Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

People Don’t Want to “Like” You

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

You are a dealership. Most people don’t like the thought of visiting you. Through the years, a good majority of everyone who drives cars has had a frustrating experience at a dealership. Maybe not yours, but they’ve had a bad taste put in their mouths by others. They don’t want to be your friend, they just want to be serviced by you.

I don’t believe that in all of my (coughing) years I ever heard a normal person stand up for a car dealership’s reputation as another besmirches it in conversation. I’ve never heard “Hey! You leave XYZ Motors out of this. They are great people – the lot of them!” No. Doesn’t happen. When a dealers’ name is raked over the coals by an unhappy party, it is commonly accepted as unfortunate and realistic. So when you ask someone to “Like” you on FB, is it for reasons personally worthy to a customer?

My guess is, short of thinking they are going to win an iPad/TV or receive coupons for service, many could honestly go without seeing your customer reviews, pictures of happy customers, videos of salespeople, and alerts of the “big sale”. These things don’t carry much weight with most.

Try to tap into what people REALLY care about. Get your dealership involved in the community. Sponsor Little League teams, attend the Chamber of Commerce meetings to network, give to charities and participate in their local events, get involved in the local schools and help run food drives, car washes, etc. Give, give, and give to the philanthropies in your area.

Then… simply document (film, photograph, and blog) all of your involvements. Be a spectator to the events and video your participation. Those are the elements worthy of being shared socially. People don’t want to “Like” your dealership, but I guarantee you that someone in your community feels pretty strongly tied to things such as Breast Cancer Awareness events or the local Special Olympics. THOSE are organizations close to their heart. Your dealership likely will never be. However, if you can just tap into (and honestly serve) those entities that are meaningful to some, you will at least be in the right company. You will start feeling more goodwill toward you because you yourself have given something back.

I’ve accomplished a lot in automotive retail, but I am more proud of the hands I’ve shook and the smiles I’ve made happen when participating in local community events than any metric I’ve reached. If you want to make a difference and be “Like”able, then start by serving the community’s efforts before your own.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Blog, Social Media/Reputation Management | No Comments »



The First 5 Emails to Successful Lead Management – Joe Webb

Friday, August 5th, 2011

After mystery shopping countless dealers over the years, some of the glaring needs we see are a basic process for handling leads. Over time, we’ve been able to determine a few of the basic steps your dealership must take when properly managing ongoing follow-up with your potential clients.

Step #1: Give them what they asked for and be generous with the information.

This seems pretty basic, but, still to this day, the good majority of customer questions go unanswered in the first email. It is well known that if you can answer any specific questions the inquiring customer asked, offer multiple pricing options, and give truthful information regarding inventory, availability, builds, prices, and incentives, you are on your way to building trust with the customer.

Step #2: Endear yourself to the customer.

As the saying goes, people buy from people they like. However, in automotive Internet, you need to go one step further. People buy from those they respect and appear willing to go above and beyond to earn their business. This is why so many have seen success stem from performing actions as simple as including a personal picture of themselves in the emails, shooting a quick walk-around video of the customer’s desired vehicle, sending Why Buy from Me’s, and emailing personal video introductions. You can’t build a relationship with someone you don’t know.

Step #3: Detail your process.

In ALL of our mystery shops, the Internet Manager says the same thing. Paraphrasing – “We have a special process in place to make this the best no-hassle purchasing experience for you.” Well that is all well and good, but not EVERYONE can have the best process. And what is your in-store process anyway? Why don’t you tell them what will happen when they arrive? People are submitting leads because they are afraid of the unknown. Put a detailed process of what events/activities will they can expect to transpire when they arrive for their appointment.

Step #4: Build value in your dealership

An Internet shopper can buy their desired vehicle from anywhere. When it comes to new cars, they can get the same car in the same color with the same options/features/specs at the same price or lower from your competitor right down the street. They can get the same finance rate or lower. They can get the same trade-in value or higher from them too. So what really is it (besides your people) that separates your dealership from the rest? What is your Value Proposition? What do you offer that others don’t? Being “family-owned and operated” doesn’t always translate the way you think it does to a consumer. So make sure you have an email template or Value Proposition with something that a customer might be able to attach a dollar value to.

