Digital Dealer - September 2017 - 41

most of them get delivered
just like my friend got his
delivered-with no salesto-service handoff. Most
new car sales department
personnel leave it to fate
as to whether the customer
ever finds his way back to
the service department...
ever.
How sad.
So who is the biggest
loser in this oft-repeated
story? The customer!
He may never get to
experience the peace of
mind knowing his vehicle
was serviced by a factory-trained technician. He
may suffer the pain and
expense of catastrophic
component failure because
he didn't have access
to the wise advice of a
factory-trained service
consultant. He may even
abandon the brand because he's "had nothing but
trouble with this car since
the warranty expired"...
caused by a lack of maintenance... caused by a lack
of being informed about
maintenance...caused by
having a new car salesman
who didn't take the time to
introduce him to the service
department!
So why am I making
such a big deal about this?
Because it's a big deal!
That's why an AutoMD
survey a few years ago
showed an astounding 83%
of respondents said they
would not have chosen
the dealership for service
if their vehicle hadn't been
under warranty! These
were folks who were in the

dealership database as
active service customers.
This was not just some
random survey. Think
about that. Basically,
8 out of 10 people are
saying when the warranty
expires, they are running
from the dealership as
fast as they can. Ouch.
Furthermore, 67% said
they have more confidence in the ability of
independent garages to
fix their cars than dealerships. That is just wrong.
(Oh, I'm not doubting

consider implementing:
1. Make sure there is at
least one representative
of the service department
at the dealership whenever the sales department is
open-including evenings
and weekends. (Okay,
I just heard a collective
groan from 17,000 service
departments across the
country...but folks, this is
important.)
2. Tie the new car
commission to the salesto-service handoff. No
handoff, no commission.

...8 OUT OF 10
PEOPLE ARE SAYING
WHEN THE WARRANTY
EXPIRES, THEY ARE
RUNNING FROM THE
DEALERSHIP AS FAST AS
THEY CAN."
AutoMD's survey; I'm just
saying, how did dealership
let this perception creep
into the collective mindset
of so many consumers?)
It starts at the point
of new-vehicle delivery.
That's the best time to get
consumers trained about
the importance of worldclass preventive maintenance that only your
service team can provide.
Your technicians are the
best and customers will
experience the greatest
driving pleasure if they
follow the advice of your
technicians-right from
the start.
Here are some quick
action points for you to

If that's too radical, then
withhold $100 of their
commission if they omit
the handoff. (Concerning
verification, you'll come
up with some way to verify compliance. Why not
involve your sales staff in
designing an accountability strategy?)
3. Train the advisors
what to do when they are
introduced to the new car
buyer. For example: setting the first appointment,
presenting the owners'
manual to the customer,
explaining the service reception check-in process,
giving them a service
menu, etc.
4. Explain to all dealer-

ship personnel the vital link
between sales and service.
The sales department sells
the first car, the service department sells the second
car. You are all in this together-sink or swim-it's
a team commitment.
5. Apply all of the above
to used car buyers, also.
These folks are notoriously
disloyal to dealerships and
need a clear introduction
to your service team and
a clear invitation to have
their cars serviced at your
shop. This is especially true
if they bought a used car
from you with a different
brand. They will never
come back unless you let
them know you service all
makes and models-and
remind them they're part of
"the family."
My thanks to Steve
Santospago. He wrote an
article in an automotive
publication about a year
ago where he referred to
the AutoMD survey and it
inspired me to research the
topic in more detail myself.
You can check out AutoMD
and their wealth of industry
information and surveys at
www.automd.com. It's good
stuff.
CHARLIE POLSTON is an
Automotive Customer Retention and Profitability Consultant
with BG Products, Inc. Charlie
has been with BG's Fixed
Operations Division for over
34 years. He has trained over
5,000 dealers, managers, and
technicians - and has been a
frequent workshop leader at
NADA's annual convention.
EMAIL: cpolston@bglsi.com

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

SEPTEMBER 2017

41
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