We recently received a letter from a reader recounting a bad experience she had at a dealership that had recently changed ownership. We’re giving the new owner of the dealership a chance to respond before we post the letter, but the situation might have been avoided with better customer relationship management.
That is a theme in this week’s issue. First, a new contributor, Peter DeTrempe, discusses the importance of appointing a CEO – Customer Engagement Officer – to handle relationships with a dealership’s customers before, after, and during an acquisition.
Also in this issue, I write about the impact of any store’s fabulous online sales performance on that dealership’s valuation. Turns out professionals don’t consider it enormously valuable because the process can be duplicated. Indeed, dealership groups are duplicating their online sales success across multiple stores. That involves having a good customer relationship management process.
An area where online sales may impact value in the future is real estate. What if you can sell a lot of cars from your living room? Okay, that’s an extreme example. But pros who assess dealership real estate value are having to at least be cognizant of online sales.
As always, we also have Transaction News. Enjoy!