Step #5: Sell the brand

This is the LAST thing you need to do… not the first. The manufacturer already spends millions and millions of dollars selling the virtues of their brand. The customer submitted a lead on that brand so they at least are considering it in the mix. At one point in your lead management process, you will need to re-sell them on the brand, most specifically, against the other makes the consumer is considering. However, this can certainly be one of the latter messages/topics you are sending to your Internet shoppers. They’ve likely uncovered enough to sell themselves on it one way or another in their research phase so focus on Steps 1-4 first.

If you give them what they ask for with multiple options, sell yourself, your process, your dealership, and your brand – in that order – you will convert more Internet shoppers to In-store customers through your email and phone communications

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Blog, Lead Management/Follow-up Process | No Comments »



Preparing to Grow Your Internet Department – part 2

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

Before you begin recruiting or interviewing for the position, you must do three things before searching for and hiring an Internet Manager/Director.

1) Determine the hierarchy of the store. Who will this person, in a new department, be reporting to? Often anyone from sales managers to salespeople believe they can delegate work to someone in the Internet department while the top stores usually have a director or GM as the only entity that presides over the Internet team. Decide who is in charge of what and this will help you understand the type of candidate you need to hire.

2) Develop a pay plan based upon your goals for the Internet department/BDC and reward these specific metrics. What specific tasks must they complete and how will it drive business? Beyond sales goals, do you want them to achieve a certain level of contact made/engagement? Will you be thrusting inventory duties, website responsibilities, or, social/video tasks upon them? If so, build out the pay plan with escalating levels of income predicated upon their success with these initiatives. The structure of this position (A-Z, appointment setter, Director) will help determine the pay plan.

3) Create a written, detailed job description specifying all duties, expectations, hierarchies, necessary skills, and intended earning potential.

Once you have this framework for their position, you understand how to begin looking for the right candidate.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Blog, Hiring for the Internet/BDC | No Comments »



Instant Gratification: Why outsourcing live chat isn’t always your best bet.

Friday, July 8th, 2011

Ten years ago, we used to say that customers preferred submitting email leads rather than walking into the store because it gave them instant gratification. They could have their questions answered immediately.

Nowadays, we all know this was a joke because the average response time took forever and still to this day in the industry it is well over an hour (and over 4 hours in some locations). Live chat (and, in some lesser cases, mobile) has overtaken email as a way to be instantly gratified with information.

However, if you are outsourcing your chat, know that the person representing your dealership does not have the ability (or knowledge or authority) to answer many of the customers’ questions. Moreover, what makes their BDC any better than yours? Be careful whom you get into bed with when it comes to outsourcing your chat.

Here is just one example from one of my dealer clients of an outsourced chat company and their inability to work with the customer. (The exchange below has not been altered except for removal of the dealership name and number.)

Chat Conversation:
John: It’s a great day at [Dealer Name]! How may I help you?

Visitor195794: Im looking at the 2008 volkswagon jetta. do you have a cash out the door price?

John: Alright.

John: Let me check that for you.

John: May I have your full name please?

Visitor195794: Brett

John: Nice to have you with us, Brett.

John: One of our sales representative are the best person to discuss pricing with.

John: Let me have one get back to you.

John: For that may I have you email address and contact number please?

Visitor195794: I cant get that info from you ?

John: I’m sorry, I’m not authorized to discuss pricing. Let me have a sales representative get back to you on this and hopefully work something out with you.

John: May I have your email address and phone number please?

Visitor195794: dont understand why that cant be discussed?

Visitor195794: thats how i purchased my last car

John: Because I’m not the right person to discuss the pricing.

John: However you may contact at 866-555-5555 regarding prices.

John: Is there anything else I may help you with?

Visitor195794: guess not

John: Alright.

John: We appreciate you considering (Dealer Name). As soon as we have the exact information you are looking for, we will get back in touch with you promptly. Thanks and have a great day!

Visitor195794: no sence in having the chat feature. if you cant discuss price

I couldn’t agree with the customer more. Now, understand that if you don’t have a dedicated BDC or Internet team sitting in front of their desktops all day long, then handling live chat yourself isn’t an option. In that instance, an outsourced chat provider is the ONLY direction you can go, rather than frustrate the customer by continually ignoring and missing their chat requests. But if you DO have that team structure in place, I strongly recommend that you hand chat over to your team.

