86% of consumers have said they will leave trusted brands after only two bad customer experiences. If that doesn’t wake you up to the need for excellent customer service, nothing will.
Now, add to that the fact that most customers still prefer a phone call to other methods of contact. You’ll see why automotive phone training in dealerships must be a priority.
Imagine this scenario — you call a business to ask a question. Maybe you’re shopping around. Or you might just have a general question. If you get a customer service representative with a bad attitude, are you going to call back?
Of course not.
In fact, you’re more likely to hang up, never call back, and tell all your friends about your bad experience. This narrative holds true across industries, and automotive dealerships cannot afford to lose a single customer.
In this competitive market, you need to capture and maintain every buyer you can. Effective phone skills can:
Gretchen Seidel, an Automotive Consultant at Seidel & Co says:
“Phone calls are often the customer's first touch with a dealership after a few written communications. That first impression sets the tone for the entire relationship. In my experience, I’ve seen that if the initial phone call doesn’t go well, whether it's because of poor communication, a lack of product knowledge, or a dismissive attitude - then the customer is less likely to trust the dealership moving forward.
Phone calls must be handled professionally with a clear understanding of the customer’s needs. It only takes one bad call to lose the opportunity to earn a customer's business, but a well-trained representative can turn that first call into a lasting relationship.”
And all it takes is a little specialized training.
Implementing specialized phone training can enhance your overall customer service experience. Not only are you training your employees to provide excellent service, but you’re also extending those skills to stay in use every time they pick up the phone.
This kind of dedication to customer satisfaction that covers every angle of your dealership can only see tremendous benefits.
You’ll likely see:
But don’t just take our word for it. A recent Salesforce research article shows that 80% of customers say they are more likely to purchase from the same business again if they had a great experience. That’s right — it’s in your best interest to make that experience great every time.
Of course, customer service is not always easy when it comes to the telephone. People are often angry and frustrated when they call customer service. A badly timed response, or even the wrong tone, can send a customer into a tailspin.
The number of problems a customer service representative might deal with are countless. The skills required for an excellent representative involve extensive education and information.
Service agents are often able to inform a customer who calls in about “policy.” The problem arises when someone objects to the policy. A fight can often ensue over who’s right and who has more power. The correct answer, obviously, is that the customer should have all the power, but your agent might not get that.
Then there’s the issue of an uninformed or undereducated representative who gives bad information. A customer calling might get frustrated talking to someone who sounds ignorant about the issues.
Customer service agents must be able to de-escalate virtually any problematic situation. At the very least, they must not make the situation worse.
Another awful situation that comes up frequently in service phone calls occurs when the agent is distracted. The customer may call with a lengthy issue, and then the agent can’t repeat the problem.
The communication ends up lost along the way, and the customer ends up not being heard and not getting their problem solved. Active listening skills are an absolute necessity in all customer service work.
Few things are more frustrating for customers of an auto dealership than having appointments booked out weeks or months in advance. Even worse is when appointments are double-booked and expectations are set high.
It’s important that customer service reps know how to book appointments and set realistic expectations. They also must take these steps with a positive and empathetic attitude.
Resolving issues is probably one of the hardest parts of customer service work. A customer calls and they expect the agent to handle the problem and make them happy. Some agents aren’t empowered to resolve the issue. Other reps just don’t want to.
Service advisor skills are necessary to empower agents and ensure they’re trained that the customer really is always right.
Finally, it can be infuriating to finally get through to someone, state your case, leave your number… and then wait. And wait. And wait.
Customer service agents need to know how to track their calls and schedule follow-ups. If they promise to call back, they have to make good on their promises. The last thing you want is for that customer to call back even more upset now that they never heard back from your agent.
In the end, specialized automotive training can help resolve all of these issues. It begins with you, as the business owner, showing your employees that customer service is a top priority. The training they receive after that will only further cement that message in their minds.
An excellent training program will then give them the skills and the motivation necessary to retain your customers and even bring in new ones.
So, how do you choose which phone training is right for your employees? It can be tricky, and there are dozens to choose from just at first glance. Here are a few pointers for choosing the right program for your automotive dealership.
You don’t want your employees all sitting in a class with a teacher droning on. Instead, you want your customer service reps to get one-on-one role-playing, individual attention, and feedback on their progress.
Speaking of feedback, you also want to look for a program that will offer regular coaching in an ongoing fashion. That way, your employees don’t feel like they took a class and now they can forget the skills. A great example of follow-up in a great program is a coach who checks in to offer feedback consistently.
Of course, you want a program that comes with experienced teachers, curriculum designers, and accountability to their process. Whatever company you bring in for your training should have testimonials, demonstrations, positive word-of-mouth, and references.
Once you’ve accepted the need for automotive phone training in your dealership, it’s a quick road to get started. Follow these customer retention strategies and watch your dealership thrive.
Before you do anything, assess where you’re at in your dealership. That way, you’ll be able to track improvement with measurable metrics.
How is your customer service now? Take a poll of your customers and see how they respond. How are your sales? Track those through training and beyond. How is your employee satisfaction? Send out surveys to see how the responses change over time.
Contact a brand you can trust to implement a specialized training program for customer service calls in your dealership. Quantum5 has been training customer service phone agents for years. We have educators on hand to design a class to meet the needs of your dealership. And we’ll help empower your agents to have genuine, helpful conversations with your customers.
Quantum5 also provides ongoing training and coaching in sessions three times a week. We’ll report back to you on your team’s progress, and you’ll be able to track their development and growth.
Contact Quantum5 today for a free demo. You can see in real-time what your employees will experience, and we can walk you through the kinds of positive changes you can expect to see in your company.