YOUR DEALERSHIP’S REPUTATION IS ALWAYS AT RISK
I’m not really one of those guys. You know, one of those guys that sees the sign on the side of a truck that says, “If you don’t like my driving, call this number” — and then calls.
Let’s face it, out there on the snarled, clogged roadways, we aren’t always at our best and all of us perform driving moves that can tick off our fellow drivers.
But on one fine summer morning, I was making my way to work when the driver of a pickup truck that apparently didn’t like the fact I passed him, sped up and rode on my tail, mad as a hornet. You know what that’s like, you look out the rearview mirror and realize that if you so much as tap your brakes it’s going to get ugly.
Then as the road later became two lanes, the angry driver pulled up alongside me and gave me a nice, long, nasty stare before speeding off.
It also gave me a nice long look at the name of the dealership he was representing plastered all over the truck along with the dealership’s phone number. It made it very easy for me to then call the dealership and report that one of their drivers was a bit of a terror on the roads.
I don’t make a habit of making these calls, and don’t recall ever making one before, but I realized that although he was just being a regular person out there on the roads, he was risking doing a lot of damage to the dealership’s reputation.
The person who answered the phone took down the info, said she was aware of who that driver was (I provided a description) and would “raise it with the right people.”
Now you might think that wasn’t a nice thing for me to do, but I was actually doing the dealership a favour.
Consider all the work they are likely doing on advertising, promotion, supporting community events and sponsoring local hockey and soccer teams to help build goodwill. Then someone takes that carefully nurtured brand, and carelessly puts it at risk, without realizing that when they are in a dealership vehicle, they are effectively driving down the road in a giant billboard.
If you provide vehicles, or hats, or jackets or t-shirts to your team members, it’s worth reminding them that when they are wearing your logo, they are your brand ambassadors.
That’s great, if they are always on their best behaviour.
But it’s probably worth reminding your shuttle and parts drivers, and anyone driving a company vehicle, and attending community events representing your dealership, that how they conduct themselves in person, in public, and online — and not just within the walls of your dealership — matters to you. It should. Your brand and reputation is the only thing that differentiates you from the dealership one Google search away.
