is to your satisfaction, if you have everything you need and if there is anything the establishment can do to help.

If the customer is staying in the dealership while their vehicle is being serviced, check on them after 10 minutes and every so often after that. If the customer is going to be elsewhere for the duration of the car service, give them a call 15 minutes afterwards asking if everything is ok and confirming the service being performed and any other instructions they may have given. They may have forgotten something during the check-in that they were too afraid or did not deem important enough to call you back about, but would be nice to have for them.

3. A ‘Welcome Back’ Pack

When you check into a hotel you get asked what paper you would like in the morning, asked any other questions about what you’ll be requiring, handed any information needed, your keys and you are on your way.

The key is arm your customer with the tools they need to maximise the experience at the dealership. If your customer is going to wait at the dealership (or not) while their car is being serviced, why offer them a welcome pack? This pack is designed to keep the customer happy while the service is being performed and can be customised to the customer.

Some of the things that could be included are:

• Daily Newspaper
• A brief personalised welcome note containing a thank you for chosing our dealership to service your pride and joy,  re-enforced offer of assistance if required, confirmed and agreed time of completion, essential staff members or points of contact, expected daily weather statistics etc.
• An electronic device such as an iPad. The welcome note could be on the iPad as well as games to help the time fly.
• A customer loyalty discount on their next service. Make the decision of returning easier.
• Menu of food and drink in the customer lounge. Offer assistance if required again.
• Did you know note: Did you know we offer and pick up and drop off service? Did you know that… etc. anything that assists the customer in servicing the vehicle with you.
• Is your customer accompanied by a small child? Offer a fresh colouring book and a child safe pack of pencils or small toy. Help the parent as best as you can with keeping the child occupied and happy.
• Coupons on any services you offer or offer into any other linked and supporting businesses around the area e.g a 2 for one at the cinemas, pizza voucher etc. Add more value.

4. Own the experience after the experience

One of the best touches that a luxury hotel can provide is assuring that your fantastic experience continues even after you have left the premises. All the good service can go to waste if your customer is going to have to endure a Man vs Wild style adventure to get to their next destination.

Politely ask if the customer requires assistance to get to their next destination. Do they need a loan car? Do they need to be at the airport after? Is there a meeting in 45 minutes.

Organise the transport to be there before hand. Ask for the customers flight number, check and notify the customer of the flights status upon arrival. Does the customer’s car need fuel? Ask their permission to give it a full tank.

Make sure you do whatever you can to ensure your fantastic customer service continues well after you have parted company.

5. Have you eaten?

Some hotels, especially express ones I have been to, recognise that some clients are time poor. They offer a pre-packed breakfast kit to take with you to your destination.

Think of the customer that has been booked in for 7am. Think of the customer that picks their car up after hours. Think of the parent that is accompanied by their children. Have they eaten?

There are a few companies out there such as Travel Fare offering tailored small pre-packaged food boxes. Perfect for:

• The customer who skipped breakfast to drop their car off to you and now have to get to work. Fast.
• The parent who waits at your dealership with an arm full of children. Why not provide them with a tailored “Happy Meal” style food box. Note: It of course must be made abundantly clear what the box contains in case of allergies. Have back up boxes if possible.
• The customer who has worked all day and has to pick up their car at 8pm. Wouldn’t it be nice to leave a nice wholesome snack and drink on the passenger seat for the drive home. You know how famished one can get burning the midnight oil.

6. Express Check Out

As stated above, recognise that some of your customers are time poor. Some customers also prefer not to discuss the work performed and go through every single item on the invoice. Why not have an advance payment system so the customer can simply collect their car. Why not offer a car drop off service? You should be constantly looking at ways to improve the check in and check out service.

7. Keep it spotless

Impeccable presentation in all areas the customer is exposed to is essential.

Luxury Hotels are constantly being dusted, wiped and polished. Showing pride in the dealership will translate in a customer’s mind into confidence in you looking after their pride and joy. It will also be a place that your customers won’t mind being in and returning to. Demonstrate that you care and are proud in the dealership and it will show in more ways than the obvious.

