How to Use Customer Service as a Marketing Tool

How would you rate your dealership’s customer service? Five out of ten? Eight out of ten?

Many dealers would swear their customer service is top-notch. But ask your customers what they think, and you might get some surprising answers that you’re not too happy with.

It’s all too easy for owners, and employees, to let customer service slide at times. But poor customer service can do more harm to your business than a new Home Depot opening up a mile down the road. Dealers must provide excellent customer service if they want to compete today.

The problem is that many times, employees don’t know what “excellent customer service” really means. Which is why setting standards for your business will not only raise the level of service, but will help market your business through word of mouth.

Strategy #1: Create a Powerful 8-Word Statement that Defines Your Dealership

Does your dealership have a slogan that powerfully defines your mission and promise to your customers?

If not, then you need to create one as part of your marketing efforts. This 8-word statement needs to define what’s at the heart of your dealership. It needs to tell your customers why you’re unique.

Think of this statement as your dealership’s “brand”. It needs to tell people why your customer service is better than every other dealer’s customer service, and what you’re going to do for them.

It can be challenging to pack that into an 8-word statement. If you’re having trouble, then enlist your employees to help. You might be astonished at the clever slogans they can come up with to brand your business.

Photo © by Infusionsoft

Strategy #2: Establish Standards to Help Market Your Dealership

Does your dealership have standards for customer service?

Surprisingly, many don’t. But customer service standards set the tone for your store; they’re a promise to your customers that you’re going to take care of them and if you fail, they get compensated in return.

For instance, one Midwestern dealership makes the following promises to all their customers:

• Customers will not wait in line more than 5 minutes for a part.
• Customers will not wait on hold more than 2 minutes.
• Customers will always be greeted by name during checkout.

This is just a small sample of the standards they set in their store.  If anyone, from the owner to the employees, fail to uphold these standards then that customer get a free oil change next time they bring their equipment in for repair.

The biggest advantage to defining standards is that it helps employees see clearly what’s expected of them. Nothing is left “unsaid” or vague.

So how can you do all this? Well, good OPE inventory management software can make a dramatic difference in your dealership’s customer service. OPE software can help your team find parts quickly, check the status on parts or repairs, check on back orders, and allow you to easily look up customers to greet them by name.

This speedy, personalized service can help your team uphold the standards you’re setting.

Last Word…

Excellent customer service gets results. Taking actions like having a clear statement about your business and creating standards will help define your dealership and give your team clear directives to shoot for.

Why You Should Be Selling Online

Many OPE dealers don’t think they need to sell online. After all, would you really sell a snow blower or lawn mower over the internet?

Well, maybe, maybe not. But open up your OPE inventory management software sometime and take a look at how many parts you sold last month, and the month before. How would you like to increase those numbers by 25%? 50%?

It’s entirely possible to dramatically increase your parts sales, if you start selling them on your website.

It’s also important to realize this: if your competitors are selling parts online, then they’re taking market share away from you. Your customers are busy; if they can buy a part online and have it shipped to their door, they’re going to opt for that instead of driving around looking for it.

The Key to Successful Online Selling

The great thing about having an online store is that it’s working for you 24/7. You don’t have to be “open” to make money if you use the Internet. And the opportunity to earn additional income is incredible. But having a successful store for your OPE dealership depends on a few things.

1. Keywords

If you start selling parts or other items online, people must be able to find you. For instance, if you have a store in Kansas City and someone Googles “Kansas City lawnmower parts”, you want to make sure your dealership is on that first page of Google. So you need to choose keywords that relate to your business, and make sure your site, and your online store, are using them effectively, over and over again. Even if you need to invest in a search engine marketing firm that will help you improve your rankings, your increased sales might be well worth the investment.

2. Use Email Effectively

Hopefully you’ve been collecting your customers’ email addresses. Once your store goes live, make sure your customers know about it! Send them an email to let them know they can now buy parts online. You could also think about giving them a specific coupon code for 10% off their first purchase.

