Perhaps this is the beginning story of the rise and fall of the big 3, for surely we are not who we think we are.  We are much more!

The rise of individualism, hedonism and minimalism has reached its crescendo and the fall will be fast and welcoming.  Where and when will we see this?  In your dealership business with business persons, and teams with customers!    When?  Soon and very soon!

Customers hate being an “UP.”  Customers feel under-appreciated and under-served.  Customers feel over-charged.  Customers feel the business office is one of the last places on earth they like visiting.  Customers hate automated phone systems because they simply can’t relate with them.

Customers hate service where accepting service work requires trust rather than validation.

Customers prefer human interaction.   Customers prefer relationships with real live people, and people means more than one.  Customers prefer total validation and total transparency.  Customers want honesty and integrity.

FACT:  Today, “unfortunately 80% of sales never make it to service and more than 80% of service customers never make it back to the service department.”  Joe Verde 2012 book: Earn Over $100,000 Selling Cars – Every year.  Other industry data supports these figures.  You get this, right?  Four  out of five who buy from you don’t come back for service, and 4 out of 5 who service with you don’t come back to buy another vehicle from you.  TRANSLATION:  All the training in the world, doing what we’ve been doing expecting different results, leave us insanely chasing our tails.  Training isn’t the problem.  The problem is the big 3 that seeks training to support itself.  The correction comes from those few willing to completely convert from where they are to where true customer loyalty resides.

Now, I am not suggesting all-inclusive pull the plug or plug the dam, but prove this to yourselves with a few who value servant leadership, along the lines of Zig Ziglar’s quote:  “You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.”  A few of these types will pull in and pull up others as they prove customer loyalty to them first, team second, business third, builds everyone’s value and betters business better than ever.

IDEAS:

Can you even conceive of the idea of “Quit Selling?”  What you’ve been doing hasn’t kept them, so why not quit it and do what they want so that they may just choose to keep you loyal with them?!

Greater percentage of gross profit can be paid out as corresponding reduction in advertising and marketing expenses decrease.  Business persons will do much of their own advertising and marketing themselves now, as well as their customers socially and virally branding them, cost go down, opportunity rises.

Customers prefer communication and relationships with people of a business over just one person.  In fact, loyalty rises here, as in a team sport.

Replacing individualism with a WIIFT mindset, replacing hedonism for loving our neighbor as ourselves in team synergy, and replacing minimalism with an under-promising, over-delivering all the time positive attitude prepares these selfless servant business persons  to win significantly in today’s movement to Customer Loyalty within social and viral digital video “CPR [Communication, Process, Relationship] the Heart of Business.”

What are 5 expectations customers have of you for them to remain loyal to you:

Making Moments

The difference is always making customers feel more appreciated than others make them feel.

Edifying takes 3 or more, so always using a third party lifts you up higher with the customer.

Exceeding Expectations

Under promise and over deliver within CPR

 Building Trust

Loyalty demands trust, so always do what you say, and more; always find ways to happily surprise them.

 Delighting Transparently

Video can be a loyalty transparency tool extraordinaire if used most respectfully all the time.  Recording with their permission validates everything for everyone, bettering everything and everyone.

 Amazing Heart

The answer to the why someone chooses to remain loyal is found and sustained in one’s character, always doing the right thing, making positive differences.  An amazing heart is where true loyalty originates and gains its strength.

Price has zero to do with loyalty.

Social and Viral Digital Video examples that lead to highest of customer loyalty rather quickly:

Variable Operations:

A customer phone or online inquiry: 

Inform customer video mail coming to them which will include a greeting from our GM.  This video email will have dealership branding  information throughout video template.  Inform customer this video email will be followed shortly by another video email of a vehicle walk-around of the vehicle you are inquiring about from one of our sales professionals within a few minutes, from this business person’s branding template of him/herself, team and business.  This occurs.  The scenarios that follow likely include customer using the “share” opportunity and taking these video’s within their branding templates and push them out socially and virally to people they know.  Why?  The invitation to do so is part of watching the video within branded template.  If the customer is blown away happy, they will brand you and your business everywhere quickly and easily.  When others start talking about this and sharing this themselves, and this relationship between business person(s) and customer continue to excel, the social and viral nature of your video emails positive impact is viral, social, and powerful.

The Dreaded Business Office:

Letting customers know up front that the entire presentation and conversation will be on video and given to them for their records transforms a “what’s up my sleeve” business trickery judgment most customers have of this office into the most validating and transparent office that people will tell others about socially and virally.  This example may prove a giant leap of faith for some, yet openness here will win far more, lessen chargebacks and form the character of business you want customers to share with their world, right?

Vehicle Demonstration Drive

At the half way point, you stop, get everyone out of the vehicle and with your smart phone in hand do a brief walk around with them and vehicle in video, asking the right questions at this stage helping them assume ownership, and right then and there emailing the video to the customer and your manager, and your service advisor teammate, so upon return to your dealership everyone is ready for the next steps and applauding them on their decision.  This is another video email from your smart phone to theirs that will go easily social and viral perhaps right away.

Those three examples represent the start of building loyalty.  All three may prove to be sales, yet further examples within another article may prove helpful in how to most respectfully and professionally maintain ongoing CPR video socially and virally.

Fixed Operations

Vehicle Demonstration Process

You are an adviser and you take your smartphone to tech’s bay and shoot a short video of tech showing and telling 2 yellows and 1 red in inspection and giving benefits of getting them corrected now or in the near future; advisor also gives short  hello and call to action, inserts in a couple of seconds into branded video template, adds a short video of manager from library edifying you, and you email customer and manager.  Then you walk to waiting lounge where customer sits, ask them to open their video mail and watch, while everyone around listens.  Validating and being transparent will go social and viral in many of these similar examples.

Let’s say spouse needs to be included in decision.  You ask customer to phone spouse and ask if person can join a live video conference feed, and they can.  Advisor sets it up in seconds and sends customer link and all get on together, show spouse inspection video that you also sent them, and everyone has all the information they need to make intelligent decisions face to face right now.

Do you or others you know qualify as servant leaders to double and more your customer loyalty rather quickly following recommended social and viral digital video loyalty habit solutions here?  Are you one to take the lead or follow?

We are certainly much more than we think we are when we think of ourselves not as a me but as a we!  And, as a ‘we,’ we practice unconditional reciprocity with teammates and every customer, for when we help enough other people get even more than they want, we likely earn even more than we deserve!