8. Keep it fresh

Stale biscuits/cookies, year old magazines and stained old chairs . Doesn’t exactly say “thank you for the hundreds to thousands you are about to spend with us”.

Keep your customer area well stocked with the latest media. Keep the magazines fresh. Holding multiple copies of the same publication for switchover when the magazine gets tatty after a week, is good planning. Leaving a single newspaper on the table will lead to them being spread everywhere. Why not buy a paper for every customer that arrives? $1.20 each? Recycle the paper afterwards. Always ensure the area is kept as tidy as possible.

Keep good fresh food and drinks on hand. Supply quality bottled water, juices and sodas. There are so many good local caterers that can deliver good fresh food and drinks daily. Work with them to provide a menu that works for everyone. Some larger dealerships even have their own kitchens keeping a constant supply of fresh food moving through to their large customer base. I have even noticed some smaller dealerships now have a professional barista on weekends.

Good coffee machines are not hard to find. It is surprisingly easy to buy a good coffee machine that everyone can use with a service plan to keep everything in order.

Don’t skimp on the beans. At least have a few options. Some customers only drink Starbucks. Supply Starbucks for them. Others prefer Lavazza. What ever the brand, supply premium tea and coffee with great quality, classic accessories to complete the experience.

By doing the above you show that you also care what goes into their bodies.

9. Keep your customers connected

Your customers should not have to put their lives on hold while their vehicle is being serviced. Keep them connected as best as possible.

I suggest that having Wi-Fi is a bare minimum. Have a separate Wi-Fi network for your customers. There are plenty of decent inexpensive routers on the market and plenty of Internet Service Providers with 500gb to unlimited data allowance if you are concerned about usage.

If you are also concerned about security and wi-fi leechers? Change the router password daily and separate the customers Wi-Fi network from the dealerships network.

Provide a quiet area with workspaces for customers who would prefer to continue working.

Customer’s device low on battery? Make sure you have the most popular chargers on hand and multiples of ones for the most popular devices.

10. Maintain your online reputation

The simple fact is this. Your customers talk about you online, whether you think they do, like it or not.

There are plenty of service review websites around. There are online forums for car clubs, car lovers and brand advocates.

With sites such as Tripadvisor, customers are able to review the hotel experience as well as upload photos of their rooms etc.  The luxury hotel industry is well versed in online reputation management via sites such as these.

If a customer has had a negative experience and expressed that, a good hotel will apologise and offer to sort the problem out via the official channels. If the customer has had a positive experience, they are thanked and told that the hotel hopes to see them again soon.

Online feedback is to be embraced, utilised and leveraged; not feared. Never argue with a customer online. Never enter into any debate. The simple and most effective thing you can do is apologise for the customer feeling that way and continually offer to assist and fix the problem offline.

Take note of your presence in online directories. A lot of these directories enable reviews, especially Google Places. Chances are you are already in many directories, but unclaimed. If you find these it is imperative that you claim and monitor the listings where a customer can leave feedback so you can action any feedback left.

The above ideas are just skimming surface. Of course there are loyalty programs and other CRM programs to assist in customer satisfaction, but we will get into them in depth in future posts.

Maybe your dealership does some of the above. Maybe your dealership does all of the above, either way it is always the little things that lead to big impressions with your customers.

Most of all, be different and seperate yourself from the majority.

What are some of your tips to supplying better service to customers in Automotive dealerships? Have you taken any tips from other industries and implemented them?

Related articles

• How to retain your customers (chrislocurto.com)
• 10 Customer Service features Automotive Dealerships can learn from Luxury Hotels (millionsofmyles.com)
• The Mercedes Benz customer experience shines (customerthink.com)

6 Tips and 4 Examples to Help Provide Better Online Customer Support

Mashable has written a fantastic piece combining some great tips for online customer support.

