By Peter DeTrempe, Taylor Strategic Relationships
My brother Dave recently shared a story with me about his dentist, whom he had known for the past 17-years. Realizing that he had not heard from his dentist and that he was past due for his annual checkup, Dave called the office only to be told that his dentist had passed away. As the sad news sunk in, my brother asked the receptionist when did this happen? “The dentist passed away over 8-months ago,” she glumly replied. The receptionist then proceeded to ask Dave if he’d like to make an appointment with the new dentist, whom my brother has never met. If not for the accidental encounter with the receptionist, my brother may have never been introduced to his ‘new’ dentist. Lesson learned: Don’t wait until it is too late to reach out to your customers when you acquire a new dealership.
A different kind of CEO
Buying and selling of car dealerships is on a record pace again this year, and the only thing more daunting than the pace of these acquisitions is the complexity of wading through all of the change-of-control details, including franchise agreements, financing, legal, operations and sales data. It is no wonder that the customer experience falls so low on the priority list; that is, if it makes the to-do list at all.
Any way you look at it, customer engagement is a pay-now or pay-later endeavor. There is no denying that the customer will experience the changes to your dealership. While some changes may be obvious, such as the dealership name or even new personnel, others are far more subtle, such as customer communications. Just remember, to a customer all changes point to a moment of truth; a tipping point in your customer engagement.
The most successful dealerships begin the buy/sell process with the end in mind. Every decision they make, everything they do and everything they say, is filtered through the eyes of their customers. These dealers have a finely-tuned CEO compass – and in this case CEO stands for Customer Engagement Officer!
The CEO has a prominent seat at the table before the buy sell process even begins. He or she is armed with critical data points, including customer retention, defection, satisfaction, marketing channel preferences and engagement insight. The CEO ensures that the new ownership model will enhance not inhibit the customer’s experience. Finally, the CEO is responsible for a very proactive customer communication’s strategy that is designed to engage their customers, not surprise them with a change of ownership.
The most successful dealership CEO knows how important it is to keep their customers informed, involved and invested in the new dealership. They create a sophisticated communications strategy that uses customer insight to deliver relevant messages at the right place and at the right time. These communications are developed around strong brand messaging and are delivered to the customers where they are most likely to resonate. These marketing channels include direct mail, email, digital displays, social networks, broadcasts and in-store signage.
The lesson for dealerships that have completed or are considering a buy/sell is to promote someone on your team to be your Customer Engagement Officer and make everything you do about serving your “new” customer with the care and compassion that you yourself would like to be shown.
Peter DeTrempe has recently joined Taylor Strategic Relationships and is responsible for developing automotive strategy to engage customers from acquisition through retention. Peter may be reached at pjdetrempe@taylorcorp.com
