Customer service tips… let’s shift back to the basics
You are the “face and personality” of your dealership; this is especially true if you’re dealing with your customers on the front line. The first personal impression you make on your customer will determine whether the customer feels that they were justified in bringing their business to your dealership in the first place. If you impress your customers properly at this point, they will not only feel justified but will also feel downright thankful.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression! When customers physically walk through your dealership door, they take a mental snapshot of you and your surroundings. Without even thinking, they form a definite opinion of you which remains firmly engraved in their minds.
The first step to making a good first impression is your appearance. A clean organized work place and a well-groomed service provider is the best invitation for a customer to come in and talk business. Therefore, impress the customer with your appearance. Fix this rule firmly in your mind — that friendly greeting with the charming smile is the most important transaction of the day.
BEHAVIOUR AND ATTITUDE
If the customer’s first impression is formed by your pleasant appearance, it is either destroyed or strengthened by your behaviour and attitude. Your attitude is the way you dedicate yourself to the way you think, it’s a learned behaviour so make it positive.
Research shows that of those customers who quit, 68 per cent do so because of poor behaviour and bad attitude or indifference by the company in reference to a specific individual. Remember, more employees lose their jobs because of their lousy attitude than any other single cause.
BUILDING LONG TERM RELATIONSHIPS
By combining a favourable first impression, courteous treatment, and a positive attitude, you form the basis for a strong customer service foundation. Add effective communication skills, and you will be on your way to building long lasting relationships with your customers.
Effective communication is talking with people, not to people, and active listening and positive responses are vital ingredients to resolve critical concerns.
When you communicate, you can either speak or listen. It is impossible to do both at the same time, and while you are speaking with the customer, don’t forget to make eye contact with a sincere smile.
Studies shows that ineffective commun-ication is the prime root cause of customer complaints, which accounts for 45 per cent of all negative customer experiences.
Being an active listener is the secret to handling angry and difficult customers. Nature has given us hints to listen more and talk less by blessing us with two ears to listen and one mouth to speak, so listening more and speaking less is the best to way to handle customer concerns.
When customers are valued and treated with courtesy and respect, they are more apt to generate repeat business with you. Once you master these customer service basics steps, attractive personal appearance, positive attitude and effective communication, and then combine all these to develop your skills to build strong relationships, you will confidently handle any customer in any situation.