A good chat should be handled like a good phone call. You must validate the customer’s question, thank them for contacting you through the medium, give them a personal benefit for handing over their contact information to you, capture the info, and answer their questions as quickly as possible while setting up the upcoming call/email/appt with the customer. Who better to handle chat for your dealership than the BDC that handles the inbound phone leads?

Essentially, outsourcing your live chat has the potential to go against everything the medium supposedly offers to the consumer – instant gratification.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Blog, Internet Strategy | 1 Comment »



The 4 Words That Make Sales Managers Sound Stupid

Saturday, June 25th, 2011

There are four words that are said by Sales Managers around the nation. These four words make them sound stupid. These happen to be the very same four words that are the bane of every Internet Manager and BDC Agents’ existence. They hear it from their Sales Managers endlessly and with each utterance, your Internet team grows a little more frustrated. A little more fed up. A little more disheartened that short-sightedness and small-mindedness runs the showroom. When are we going to get away from the phrase “Just get ‘em in.”

I know many of you are smiling right now because this phrase, this idiotic phrase, single-handedly is the most ridiculous request told to you daily.

In an effort to give a customer information that will bring them into the showroom floor, the Internet Manager states things such as,
“The customer wants to know if we have any in stock?”
“Just get ‘em in.”

“The customer wants a price on the vehicle they asked for.”
Just get ‘em in.

“The customer wants to make sure they can get approved before they drive in from 3 hours away with their family after attending a funeral.”
“Just get ‘em in.”

Now do you see how stupid this saying is? As a Sales Manager, do you take a TO, sit down in front of the customer and say, “Just buy the car.”
But I want to know the payment.
“Just buy the car.”
I’d like to drive it first.
“Just buy the car.”

No. you don’t say that, because that would obviously be a stupid thing to say. You give the customer reasons to purchase from you. You must provide information to them that assists in their decision. You have to understand that online shoppers, those people speaking to your Internet and BDC teams, are seeking the same information, and you need to allow your staff to deliver it to them. I’m not advocating negotiating through email and phone, but at least educate your staff as to how to overcome those questions. Your role as manager is to provide some insight and word tracks to your team so they understand to how to address the customers’ specific requests and earn the right to ask them into the store.

In 2011 (as it has been for some time), both in-store customers AND Internet shoppers have needs. They need information before they make a purchase. They need their questions answered before they make a decision. Your sales management team must learn to empathize with the Internet shopper (and their BDC team) and recognize that people in search of answers aren’t just going to come in if you refuse to give them the answers.

My manager said you can come in and he’d be happy to help you with that.
Did he give me a price like I asked?
No, he didn’t. But I’m sure he’ll make you a great deal as we are a large dealership that does our best to earn a customer’s business.
Good. Then what’s the price?”
(5 minutes later)
To the manager: She wants to know a price.
“Just get ‘em in.”

This circle jerk occurs on your showroom floor in the (lack of) communication between your Internet team and your Sales Managers EVERY DAY.

Sales Managers need to stop sounding stupid, start addressing customers’ questions, and put their Internet and BDC team in a position of power with transparent information or they will eventually hear “Just pack your bags” because you cannot survive in this marketplace with these idiotic, flippant requests to your Internet or sales team. It doesn’t work like that anymore. If you are unwilling to say to a customer “Just buy the car” without giving ANY information, value or benefit for them to do so, then you have not a leg to when trying to defend the phrase “Just get ‘em in.”

That is all.
Signed: Joe Webb and Internet Managers/BDC Agents everywhere.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Blog, Leadership/Sales Management | No Comments »



Automotive Gypsies

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and throughout my youth, our fine city would be infiltrated, so to speak, with unsightly visitors. Gypsies would swarm the town, shopping malls, and neighborhoods. They would loiter about, often even able to go unseen without a keen eye looking for them.

They were vagabonds and pick-pockets, always looking for the edge to take advantage of you and fleece you on something (purse, wallet, game tickets) if you weren’t watching your belongings. Some would go to the extreme. If they saw you grilling out in your backyard, they’d walk right in through the open front door and steal the paintings white off your walls. They were almost magicians at taking from you without you ever noticing.

Well we have Automotive Gypsies as well. They are right there, taking from you, and you don’t even see them. You do nothing to prevent it because you are unaware they are taking money away from you.

