With Independence Day falling on a Wednesday this year, many car buyers will be using the extra-long weekend to shop Fourth of July deals. Whether your sales numbers skyrocket or fizzle out can depend on the kind of customer service experience you provide for those shoppers.
Here are some tips to help ensure that you give customers an experience they’ll ooh and ahh about.
Connect online to in-store
The convenience of the long weekend may be driving traffic to your dealership, but that doesn’t mean your customers didn’t start their car-buying journey online. That’s why it’s important for your CRM to integrate with your dealership website so you can capture the work your customers did before they arrived.
When your customer has already lit the fuse on their car deal at home, be ready for the fireworks when they arrive at your dealership!
If your customers have searched your website for vehicles – and in some cases structured payments, submitted for a cash offer on their trade, applied for credit and even reviewed aftermarket programs and accessories – that’s all crucial information for your salespeople that will save everyone time and help smooth the entire transaction. When your customer has already lit the fuse on their car deal at home, be ready for the fireworks when they arrive at your dealership!
Personalize the customer experience
The customer data you enter into the CRM, either through earlier online interactions or in person, gives you access to insights that can help you truly personalize and customize each customer’s experience. To today’s customers, a customized experience is everything. In fact, consumers would rather purchase a vehicle from a dealership that gives them a great experience than one that offers the lowest price.
When we talk about personalization, that doesn’t just mean the nuts and bolts of the sale. Of course you must know your customer’s contact information and details about the car they want, but your CRM gives you the opportunity to note other information that will help you make a real, personal connection, now and throughout the customer lifecycle.
Lead through accountability
All of this advice only works if everyone on your sales team follows it consistently.
Before those holiday crowds hit the store, make sure your entire team understands all the steps in your sales processes. Let them know that they are accountable for completing each step of your processes with every customer, and frequently review activity reports from the CRM to identify any compliance issues. Then you can decide if you need to provide additional training or revise your processes to ensure that they work the way they should.
Busy times can make it more challenging to follow processes to the letter, which is why a pre-rush check-in is always a good idea. Be open to questions from your team and you can work together to meet some sizzling sales goals.
Looking for a way to ignite your dealership’s sales processes? Request a demo or give us a call at 866-578-8152 to learn how our suite of integrated Connect CRM products can help.
