In our topsy turvy world, we must remain true to our core values and serve our customers
With all the goings on, some involving NAFTA, tariffs and changes in governments, uncertainty permeates in the air. Virtually all walks of life are impacted. No one gets to escape our current environment of uncertainty.
Most of the foundational beliefs that we have built our dealership businesses upon seem to be impacted in one way or another. Many are wondering, is this temporary? When will we get back to normal?
Given the way global societies have empowered, seemingly unchecked I might add, anyone with an internet and Wi-Fi connection, I fear that what we are experiencing could very well be the natural evolution of normal. I don’t see the information age, real or fake, changing anytime soon.
If that is the case, what are we to do? What values do we try to live and breathe each and every day?
We are living in an era where lying to the masses has become acceptable. If our leaders don’t respect opposition or challenge, claiming that its based on fake news, what is the message being conveyed?
As a service provider we must provide service the customer is looking for, when the customer needs it, at a fair price while respecting their time.
Today’s environment goes way beyond spin. As dealers we are all accustomed to spin. For decades we have had to filter the spin from some our brands, employees and customers. Everyone has an angle and tries to convince us to believe them. Somehow we have accepted that as normal in our industry. The spin is easily recognizable and we have learnt to filter it and work with it. As a group, we have largely remained true to our values and principles and most often do not buy-in to the spin as a result.
The business environment within which we operate is highly sophisticated, complex and competitive. In many ways, it’s based on generally accepted rules, principles and norms.
To my way of thinking, we cannot abandon our values and principals. We cannot replace them based on the fake news of the day. We must continue to live by our values and principles and lead by example. It might not be easy but we must march on. At the end of the day, it’s what will set us apart and keep us strong.
The nature of our industry has indirectly trained the customer to be skeptical. The simple fact that a used vehicle trade-in is part of our everyday dealings, injecting a serum of anxiety and uncertainty into the very fabric of our customers. We have not done ourselves any favours there. We sometimes have not done right by the customer.
That being said, we now live in an era of transparency. That transparency actually plays into our values and principals. That transparency empowers customers. The tools of transparency now lie in each and very living room. They are accessible by anyone and everyone, 24/7.
In many ways this should make our jobs easier, not harder. Transparency continues to evolve our businesses. In most cases we have not accepted or acknowledged that fact, and as such continue to try and deal with the customer largely the way we always have. Transparency has changed the customer and we must recognize that.
We have been sold on tools to make us better. Granted some of them are very good and useful but others are not. Still we seem to want to figure our how to put that square peg in that round hole.
Early adopters did get a first mover advantage but that quickly eroded to a point where everyone largely has the same tools, they just don’t always deploy them the same way and to the same level of proficiency. This is another source of disconnect and inconsistency experienced by the customer.
Good employees are hard to attract and a challenge to retain. We must somehow drive the bar higher not lower. The reality is that we are in the service business.
Many of us believe that we sell products but in reality we are a service provider to customers. As a service provider we must provide service the customer is looking for, when the customer needs it, at a fair price while respecting their time.
We all can relate to the Cable TV company that cannot provide an exact time for their installer to visit but rather provides us with 4-hour time windows, morning or afternoon. It handcuffs us while we wait around. Then the contracts we sign are largely not understandable and the financial contract seems to change at will as time marches on.
We are all consumers. As consumers we are very impatient. As consumers we’re being intelligent and able to do our own research and develop our own conclusions.
Unfortunately, when we put on the dealership uniform, we sometimes resemble the cable TV experience. We all need to think like the consumers we are, when servicing our customers. Do we ask our customers to put up and accept stuff that we would not if we were in their shoes? I am afraid we do on occasion.
Our new order is to recognize that, in all aspects of our dealerships, we are in the service business. That is our primary role to the consumer. Unfortunately, the consumer wants that, many of our dealership staff understand their role but the structure within which we operate as a franchise is not there yet. Chasing targets is not consistent with being a service provider. Chasing market share is not consistent with being a service provider.
Listening to your customers, respecting who they are and why they are in front of you will drive you to attain your targets and desired profitability.
In many ways, those items are the result of providing consumer driven service, not the starting point. Unit sale driven initiatives create a behaviour that quite possibly offends the customer. It creates a race to the bottom that unfortunately we might never be able to escape.
As dealers, we need to control our own destinies. Building a dealership experience from the outside in, rather than the inside out.
It’s what the customer is looking for. They hold the balance of power. As dealers we must learn to adapt our ways to meet the desires of customers while at the same time live in harmony with the brand we represent. This is not an easy task given that in many instances we are on a self-inflicted collision course.
No one has ever said that being an auto retailer will be easy. In fact, it is damn hard.
If you are going to stay in this business, recognize that you are in the service business, not the product business, and that will give you the momentum to continually adapt.
Listening to your customers, respecting who they are and why they are in front of you will drive you to attain your targets and desired profitability. Creating a service philosophy will allow you to be nimble and quickly adapt. I believe that is the evolution of normal in the dealership world.