The Gypsies of the automotive world are these lead-generating website on YOUR Google Page One, singlehandedly stealing your customers right out from under your nose. They live and breathe off of you and your business. They optimize their own sites for your dealership’s name and gather leads that should be yours. They take your business, customers looking for you specifically, and they sell them off to the highest bidder. These Automotive Gypsies are scavengers and will take whatever they can get their hands on.

They litter Google Page One with both organic positioning – based on their optimized content about YOUR dealership or they actually pay through PPC campaigns, leeching right off of you.

Here are some of the top Automotive Gypsies I see:

AutoSite.com
AutoND.com
Autodealerbase.com
Autobodyalliance.com
Autodiscountgroup.com
AutoSales.com
Mystore411.com
Quickr.com
Vast.com

I’m sure there are some others I’ve missed so feel free to share them with the rest of us. They are a dime a dozen and worth less than that.

Some of these are sometimes just microsites to third-party lead providers trying to maliciously get in on YOUR opportunities such as:

Edmunds (everyone who wants to harvest leads buy PPC on dealership names)

Autotropolis – Going after YOUR organic internet shoppers because they are optimizing their site with keywords involving your dealership name and city in an effort to sell your leads right back to you – or your closest competitor.

Some are local directories, using solely PPC/SEM to break in onto your turf, such as:

Autos.aol.com – local directories where they can search for other cars.

Superpages.com.

I strongly urge you to start keeping a close eye on the 10-12 spots that take up your dealership’s Google Page One.

Are they all of your online entities and digital assets that you control or are they Automotive Gypsies, slyly pickpocketing your dealership of its leads right from under your nose?

It is time you claim all the spaces on Google surrounding your own name. Do your best to dominate these sites and move them down the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) so you can protect what is rightfully yours. Automotive Gypsies aren’t deadly. They are just dangerous to your bottom line if you let them run wild on the streets of Google.

Keep your eyes open. Do you see them? You may not even noticed they’ve been hanging around you all along. They’re tricky little buggers and the first step to preventing their mischief is by seeing them in the first place.

- Joe Webb, DealerKnows Consulting

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Blog, Websites/SEO/SEM/Display | No Comments »



Ask the Expert – with Joe Webb of DealerKnows Consulting – (Internet Sales)

Friday, June 3rd, 2011

(Ask the Expert is a Q&A section in the upcoming new DealerKnows site yet to be released where the team at DK solve the problems facing automotive Internet professionals. These are the test runs.)

Hi Dealer Knows:
What would you define as an “authentic internet lead”. For example, if a customer walks in off the showroom and says they saw our used car online – is this considered an internet lead?

Thanks!
Angi W.
Internet Director
___________________________________
Joe Webb replies:
Hello Angi,

Thanks for reaching out. You ask some good questions. When you ask what an authentic internet lead is, I would have to give two different answers and solutions. Much depends on your lead-handling process and department structure.

Typically, Internet Professionals are paid based on what they bring into the store and sell. In this instance, a dealer will consider an authentic Internet lead as any email that originates online and enters into the CRM OR any phone call that is brought in from a dedicated, online resource (preferably handled by someone who is in the Internet department or BDC and sources correctly).

If someone is an eCommerce Manager/Internet Director like yourself, for instance, then pay is predicated upon all of the appts/sales brought in by the online advertising of the store. This includes those calls, emails, AND walk-ins that are sourced properly as an online customer. In the example you mentioned, provided the customer states (and it is put into the CRM) that their primary motivation for purchase and what brought them in was based on what they say online, then THAT is an Internet sale (while not an Internet lead).
It is a dichotomy that drives many in our industry crazy. It needs to be defined based on the department structure in place as well as the lead handling process you are following.
Here is an article I wrote for DrivingSales a little while back on the subject of what isn’t and isn’t an Internet Sale – Overthinking It!

I hope I was able to answer your questions. If you’d like to chat sometime, I’d be happy to accommodate you. Let me know if there is anything else I can do.

Thanks,
Joe Webb
DealerKnows Consulting
847-456-5130

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Ask the Expert, Blog | No Comments »



Preparing to Grow your Internet Department

Friday, May 20th, 2011

It’s not the wand that makes the magic happen, but the magician who wields it. All of the tools, solutions, and leads in the world may be necessary to stay competitive, but it is the people you employ that make you profitable. If a dealership is only as good as the people speaking to their customers, we must make sure we have the right people representing us in the first place.