6 Tips for Providing Better Online Customer Support.

This morning I witnessed this twitter conversation between Qantas‘ twitter account @QantasAirways & Digital Sport Guru, @seancallanan

@QantasAirways & @seancallanan Twitter conversation

After flying 14+ hours from LAX to Melbourne, you can imagine that all Sean would like to do is get home. If I were in Sean’s shoes I (after spending thousands on an airfares with Qantas) would like Qantas to own the issue and find my misplaced personal possessions. I would like to be kept informed of resolution time frames etc. What I would not like is a suggestion to call a support line which failed the first time. Do I want to be fobbed off by another employee of the airline and continue bang my head against a brick wall into a never ending cycle? No. Do I just want the issue to be owned and solved? Yes. 

Like it or not, if your company has a presence online, you will be expected to handle and own any customer complaint that comes your way. If you think otherwise, then the online community has news for you!

Personally I am a fan of online customer support because I have had some great experiences via online support methods.

Here are three recent positive examples:

Astrill.com – I recently had some questions of a technical nature for my VPN provider, Astrill. Astrill’s website encourages the use of their online customer support chat feature. The representative was connected with me within a few seconds, was very polite, clarified & confirmed the request, pointed me in the right direction, asked if there was anything else I needed and confirmed that they would of course be available if I needed. Quick, pain-free, enjoyable.

Australia Post – Twitter – A Twitter friend of mine recently had, from her account, an appalling experience at her local Post Office. She was doing what many folks online do in this day and age. Let others know of their experience online. Knowing Australia Post had a twitter account, I retweeted her and mentioned @auspost. I was impressed to say the least, that within an hour, @auspost had picked up the tweet and dealt directly with my friend. She thanked @auspost  shortly afterwards for sorting it all out.

Australia Post actioned the complaint quickly, took it into their service process and turned out a happy customer, who in turn became an online advocate. Australia Post obviously recognises the need to get in on the conversation and sort the issue out quickly.

Optus – Twitter – Optus‘ online customer support is a system that in my opinion is fantastic. When you first connect them regarding an issue, they will link your Optus account to your social media account. They send you a link to do this. They then know you and your support history from then on, making it qucik process to get on the same page.

I have tweeted @Optus on many occasions. They quickly acknowledge your tweet and will arrange to contact you on via phone, at a time that is suitable to you. They are even happy to sort it out via private message (DM) if it is possible.

Online Customer Support is proving to be a desired support channel of many.  Many companies demonstrate that with solid support processes and structures, they can turn a annoyed ‘detracting’ customer into a happy ‘promoting’ customer.

At the end of the day, happy customers come back and bring others along to keep you in business.

What have you experienced in online customer service? Have they been positive or negative experiences?

Australian Retail: Is online shopping really the issue?

Online Shopping

Australian Retail:  Is online shopping really the issue?

I have been an avid online shopper for years. I originally started because I had researched an item online and had then tried to order it in from a traditional retail store. 9 times out of 10 this was an extremely frustrating experience. It was just too hard for most of them to order in something they haven’t got in store or to ring their supplier to check.

I thought ‘bugger it’ and decided to put the credit card on the line and order from online. Item arrived in a week and at a price I liked. Couldn’t be happier. Then I caught the eBay bug and it has gone to researching online first, then if really time poor, check bricks and mortar retail.

Before this recent shopping spree, I tried my best to avoid malls and shops. The crowds, the attitude of some staff, the pricing. Not my thing. It became even worse after going to Canada only to discover that we are paying through the nose for just about everything. Why would I buy most of my stuff traditionally in Australia? That however is another issue.

There has been a lot of press in 2010/2011 on the somewhat negative impact of online shopping on traditional bricks and mortar retail.

I have found the debate to be fascinating as it has turned out to be highly revealing of the thinking of some of Australia’s largest companies. More so it has been more revealing of the foresight or lack there of, of some of Australia’s more prominent CEO’s.

It all blew up with Gerry Harvey’s call to introduce GST on products purchased online, under $1000 in value (like the extra 10% would bring the retailers into competition with online prices or something…) and deflated following an online explosion of critical attacks on Gerry Harvey and the group of retailers supporting the GST cause. It ended with Mr Harvey backing down and having a bit of a rethink of the campaign’s strategy, hell, he even embraced online retailing (albeit with a grumbling reluctance) launching a ‘all the rage’ daily deals site. Since then online retailing vs traditional retail is a regular feature in the Australian media.

