A Day to Remember
I love cars. I love buying cars. I love selling cars. I love driving cars, especially ones with gobs of horsepower itching to be unleashed. You can take the bus, a train or Google’s self-driving box to work if you want to, but you’ll get my car keys when you pry ’em from my cold, dead hand.
Several years ago, as a birthday gift, my wife sent me to the Richard Petty Driving Experience. It was exceptionally well-run and a truly memorable experience. I still have the plaque they gave me hanging in my office. It includes my elapsed time and speed for each lap and a photo of me in the car. I’m wearing a racing suit and helmet, and there’s an enormous smile on my face. As far as I’m concerned, that’s about the most fun you can have with your clothes on. On that day, for a few brief moments, they made me feel like I was a NASCAR driver. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
I have been in the car business since 1975, and some of the finest, hardest-working, most honest and generous people I know are automobile dealers. Yet we have all heard someone we know, possibly even a friend or family member, say, “I hate buying a car!” It still feels like a punch in the gut every time I hear it.
Why? Because it means the last time they bought a car, it was an unpleasant ordeal they would just as soon forget, and want to put off doing again as long as possible.
That’s just sad.
If a customer ever has an unpleasant purchase experience at your dealership, it should keep you up at night, and you should wake up determined to create and deliver an enjoyable and memorable experience for your next customer. They should leave your dealership with an enormous smile on their face and maybe even a framed picture they can display in their home to commemorate their purchase.
Follow-Up Calls
I call every attendee of every F&I class I teach. I call to ask how the training has paid off and give them their certification test results. It’s something I’ve done it since I taught my first F&I class back in 1985. I learn firsthand the challenges they face upon their return — including what’s working and what’s not working — so I can provide some additional input they may find helpful. I also get to hear their excited success stories.
I made one such call yesterday, and the student and his sales manager (who had been promoted to that position after completing our F&I class last year) could hardly wait to tell me about his improved performance. They kept me on the phone for close to 30 minutes, regaling me with tales of dramatically higher product penetrations and income per retail unit. They each wanted me to know how our training had changed their lives. In the two weeks following the class, the F&I manager had sold more service contracts and GAP policies than he had in the previous month. His excitement and enthusiasm was palpable. His concept of selling, his belief in his products, and his understanding of the purpose of an F&I department had been radically changed.
by Ronald J. Reahard