RELAXED CUSTOMERS ARE HAPPY CUSTOMERS. ASK APPLE.
Not surprisingly, given my job, I spend a lot of time inside car dealerships. When I’m not talking with the dealership teams, I spend a lot of my time watching customers.
The service customers are often easy to spot, because they usually seem very happy to find a spot to hide away, to relax and take advantage of whatever amenities are available to them. Newspapers, magazines, coffee bars, drink machines, soft couches, television screens, iPads, play areas, wi-fi zones — they’ll take advantage of whatever welcome distractions you provide to help them pass their time comfortably.
Generally speaking the customer lounges are considered a “safe zone,” an area where they are generally protected from what many consumers still consider an unpleasant experience — the uninvited sales encounter.
Recent research published by AutoTrader.com found that “one of the top reasons new and used car buyers are dissatisfied with the dealership experience is a pushy and/or dishonest salesperson.”
Whether we like to hear it or not, there’s a lot of work to be done to improve both the experience and the perception of the showroom visit.
Part of the problem is the way we compensate dealership sales personnel, which encourages them to be “pushy,” but part of the issue is also the way some dealerships are designed.
Depending on the flow of the dealership, sometimes the “prospects” in your sales funnel, are streamed immediately into an area on the showroom floor where they are encountered by a salesperson who often will want to lay claim to them.
MORE OPEN
But in some dealerships I have visited recently, they have a more open concept and feel, so that customers can wander over from the service area, browse a retail area with merchandise, and then take in the showroom area in a less pressured environment.
The relaxed vibe of the dealership can be felt throughout and not just in the customer lounge.
These dealerships have created a more open and transparent environment that recognizes that customers enter the dealership from multiple entry points, and should be able to enjoy their stay, feel welcome and relaxed, and will reach out to sales personnel if needed.
The Apple retail experience is an overused example, but one most of us can picture to make an easy comparison.
When you arrive in the Apple retail store, you are surrounded by Apple-friendly people in T-shirts who are wandering amongst the products, and are truly there to help consult and advise you.
The Apple people have figured out that letting customers “test drive” all their products in a fun and non-pressured shopping experience, aided by expert product consultants — leads to sales. The last time I checked Apple’s stock was trading for about $100 a share with worldwide sales of about $170 billion dollars last year. Maybe your dealership can copy a little of that Apple magic.