Lately my girlfriend and I have moved in together and we have had to do a lot of shopping to get set up.

This experience has led me to have doubts that online pricing is the true issue. I believe online pricing is just the icing on the cake.

Here is a recent experience that I believe highlights a lot of issues for retailers, none of them caused by online retail.

Harvey Norman

Today was set up the apartment day. A day where we buy all the essential appliances for our new place. We needed, fridge, washer, bed, toaster, kettle, vacuum etc.

We stopped by our local The Good Guys first. We had heard they were very good, only to be standing around waiting for 20 minutes while they are chatted. Not good enough.

Next stop, Harvey Norman. To our surprise they were having a ‘once a year sale’. Beauty! In we went, all excited and confident that this would be the place.

The place was busy but not too bad.  We went straight to the fridges and they had the model on the floor that we wanted (researched online before hand). It was white instead of stainless steel, but if it saved us $300, we arent going to complain.

We still hadn’t had anyone come over yet, so decided to look at the rest of the appliances. This is when the super loud phone started ringing and didn’t stop. I was starting to get hungry and cranky so we decided to get some lunch and come back ready to do a deal.

We came back, phone still ringing loudly, but the desk was now occupied with a frustrated woman and her crying child. No one picked up the phone…

My girlfriend was over being left alone and decided to go and get some help. The guy was ok at first, nice and pleasant. When we told him what we were after and that we were looking to do a deal on all, he put a big wall up and said “we wont be reducing any sticker price sorry. What it is, is, what it is”.

“We are looking at buying over $3500 of stuff and you don’t want to work with us on that?” I said.

“Look I can throw in 8 kg’s of OMO with the washing machine…”

I don’t know what I spoke, if I did, but I remember thinking, “wow” in disgust and sheer amazement.

After this my gorgeous girlfriend had gone around with her iphone and taken pictures of all the prices ready to go off elsewhere. A salesperson apparently approached her and asked her what she was doing, she told me she replied “Getting the prices and going elsewhere since you can’t help us here” to which the person scoffed “good luck with that”.

We drove further east and hit a new home maker centre that contained another Good Guys. We’ll give them another go.

We walked in and went straight to the fridges. Unfortunately our fridge was about $150 over what it was in Harvey Norman.

Within a minute or two a pleasant, quiet sales assistant came over within a few minutes and asked if he could help us.

We told him what we were after, however this fridge that we wanted is more expensive than Harvey Norman. “How much was it?” he asked and we showed him the iphone pic. We let him know that we were looking at getting a bunch of appliances today and wanted to see what they could do. He grabbed his note pad and away we went looking at options.

He knew enough about the appliances we were looking at and didn’t push at all, only asking what we needed in each appliance and which appliance, he thought (he made that clear) would suit us best. He was straight up and honest and we appreciated that. He made us feel we had made the right choices (even if it wasn’t his suggestion) and went away to calculate what he could do. He came back with a quote much lower than we had anticipated, so much so I had to confirm he had each item. Since it was below our budget he happily added a few more little items, kettle etc.

We were just over the moon.

I asked, how many times a day he has people coming from Harvey Norman to them to better a price. “6-8 times a day he said. Happens all the time” he said.

Harvey Norman’s problem isn’t online retail. It’s them still having the impression that their price won’t be beaten and that we’d be crazy to go elsewhere, which was true decades ago. It’s their arrogance in the belief that they are still king which is killing them.

Their poor retail environment (phone ringing and attitude of their sales staff) only makes the situation worse.

My experience of traditional retail hasn’t been brilliant over the past couple of weeks and could rattle off a few more examples, as I am sure we all could.

In the end I know this, I am and always have been quite happy to shop with traditional retail, I am quite happy to pay the extra, if I get the service that is worth the price, however most of the time the shopping experience makes it extremely difficult to justify the effort and expense.

I believe retail in Australia needs to stop easily blaming ‘online retail’  and their prices, take a good hard look at themselves and the experience they give their customers.

There are plenty of businesses providing a good product, supporting it with good customer service and getting results.

What do you think are the issues for the traditional retailer today? Let me know below.