The Most Important Meet and Greet

There is a big opportunity that most dealerships are not taking advantage of on a daily basis. Buying a car is a huge investment. On average it is the 2nd biggest investment in your clients' lives. So why is it that our sales teams are not going the extra mile after the car is purchased? The relationship is not over at this point, it is actually just beginning! Every new client should receive the red carpet treatment after a vehicle is purchased. What do I mean by that? Below are the procedures that should be implemented for every new client:

Give a grand tour of your dealership and amenities.
Walk them to the service drive area and introduce them to a manager or service advisor
Reassure them that your dealership will take care of all their service needs
Schedule the first visit to the service department
During your active delivery a picture should be taken.
After the picture is taken, have each new client like your facebook page to see their photo and receive important updates/promotions. This is a FREE way to advertise! Take advantage of it with every client.

Are these procedures being done at your dealership? Emotional connections are the way of the world today. If these processes are followed and accountability is implemented on a daily basis you will see increases, and most importantly develop happy loyal clients.

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Comment by Kristopher Hampton on February 21, 2015 at 1:41pm: Love the Old School video Steven Chessin!

Comment by Kristopher Hampton on February 21, 2015 at 1:36pm: No french kissing hey Brian Bennington? That is funny. I also get your devil reference. You must be a comedian in your off time. Yes you are right, some of the "Green Peas" as you put it, should take this advice. The problem is something like this process that seems so simple will get mentioned and then forgotten. Why? It goes back to the accountability issue. If your managers are not enforcing the change in processes then they will never stick. Do something a 100 times in a row and it just becomes the way. This article is about after the sale. If your salesmen are not practicing an "active delivery", then we should discuss that in a whole other article.

I am betting you have a whole wall of polaroids on your wall somewhere. I can see it now Mr. Bennington. :)

Comment by Kristopher Hampton on February 21, 2015 at 1:25pm: Sharon Hill. Thanks for your comments. I agree with you about it may seem pushy to have them like the Dealership Facebook or Twitter page. Let me ask you this. Do you remember how happy you are in that moment you are getting ready to drive your new baby off the lot? You would do anything to take car of it and show it off right? Facebook likes are the new version of collecting emails. With this platform you can connect with your clients the 2015 way. Coupons, Loyalty rewards, Employee/customer appreciation offers, and most importantly connecting with the local community. It is not pushy asking them to like your page, but in actuality during the active delivery it makes the client feel a part of your family.

Comment by Sharon Hill on February 21, 2015 at 9:50am: This is great stuff, especially the introduction to the service folks. Wonderful idea! My only objection - have each new client like your Facebook page. I would say, have each client visit your Facebook page, in hopes that they Like it. I find it highly objectionable when my FB friends invite me to Like their page. Telling me they have a page so I can go look at it is perfectly welcome, but asking that I Like it just because they're my friend sets my teeth on edge. It's like the difference between asking someone to give you a great job reference, as opposed to asking if they would be a reference for you. The first is NOT okay.

Comment by Brian Bennington on February 21, 2015 at 6:16am: Nice post Kristopher, Reading it, I couldn't help but think "the devil is in the details." However, as rudimentary as its points are, it's a shame that most who read this will be vendor "presidents" exploring how they can respond to it with a "pitch" for their business, instead of the "green peas" who really need it. I do have a few questions, though. Does it have to be a "grand tour," or will a regular tour work? Wouldn't it and the "reassurance" be more productive if they were part of the sales presentation? What exactly is an "active delivery"?

I do think your suggestion of a photo is an excellent idea. I shot one of every customer I ever had, from the first vehicle I ever sold. A practice I began long before I got in the car business, not for social media, but to build a stronger "testimonial aspect" for my presentations. And, I was always in it with my customers and the vehicle, shaking hands or hugging them. Surprisingly, more than one of my female customer asked if they could kiss me for the photo. Really, after they had just bought a car, how could I refuse, but I never allowed any "frenching." I'm not that kind of a guy!

