Digital Dealer - March 2019 - 29

3.) A key to customer
experience is consistency of performance. The
more consistently great
the experience is between
departments, the stronger
the brand. The greater
variation you have between
departments concerning
the customer experience,
or between your various
locations, the weaker the
brand. One bad apple in this
regard, will afflict the whole
batch.
4.) The best answer to
the question, "Who on our
team would create the most
outstanding customer experience? is "Any of them!" If
you can't give that answer,
you have work to do. Lots
of it.
5.) The best way to
influence a great customer
experience is to create a
great employee experience!
You can rest assured that if
your team members aren't
having a 'wow' experience
working for you, they're not
as likely to create similar experiences for your
customers. Incidentally,
micromanagers, oppressive
work schedules, lack of
training, hiring recklessly,
inconsistent management,
hypocritical leaders, tenured
non-performers and more
all drain the 'wow' out of the
workplace for team members.
6.) Keep in mind that
even team members who
are far removed from direct
customer contact have a
"ripple effect" impact on the
customer experience. This
is because of the effect they
have on other employees.
Naturally, if a co-worker

is negative, incompetent,
corrupt, indifferent, and
doesn't keep commitments,
he or she will diminish the
experience of teammates,
causing frustration and lower
morale - all of which has
the potential to trickle down
and affect the experience a
teammate is trying to create
for a customer.
7.) There's much more
to say about building your
brand but since the focus of
this piece is on perfecting
the customer experience,
take some time with key
team members to honestly
evaluate these questions
and address the answers

changing the conversation,
what more can we do to
shine a brighter light on this
key responsibility for each
team member?
 Do we realize that our
frontline team members
(porters, sales associates,
service advisors, receptionists and the like) have more
daily opportunities to create
a customer experience than
the management team? This
is by virtue of the fact they
come into contact with more
customers than management. This being said, how
much training have they had
on creating 'wow' experiences? What training could

BUILDING A POWERFUL
BRAND HAPPENS WHEN
YOU CREATE A CULTURE
THAT SUPPORTS
CONSISTENTLY CREATING
'WOW' CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCES."
you're unhappy with.
 Are the processes and
protocols we have in place
designed to just meet a customer's expectations, or are
they intentionally designed
to get the 'wow?' In either
case, how can we do better?
 Do we have variation
in the customer experience
between departments or
locations? If so, why is that?
How do we fix it?
 How often do we talk
about getting the 'wow' in
meetings, during one-onone coaching sessions,
beginning with the interview
process, and during onboarding periods? Since you
can help change a culture by

we implement to improve
the customer experience,
starting with the onboarding
of new associates?
 Do we have experiential standards for our organization that clearly define
guidelines for the things we
will always do, and never
do, with a customer or when
speaking with a customer?
Are all departments and
locations on the same page
with these standards? If not,
how and when do we fix it?
 Do you know how your
experience is significantly
different and better from
those your competitor delivers: from meet and greet,
to customer touch points,
D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

to your various processes,
to the language you use, to
follow up, to communication
protocols for service, to
what they do while waiting
to get into F&I, and the like?
If your answers aren't many
and compelling, you've got
more work to do.
If this seems like a lot of
work, that's because it is
a lot of work. Incidentally, I
never said building a great
brand through 'wow' customer experiences is easy;
but, I can assure you it is
worth it. And if your people
and dealership are continually in price battles to be the
cheapest so you can get the
deal, there's a better way:
create improved experiences and the price becomes
less relevant. People pay
more for better experiences,
and they return for more,
and tell others to do likewise. Believe me, whatever
it costs you in time, training,
or dollars to build a 'wow'
brand...when all is said and
done, the 'wow' is worth it.
DAVE ANDERSON, "Mr
Accountability," is a leading international speaker on personal
and corporate performance
improvement. The author of 14
books and host of the wildly
popular podcast, The Game
Changer Life, Dave's message
has impacted leaders in nearly
70 nations. His "in-the-trenches" background of starting and
running world-class businesses, coupled with his relatable
non-academic approach, creates an unmatched connection
that resonates with audiences
and moves them to action.
Follow Dave on Twitter
@DaveAnderson100. EMAIL:
dave@learntolead.com

MARCH 2019

29
http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Digital Dealer - March 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - March 2019
