“How may we help you?” I asked the customer as they entered the showroom. Seeing as the sales team wasn’t jumping to the customer’s aid, I got involved. I waved over a sales team member.
The customer replied, “I bought a car here six months ago and now my daughter needs a vehicle too.”
“Who was your salesperson?” I asked in front of my salesman. The consumer said he was unsure.
“What did he look like?” my salesperson inquired further. The customer said he couldn’t remember.
My salesperson, Mike, shook his head and stated, “If he was any good at all, he would have been more memorable.” He walked the client over to the CRM kiosk, began looking him up by name to match him with his previous salesperson, then turned with shame in his face.
“Nice to see you again, Mr. Williams. I’d be happy to help you again.” The salesperson had upped his own previously sold customer from six month’s prior and neither had recognized the other. There was nothing to do, but face-palm myself and have one of those good, old disappointment-laughs.
Just what are you doing to make sure you’re not forgotten by your clients? If you take pride in your work, than you must feel you do something right. Great salespeople tend to deliver exceptional customer experiences. We believe that if we have done our job well enough, our clients will come back to us in the future. To earn this reciprocal business, we must be memorable. Are you honestly delivering a consumer experience that makes you stand out?
As I train dealers around the nation, I often find myself working with Sales Managers that do the daily grind and salespeople that follow orders. This is great when it comes to output and productivity, but often I don’t see sales professionals attempting to go above and beyond to be memorable. They have no personal touch. They do their job, do it well, follow the process that has been asked of them, but do little else to make a serious impression on the customer. They may even earn the prospect’s business, but they’ve done nothing to win them their business in the future. They’ve simply gone through the motions.
If all you are doing is walking a customer through your road to the sale, asking friendly questions, giving a sincere handshake, and making a couple of follow-up calls to inquire about their purchase, you aren’t doing enough. You need to pinpoint what it is that separates you from all others, and what you can do to vividly insert your personality into the consumer’s shopping process.
- Is it involving yourself and video into post-sale testimonials with the customer?
- Is it taking a picture of the client and then sending it to them 6 months or a year later letting them know you still think of them?
- Is it following up on personal matters, writing hand-written notes?
- Finding a way to greet them each trip they’re in for service?
- Doing home deliveries?
- Sending a gift?
- Or keeping in touch in an inventive way?
I’d like to celebrate just one of our DealerKnows client’s Internet Sales Managers. Just to show how sweet she is, she gives every single sold customer of hers a little “Thank You” imprinted chocolate in a gold box with her business card. She pays out of her own pocket, has been doing it for a long time, and is always remembered. You must realize that it is the little things… the thoughtful things… that make you memorable. Danielle’s Thank You chocolate shows a personal touch that not enough sales professionals take the time to provide. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel here. You just need to find one interesting way to put a smile on your customer’s face.
What is YOUR personal touch when selling a car?
