Question for you: Would your service customers prefer a close relationship with service staff or a streamlined customer service experience? 

Expert automotive trainers argue that customers want to “know, love and trust” their service advisors, making it a more personal experience to do a vehicle walk-around, for example. Savvy advisors will take clues from the customer’s vehicles in regards to car seats, bumper stickers, etc. to begin nurturing a budding relationship with the customer. Would your customers prefer this sort of relationship building, or…

Would your customers prefer to get their vehicle picked up, serviced or maintained, then returned to them for a simple and complete set-it-and-forget-it experience? It’s difficult to argue with the successful explosion of such convenience apps such as grocery pick-up/delivery, Amazon ordering, Uber/Uber Eats, among others. 

Which would your customers prefer?

As an automotive leader, is it more important to you that your customers are bonded to individual service advisors by name or to the complete experience your brand provides? Would your customers tell their friends and family more often of the “excellent staff” or the “ease of experience” they had at your dealership?

I hear you barking, Big Dog, “You can have both!” True, but the looming question is: Which would your customers prefer?

Consider this: if you have a wonderful experience with a waiter at a restaurant, do you tend to recall their name or is it the experience you had with them that you remember? If you have a solid experience with customer support, do you remember the IT guy’s name who helped you out, or do recall the streamlined experience you had with the company? Is it the individual or the brand that you share with your friends? And, conversely, which one would you write a bad review about, the person or the company?

As leaders, we should know exactly what our customers want and give it to them again and again. Unfortunately, many dealerships don’t have a service experience that can be bragged about. So, what can be done?

Ask yourself, from beginning to end, from when your customers land on your service website to when they leave the service department in their vehicle, what does your customer experience say about your level of investment? 

Are your customers finding exactly what they’re looking for on your service website? Are customers able to find your website, prices clearly listed, information easily accessible, tools to convert plentiful, and can they schedule online? We’ve journeyed into this question before and you can learn more about your customer journey here. 

If you offer pick up and drop off, you’re already ahead of the curve. However, are customers able to schedule their pick up and drop off times through your app or website? Can your customers sleep through the night while their car is being repaired and wake to see it back in their driveway? For those customers who have no other choice but to arrive in-person, what conveniences and amenities do you offer? Many dealers are catching on to this and adding theaters, golf simulators, restaurants, bars, children’s play areas, salons, and manicure/pedicure stations, among many others.

Consider taking your customer journey. Where along the way do you hit roadblocks, annoyances and speed bumps? Offering a complete and simple customer experience is arguably the most competitive thing you can do for your customers.

BIG thank you to Service Drive Live for bringing up this very timely topic. If you’re the type to want to be the best version of yourself every day, check them out here.

If you’re looking for more resources on customer experience and the customer journey, check out our presentation at National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) 2023, How Electric Vehicles will Change Fixed Operations (yes, it’s relevant!). 

If you’re ready to bring your service marketing and service website into the 21st century, we offer automated, advanced technology that can’t be competed with: dealer-branded videos, SEO, paid search, social media marketing, and customized landing pages – all fully automated, instant and managed by us. Get a demo.

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