Satisfying customers is an integral part of ensuring your customer retention and reputation are as good as possible. Going one further and not just satisfying, but delighting customers is even better.
With such a large purchase as a vehicle, customers are inherently more nervous and more committed. This means that there are plenty of opportunities for your sales team to make a real impact on them – as long as you empower them to do so.
Here are 7 ways for your sales team to connect more with your customers.
1. Do your research
Equipping your sales team with research tools and processes can allow them to do a bit of research into leads and upcoming appointments can mean that their chosen conversation topics and direction can lead to more fulfilling interactions with potential car buyers.
Examples include checking out the customer’s public social media to see if there are any sports teams they like, or where they work.
There is a fine line between being relevant, and being creepy – and the only way to toe it appropriately is through training.
2. Know what they’ve looked at on the website
Again, as technology gets more useful it can also get a bit creepy – but with a tool like Autochart the convenience well outweighs the rest.
By using tools on your website to track user before (and then attach that to email leads as a customer profile), your sales team will have a much more comprehensive idea of their budget, what cars they like and that they are after. The result should be a more relevant initial phone call or conversation.
3. Prepare in advance
Giving your team a bit of time and space around enquiries and appointments will allow them to prepare more fully for appointment – combine this with point 2 above and out have a much slicker sales handling process.
For example, if you know that you email lead was searching by monthly price between two figures, your salesman can prepare a finance example in advance of the call.
The results should hopefully benefit your sales ratio, giving a real ROI measurement.
4. Use a decent CRM system
All too often dealerships hold minimal information on returning car buyers. This is usually due to sub-standard Customer Relationship Management systems – all that useful data we have on customer isn’t stored.
From the official data – like the last car they purchased – through to the subtle notes on the type of customer and their sales preferences, using a decent system and storing data properly can make a huge difference as the purchase cycle comes around again.
5. Generate returning customer leads
Unsurprisingly, the sales team performs better when they have a strong level of leads to respond to. Client retention prospects should be a major element of that lead generation strategy, alongside the standard conquest lead gen activity.
As such (and using that data again!) you should be running email and SMS campaigns, along with audience targeted paid search advertising to reach out to your customer database and keep those people engaging with your brand.
6. Enable multiple communication methods
Tablets are a common sight in UK car dealerships now, but the industry was slow to cotton on the potential of new technology to help them sell their vehicle stock.
Now is the time to change this for the future and give you sales team the tools to communicate with an increasingly varied customer base.
Products like DropText allow dealers to text and email stock to customers and then maintain a two-way, digital communication stream – excellent for younger customers in particular. Live chat also gives a strong advantage!
7. Train your team to adapt
An adaptable sales person is one who likely makes more sales – it’s just common sense.
From picking up on triggers in customer’s behaviour and tone of voice, knowing when to change tech or what to focus on holds an inherent advantage.
Whilst this is often an innate ability, it can be learnt to – and we think it’s a real chance to empower your team to get even better than they already are.
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