Whose customer is it anyway? The factory and dealership often have very different ideas about who owns the customer but what about salespeople?

We see this scenario in dealerships everywhere: a client comes into the dealership and meets a salesperson and begins working on finding a vehicle.  A second salesperson comes back from lunch, sees the client, and recognizes them from when he sold them their last car – 4 years ago. He storms into the sales manager's office and says: "hey boss, Charley scooped my customer".  The sales manager says: "if that's your customer then why didn't they ask for you?" or "how come you didn't know they were coming in?" or "why didn't you know they were in the market?" or "that's funny, they couldn't remember who sold them their last car".  

In some stores this scenario would result in a turnover back to the original salesperson or a split deal.  Does the original salesperson deserve anything?  Has he taken ownership of the client and earned the repeat sale? We don't think so.

The individual salesperson is in the very best position to build client loyalty.  Make no mistake Client Loyalty is much more important and powerful than Customer Satisfaction.  If you haven't read the book "Customer Satisfaction is Worthless – Customer Loyalty is Priceless" by Jeffrey Gitomer go out and get it now.  It's a powerful wakeup call for salespeople in any industry.

So how do you build client loyalty? How do you make it impossible for the client to forget you?  Simple and hard… build relationships.  You probably are already giving good customer service to every client who buys from you – if you didn't they wouldn't.  However, good service only gets you today's sale. If you want all of the future sales from this client and the people around that client then you have to do more. 

It seems so obvious that it is painful to have to state it: you must keep in touch with people you sell.  Yet, in dealership after dealership, we see more than half of experienced salespeople doing no long term follow-up or relationship building activities with their sold client database.  It's insane!  4 to 20 year veterans having a poor month because floor traffic is light!

We also have the pleasure of meeting salespeople who really "get it" and build such a strong client following that they need a full-time personal assistant handling their appointments and correspondence, they have waiting chairs outside their office, and don't ever need to take an "up".  What do they do that you might not be doing? 
  
They build relationships from the start by making a friend as well as a client.

They make it impossible for the client to forget them.

Every client is contacted in a variety of ways 4-6 times a year.

They send purchase anniversary, client birthday, and Christmas cards.

They make personal phone calls to see how the vehicle is working out and to find out what's new with the client. They know that changes in the client's life mean changes in vehicle requirements or the need for additional vehicles.

They remind clients by letter and phone that referrals are valued and appreciated – even rewarded.

They target specific community groups, professional, or business associations where they have an interest and can become a contributing member.  They become known as the car guy/gal within the group(s).

They pay attention to the service department bookings to see when their clients are coming in – they come over to say hi.

If you are thinking "wow that sure would take a lot of time and effort" then think about this:

Who already knows, likes, and trusts us – new people or repeat/referral clients? 

Which group is more fun to work with? 

Who takes less time to complete the sale - new people or repeat/referral clients? 

Which group has double the closing ratio - new people or repeat/referral clients?

Doesn't more fun, less time spent per deal, and higher closing ratios sound better?

Client loyalty is the key to your long term success. People are loyal to people. You have the time for these loyalty building activities. You just need to choose to do them. Make a plan and execute. It's never too late to start – just start! 

"Customer Satisfaction is Worthless – Customer Loyalty is Priceless"
-Jeffrey Gitomer

ISI/PAL Automotivaters is a Canadian company celebrating 20 years of helping dealerships increase volume and profit through training, coaching, and accountability systems. Our clients range from single dealerships of all sizes to dealer associations and entire dealer networks in Canada, USA, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia, French Polynesia, and Asia.  

See us at: www.automotivaters.com

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