Filed under: Customer Experience
Every encounter with a customer – whether it is face-to-face, over the phone, through the mail, in email, etc. – is an opportunity to build company credibility and put to rest any post-sale jitters that sometimes come with making a large purchase.
I recently bought a new vehicle. Putting on my customer experience management hat and reflecting on what I encountered, there were soooooo many missed opportunities to positively engage me as a customer. The whole experience turns out to be a great case study in how NOT to cultivate a positive relationship with a new customer and gain their loyalty for the long haul.
I know that for some of you, car shopping is a fun, energizing undertaking. For others – like me – it’s a dreaded, torturous necessity of life. While I was looking forward to downsizing to a smaller vehicle and improving on fuel efficiency, parting with my mini-van after seven years was a bittersweet thing. With all the fond memories associated with it, it was sort of like saying good-bye for the last time to an old friend.
Reluctantly, I conceded to my husband’s prodding and mulled over the car features I believed to be “must-haves.” I concluded that a new compact crossover SUV was just the ticket. I critically eyed every compact crossover I encountered on the freeway. I read all the comparative information my resourceful hubby scrounged up for me. I test drove numerous makes and models at different dealerships. And then, I took the plunge and committed to a purchase.
That’s when the torture of this process really began to set in. My eager-to-close-the-deal sales consultant explained that the vehicle containing the combination of features I was looking for was not currently on his dealership’s lot. But, not to worry, one could be available the following week through a trade arrangement with another dealership. Okay. Fine. After all, my trusty mini-van was certainly capable of getting me where I needed to go. A few more days weren’t really going to matter, were they?
Of course, as things turned out, it took nearly three weeks. When I first inquired about the status of delivery, the sales consultant attributed the hold up to transport delays in getting the car from its current location to his dealership. On my second inquiry, the sales consultant informed me that the vehicle hadn’t actually made it to the dealer it was originally slated for after all and was still on train transport from the west coast to the Midwest. On my third inquiry, I was told it had been sitting in the train yard for the past week or two waiting to be unloaded and trucked out when the weather improved.
My irritation grew with each passing day, as did my suspicion that the dealership wasn’t being forthcoming. Why was I the one calling for updates? They should be calling me. Why was it so hard to get clear information? Why was it that nobody seemed to know where their own product inventory was? Had they actually sold the car I was told was earmarked for me to another customer and just didn’t want to tell me? Or had something happened to the vehicle along the way and the dealership didn’t want to fess up that it was in the process of repair?
Eventually, I took possession of my new vehicle. But needless to say, I was a bit perplexed when the very next day I received a form letter from the dealership. I expected it to be the obligatory “thank you for your recent purchase” letter. To my chagrin, the letter’s introduction read: “Greetings! As you know, the cost of your recent repair in our Service Department was covered by the factory warranty…” (Later in the week, the obligatory “thank you” letter arrived, along with a very creative new way of misspelling my name.)
I followed up with the dealership manager: I hadn’t yet owned the car 24 hours, let alone long enough to have visited the Service Department. His response: It was standard operating procedure that they inform their customers that it wasn’t too late to purchase an extended warranty. (Huh? Like this made any sense?) I asked if he could understand why, given the delays leading up to my ownership of the car, the opening message of this letter would only serve to increase my blood pressure and cast doubt on everything he’d previously reassured me of? His response: Sorry about that. Nothing I can do about it. It’s just the way the letter is written. (Seriously? His signature is on the letter, for Pete’s sake!)
This dealership had the opportunity to change my view of what it’s like to go through the process of purchasing a new car. They didn’t. The experience just solidified my pre-existing notion that buying a new car is indeed a dreaded, torturous necessity of life. However, I am pleased to say that I am loving the car and have no regrets about choosing it over other options.
So, Mr. Dealership Manager, a few suggestions for future customers that won’t include me (I’m not going back):
- Identify the broken links in your product delivery chain.
- Make proactive (and yes, believable) communication with customers a priority.
- Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and consider what it’s like to deal with you and your departments.
- Consider how each interaction you and your team have with customers is positively or negatively influencing perceptions about your business.
- Think about the relevance of the message and its interpretation when following up with customers.
- See that the left hand (Sales Department) knows what the right hand (Service Department) is up to.
- Oh, and a little charm school wouldn’t hurt either.
– Lisa Morse | Vice President
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