Failure To Convert - A Lesson In Customer Experience

Mike has been in the market for a new SUV for about a month now. His current SUV has ben unreliable, even though it has extremely low mileage. It has left him, and his family stranded multiple times over the past 3 months. It has been repaired numerous times by the dealer, all without remediation. The dealer even went as far as to try and charge him for something that should have been under warranty. This final straw is what lead him to ditch the car and the brand forever. The hunt for a new extra-large SUV begins!

Mike’s SUV hunt yielded two potential vehicles.

 He went to the first dealership, Brand A looking at Model Z! He loved the vehicle, but due to the pandemic and demand, locating the exact vehicle would take time. Mike was in a hurry due to the fact that he couldn’t chance leaving his Wife, 2 children and dog stranded again for the 5th time. There was limited price negotiations due to the demand and lack of a particular vehicle to negotiate around. He left his information with the Sales Associate at Brand A and walked out.

Mike proceeded to Brand B, the dealer had just received a new shipment of SUVs and only one was unspoken for. He drove it and loved it. During the test drive, someone else secured that final vehicle, sight unseen. The sales associate was unphased, he knew another shipment would be arriving in a few days and he would set aside a similar vehicle for his potential customer. Mike let him know, his trim level and desired colors. Not Black, Not Red, Not White. He also informed him of the potential trade-in. Mike left this dealer, unable to negotiate or secure a vehicle, due to the lack of a vehicle to negotiate against.

Some days had passed, and he received a phone call from the second dealership. It was a new sales associate. Mike was informed that the sales associate he was working with had left the company. He started out by saying, “I know you were in our dealership, and you test drove our new flagship SUV. We have one here that I know you will love. It’s a beautiful RED color at this trim level. Would you like to come in and test drive one? Also, do you have a current trade in?” Mike was put off, not because the new sales associate didn’t have the correct vehicle or the correct information. He was confused because the sales associate started out the conversation with “I KNOW YOU”. “It was obvious that they didn’t know me.” Mike said. Mike explained to him, expediently everything he desired and about the trade-in. Mike decided to draw a line in the sand with this new sales associate. “I want X for my trade, and I will pay you Y for the next SUV that meets my criteria. I have cash if need be.” said "Thank You and Hung Up”

A few more days had passed, and the first dealer called Mike back. “We have located a Blue SUV, at the highest trim level. It is at another dealership, 300 miles away. We can have it transferred up here for you. We already looked at your trade-in and here is what we can offer you.” The negotiations took 1.5 days over the phone, my friend is a hardline Kirk Kerkorian type. He doesn’t need to rake the other side over the coals, he just wants a fair deal. An agreement was made, the vehicle was transferred that same day, and the next morning he signed the paperwork and drove off in his new blue SUV. He was happy, he had the vehicle he wanted, at the price he wanted, and he knew that he know had piece of mind for his family.

About a week later, the second dealer called him again. “Hello Mike, we have a vehicle here for you if you would like to come and see it.” Mike stopped him in the middle of his talk track and said, “I already purchased a new vehicle. They listened to what I wanted, located it and delivered it to me at a price we could agree on.” The last thing Mike said, maybe un-warranted but exactly the cherry on top, “I ended up purchasing a more expensive vehicle than yours, Thank You for your time” and hung up the phone. 

There are numerous take-aways from this interaction, Customer Experience and Knowing Your Customer are paramount. People do not want their time wasted. Creating value is more important than price and people want to feel like they have been treated fairly.

 The second dealer lost the sale because they failed to achieve those key metrics.

Unfortunately experiences like these are the norm, not the exception.

The process can be better! It needs to be better!

 #manufacturing #customerexperience #technology #dinocrosswords