One of the fundamental problems on our sales floors is that it is just too easy to get a job. Candidates walk in, fill out an application, prove that they have a pulse during an interview, and are hired on the spot. This has to change. This builds no value in our dealerships, our profession, or our industry. We must require applicants to earn a position rather than just getting it.

As a trainer, dealers always ask me “What is the magic bullet out there? What will help me sell more cars?” They are likely looking for a solution/tool/CRM/website/campaign, but the true magic bullet is a great employee. One forward-thinking person (especially in your Internet Department) can yield endless profitability. You are the magic bullet. The people around you are the magic bullets. Your growth will be determined by the people that work for you, with you, above you, and beside you.

We develop intricate processes to bring a prospect from lead to appointment to sale throughout our showrooms, but we rarely have a process to recruit, interview, hire and train the employees of our stores. I was able to achieve success while in the retail side of the automotive business, but I know I wouldn’t have been near as successful if it hadn’t been for the people I surrounded myself with during my time at my former dealership. It is only because of the work I put into preparing them for success and the work they, in turn, achieved, have I been able to parlay my career as an automotive internet expert into starting my own consulting business. Selling cars, not on the floor, but online, is a TEAM environment. It is high time we begin focusing on acquiring a solid team.

One question I’m often asked is ‘Who should run my Internet Department/BDC?’. There are only three choices, each with a different monetary tag attached.

1) You can hire the best (otherwise known as ‘stealing an expert’).
2) You can promote from within.
3) You can hire a newbie and train (i.e. start from scratch).

The Differences: Know that you’ll pay top dollar to hire the best, but this will yield you the fastest turnaround and gross. If you decide to promote from within, you will likely be paying a fair industry price for their services. Lastly, you will save considerable money (rough book value) by hiring someone new to the position, but won’t see considerable growth or a return on the investment for some time.

Over the next few weeks, I will detail out the best places to RECRUIT talent and SELECT the right person as well as how to properly HIRE and create an ORIENTATION program for them to succeed.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in BDC/Internet Department Structure, Blog, Hiring for the Internet/BDC | No Comments »



Ask the Expert – with Joe Webb of DealerKnows Consulting

Monday, May 2nd, 2011

Our first in an on-going series of Q&A for dealers by eCommerce experts and trainers. Soon to be featured on the upcoming, redesigned DealerKnows website:  Joe Webb, Bill Playford, and other auto industry and internet sales experts will weigh in on your pressing dealership questions.

Question:

Dear Joe,
Our BDC agents set a lot of appointments, but when the customers show up, they keep falling into the wrong salespeople’s hands (or are simply taken away and never introduced to anyone on our Internet team).  How do we make sure that they ask for us when they come in?

From
Juan R.
Connecticut Dealer

Answer:

What?  Skating from the Internet department still happens?  Say it ain’t so…. J

Great question, Juan, and it is something that many BDC’s struggle with.  It comes down to structure, discipline and management.  Many of these you have limited control over so I will give you just a few word tracks your team can use to make sure that all of the appointment-setting they do pays off for them.

First off, when setting an appointment, your BDC team needs to do a few things…

1)  Ask the customer to write down the name of the Internet sales specialist they are coming into see.  (Or, at the very least, a trusted sales manager should be the inbound customer’s point of contact.  If all else fails, while it isn’t ideal pulling a BDC agent away from the phone, have them ask for them personally.  More on that later.)

2)  Tell the customer in a somewhat hushed tone as if it’s important “I’d rather you speak to one of our Product experts that help our Internet customers rather than just a salesperson.”  Sounds harsh, but it works like a charm.  Now you are making it seem as if the customer has a true advocate at the dealership waiting for them opposed to an adversary.

3)  Whenever your BDC team sets an appointment, send out an appointment reminder email with a picture of the Internet team member or sales manager they should ask for when they arrive.  Putting a face with the name is imperative and they’ll visualize working with that employee specifically.  If the customer has given you permission to text them information, this works even better over text.  (RFID tags aren’t prominent or widely used yet, but this will solve everything in the future….stay tuned on that technology.)

4)  Let the customer know that to ensure they receive, “not only the best price, but best experience possible, make sure to ask for a member for our Internet team.  They’ll come get me so I can personally shake your hand for stopping in.”  Now you are guaranteeing, not only a higher level of customer service, but personal attention and adulation as well.

And here’s one more intuitive way to remind people who to ask for when they arrive….

Get a white easel board and put it at the front of the store.  (If you have the technology for a digital display, by all means, do that as well.  However, it may not grab the attention the way a digital screen/monitor can, but a white easel board will suffice for most dealerships.)  At the top of the board, it should say “DEALER NAME wants to thank (Customer’s first initial and last name) for stopping in and working with (Salesperson/Internet Salesperson’s 1st name).  At the bottom, it can say – “Let us know when you arrive!”  Next to the salesperson’s name, you can have little magnetic pics made of their faces (or icons/pics if using a digital display).  When a BDC agent sets an appt, they can either walk down and write it on the board next to the salesperson’s name and pic or enter it into the Appointment calendar online that feeds to the monitor.

Hope this helps.

Joe Webb

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Ask the Expert, Blog | No Comments »



Vendor Scorecard

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

With advancements changing in the online marketplace daily, vendors must realize their products must change as well…just as quickly.  Dealers won’t wait around forever as their vendor clients continue to sit on their hands.  So here is my challenge to every vendor:

I want a Vendor Scorecard.  I believe vendors should create a scoring system that allows all of their dealers to see, review, and vote on what advancements their teams should put into action.  Not support issues (though a Vendor Scorecard could be beneficial for this as well), but an idea exchange where people on the ground can tell the people in the high rises what their system NEEDS to be able to do.  It could be a small password-protected community within your software that allows ALL dealers to post their product enhancement requests so that ALL other dealer clients can see.  Make it available to your own loyal public.  Each product enhancement request should be time-dated and stamped so we know just how long it takes the vendor to react.  Not respond… react.  Fix.  Change.  Develop.

Then, take it to the next step, and allow every dealer client to VOTE on which product enhancements they most desire to see active sooner rather than later.  You will create your own weighted scale as to which improvements to focus on completing.  If you so desire, consider giving those few dealers that utilize your system to its fullest, are your oldest clients, or represent you in the online communities a heavier VOTE than others.

The automotive resource site, DrivingSales, has taken one step by bringing Vendor Ratings into the forefront and asking the automotive retail professionals that peruse this site to vote on who and why they recommend the companies they’ve chosen.  This has been a good way to help vendors gain exposure and allow dealer personnel to give feedback to their peers.  When a vendor’s reputation is questioned on these sites, it is amazing how quickly they respond.  They either scurry to cover up the negativity or do their due diligence to correct it before it damages their business.

The end goal here is to let your own community of clients that USE your product to IMPROVE your product.  I think there is a progressive way to do this without risking a vendor’s reputation.

If you are a vendor reading this, please don’t hate me for saying it, but your product/solution/sites CAN improve.  Not “will”, but “can”.  You can enhance your offerings to dealers if you just listen closely to your current clients.  As someone who helps dealers maximize their current providers’ solutions, I see far too many no-brainer enhancements that still are not being implemented.  When I request a change from a vendor or give them (free) advice on how to better their offerings, I hear the same responses constantly.  “We are working on it.”  “I’ll pass it along.”  “That is scheduled to be in our next release of enhancements 6 months from now.”  What else do I hear?  “I don’t understand.”  THAT is the problem.  You aren’t using the product the same way an Internet Sales Manager or Sales Manager uses it so you have your blinders up to the real needs of your software.

Dealers are asking themselves daily:  “Where the heck do all of my product requests go?”  “How many times do I have to suggest an improvement for it to go overlooked?”  “When will this feature become available or active?”  “Is anyone listening to what I want?”

I see no better way to get a vendor’s attention than making product enhancement requests a centerpiece to their customer service initiatives.  Customers will finally be able to track their relationship with the vendors and hold them accountable if need be.  Make them time-stamped suggestions with enough of your constituents voting for it and there will be no way a dealer can have a deaf ear.  It is time more vendors listen to their clients first instead of listening to their own random ideas.

As I said, this is a CHALLENGE.  The first vendor who decides to make the direction of their technology a democracy by creating a similar Vendor Scorecard available for all of their dealers wins my approval and another blog post dedicated to their innovative ways.  Fair enough?

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Blog, Vendor Relations | No Comments »



« Older Entries
Newer Entries »