Rethinking Your Value Message
By Jim Boldebook
Wipe the slate clean! Start with a fresh piece of paper! Don't protect any sacred cows. Even many of your older, established customers have changed their lifestyles, media habits and value perspectives.
First and foremost, what is your message? How has your unique selling proposition changed? At the N.A.D.A. meeting in Orlando this past January, a young dealer and his wife complained to me about Internet customers. "All these people care about is price, price, price!" she said. "They couldn't care less about service!" he echoed. I asked them what their value proposition was. Neither could give me a clear definition, but they said, "If you talk to our customers they'll tell you they love us!" Excellent idea, I said. Why don't you talk to your customers! Why not invite 12 of these "really love us" customers to a nice dinner. If you can afford it, why not invite 100 of your most loyal customers to an appreciation dinner. Hire a band. Make it an event. Then spend your evening asking these customers why they like you so much. In just one evening you can define the basis of your unique value proposition. Be sure to invite your advertising agency along!
Next, take your most successful customer contact people to breakfast, lunch or dinner. Not just your best salespeople but your top service advisors, F&I people, maybe even your receptionist or operator. These people are in the best position to give you straight talk on what the customer likes best about your dealershipand areas you can improve upon. Be sure to invite your advertising agency along!
How's this for innovation! Another dealer visiting with us at our hospitality suite at the N.A.D.A. told me she was doing research in Internet chat rooms. She regularly starts chat rooms with car dealership related titles. She told me that as many as 15 to 20 customers join in for informal chat on dealership likes and dislikes. This dealer actually uses her real name and the name of her dealership in conversation, challenging anyone to anonymously "tell it like it is." She prints out the chat room exchange and distributes it to her salespeople on a regular basis. She also told me that these frank discussions have directly created many new customers for the dealership although she never uses the forum purposely to sell vehicles.
In his book "Futurize Your Enterprise," author David Siegel talks about the importance of letting customers "run your business." Siegel says your Web site is the perfect place to create a forum for customers to do this. It's quite a challenge for any businessperson to invite open, unedited comments about their business on their own Web site, but some dealers are doing it and more will follow.
Want the opinions of your competitions' customers? Get a mailing list of customers who have bought the same makes you sell in your market area that did not purchase from your dealership. You only need a small sample, perhaps 200 names from the past 12 months. Write these people a short letter expressing your concern that they did not choose your dealership. Ask them why they didn't! Offer a gift of at least $5.00 in value if they will answer just two questions:
1. If you shopped our dealership during your recent purchase, why did you choose not to purchase from us?
2. If you did not shop our dealership during your recent purchase, what might we do to encourage your visit the next time you are in the market for a vehicle?
Granted, this research won't be as comprehensive as a full report by a professional research agency, but it will enable you to get a fast track on this information at a fraction of the cost. Important feedback that can help you re-create your value message within a matter of weeks.
Some things we know about today's marketplace are etched in stone. Like price. Don't waste a lot of time in your dealership's value message talking about price. Competitive pricing is a foregone conclusion by the customer! Focus on the issues that are at least somewhat unique to your dealership. Do your salespeople take pagers home to answer questions and provide information after normal hours? Do you have systems in place that expedite the entire sales and delivery process? How about exchange or money-back guarantees?
One of our dealer clients has installed an 800 telephone line that goes directly to his office, by-passing the switchboard completely. When his staff can't answer the phone directly, the message is recorded and the customer receives a guaranteed call back within several hours. In an era of higher productivity and ever- decreasing personal service, a service like this might be a very strong value message.
Recently, I purchased the newest version of the computer program Quicken 2000 by Intuit. Having used Quicken products for over 10 years, I had become accustomed to certain preference settings. After installation of the new 2000 version, I could not get the program to open to the view I had become used to. After searching various help methods to the best of my ability, I called the support line. I was informed that I may have to pay for the information I needed. Incredulously, I asked the person on the phone how they would feel if they had just purchased a vehicle, and despite best efforts at reading the manual, didn't know how to operate the air-conditioner. I asked if they would feel comfortable paying the dealership for that information. Good personal service may become the keystone of many "value messages," just as it was 40 years ago.
Don't wait! Now is the time to rethink your value message. Ask the right questions and listen carefully to the answers. Remember, your customers and your front-line team members can be highly effective in helping you focus on a creative strategy that separates you from the rest of the pack.
Jim Boldebook is President of Creative Broadcast Concepts (CBC), an advertising/marketing agency working with some of America's most successful dealerships. jboldebook@dealeronline.com
