Your Dealership has an Ecosystem
How to Make Your Entire Dealership Work Together
All dealers know that contact with customers or prospects must be handled with great care. But what is great care? How does it apply across every department at your dealership?
All dealers know that contact with customers or prospects must be handled with great care. But what is great care? How does it apply across every department at your dealership?
Dealers spend countless marketing dollars developing scripts, email marketing campaigns, training, phone skill sessions, website real-estate, etc.,all focused around vehicle sales—and in most cases—very little on the rest of the dealership. Success, however, only comes when all departments work together to make the customer experience seamless.
Few dealerships devote enough resources to training for fixed ops—service, parts, or collision. And when it comes to planning a coaching strategy, marketing campaign, or Internet project, few dealers include the key players from Variable Operations and Fixed Operations in the plan. A unified strategy is really the only way to get all profit centers firing on all cylinders.
Work as a Team
A solid marketing plan must include the entire dealership—with each arm of the dealership working toward similar goals and objectives. Create a sense of ownership for each employee and encourage them to work together, because it's not just about selling cars or oil changes—the consumer experience is tied to every person or department he or she comes in contact with. Treat your staff like professionals and they will pay that forward to their customers.
A solid marketing plan must include the entire dealership—with each arm of the dealership working toward similar goals and objectives. Create a sense of ownership for each employee and encourage them to work together, because it's not just about selling cars or oil changes—the consumer experience is tied to every person or department he or she comes in contact with. Treat your staff like professionals and they will pay that forward to their customers.
Customer Service
Your marketing plan should address the interconnectedness of each profit center with this fact in mind: Ifa customer is unhappy with the service he or she received on the sales floor, that customer is not likely to have a vehicle serviced at that location. A bad experience almost always means that you won't see that customer again at your dealership.
Your marketing plan should address the interconnectedness of each profit center with this fact in mind: Ifa customer is unhappy with the service he or she received on the sales floor, that customer is not likely to have a vehicle serviced at that location. A bad experience almost always means that you won't see that customer again at your dealership.
A customer should never leave your dealership to go to another dealership that provides the same service.
The Hand Off
Train your staff to feed business to the other parts of your dealership. Address a customer’s need wherever they may be in the buying life cycle. Ifa prospect is not ready to buy a vehicle, perhaps their current vehicle needs attention. That prospect is still pertinent to other profit centers at the dealership. But a smooth hand off to the service department is key.
Communicate
Tear down the walls that exist between departments at your dealership.Hold regular meetings with your staff to determine ways you can open upyour team to new ideas across the various departments. Focus on making the consumer experience easier and more pleasurable.
Tear down the walls that exist between departments at your dealership.Hold regular meetings with your staff to determine ways you can open upyour team to new ideas across the various departments. Focus on making the consumer experience easier and more pleasurable.
Innovate
Use your website to communicate with customers about all of your profit centers! Talk with your website and eCommerce providers and learn about today’s cool and cost-effective ways to increase leads and sales opportunities. Investigate micro sites for both variable operations and fixed operations, pay-per-click campaigns to drive additional traffic to both variable and fixed operations, how to use social media to brand both variable and fixed operations, etc.
Use your website to communicate with customers about all of your profit centers! Talk with your website and eCommerce providers and learn about today’s cool and cost-effective ways to increase leads and sales opportunities. Investigate micro sites for both variable operations and fixed operations, pay-per-click campaigns to drive additional traffic to both variable and fixed operations, how to use social media to brand both variable and fixed operations, etc.
Success will come to those teams who work together. Use the latest technology, combined with training and impeccable customer service—to develop processes that allow a seamless coordination from the showroom, to finance and your parts and service departments. Your customers will thank you.
Posted by Dr. eCommerce at 3/16/2010 9:49 AM 
Categories: fixed ops dealership
Tags: fixed ops dealership
Categories: fixed ops dealership
Tags: fixed ops dealership
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