I always applaud dealers that make an effort to learn and better themselves professionally while also striving for personal growth. For this reason I find that 20-groups, conferences and educational opportunities are invaluable.
However, one key thing I find missing is the study of best practices and examples of success from leaders and business that are staring us right in the face; namely companies such as Zappos, Amazon and Apple. There are many valuable things these companies are doing right now in retail to improve efficiency, customer satisfaction and experience — all while growing profitably. The sad thing is that in the automotive industry we rarely take a look outside for those best practices.
Perhaps there’s a reason why our industry is consistently ranked at the bottom of the list in consumer trust and experience. But I do believe that it is changing for the better and, slowly but surely, consumer perception will change.
Leaders such as Tony Hsieh (Zappos) bring valuable advice and have proven that they can create company culture that produces both engaged employees AND consumers. Hsieh states that “Leadership is not dictatorship” and he is absolutely correct. Successful leaders understand that for a business to grow and succeed it takes a team of people invested in accomplishing common goals, working together hand-in-hand. They also practice what they preach by listening to front-line employees, along with feedback from consumers — then make any needed changes within their organizations to solve friction points.
Join me in Las Vegas, NV from September 18-20 at Digital Dealer 23 for my session “Turn Your Customer Experience from Blah to Wow! Lessons from Outside the Auto Industry: A Focus on How Companies such as Amazon, Zappos and Apple Outshine the Competition When it comes to Customer Experience.”
I’ll share these example with you and show you specific things these companies do which you can then take back to your dealership, implement and use to start wowing your customers. I look forward to seeing you there!