Email is also beneficial because it can go viral. That is, one of your customers may not need a part right now. But they know their sister, who lives 200 miles away, does. So they can forward that email to her to use. This means you just picked up a new customer who normally would have never come into your store.

That’s the power of the Internet.

Last Word…

Many dealers underestimate how much an online store could do for their business. But you can potentially increase your monthly profits by thousands of dollars, simply by putting up an online store and optimizing it with SEO. At the least it would make your store look more professional, and give your customers a more convenient way to shop with you.

What Is PR, and How Do You Implement a PR Program?

As an OPE dealer you might not think you need a Public Relations (PR) campaign. After all, aren’t PR campaigns used by giant corporations? Why would your dealership need one of those?

PR campaigns or programs are not slick, savvy marketing campaigns designed to “hoodwink” your customers. A PR program is just another term for a plan to show the public you’re part of the community. And yes, your dealership definitely needs one.

PR programs are much more than just advertising. It’s a multi-faceted approach to getting more exposure for your dealership, and getting people to know, like and trust you and your business. PR programs put a personal face on your dealership.

So, how do you put one together? Well, think of a PR program like a hand; there’s a wide base, and several different fingers reaching out. Your PR plan needs to have several “fingers” reaching out into the community.

Step 1: Send out Press Releases

A press release is nothing more than a one-page “announcement” you send out to your local newspaper or magazine to let them know of a potential story idea.

The key to getting exposure for a press release is to make it interesting from the editor’s point of view. All they care about is a good story; they’re not interested in just promoting your business.

What can you write a press release about? Anything at all, as long as it’s newsworthy and you can make it interesting. This is especially true if you’re doing good things in the community, like implementing a recycling program and safely disposing of oil in your business, or hosting a charity event.

Well-written press releases can get you a ton of free press in the newspaper and in the local news.

Step 2: Get Involved With Your Community

Are you on the School Board? Does your dealership host a Little League team? Do you collect canned food each December for your local food pantry?

Your dealership needs to be involved with your community on a personal level. This is a huge part of a PR program, but it takes advance planning.

For instance, if you want to collect food for your food pantry in December, then start planning in July or August. Send out a press release in early November so the paper can run the story before the collection begins.

It’s helpful to plan out an entire year’s community events so you can make sure you have all your bases covered.

You can use your OPE business software as a powerful marketing tool in your PR program. For example, you could send an email out to customers letting them know of the upcoming food drive (or other event) and invite them to come drop off donations.

Last Word…

A PR program is nothing more than a multi-faceted plan to get more exposure for your business. Just keep in mind what “PR” stands for: Public Relations. Focus on putting a personal face on your business; get involved with your community, and prove that you’re an integral part just like everyone else.

What Is Your Dealership Saying to Your Customer?

When was the last time you spent time analyzing how the outside and inside of your store looks?

Many dealers spend a great deal of time on this. Many more, however, don’t give it a second thought.  But if you want to make a positive first impression to your customers and keep them coming back, then you’ve got to realize that how your store looks says a lot about who you are and what you care about. And your customers are noticing.

If your dealership needs some sprucing up (inside or out), try using these tips…

The Outside

One of the worst things an outdoor power equipment retailer can do is to neglect the outside of their store, especially the lawn. After all, you’re selling lawn maintenance equipment. You need to spend time keeping your lawn looking inviting. Unkempt lawns send a very negative signal to current and prospective customers.

• Make sure the grass is cut once per week during the growing season.
• Create flower beds to add color and visual interest to the outside of your store. If you focus on planting perennials you’ll only have to make the investment once, as they’ll grow back each year.
• Lay down a thick layer of mulch to keep your beds tidy and moist all summer long.
• Make sure your dealership’s windows, and all signage, is spotless.
• Sweep the parking lot weekly, and make sure that all trash is picked up on a daily basis.

The Inside

Once you’ve got the outside spruced up, it’s time to focus on the inside of your store.

