I remember attending a dealership trade show in the mid-’90s; all of the vendors explaining how the future will be online sales. “The way of the future…the way of the future.”
Fast forward to the present. We all went through the metamorphosis and got really “good” at marketing and selling in the digital space. And then the unthinkable — a pandemic that, well, you know. In response, our industry did something quite remarkable: it reset.
After the decades of working in the digital space, it’s clear that “Remote Sales” work. We understand the marketing side of life after the reset.
What about the CX also known as “Customer Experience”? Call it what you like, customers still require, want and need (RWS):
- Require – Peace of Mind
- Want – Confidence
- Need – Ability
“We” need to think like a customer. When that happens, we recognize how to design and train a Remote Sales Process that succeeds. Remember, customers want peace of mind to feel comfortable doing something they have been told may not be good for them, the confidence in knowing they are making a good decision, and the ability to get what they need.
So, the challenge. Create a sales process that allows people to see their way clear to buy a vehicle from you in a way that is so successful you will always want to have it available long after this virus is gone and nothing more than a distant memory.
How to do that? Simple. Take a pad and ask yourself: What would I Require, Want and Need in order to buy and take delivery of a vehicle right now? Be a customer. Write it all down, then compare how you do business remotely.
Your notes won’t have anything to do with more software or other “things” you can go buy to add onto your digital experience within your dealership’s site. It’s simpler than that, you just wrote it all down.
Customers need your help. They need you to give them everything they require within their personal RWS. Most all of the people you are looking to sell are in search the same things.
Your people, facility and process hold the keys. Start by calling customers who did business via your “remote” way and ask them why. Trust me, they will make it very clear why they did.
Take those notes (I know, a lot of notes in this article…right?) and pull your team together to discuss. How do you tighten up your practices so they are all best practices? Now is the time to create a process that gives you a second way for people to buy a vehicle from you well after your showroom is fully open and people come in at will. Create a “way,” brand it and watch it grow.
This new CX has been defined for us. Shun the remote process way, and you will absolutely suffer for it because I guarantee your facing competition is all over this.
I’ve trained countless people how to sell using a consistent 10 Step Selling Process:
- Meet and Greet
- Qualify
- Select-A-Vehicle
- Guest Ride
- Sell Service
- Presentation
- Appraisal
- The Close
- After Sale
- Delivery
I only shared this to illustrate a point. If you look at your “walk in” sales process and install it fully into a remote version, you will have a CX worthy of anyone’s consideration. It’s been done, you can do it as well.
Keep listening to your customers and continue fine-tuning how you conduct remote business. It’s no longer as simple as bringing a vehicle to someone’s house.
