Six Transformative New Best Practices for a Healthy, Vibrant Auto Industry
By Anne Fleming
What a year it’s been for the once dominant and powerful auto industry. Saturn and Pontiac are out. Fiat and Tesla are in. Two of the Big 3 ‘survived’ bankruptcy – and the verdict is still out on their long term fiscal viability. Nearly 1800 dealerships have or will close by this time next year. Ten million new cars were sold in 2008 versus 16 million in 2007, and it looks like this year’s results will be even worse. The economic and human trajectory of this demise, collapse and to a high degree, mismanagement, of the domestic leaders has yet to be truly calculated.
In the midst of such a shocking 12 months, what does the industry do to create a transformative working and healthy model? Is there enough ‘forward thinking’ in the minds of the multi-generational industry leaders and dealer owners that can shift this industry into the marketing giant it once was? Are there enough players to transcend the old ways of doing things with a new paradigm that mirror today’s sophisticated and transparent buying options now available to 21st century consumers?
To help get a jump start, here are six transformative new business practices that will shake up the old and offer the auto industry an opportunity to land squarely on all fours.
1. Lose the ‘tude, Dude
Car buyers have very little interest in negotiating. In fact, most loathe it. Women, for example, often have powerful positions at her workplace. While an estimated 80% of women initiate and motivate the family car purchase, many of those women expect their significant other or, the nearest man, to go with them to the dealership to ‘buy the car’.
Women-Drivers.com, a consumer rating web site connecting women to women-friendly car dealers, reports that even as women account for 54% of new car purchases 62% of them visit the dealership with another person, and, 78% of the time it’s a man -- even when the car is exclusively hers.
The classic days of piranha car salesmanship are over. The one –liners like “Hey little lady, what can I do for you today?” or ‘This deal is good today only’ or the ‘I have to check with my manager again on this”, or, my all time favorite “Let’s wait until your husband gets here.” – are coming to a close.
With traditional WOM (word of mouth) now being expressed in social networking platforms, as well as car dealer rating websites like Women-Drivers.com or Dealer Rater.com the days are numbered for the old-school car salesperson.
So, what can the new rules of engagement be for the salesperson?
- Treat consumers respectfully. Don’t assume anything about anyone coming through your doors based upon their looks, clothes, age, style, marriage status and depths of wallet size. Ever.
- Debates ensue about whether female or male customers are to be treated the same or differently at the car dealer. Here’s the skinny.
- Women use more words than men in a given day and are more social with a need to share more frequently – in words and in writing. So, when a woman comes into your showroom, listen (which actually means, stop talking). Listen to what she says, not what you think she said or what you think she meant. Speak with her, not to her.
- Don’t waste time going back and forth taking every single line item and pricing request to the manager. As a sales advisor, you are the expert and should be granted the responsibility to make the call. Customers are busy and being held ‘hostage’ for an hour or two is simply a waste of time. In our today world of ‘I am so busy’, working professionals and parents are not interested in wasting their number one precious resource- time. Be a solutions provider.
- No smoking outside, or standing around in the parking lot with colleagues.
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