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Improve Staff Responsiveness

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With Integrated Communications Systems

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The basics of delivering a superior customer service experience haven’t changed: Customers want friendly, fast, knowledgeable service from a salesperson interested in going the extra mile to close the deal. But technology has transformed, and, in some ways, has complicated communication with customers. Thanks to the Internet and wide adoption of portable devices and cell phones, customers are more informed about product offerings before picking up the phone or walking into a dealership, and will often measure the value of a dealership based on their responsiveness to answer immediate, burning questions.

INTRODUCTION

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Customers reaching out via an online request or phone call have invested on average more than three hours of research. At that point, customers aren’t merely kicking tires; rather, they should be treated with the respect and urgency of a red-hot buyer. At an Edmunds.com panel discussion in 2012, auto dealers estimated that somewhere between 80 percent and 95 percent of their customers do some form of online car-buying research.1 If the majority of customers are starting the search online but receiving poor response to inquiries, then dealers are losing sales to their competitors that probably take online and phone requests more seriously.

THE PROBLEM

YOUR CAR

IS R

EADY!

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Technology impacts the other side of the coin, too: internal communication. In the pre-cellphone and Internet world, customers went to the showroom, and the receptionist would direct them to sales, service, finance or other departments. While always busy, and sometimes disruptive thanks to blaring PA systems, the central reception desk process did work. Now customer inquiries pour in online, over the phone and in the showroom, turning the receptionist’s job from greeting and directing customers in the showroom to the communication hub routing a lot more traffic from several channels. As noted by Figure 1, the result is a chaotic environment that can leave phone-in customers, online customers, and in-person customers all waiting while the receptionist juggles all three, ultimately leaving the customer ignored and dissatisfied. According to the Wall Street Journal bestselling business author Shep Hyken, “In a positive economy, 70 percent of Americans are willing to spend

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THE COST OF IGNORING INTERNET OR PHONE REQUESTS

an average of 13 percent more with companies they believe provide excellent customer service,” and “78 percent of consumers have bailed on a transaction or not made an intended purchase because of poor customer service.”2 Getting the lowest out-the-door cost is one of a customer’s goal, but not the only one. Customers expect superior service, regardless of which communication channel the company employs, and low-quality customer service is usually reflected in a dealership’s bottom line.

Jeff Kershner, founder of DealerRefresh, published 2012 statistics that drive home how serving customers reaching out through online and phone channels are just as important as the person walking into the showroom. According to Kershner, “85% of customers made up their mind to purchase a vehicle before they left their house.”3 Which showroom they visit directly relates to their experience during the research process probably started online or with a phone call.

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THE SOLUTION

Call abandonment rates are easily track-able at dealerships, so auto dealers can gauge service levels by the number of lost calls. But, even if dealerships recognize that not handling phone inquiries with the same level of importance as a showroom client results in lost sales, figuring out how to handle calls more efficiently can be a challenge. Doug Berryhill, chief executive officer of Eskridge Lexus in the Oklahoma City area, looked for a communication system that allowed the dealership to summon employees to a call or to the front desk or manager’s office without disturbing customers in the showroom. When they finally found the wireless NetPage Unlimited system, it solved two problems: phone inquiries were answered quickly and the showroom was a tranquil environment free of loudspeaker messages that customers previously found annoying.4

If mediocre customer service in these new technology-focused channels can kill a sale, employing the right communication system to deliver customer service that exceeds expectations in all channels can win a sale. Plus, features the side benefit of creating a pleasant environment where people feel comfortable spending hours at the dealership.

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TECHNOLOGY’S IMPACT IN THE SHOWROOM

On average, customers spend about 187 minutes making a purchase at a dealership.5 And Hyundai Motor America CEO, John Krafcik, famously said, that “Americans would rather go to the dentist than visit a car dealer.”6 If both are true, then raising the bar on customer service in the showroom can have a huge impact on profits in the ferociously competitive automotive industry.

Car buyers are out of their comfort zones when buying a car. They complain about feeling pressured during negotiations and wonder if they got a good deal, but other top complaints are process-focused, such as:

1. Inefficiency: Customers are cooling their heels while the salesperson confers with the manager, sitting in the finance department or waiting to get to the vehicle preparation procedure.

