Keys to Better Customer Interaction

What has the greatest influence on our customer’s overall satisfaction with our services, Fixed Right the First Time or customer interaction? If we were to have that discussion ten years ago Fixed Right the First Time would have won hands down. Is that still true today?

The answer is maybe, it all depends on your source for data. My belief is that customer interaction has in fact over taken Fixed Right as the leader in customer satisfaction. We have many dealerships with just average Fixed Right scores but very high overall CSI scores. They do this by focusing the on the customer’s desire for timely and effective interaction. What that means may be different to every customer so we must have adaptable processes and nimble employees.

We can all agree that customer interaction is critical in today’s market, but what does that mean? According to Verchelle Dehn, CSI Manager for Ivan Gandrud Chevrolet in Green Bay, WI, “We fundamentally believe that our customers want three things in any of the departments; tell them the truth, do what you say you are going to do and keep them informed.” She continued, “When we decided to improve our CSI in Service, the first step we took was to focus on our interaction with the customer during Progress Checking. The results were immediate, CSI went up significantly.”

OK, that makes sense but have our customer’s desires changed and how does technology figure in the equation?

The term “customer interaction” may have several definitions. For this article let’s define it as communication between one of our staff members and the customer. At the risk of losing readers so early in the article, my experience is that we still need to improve at the basics; smile, make eye contact, slow down, be sincere, focus on your customer, tell the truth now, make promises and keep them, ask good questions then shut up and listen. Do not take these for granted. We all tend to get wrapped up in our busy days and we slip a little further away from what we know is right without intention. Watch your people execute these fundamentals daily. That being said, there are many existing options for training on the basics so using our time for other issues makes sense.

Responsive vs. Anticipatory

“Ask the customer what they want and give it to them” has long been our premise for doing business but that is no longer enough. Interaction for its own sake falls short, it must fit our customers desires. We must now learn our customers as individuals and anticipate their wants and needs. This includes how they wish to interact with us on a personal level, how often, in how much detail and method.

Personal Interaction

This topic covers the personal side of our relationship with the customer. There are a variety of instruments on the market that allow us to measure and understand behavior. The simplest format assumes fours basic behavior types; Dominant, Influential, Steady and Cautious. All of us are a mix of these to varying degrees. Our responsibility is to learn about ourselves and then learn how to identify our customer’s behavior so that we may adapt to a style that is effective. I can hear some of you now, “Look, I am who I am and if that is not good enough than too bad”. I suggest that, as professional communicators, our responsibility is to the customer. If we wish to survive let alone grow our business we had better learn how to retain more of our customers for longer periods of time. Adaptive behavior is not manipulative it is effective. Our job is to ensure that the customer feels cared for, important and understood.

Have you ever met someone you immediately liked or immediately disliked? That is what happens if we just stay in our core behavior. The population is evenly split between the four behaviors. By nature we click with 25% and another 25% likes us and 25% can takes us or leave us and 25% dislike us. So the question becomes, can we risk poor interaction with 25% of our customers and below average interaction with another 25%?

The fact is, new vehicle dealerships retain just 24% of the customer pay work after the vehicle’s warranty expires. What we have been doing for so many years has proven ineffective. One way to change this is to adapt our personal interaction with the customer.

Technology

Personal interaction is no longer the only method of interaction. Technology is playing a larger role every year. We now exchange email and IMs (Instant Messaging) through PCs, laptops and hand held computers. Perhaps the easiest method of interacting is text messaging, it is simple and fast and all you need is your cell phone.

We have three diverse generations of customers that own our vehicles; Baby Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y. Most Boomers use email regularly at home and at work. X and Y grew up on email (I wonder how many have never hand written a letter) and regularly interact with text messaging. Both methods of interaction are effective and they consume less time than a phone call. How effective would it be for the Service Consultant to text message the work status of the customer’s vehicle during the day or to email a copy of the Repair Order to the customer as part of the Delivery process?

Start gathering email addresses from every customer you can, this data will be needed sooner than you may think. If you are not currently using at least email to interact with your customers you are missing a key customer interaction opportunity.

Training

Who should be trained in the skills of adaptive behavior and technology? The list includes every one that comes in contact with your customers; Reservationists, Greeters, Service Consultants, Porters, Estimators, Cashiers and Managers. The behavioral training requires a professional to train your staff and the management team. Technology training can be handled by your current staff, or even better, bring in your ten year old kid. As with any new skill, continual practice and reinforcement is needed to ensure that we improve. The behavioral skills will take some time before your staff becomes proficient.

Measuring Success

If the project is worth doing you must have a concrete method of measuring improvement. For customer interaction try these approaches:

· Review your CSI scores for “were you kept informed satisfactorily during the repair” and “satisfaction with the explanation of services at delivery”.

· Have an independent third party ask your customers a few key questions about your staff member’s interaction with them.

· The manager should call at least five customers per day to evaluate interaction success. Ask questions such as:

o Did we offer you email or text messaging as communication options?

o Did our staff communicate with you in a friendly and effective way?

o Was your time well spent?

o Did our staff handle you in a caring way?

· The manager should speak to customers during the process “The thing that had the greatest influence on our CSI was an exit interview. I spoke with the customers during the Cashiering process and simply asked them how we did and how we could get better. I was surprise at how positive the customers were to have someone just ask them if they were happy.” Jim Blow – Service and Parts Director of Butte GM and Subaru Auto Center, Butte, MT

In the end, how we interact with our customers will dictate their loyalty. If the traffic in the drive is falling, if CSI is just average, if parts sales are flat then perhaps your customers are telling you something. Listen to them and help your team improve their skills for the 21st century client.