• Make sure that your shelves are dust-free. Customers don’t want to buy product they even suspect might be “old”, so make sure everything is kept dust-free.
• Many dealerships, especially ones located in older buildings, have terrible lighting. Customers want a store that’s bright, open and welcoming. If your store is dim, then make it your top priority to add additional lighting.
• Head over to Home Depot and take a close look at how they have their equipment displayed. Customers today are very savvy; well-put together displays sell far more than product that’s just jumbled or stacked on a shelf. Try to make your store look as “professional” as the chain stores.

The Checkout

You can also impress your customers as they’re walking out the door by having high quality OPE point of sale software. Quality software is not only convenient for your customers (since they get out the door faster), but it also allows you to track vital data like buying trends, lost sales, and your customers’ contact information.

Your dealership is constantly sending subtle messages to your customers. Invest the time in making sure that those messages are the right ones so that your customers keep coming back.

Are You Making These 3 Marketing Mistakes In Your Dealership?

Most OPE dealers know they need to be marketing themselves in some way. But, many owners rarely spend the time to learn how to market their store effectively. As a result, they end up wasting precious marketing dollars, and losing potential business. All because they’re making simple mistakes that can easily be fixed.

So, are you making these common marketing mistakes in your dealership?

Mistake #1: No Strategy

Do you have a marketing strategy for your dealership?

If you’re like most dealers, then the answer is probably “no”. This is one of the most common mistakes you can make with your marketing efforts.

Think of it this way: you wouldn’t start a business without a business plan, right? And you certainly wouldn’t head off on a road trip without a map.

Well, marketing your business is exactly the same. A marketing strategy is a road-map for where you want to go with your marketing, and a plan for what you want to achieve.

The Fix: Create a plan for your marketing efforts. Identify a goal first (like a 10% increase in sales this quarter), and then research a strategy for getting there.

Mistake #2: Living in the Past

Many dealerships don’t bother to gather their customers’ emails addresses. But, this is a huge mistake! Email is by far the cheapest and most effective way to communicate with your customers. You could be putting out a monthly newsletter filled with helpful tips and articles. This would keep you on your customers’ minds, and strengthen that level of trust.

The Fix: You can easily start gathering customer email addresses with your OPE point of sale software. Your employees can simply ask customers as they check out. You can motivate them to give their address by letting them know that you’ll be sending out special coupons and advance notice of sales (but make sure you follow through on this!). Email is also a very effective way to let customers know if there is a recall, or if there is warranty information they need to know about.

Mistake #3: No Idea How Much to Spend

It’s hard to know how much to spend on marketing. And, many dealers don’t create any kind of marketing budget at all. They simply do what they did the year before (like placing a radio ad in the fall and spring) and leave it at that.

But, just as you have a budget for your business, you need to create a budget for your marketing.

The Fix: Marketing is most effective when it’s done consistently. So, plan out a budget so you’re spending something each month to market your business. Most experts recommend that you spend 3%-5% of your total revenue on marketing. So, if you sell $1 million each year, then you need to be spending $30,000-$50,000 on marketing.

Last Word…

Marketing should be a vital part to any OPE dealership. If you’re currently making one (or all) of these marketing mistakes, then don’t worry! They’re easy to fix. Focus on creating a strategy, updating your marketing techniques, and planning out a budget that’s right for your dealership. These techniques will help ensure that you stay consistent with your marketing, and getting the most bang for your buck.

How to Get the Best From Your Employees

There’s no doubt that today’s customers expect excellent service. And if you’re going to compete with large chains like Home Depot or Lowe’s, then your services needs to go above and beyond the call of duty.

Unfortunately, it can be hard to get your team on the same page. To them, working at your dealership might just be a job. So how can you motivate your team so that your customers are receiving the best service (and, in turn, walking through your door again and again)?

1. Define What Excellent Customer Service MEANS

Many owners want their team to provide excellent customer service. But, this means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

Photo © by www.lumaxart.com

You need to write out exactly what “Excellent Customer Service” means to YOU. And, post the list somewhere where everyone on your team can see it.

Your team needs to see that the customer is the most important person in the business, even more important than you. Go over the list with them, emphasizing why each element is so vital to the success of the dealership. After all, if customers don’t continue to come through the door, then the doors are going to close. Once your team fully understands this, they’ll hop on board.