2. Transparency: Customers feel like they’re getting all-too-brief explanations on options like extended warranties, insurance, manufacturing fees, transportation fees and more. All of those add-ons come with a potentially high cost on top of the already negotiated purchase price, and buyers don’t feel like they have a lot of time to assess these options and make a decision.

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ELEVATE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH TECHNOLOGY

The process appears to be nearly the same whether customers are buying a new luxury vehicle or used economy cars. So, making the process more efficient has the potential of selling more vehicles to this same customer over time, and, more importantly, gaining new customers when these “brand advocates” talk about their dealership experience in social media. With the right technology in place to make communication efficient, dealerships can reduce the time each customer spends on the process, but also allow customers to spend more time where they need to, like when reviewing add-ons. That impacts overall customer satisfaction.

Some dealerships think the answer is employing the right technology. LRS NetPage Unlimited (NPU) users, such as Doug Berryhill of Lexus, manage internal and external communication through an easy-to-access messaging dashboard. This solution allows users to send text messages, email or pages to traditional personal pagers through any networked PC or mobile device. Berryhill’s dealerships use NPU to silently and directly notify employees when a call is waiting at the front desk or if they need to report to the manager’s office.

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“We are a luxury auto dealership, and we wanted to deliver a stellar experience that would befit our brand.” But it also helps Berryhill handle prospective sales calls faster and divvy up new leads fairly among salespeople on the floor.

“We can send out mass pages to the appropriate sales staff to pick up the call. That way, the call is answered as quickly as possible.”

Sales reps are motivated to respond quickly due to competition with peers and customers benefit from the speedy reaction time.

Reducing the time spent at the dealership will have a positive impact on the customer experience. While it’s counterintuitive to think that having customers spend less time in your store increases customer satisfaction, in the auto purchasing industry, this is true. The most satisfied car buyers spent an average of 177 minutes in the dealership, while those least pleased spent an average of 195 minutes.7 If employing new technology like NPU speeds up staff communication and shaves off time in the process, then customers can leave the dealership faster and happier.

With NPU, anyone on a networked computer can

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generate electronic wait lists and send instant messages to customers or staff from one system, taking the pressure off one person to route all communications from every channel and close the gap on how long a customer waits in each step of the process, as illustrated in Figure 2. Wait lists can be shared, allowing dealerships to set up multiple queues with rules and escalation procedures to ensure all customers receive fast, effective service. With this system, the receptionist can also hand out a traditional pager to the customer if they prefer not to use their personal mobile phone number, and a salesperson can page them when the car they requested is ready for a test drive. Customers online, on the phone or in the showroom will move through the research and buying process more efficiently, and that can only have a positive effect on customer satisfaction.

Unlike office phone systems or overhead paging, NPU can also collect wait time statistics allowing dealerships to measure response times and identify staff needs during peak periods.

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Getting happy buyers on the road quickly has all kinds of benefits. These new owners will proudly post pictures of their car on social media sites and may post about their positive buying experience, too. Dealers can win or lose customers based on how quickly and efficiently they responded to customers and, with the proliferation of communication channels needing to be managed today, a simple, streamlined solution like NetPage Unlimited can make it even easier. It’s more important than ever to make customers happy — not just with price, but with service.

CONCLUSION

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1Article by Brad Tuttle, Whodathunkit? Auto Dealerships Realize Responding to

Customer E-mails Helps to Sell Cars, March 2013

2Article by Shep Hyken, Customer Service Stats Prove Why Everyone Must

Deliver Excellent Customer Service that publishes stats from American Express

Global Customer Service barometer, May 2011

3Article by Jeff Kershner, Dealer Showroom Floor Sales Statistics and

Percentages, August 2008

4Long Range Systems ebook, Value from Technology: How New Technologies

Enhance the Customer Experience While Making You More Efficient, August

2013

5Article by Jim Mateja, Buying a Car Takes More Time at the Dealer, quoting

J.D. Power and Associates’ finding in an annual Sales Satisfaction survey,

November 2007

6Article by Philip Reed, Senior Consumer Advice Editor, Edmunds.com, Steering

Clear of Bad Customer Service, December 2010

7Article by Jim Mateja, Buying a Car Takes More Time at the Dealer, quoting

J.D. Power and Associates’ finding in an annual Sales Satisfaction survey,

November 2007

FOOTNOTES: