The Lost Art of Small Talk
I recently had a comment on my blog on how a customer felt after picking up his vehicle, and I felt his comments hit the heart of what I am trying to do here with Gold Standard Service Training Inc.
The comment was posted on the blog specifically about the survey and I feel it should be used to monitor, improve and streamline the processes in dealerships.
You can read it in the blog history to refresh your memory or if you missed it.
Anonymous commenter:
"Two weeks ago I took my car to my dealer for a 45K, tire rotation, and a recall. New advisor. The visit wasn't bad. But....1) Didn't know me 2) Didn't attempt to make small talk. 3) Didn't review the MPI that was to be performed 4) Didn't do a walkaround, 5) Pointed me to the lounge 6) Didn't review the MPI with me until time to cash out, 7) In reviewing the MPI said the "tires are like new". They had been purchased there on the previous visit. He didn't review the history. 8) Didn't ask for my next appointment, 9) Sure asked me to fill out the survey. Regardless of the survey, he sure didn't give me a reason to continue to drive 30 miles to that dealership, now did he?"
A couple of things right off the bat. Clearly, this advisor has been coached that asking for the survey is the way to get them returned. But they have not been coached on much else. Asking for the survey, in many situations is required to drive up the survey response rate, which is acceptable to do, but only AFTER providing exemplary service deserving of it.
Asking for the survey without giving the great service in the first place, is like loading a shotgun and pulling the trigger while aiming at the sky and hoping it hits the target down range. You never know what you are going to end up hitting.
If you are in charge of coaching and training at your dealership, and you received a survey with comments like this what would you do? Where would you start to take corrective action?
For me, I would start at the back of the drive-thru. Only through real-time monitoring can we see what is truly going on.
Let's "brake" down a few points in that review.
I will leave the process items such as the lack of walkaround, and lack of reviewing the MPI. Those are the basic processes that need to be taught from the time of hire. If your processes do not require the advisor to review the MPI, walk around the vehicle, or update the customers in the lounge or on the phone, this is a different conversation altogether and we should chat about them for sure.
What sticks out like a sore thumb to me is that there is no existing relationship between this advisor and the customer reviewing them. The customer is clearly wanting one to evolve so he can feel great about driving 30 miles to do business there at HIS EXPENSE.
To the point that the advisor did not "attempt to make small talk" this is massive. Small talk, which needs to be natural, breaks down barriers of unfamiliarity and starts to create a bond with the customer.
I challenge myself to have non-car-related chats with customers whenever possible, no matter how good or bad the situation is. It is especially important when you do not know the customer at all.
Here are a few actual examples of things I have said, this small talk, ice-breaking chat must be about something that the advisor has honestly noticed or feels noteworthy. If it is not, the customer will subconsciously recognize this and the seeds of distrust will be sown.
“I love the color of your truck; it is one of my favorites.” (If it is)
After pulling up the information, noting the year if it is older and in good shape:
“I cannot believe your truck is 2009, it is in impeccable condition! Nice work keeping it so.”
"Oh my gosh, is that a Boba Fett bobblehead on your dash!?” (This happened and sparked a conversation about the new series on Disney Plus.) We spent several minutes talking about it before we even addressed what he was in for.
“I am sorry; we don’t serve Green Bay fans here.” Said in total jest after I saw a Green Bay Packer decal on a customer’s rear window while I was walking around the back of his truck. I stopped and looked at him and said that. With a totally serious face. He looked at me for a second, then I burst into laughter. He realized the jest and started laughing as well. He then asked me who I cheered for. I explained, that because the Miami Dolphins have been my favorite team since the 70’s I have had to learn to cheer for many teams.
Point is, that I am cementing the foundation of my relationship with these people through a commonality so when they come in next, they hopefully will want to deal with me again. If I make suggestions, they will be more likely to trust what I am saying. Or, if something goes sideways, I will be the person they call because they remember me.
They see me as a human being, like-minded and with similar interests. And, because of that, we can likely work together, in one direction, to solve whatever issues come up during their ownership of that vehicle.
As I began as a manager and started to have to respond to all the feedback that was left by customers on surveys, reviews, and feedback emails, I saw threads of commonality in the delivery of information from the tech to the advisor to the customer.
As I started to eavesdrop on the conversations that were happening in the drive-thru, I quickly was able to isolate the issues and address them as they happened, hopefully heading off future issues that would have evolved from the same poor communication and relationship-building skills.
I was able to coach them and teach them out of bad habits and demonstrated how to create new ones that were aimed at creating a bond with the customer. They had to learn how to become "people-focused".
They had to have different motivations. We had to ramp up the energy so they were excited to deal with people and impress them in ways they had never done before.
As a coach, it was great to see the change of attitude.
If you are frustrated or lack the time to dedicate to helping your advisors to find ways to motivate your staff to build relationships with customers I would love to help!
message me: adviseme@goldstandardservicetraining.com
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