2. Make Sure You’re Hiring the Best

Your employees are often the first people to interact with your customers, which is why you need to focus on hiring the very best employees you can find.

When you’re hiring, make sure your short-list of applicants take a drug test before your final decision. This will let you know who shouldn’t be trusted to work in your store.

It’s also important for you to pay attention to their personality. Do they talk easily to others? Are they well-groomed? Do they smile often?

You should also check and make sure that they’re comfortable using a computer. Put them in front of your OPE point of sale software, and just go through the basics with them. The faster they are on the computer, the less time your customers are going to have to wait.

Remember, this person is going to be interacting with your customers, representing your business. Choose someone who’s going to make a great impression. A good rule of thumb is to hire slowly, and fire quickly!

3. Never Make Training a One-Shot Affair

Many employees get trained when they start at a dealership. And then, that’s it.

Successful dealerships know that training should be continuous. The more experts you have on your team, the more your customers are going to keep coming back for the priceless advice they’re giving out.

Training is essential to creating a great team. Contact your suppliers and see if they can come out at least once per year for training sessions.

4. Make Sure Your Team Understands Their Worth

Does your team understand how valuable they are. Probably not.

So, let them know regularly what a great job they’re doing. Remind them, on a personal level, why you hired them. Hold them accountable for your dealership’s goals.

The more your team sees how much you value them the more pride they’re going to take in their work. They’ll feel a sense of ownership in the dealership which will, in turn, show up in the way they treat customers.

Last Word…

Getting your team on the same page as you when it comes to customer service isn’t that hard. All you have to do is give first: give them training, support, and a clear list of your expectations. Make sure they understand that you value them, and keep reminding them on a regular basis why you hired them. The more pride they feel in your dealership, the better they’re going to perform.

The Power of Small

Common Mistakes That Cause Your Dealership to Lose Customers

As an owner, it’s all too easy for you to become blind to the small details of your dealership. After all, you’re there every day. And when you’re there, you’re busy. You can’t go over everything with a fine toothed comb on a daily basis, right?

Well, no. But it’s helpful to take a step back every few weeks and look at the small things. Because it’s these small things that could be driving away your best customers.

Here are a few small, common mistakes that owners often overlook in their dealership.

Mistake #1: Exhaust Fumes

What do you think your customers think when they walk into your showroom and smell exhaust fumes? Now, some of your customers may like it. But many won’t. Today’s customers want clean stores that sparkle and smell good. Do what you can to put up additional barriers between your service department and the showroom to eliminate exhaust fumes leaking in.

Even if you don’t have a direct access from your showroom to the service department, check the smell of your space anyway. Is it pleasant, or at least neutral?

Try opening windows and doors when the weather is nice to let in some fresh air. Offgassing from equipment can create a stuffy, “plastic-smelling” environment which is not only unpleasant, but can actually be unhealthy. The more fresh air you can let in, the better your showroom will smell.

Mistake #2: A Low Fill Rate

It’s never a good business strategy to try and be all things to all people. But when a customer comes into your store, they usually want to get in and get out. Having what people need, versus an overstocked, overpriced stockroom, is a very fine line.

Dealerships should strive for a 90% fill rate. This means that 90% of the time, you have what your customers need right there in your store.

This is where OPE point of sale software comes in. A quality OPE point of sale software will allow you to track your customers’ buying habits, which will enable you to fully understand what they’re looking for. And when someone comes in and asks for something you don’t have, you can track that as well. Knowing what your customers want, and what they don’t want, will allow you to reach that 90% fill rate.

Mistake #3: Unclean Restrooms

Many owners don’t give much thought to the restroom. After all, most of the time it’s an area that someone else deals with. But many customers, especially women, pay very close attention to the cleanliness of restrooms.

How do you think customers react when they go into a store’s restroom and it’s dirty? What if they have small children, and have to change a diaper? Would you want to change your child’s diaper in a dirty restroom? Definitely not.

