Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/485263
www.PowersportsBusiness.com SOLUTIONS Powersports Business • April 6, 2015 • 39 Editor's note: Known to dealers throughout the country thanks to 13 years as a trainer, Paula Crosbie joins the Powersports Business columnist ranks with her debut in this edition. Crosbie has been a longtime industry sup- porter, including as a presenter for the past two years at the Powersports Business Institute @ AIMExpo in Orlando. Each of us has some type of customer service experience, be it good or bad. Over the last five years or so, customer service has been on the decline, if you are even able to speak to a person. Unfortunately, I am sure I have had more bad customer service experiences than good in the recent years. Customer service is a big field and encompasses just about everything. There are a couple unusual things I do before I visit a dealership: 1. I log onto the dealership's website. I am looking for set up, ease of use and if all of the contact information is there. You would be surprised at how many dealership addresses or phone numbers are missing. 2. I call the dealership. This call is for a very specific reason: To hear the voice on the other end. How is the phone answered? This is a first impression and very important to the dealership. With these two items I will report my find- ings to the general manager or the owner. Usu- ally they embrace the feedback, but sometimes they just ignore it. What kind of damage are they doing by ignoring this feedback? They could be losing customers and not even know it. The phone call and front end are only a small part of the dealership. What about the other areas? Parts? Service? Sales? What is your dealership doing to promote customer service? How is your customer retention? Do you even know how your customer retention is? Com- petition is tough out there. Personally, I will give my business to places where I am treated well, even if I have to go further down the road. Did you know it is easier to maintain exist- ing customers than to get new ones? Profitabil- ity with existing customers can be higher than new ones. Existing customers give you repeat business, thus keeping you in business. What are you doing to keep them? Many people regard a Customer Relation- ship Management (CRM or Customer Experi- ence Management) system as a sales tool. It is a sales tool, an excellent one, but what about parts and service? Does your service depart- ment use the tool to follow up with customers? Here is what Jerry Cristo, president and owner of Velocity Powersports in Ladson, S.C., has to say about the value of a CRM or CEM tool: "Follow up is crucial to retaining customers and capturing new business. I am able to inform our customers of special offers and stay in front of them. Our customer experi- ence manager software helps us to stay on the forefront of our customers' minds so that when they are ready to buy, they think of us first." A robust tool should send out messages to the customer when it's time for the next service. As I wrote this, my daughter received a recorded message from the dealership she just bought her car from, telling her it was time for her first service. This is a nice reminder for her in her busy life. Parts and service should be marked as equally important as sales. Do you realize that if you are running your dealership correctly, sales is the icing on the cake? Parts and service business should carry your dealer- ship through it all, good times and bad. Sales profits allow you to survive bad times and rein- vest in your company. Follow up, follow up and follow up. That is what customer management software does for you. Why should you follow up? It is all about the customer experience. Give me a great experience; make me feel important, and I am a customer for life. Salespeople do not like to follow up after the sale. Why should they? They did their job and got their commission. That commission should not just be for the sale, but the pre-sale and post-sale. If salespeople aren't required to follow up, and there aren't consequences for not doing so, then no follow up will result. There should be a correlation between sales activity, sales performance and sales commission. If the sales team doesnot track sales contacts, appoint- ments, demos, inquiries, follow ups and everything else, they're missing out on oppor- tunities. Lost opportunities mean lost profit. When I was young, my parents bought from the same places, whether it was a car, groceries, or appliances. Someone was looking out for them, or so they perceived. Perception is reality. Dealerships that want to be success- ful need a customer management system and someone to be their customer advocate. "Did she just say what I think she said?" Yes, I did. Not only do you need a customer management system but a manager to man- age it. You need a CRM/CEM manager; just like parts, service and sales. Why? There is a lot to do — follow ups, calls, emails and perhaps other types of marketing. Think of what this CRM/CEM manager will do — keep customers up to date, and keep them feeling important. If you are not able to hire a CRM/ CEM manager, the salesperson/manager is responsible for all follow ups; simply make that correlation between sales activity, sales performance and sales commission. Your business needs customers, not only new ones, but repeating ones. A happy cus- tomer is a returning customer. So make 2015 "The Year of the Customer!" PSB Paula Crosbie is the training development manager with CDK Global Recreation. She has been training and consulting with powersports dealers for 13 years. She can be reached at paula.crosbie@cdk.com or 801/519-7570. Let's make 2015 'The Year of the Customer' FOLLOW ME PAULA CROSBIE