As a car dealership, it can be difficult to keep profits high while providing excellent service to customers. This has become even more difficult over the past year, as COVID-19 has ravaged most industries and caused businesses countless problems. Not only that, but customers have been reluctant to spend their money; as they’ve had to remain sensible during these financially challenging times. People have been laid off or had to reduce their work hours, and therefore have had significantly less money to spend – so, buying a car has certainly been off the cards for most of the population.
However, it’s not all bad. More and more people are getting vaccinated, and trade is making a comeback. Soon, car fanatics and casual consumers will be looking to buy a new car as the world starts to re-open. After all, people have been stuck with the same car throughout lockdown and will almost certainly want to change to a fresh model.
Therefore, the coming months and years are the perfect opportunity for your car dealership – big or small – to take its customer service levels to new heights and ultimately increase your profits – sounds good, right?
Here are some pro tips that are a sure-fire way to improve your customer service and make your dealership name more reputable.
Work with a car transportation company
Your car dealership is likely handling hundreds, if not thousands, of cars every month. Whether you’re collecting new stock (you might be a pre-owned car dealership that regularly buy cars from other people) or delivering a customer’s new car to their home, you need to do it in the most professional and efficient way possible – through a car transportation company.
A car transportation company makes vehicle home delivery easy. Let’s say you’ve just sold a used Audi to a first-time customer, and they live over 200 miles away from your dealership. Perhaps they don’t want to drive it all the way home with no experience in that specific car. This is where a car transportation company is perfect, as you can hand the car over to them and have it delivered to the customer’s front door (which they, of course, will pay a percentage of the fee).
Also, using a car transportation company ensures safety, as you know your vehicles are being expertly looked after by industry professionals – there certainly aren’t going to be any accidents or scratches when your cars are securely attached to the back of pick-up trucks.
Not only that, you’ll be insured, too – so, in the worst-case scenario of an accident, you won’t pay for any damages to the cars!
Allow customers plenty of test rides
Some car dealerships are quite restrictive when it comes to test rides, as they might only let potential customers try vehicles once or twice for a limited period of time.
If you want to provide the best customer service, you can’t do that. You need to show customers that you have faith in your cars (they have no damage or faults to hide) and that you trust them to drive it safely.
This way, you will build a strong relationship with your customers, and that will make them more likely to purchase a car (or multiple cars) from your dealership.
Hire the best salespeople
The chances are, your car dealership has at least a handful of sales employees. Your sales team is incredibly important, as they are often the deciding factor between whether a customer buys a car or not.
Therefore, to provide the best service, your sales team needs to consist of the best possible people. When looking at resumes, try to only hire those with significant experience in cars sales – as experience usually comes with success.
Remember, if a customer is greeted by a confident and informative sales person, they’re much more likely to go ahead with a purchase than if they’re talking to an inexperienced employee.
Grow your online presence
Online marketing is everything, these days. Even car dealerships have joined the party, as many of them now advertise their cars through social media platforms and, of course, their websites.
You would be surprised how common it is for social media users to be scrolling through their newsfeed to see car dealership posts. Even more surprising is that people are happy for this to happen, and frequently purchase cars (although mostly pre-owned) through platforms like Facebook.
With the way digital marketing is going, it’s highly possible that car dealerships will one day trade exclusively through social media, as there will be no need to have a website anymore.
Encourage reviews
Reviews are key to improving customer service. They help car dealerships grow and learn from their mistakes (as well as the positive things they’ve done, too).
Therefore, you should encourage your customers to review your services via your website and social media. You may discover certain hidden truths that you weren’t aware of previously, like customers wish there was a greater variety of car models to choose from; or that they would have liked a car with lower milage.
Remember, don’t be disheartened by any negative reviews – it’s all part of the growing process.
Showcase high-quality photos and videos
When a potential customer is looking at your car dealership’s offerings, they want to see high-quality, clear photos and videos of your cars – from the exterior to the interior. These photos and videos should be taken professionally with your camera and made available through your website and social media pages.
Provide digital customer support
If your car dealership sells cars online, it’s an excellent idea to make digital customer support available to customers. This way, they don’t need to Google any questions and don’t have to call your company directly (which some modern consumers don’t like to do).
A digital support agent can answer any queries and problems a consumer has, like how many owners a certain car has had previously, or when certain annual checks were passed.
Depending on the size and popularity of your car dealership, you may need to employ several agents to work as digital customer support operatives. However, if you’re a smaller dealership, you might only need one employee to do the job.
