Showcase Your Performance and Explore New Ways to Improve Sales
Does your dealership brag about its reputation with customers? Do you constantly explore new ways to improve your interactions with new and repeat customers? As competition increases and the industry tightens, savvy dealerships are finding innovative ways to reinforce reasons for customers to stop and shop.
Brag Boards Provide Extra Sales Help
Reviews are a great way to showcase your performance. Women rely on reviews 50% more than men. They especially like and read reviews by other women. Reviews are a standard practice now in all shopping experiences. They act as your 24/7 brag board, letting others hear the voice of your customer champions. Here are some tips for ensuring your customers hear from happy clients:
- Be sure reviews are front and center on your website and social media efforts.
- Don’t limit your reviews to only glowing comments, or the reviews will look pre-screened. Be sure to show how you readily solve problems, too.
- Post reviews in plain sight in your dealership, too. A bulletin board with fresh reviews provides a good way to reinforce your performance where it matters. Include reviews where customers will stop and pause, including your service waiting area and beverage area.
- When someone is shopping, consider handing out small, customized flyers with recent reviews. This may help improve a buyer’s confidence and move them closer to a sale.
- Encourage your customers to write reviews about their experience. Let them know you are using their feedback to improve your ability to deliver outstanding service.
Explorations Boards for Internal Discussion
An exploration board is today’s “suggestion box.” Instead of secret comments, though, an exploration board is very open and inclusive. Here, employees suggest positive ways to improve interactions with customers and other employees. Dealerships can start the conversation by using “what if” statements to get people thinking about specific topics. For example:
- What if each sales advisor sold an additional five cars this month?
- What if prospects were immediately comfortable when they walked in the showroom?
- What if today was the top selling-day of the year?
Here are tips for getting an Exploration Board started in your dealership:
- The board must be presented in a non-threatening way to gain participation from everyone. Using first names or initials can help keep the suggestions positive. Everyone’s participation is encouraged, and must be met with respect and the clear goal of improving the dealership for everyone.
- Allow ongoing discussion of the ideas. Bring the exploration topics to staff meetings to encourage continuation of the conversation.
- Pick specific topics from the board and keep the discussion going. Turn suggestions into a new plan, adding metrics and goals. Post the results.
- Reward employees for participation. Let people know that their ideas can be brought to fruition.
Encouraging participation and showing the results makes a difference in your employees’ performance, and ultimately will drive more dollars to your bottom line. Positive reviews for your sales and service advisors will boost morale and even encourage healthy competition. Customers will feel that you are interested in their feelings and perceptions, which will engage them more thoroughly and build repeat business.
Businesses who encourage healthy, honest participation from employees have a much better chance of enduring the ups and downs of the economy and business. Employees whose ideas matter become part of a team working toward positive solutions and improved profits. Happy employees stay longer and interact better with customers. And that is really something to brag about!