I had occassion to buy a new car recently - it’s been 8 years since we’ve shopped for a new car, so we looked around for awhile. Say what you want about car dealers, but my experience with one dealer we visited was a good one.
I think that generally, the people that work at car dealers get it. They understand what their job is: to impress, to know their product inside out, and to treat everyone as if they were the most important person on earth, so they have the best shot at getting the sale.
At the first dealer we visited, we wandered around a little until someone asked if we needed help. Odd question I thought, since my husband and I were in the showroom dressed in our business suits, looking at cars. Finally a young woman found us, dressed as if it was her day off, but she was pleasant enough. Unfortunately she did not know her product very well, because she could not answer some of our basic questions, but, she did have the model we were looking at with a manual transmission, which we wanted, and offered to go get a plate and let us take it for a test drive. After our test drive we got a price, but there was no car in the color we wanted with a manual transmission. We left with the brochure she gave us, which was not the model we wanted, and her hand-written business card….
A few days later we visited another dealer. As soon as we walked in the door, a gentleman got right up from his desk, impeccably dressed and groomed, smiled and introduced himself. He asked if he could help or answer any questions. He was not pushy in any way, asked us a couple of questions, and answered our questions like an expert. He knew everything about the car. When we told him what we were looking for, particularly the manual transmission, which was not available as a leftover 2009, he simply asked if I had ever driven the automatic version. He suggested that I take a test drive just to see if I liked it. He was right - I did like it, alot, and had he not suggested it, I would have had to wait four months for a 2010, and paid thousands more for the car. We left with the correct brochure, his business card, and had already met with the business manager, who also gave us his card. We took delivery of the car just a couple of days later.
The day after delivery, our “client advisor” (salesman) called us to see how we liked the car and if everything was OK. We talked about how beautiful the car was, how much we liked it, and the fact that it was just sitting in the driveway that day, in the rain, waiting to be driven!
The day after that, I got an email from the service manager, introducing himself and giving me his phone number, saying he was looking forward to meeting us, and not to hesitate to call him.
Car dealers get it - they must impress to survive, and those who do it as well as dealer #2 will. Financial institutions could certainly learn a lesson or two from some of the car dealers:
- Tellers and CSRs need to smile and aknowledge every customer that walks in the door.
- They must dress to impress.
- They must know their products.
- They must know when and how to make suggestions for products and services that fit a need.
Follow up must be done for every new account; a new customer needs the assurance that the bank or credit union really cares about them. And they need to know who to call with questions.
I don’t know what will happennext with my new car dealer, but I am looking forward to a great relatioship!
