Hello! Welcome to the first edition of my blog. I will try to write several times a week about experiences I have had, thoughts that occur to me, ideas to apply in your workplaces and lives, quotations that stimulate and inspire me, and news about my work and family. I will be eager to hear your comments and ideas as well.
As I write this first piece, I am in Portland, Oregon, where I spoke at the American Honda Facilitators Conference this week. One of the things I shared with them was that they were better able to dazzle their customers than in most other industries today, simply because the customers coming into the dealerships have very low expectations. In fact, I read a study recently that said that when people were asked to rank the things they most disliked doing, buying a car was outranked only by going to the dentist!
So, because customers expect to have to be aggressive and distrustful when buying a car, if the sales person treats them with honesty and respect and focuses on THEIR needs instead of simply selling a car, they will be amazed and thrilled. For once,
they did not have to “do battle” during the transaction.
The moral: When someone shows that they truly care about you and your needs, you will not only be a loyal customer but you will also tell all your friends.
The bottom line is that they are really in the RELATIONSHIP BUSINESS, not simply the car industry. Whether a person buys a car or not, if they are treated with respect and caring, a relationship of trust is developed, and they WILL come back.