Comment by steven chessin on February 20, 2015 at 4:59pm: I tripped-over this Ford training film from 1950 starring the dad from "Leave It To Beaver". It is interesting to see the process when salesmen spent so much of their time prowling the town for prospects.It might be off-topic, but it is an interesting glimpse back at the old-school.

Comment by Kristopher Hampton on February 20, 2015 at 3:41pm: Mr. Scherer. That is an amazing example of taking care of clients. He must of bought a lot of wine. If a salesman sells a car, the follow up and follow through is where the real victory is. Automated email systems are becoming invalid. Not all technology advances are good. Something as simple as putting peoples names on their coffee drink like Starbucks does creates loyal happy continuous clients. Have you seen the new Mcdonalds campaign? It is all about love and loyalty rewards. My grandmother got her breakfast sandwich and coffee for free last week. They thanked her at the drive-thru window and told her to have a great day. The "Hard Sell" days are over. Thanks for your comments.

Comment by Jeff Scherer on February 20, 2015 at 3:08pm: Interesting topic here. Unfortunately the "one-and-done" methodology not only applies to leads response, it also lives on after the sale. Many dealers feel that automated communications can keep the coals burning until this customer walks in the door, but from one who gets weekly e-mails that say Dear <customer name>, marketing automation can sometimes do more harm than good. My brother-in-law purchased a BMW M3 from a franchised dealership in an affluent Chicago suburb years ago and never received any follow up communication from the store or even the service department. My B-I-L is somewhat of a gear-head and has the resources to maintain and tweak out his ride, but no one has invited him to do so.

It's a common fallacy that once the sales department's job is "done," the service department takes over. While that is not wrong, how about sending a hand-signed birthday card from the salesman? Again, don't bother with a card that's signed by the office printer in the dealership.

I remember a story about a guy that purchased a sizable order of wine from an online retailer. The retailer noticed this and did some cursory Googling on the customer's name. They found out through some of his published social media posts that he was a huge Chicago Bulls fan. The company then purchased a signed Michael Jordan jersey off eBay and sent it to the guy along with a hand-written thank you card. Do you think that guy told all his friends? Do you think he'll ever go anywhere else to buy wine? NO WAY. THAT is an example of how to make customers for life. Deep down people want to be recognized and separated from the pack of the rest of us schlubs. Can you do that for your next customer today? Doesn't have to take a lot of $$ but it may require some attention and creativity that may take away form you sitting there waiting for the next UP to swing the door.

Comment by steven chessin on February 20, 2015 at 3:08pm: Kris - "Why do inter-departments of a dealership fight against each other in the first place? We can't seem to think 5 minutes in front of our face anymore."

Your customer retention department is supposed to speak with customers when they come-in for service to offer them the alternative of a new car with a new short-term lease for similar payments as the out-of-warranty car. A customer needs a hi-ticket repair plus brakes and tires - minor body work - detailing - so they can have nice a hi-mile 3 year-old without a warranty if they spend 5 grand. It is in the customer's best interests to swap cars but the service manager objects to "his" big-catch-of-the-day being stolen -- without seeing 5 minutes past his face that the store will buy the service needy trade cheap - they will fix it anyway - and sell it - for top-dollar as a car "Sold Here - Serviced Here - Traded Here".

Comment by David Thompson on February 20, 2015 at 2:47pm: I think that one of the most important reasons the active delivery should be emphasized and the commitment to long-term follow up that most sales associates forget is the repeat/referral pipeline. We've conditioned our industry for so many years to be lot-lizards and wait for a fresh up. If you deliver exceptional from the initial meet and greet all the way through the sale why would we not want to continue to foster the relationship we began building. If we aren't, we may have well gone the path of least resistance and just gone old school car selling. I've seen the stat published that 82% of customers forget their sales persons name within a year from the sale and it's not surprising due to the lack of follow up and relationship building after the sale. Our sales reps can't be afraid of making the call after a month or six months or a year and on. Good phone skills and relationship building skills, which are often forgotten about as a training topic, will make this a natural step.