Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 42

F I X E D O P E R AT I O N S

Continued from pg. 41

did mention that the general sales manager was
there, but he was way too
busy to come out and say
hi. The service director
pointed at him in his office
and he didn't even look
up, he just waved. Are
you kidding me?
The service director
went on to brag about
how great they were:
number one in sales and
service, service experience award winner, fixed
right first award winner,
how large they are (average 100 cars a day)...yet
no other employee, other
than the one late-arriving service advisor, was
present to say thank you
or be up front.
The service director
also bragged about their
waiting area and the fact
that they had 96 different
flavors of coffee in their
machine for their guests.
Yep, that's why I bought
my van there and would
want to have it serviced
there! (Sarcasm).
The service director
briefly discussed oil
changes, and I was really
surprised when he downplayed the importance
of the "oil change due"
reminder. The only maintenance he discussed
was an oil change and his
attitude was like it was no
big deal.
Thankfully the meeting
ended and it was time
to hand out the door
prizes! One person had
a question about their
home link garage system
not working and that led
to another 30 minutes
of questions and now
the service director was
getting impatient. Clearly
42

JANUARY 2018

he did not want to be
there and finally said, "I
will take more questions
individually, let's do the
door prizes and get you
all out of here!" By this
time, I knew I would
NEVER be bringing my
van here for service! If I
have warranty issues I'll
go somewhere else for
service and probably to
a very good independent
shop to have oil changes
and routine maintenance
performed.
I left without saying
anything. I love my new
van, but I will never bring
it to him for service. I'm
confident that I will find a
much more appreciative

a 10-year period, that's
over $200,000 revenue
and $120,000 gross for
fixed ops. That's how
much these customers
will spend somewhere...
but, if they respond like
Dewey, it likely won't be
at this dealership! No
wonder dealerships only
get about 14% of the
annual customer-pay
maintenance and repair
revenue. AND just think
how many future new and
used car sales will be lost
due to a lack of loyalty to
the dealership.
So, if other attendees
felt like Dewey, then
here's 35 precious people
that were royally turned

WHEN THE SERVICE
DIRECTOR INTRODUCED
THE GENERAL SALES
MANAGER (WHO STAYED
IN HIS OFFICE), HE
DIDN'T EVEN LOOK UP...
HE JUST WAVED FROM
HIS DESK!"
and thankful shop or dealership who truly wants to
have me as their customer for life.
Wow! What an ugly story. Talk about a textbook
example of how to chase
customers away!
Let's unpack this just
a little bit. The attendees at the meeting had
purchased 35 new cars,
so that means they had
spent almost $1 million.
At 5% the dealership
grossed roughly $50,000
on these 35 cars.
The average vehicle
owner spends about $600
annually for maintenance,
so for 35 vehicles over

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

off by an unfriendly,
impatient service director
and a team of managers
that couldn't be bothered
to show up and say thank
you.
The leadership of
this dealership needs to
remember that you sell
cars to make customers
so you can sell maintenance services to make
money! They apparently
believe that once they've
sold someone a car that
they're done. What a
costly mistake.
Here are some action
points:
 Teach your sales,
service, and management

team how to do a new
car clinic that keeps the
customers loyal to the
dealership!
 Teach them to make
the customer feel welcome and appreciated.
The employees who host
the customer appreciation clinic need to be the
epitome of graciousness,
warmth, and hospitality.
 Teach your management team that they must
be present, engaged,
and have their game face
on. (No waving from the
office without looking up.
Wow, how unprofessional
and utterly clueless.)
In closing, you might
want to consider creating
an incentive for the sales
person who has the highest sales-to-attendance
percentage. This will encourage them to phone,
text, and send email
reminders encouraging
their customers to attend.
Double the incentive if
the sales person shows
up also.
The new car buyers'
clinic matters. It's a big
deal. It will get your
customers started out on
the right path to many
years of driving pleasure.
It keeps them loyal to the
dealership and it makes
you lots of money.
Happy sales to you.
CHARLIE POLSTON is an
Automotive Customer Retention and Profitability Consultant with BG Products, Inc.
Charlie has been with BG's
Fixed Operations Division
for over 36 years. He has
trained over 7,500 dealers,
managers, and technicians
- and has been a frequent
workshop leader at NADA's
annual convention. EMAIL:
cpolston@bglsi.com
http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - January 2018
