Basic guide to lose customers in 5 minutes.
A Basic Guide to Losing Customers in 5 Minutes. When I sat down at the computer to write this article, I was upset, to put it mildly, after a busy day struggling with situations that, in my view, should never happen. The buying experience with certain “first-class” companies leaves much to be desired. It almost seems they train people using “A Basic Guide to Losing Customers in 5 Minutes.”
My girlfriend has been exploring options in that wonderful process of buying a new car—or at least that is what it should be: something delightful to savor and enjoy, letting that new-car smell seduce you, even flirt with you… Well, in Mexico, things mostly do not work that way.
Purchase process to buy a new car
In our training to improve staff skills in high-quality customer care and service, we always seek to make one point clear to every attendee: whether the customer is internal or external, service is based on “service promises.” These promises are the key to making a customer feel delighted, courted, unique and irreplaceable, and to turning their purchase journey into a “WOW” experience: absolutely dazzling.
Within our training to improve the skills of staff focused on high-quality customer care and service
First, understand that being able to buy a new car is not easy. Work, save, work more, save more, work, save, work, save. After following this simple logic, several months or years later, an average customer has the financial means “necessary” even to consider buying a car.
Once the decision to replace the car has been made
The budget is reviewed and the search begins for different options, brands and prices; up to this point, it is all smiles and excitement. The average customer generally selects two or three vehicles they have already researched and Googled, checking prices, reading and asking for opinions, and closely examining fuel economy and any other available studies. Now it is time to visit the dealership and see the vehicle in person, rather like those fashionable Tinder-style blind dates: “Meh! You don't look too bad. I'll take a chance and see whether you really are as handsome as in your Facebook photo or as ugly as in your official ID.” Adrenaline surges, your heart races uncontrollably, and your hands sweat with the excitement of meeting your next companion for adventures on the road.
It is right here, at the entrance to the car dealership, that a genuine ordeal can begin. The service model always puts a friendly face at reception to welcome you into the magical automotive world. You are offered a coffee, water or even a snack to help you relax while a sales adviser is assigned to you. This adviser will guide you step by step toward a wonderful buying experience and become your best friend over the coming days or weeks.
After that… may God have mercy on you
Because it can go well—or terribly wrong. They listen, establish empathy and accompany you as you get to know your next car. They even explain that it has kryptonite inlays on the tips of the injection valve heads—something you never understand or know what it means—so your new car will give you superpowers. They look for a hint of excitement on your face so that, if kryptonite is your “object of desire,” the entire sales pitch can focus on it.
I'm interested! how much, how, where, credit options and so forth?
Next, they take you to a desk, offer more water or coffee and start working through figures to find a price that fits your pocket. Then comes the bargaining: they try to sell you everything, even Russian porcelain coatings for your teeth so an accident will not damage your lovely smile. Finally, you find a figure within budget. What now?
Well then... paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. They ask for documents to prove you are who you say you are, followed by signing one, two, three and countless more documents, just so the finance department can decide whether or not you qualify for credit. They request references, email you, send people to investigate you, call your relatives and visit your workplace. At every step, the customer’s patience is worn down. Why? Because the process becomes cumbersome and intrusive. Even with today’s technological advances, you still have to sign a document requesting a letter that you must also sign in person, and so on.
What's the matter?
To begin with, the paperwork is extremely cumbersome. Let's be clear: it is not just the sales executives, though sometimes it is, but also all the other departments that tend to categorize you and decide you are too young or too old for credit, or that your credit history is excellent but your income makes them doubtful. There is even the question of whether the color, tire size and amenities are available or whether the vehicle must be ordered from the other side of the world. All of this means more paperwork, more signatures and more trips back and forth. The result is clear, dear reader: for many customers, that excitement, almost like a high-school summer romance, starts to fade and turns into irritation.
The service model
What is wrong? Well, to begin with, the service model permeates the sales department but not the entire organization: people throughout the business do not live by or share that commercial mindset. Then there is the company's extremely poor communication, which consequently translates into communication between account executives and customers that is just as bad or worse. This is precisely where “service promises” come into play. Salespeople rack their brains trying to win customers, using statements such as “We'll have an answer on your credit application within one day,” “Immediate delivery,” “It's a quick process,” “I'll call you before noon today with the solution,” and “I'll keep you informed of any developments at all times.” Those, my friends, are service promises. But with so little preparation and training, we underestimate them to the point of not even considering them… and then complain about how annoying a particular customer is.
Wrong! If you are not considerate of your customers, they will find someone who is. And if you have no customers, you have no work!
For this reason, and because of the headaches I have experienced over the past few weeks, I want to share the principles that should underpin promises in your corporation:
- Reliability: a customer who does not trust you will never be your business partner.
- Sensitivity: If you are unable to understand that you work with people who think different from you, there will be no good interaction.
- Guarantees: if you cannot guarantee things 100%, you have a process problem; it is better to say nothing.
- Empathy: because one day you will experience—or may already have experienced—the same thing. Would you like that experience? If the answer is no, work on this point.
- Service: every contact and experience touchpoint with the customer, physical or otherwise, shapes the service experience. Pay attention to absolutely everything!
These 5 principles are the core of our High-Quality Customer Service course, where we help clients and friends develop an effective approach to both internal and external customers. They can help you begin establishing your company’s service promises. It is difficult work, certainly, but you will remember my words in the end.
Customers’ perception of your brand, products and service is something money cannot buy. Be smart!
Rock´n roll people!
