- Dealer Marketing Magazine

Are you struggling with customer retention? Maybe looking for a way to improve customer loyalty? Establishing a good relationship with customers can be difficult, especially for car dealers, when generalizations and stereotypes tell customers to be leery of anything you say. Here are 10 ways you can reverse these stereotypes and strengthen your relationship with customers.

1. Listen

The voice of the customer is essential. Ask for customer feedback, and use their input to improve your business.

Talk less, listen more, and you’ll have happier customers.

2. Be reliable

When customers can rely on your business to give stellar service no matter what, you’re more likely to earn their repeat business and recommendations to friends.

You want customers to know no matter who they talk to at your business, no matter what day of the week it is, they will always receive the same high-quality help.

3. Be unique

Being unique goes far beyond offering customers a unique product — at a car dealership, you’re only working with a handful of different vehicles for sale.

There are two things you can do to set your dealership apart from others as unique: (1) establish a positive reputation, and (2) build upon that reputation to let customers know you’re not only reliable, but offer hassle-free services.

4. Add value

Anyone can rattle off facts about a car, but if you really want to establish customer loyalty, you need to add value to every customer interaction.

This means recognizing problems and fixing them before customers realize they even exist, and offering new and interesting information to each conversation. You need to constantly work to maintain your customers.

5. Go above and beyond

Don’t just sell your customers a car, provide above-and-beyond customer service. Make sure they are completely taken care of.

Help them secure a loan, offer genuine advice, and prove that your interest in them and their vehicle purchase goes far beyond your dealership's profit on the deal. Your customers need to know that you truly care about them.

6. Be credible

No one likes a liar. Be honest in all of your customer dealings and never make a promise you can’t keep.

Customers want to do business with someone trustworthy and credible, so make sure to be just that.

7. Be available

Don’t play hard to get. Call customers back quickly, answer their questions, and make yourself available to give them the best car-buying experience possible.

8. Show empathy

Pay attention to your customers. Are they anxious? Reassure them. Are they excited? Join in their excitement.

Step into your customer’s shoes and give them the support and help they need. Show your customers you care with empathy.

9. Hire strong employees

Your business is only as good as your weakest link, which means it’s essential to hire only strong, capable, and positive employees.

And don’t just wait for these employees to come to you — if you encounter someone offering the kind of customer service you’re looking to have at your business, offer them a job.

10. Keep improving

Once you’ve built a good rapport with customers, it’s time to work even harder to maintain customer loyalty. Never stop improving.

Keep training employees, keep looking for customer feedback, and always look for ways to improve the customer experience.

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With the help of these 10 simple tips, you’ll watch customer loyalty improve, and your dealership flourish.

Brooke Cade is a freelance writer who’s committed to helping businesses and sales professionals build stronger connections with their customers. She writes for multiple publications including InMoment.com. In her spare time, she enjoys learning more about CX, reading, and engaging on Twitter.