I was honored to attend the 15th Annual Kain Auto Clients & Friends Workshop in Lexington, KY, on Nov 12-14, about an hour and a half from my house. This is one of my favorite events each year because of the powerful speakers packed into an intimate setting. Everyone always has a smile on their face and is ready to learn. I believe this trickles down from David Kain, as he is one of the nicest people in this industry.
After learning an event secret from Brian Benstock (frequent industry speaker and general manager and vice president of Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura in Queens, NY) a few years ago, I was front and center learning from the best. Brian said in a presentation that you never have to pay extra to sit in the front row at an industry event, so grab that seat. That was one of those nuggets that has stuck with me over the years. Find your chair in the front row!
As I sat in this year’s presentations, it seemed that they were heavy on customer service and personalization. I had to smile to myself as I was actually experiencing that from the front seat at the Kain event. Let me explain a little further.
The week before this event I upgraded my vehicle. As some of you know, I am not only the publisher of AutoSuccess, but a mom of three boys who are very active, a pilot’s wife and someone who goes nonstop. I live out of my car sometimes. With work gear, groceries and football equipment, my car gets a little cramped. I needed more room.
I looked around for a Yukon XL and searched all of the popular sites. I did my homework. I found the vehicle I wanted for the price I wanted. The dealership was able to put DVD players in the headrests and tint the windows for me too. However, the dealership was three hours away from my house. I did not have time for that. So, my salesman, a different Brian, made it easy for me. He was able to do the whole transaction over the phone. He overnighted the appropriate paperwork and delivered the Yukon XL to my house. He knew I had kids and even brought them DVDs for the new vehicle. That was easy!
One small hiccup though, after he left and was back at the dealership, I realized one of the DVD players wasn’t working properly. No problem! Brian met me at the Kain Automotive event, took the vehicle back to the dealership, fixed it, filled my car with gas, got it washed and delivered it back to me before the event was over for the day. Talk about customer service!
It is this type of customer service that everyone should experience. Because of this, who do you think I am going to call this spring when my husband and I need to upgrade our other vehicle? That’s right, Brian.
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