When car sales training, it is good to put people on the spot. Challenge their situational acumen. Sometimes I am impressed. Mostly, I get lip service. Here is a real exchange I had this month. I stood at the front of a room as I trained a group of salespeople, singled one out, and asked,
“Why should I buy a car from you?”
“It’s because the customer service I provide before and after the sale,” he replied.
“How long have you been selling?” I asked.
“Three months.”
(That was his answer. Three months. So I had to follow-up…)
“How many customers have you sold a vehicle to that have come back to purchase a second car in those three months.”
“None,” he admitted.
“Then how can you ever have provided customer service after the sale?!”
“I… I call and say thanks.”
“You call and say thanks? Wow. Impressive. That’s some visionary strategy.”
Most salespeople are prepared to shell out lip service at the drop of a hat. Pre-fabricated word tracks passed down from the managers of yesteryear litter their responses. While having no bearing on how they actually execute on these promises, they know how to make them. These are the same statements salespeople have spoken for years. Value-propositions as hollow as an empty bottle and as thin as a Post-It note are bandied about because it is what we believe our customers want to hear.
I’m fortunate enough to get asked to travel around North America and speak to business owners. (Notice I didn’t say “car dealers”. Far too many only think of themselves as car dealers and hold themselves only to that level of stereotype, when in all actuality they are business owners of million dollar operations proudly serving their community, yet they don’t hold themselves in that esteem and to that high of a regard, but I digress.) As I speak to these rooms of business owners, whether it be at a conference, OEM consulting, or to a NADA 20 group, I always ask the same question of every one… “Why should I buy from you?”
Beyond the insulting lip service answer I received above, I habitually get one of two answers. I hear…
“Well, it’s the customer service we provide.”
Or
“We’re family owned and operated for X amount of years.”
Let me tell you why this type of lip service doesn’t sell cars. I’ll start with:
“Well, it’s the customer service we provide.”
Says who? Do you have more and better (or as Gary May would say “more better”) Google reviews than all competitors in your market? Are you the DealerRater Dealer of the Year in your state? Since CSI surveys from the OEM aren’t customer facing, why would they believe such a boastful, blanket claim? Can’t everyone say they give the best customer service? (Now let me try that same question with a different word italicized to make the point). Can’t everyone say they give the best customer service? Do you offer hugs? Do you shake the hand of your customer just right, getting a grip that signifies trust and friendship, one that makes all other salespeople envious of the stylized grasp of hands? Do you think saying please, thanks, your welcome, great choice, opening a door, offering a bottle of water, and selling a car is customer service?
I think customer service should be more than the basics. So until you define (in writing) what great customer service should truly be… should look and sound like… don’t say it is your specialty. It doesn’t separate you if you don’t have proof.
Lip service is one thing. Showing what customer service can be is entirely different.
“We’re family owned and operated for X amount of years.”
That’s nice to hear. Given that I own a small business myself, I respect the hell out of any family dedicating their life to the growing of a business, regardless of the industry. They should be proud. They employ many people, sponsor charities, and support the community. I have a couple of questions, though.
When you go to a family-owned and operated grocery store, do you pay more or less for groceries? More. Correct.
When you go to a family-owned and operated gas station, do you pay more or less for gas? More. Also correct.
Unfortunately, to the average shopper, “family-owned and operated” carries with it a stigma that it is more expensive, and possibly a bit smaller. So saying family-owned and operated isn’t a value to the customer the way we want it to be. If anything, they perceive it will cost them more money.
You need to tell them what it means (or show them if possible). I came up in family-owned and operated stores, so I know the real value of the phrase. To me, it means if a customer ever has a serious problem… with their vehicle, or the deal, or anything, there is someone who has a vested interest in the store that they can shake hands with. An owner (quite possibly with their last name on the building) who is usually in the store at all times, who genuinely cares about that customer, and also values their reputation in the community. Someone who can get to the bottom of the problem immediately, can make decisions for the good of the customer and store at an instant, and not require the guest to wait weeks for corporate to make a decision entirely based upon the bottom line. That is what family-owned and operated really means. We just don’t know how to say it.
Just one aspect of the car sales training we perform focuses on how to build that brand value, what a Why Buy from your organization needs to look like, and how to differentiate yourself from others. (Here is a tip: Your employees are always a part of your differentiation, but rarely your value proposition.) Let’s steer away from the recitation of “friendliest” or “most knowledgeable sales staff” claims, whether online or in-person, and also do away with the self-aggrandizing “best price/best selection” B.S. If it isn’t quantifiable, it should not be used in your Why Buy message. There is more to your sales pitch than smooth talk.
It is time this industry moves past the lip service we’ve been programmed to give and invest time, money, effort and energy into identifying how we truly benefit customers. Identify why people should buy from you. If everyone sounds the same, no one is special so don’t say what cannot be proven. To that end, stop giving customers lip service because nowadays, no one is buying it.
Great insight Joe