BY FAR THE MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE AND ASSET OF ANY DEALERSHIP IS ITS PEOPLE
Every day we interact with a special group of customers who frequently go unrecognized, our internal customers.
These are the people who work with us throughout the dealership and rely on us for services, products, and information required to do their job. They’re not traditional customers, yet they need the same care and attention as those that visit the dealership to buy or have their vehicles serviced and repaired.
Internal customers impact your store’s culture and working environment, and need to feel valued and appreciated for their contributions. Therefore, your dealership’s management has a vital role in creating an environment that recognizes the importance of internal customers.
If you have difficulty in deciding who your internal customers are, think of it this way. “Whose out-box do you work from and whose in-box do you feed into?” Elaine K. Harris, author of Customer Service: A Practical Approach.
We’re all aware of the importance of taking care of external customers, but successful dealerships recognize the importance of taking care of internal customers such as employees and other stakeholders, as they have a direct link to the external customers’ satisfaction, loyalty and retention.
NO “I” IN TEAM
The success of every dealership depends on its ability to lead and motivate employees to work together as a unified team with a common objective to satisfy customer needs and achieve greater goals.
Therefore it is important to retain and recognize the importance of both internal and external customers alike, because both equally contribute to the success of your dealership.
At work you play the dual–role of customer and service provider at different times. Each interaction between internal customers is an important link in a chain of events that always ends up at the external customers’ feet.
For example, if a service advisor is dealing with a customer concern regarding back-ordered parts, the parts advisor considers the service advisor as an internal customer and makes as much of an effort to follow up with the OEM parts supplier in the same way the service advisor does with an external customer who came in to have work performed on their vehicle.
SATISFIED EMPLOYEES MEAN SATISFIED CUSTOMERS
We monitor and regularly analyze our CSI scores and surveys of customer feedback for compliments and complaints and share vital data with our internal customers (staff) for training, coaching and quality assurance programs.
Similarly, it is equally important for a dealership’s management to provide opportunities to its employees to express their feedback (good or bad) through reviews and meetings.
They can also survey their own ESI scores (Employee Satisfaction Index), so you can learn from your internal customers’ views and thoughts about the dealership, in order to help you improve your business.
Sharing such a fair balance of feedback will bring more confidence among staff and boost their morale. Anything that unifies your internal customers will have a positive impact on the dealership’s business overall.
AN INTEGRATED PART OF YOUR ORGANIZATION
A while back, I was invited by an airline to give a staff presentation on the “importance of employees in the organization.”
To demonstrate the subject, I exhibited a tire valve from the landing gear of an aircraft. I explained to participants that if this very tiny, yet vital part of the aircraft was missing or malfunctioning, would the aircraft in question be able to take-off or land safely? Obviously, the answer was no, since it would make operating the plane very dangerous.
Similarly, regardless of who you are, your task, your fit into the organization and your role as a member of your dealership team, your value and nature of responsibilities is equally important to the success of that team and the dealership’s operations.
Commitment to service excellence is built through involvement of internal customers and can flourish only in high communication environments. Seek input from all members of the work team whether they are service supporters or sales promoters. They can provide insightful information about what external customers like, don’t like, and are interested in.
They usually know causes, potential problems and solutions, what is not working well for customers and where snags in the system exist. If internal customers are never asked in staff meetings what their customers have told them, they may never have the opportunity to share their valuable information with their team.
Therefore, connecting with your internal customers is just as important as connecting with your external ones. By doing so you can create an excellent foundation on which to begin meeting and satisfying your external customers’ needs.