Unclean restrooms can create a very negative reaction in your customers, both men and women. Make sure they’re cleaned daily (or more, if you’re busy). Make sure there is good soap, ample paper towels, and hand sanitizer. It also wouldn’t hurt to hang up some attractive pictures, and make it as comfortable and pleasant as possible. Your customers will notice.

Last Word…

When you’re looking for ways to keep your current customers coming in your door, don’t forget to notice the little things. They may not seem like much, but it’s often the smallest changes that can make the biggest difference.

Easy Strategies to Get Customers in Your Door

As the owner of a dealership, whether it’s large or small, it’s easy to get tied up in the day-to-day workings of your business and forget to step back and look at your larger purpose: that is, providing amazing service to your customers.

But first you have to get them in the door. Let’s take a look at some tips you can use to make your customers happy and set yourself apart from your competition.

Strategy #1: Improve Your Parking

Many owners don’t think twice about their parking. After all, it’s a parking lot. What’s the big deal?

Well, it’s a big deal to your customers because most of the time, they’re in a hurry. They want to get in and get out so they can get on with their day. Customers can easily get annoyed with parking lots that are too small. And, this annoyance can cause them to go somewhere else.

A good rule of thumb is that for every square foot of your retail store, you need five square feet of parking.

It’s also important to analyze how your lot is laid out. Many customers can’t walk easily on gravel, so using asphalt is your best bet. Your lot should always be clean and attractively landscaped. Remember, this is your customers’ first impression of your dealership when they pull in. Make it a good one.

Strategy #2: Improve Your Curb Appeal

Your customers want to know that they’re shopping at the best store. And, this realization starts with how your store looks from the outside. Curb appeal is extremely important for dealerships, and yet most owners don’t give it a second thought. Their focus is the inside of their store-not the outside.

Go outside and look at your building from across the street. How does your store look…is it attractive, or dirty? Can potential customers easily read your signs? Is your garbage bin placed where everyone can see it, or is it hidden in the back? Are the windows clean?

Make every effort to improve the curb appeal of your building. All these little details send big signals to your potential customers about the quality of service they can expect from you and your team. When you take excellent care of your building, and how it looks, your customers know that they can expect the same level of attention once they go inside.

Strategy #3: Make Sure You Have an Identity

Some dealerships try to be all things to all people. But you know how the old saying goes…when you try to please everyone you end up pleasing no one. Dealers that carry several different brands of the same product just end up confusing their customers with information overload. And then, they don’t end up making a purchasing decision.

If this sounds like you, then use your OPE point of sale software to determine which products you’re selling the most of. These products should become your identity. Take the time to become an expert on these core products, and let the rest go. You’ll better service your customers with your in-depth knowledge of these items, and you’ll help them avoid the confusion from having too many choices.

Last Word…

Having a successful dealership means you put your customers, and their wants and needs, first. Strategies like improving your parking lot, improving your curb appeal, and using your OPE point of sale software to improve your product selection can go a long way towards getting customers in the door, and keeping them around over the long term.

2 Strategies For Improving Profits In Your Service Department

Every dealership wants to be profitable. But if there’s a weak area for most owners, it’s going to be the service department. Between managing techs, managing parts, and overseeing billing, there are plenty of places costs can spiral out of control and opportunities for increasing profit margins can get overlooked.

The good news is that there are plenty of ways you can ensure efficiency and stay on top of your billing and techs in your service department.

Strategy #1: Know Where You’re At

Profitable dealerships always know where they’re at financially. Not knowing where you stand is just like setting out on long journey with no map, and no idea where you’re starting from. It’s just not a smart way to move forward!

Quality OPE office management software allows you to see within seconds exactly where your dealership, and your shop specifically, stands financially. You can keep track of parts inventory, your techs billable hours, and how much work you have scheduled in the days and weeks to come.

Staying on top of these metrics gives you, as an owner, a feeling of control that you simply don’t have without a smart system in place. Plus, having a complete picture of your shop, and where you stand, allows you to spot opportunities for growth, or areas where you could trim costs.

Strategy #2: Stop Real Time Billing

Another smart strategy you can use to make your shop more profitable is to stop real time billing.

Real time billing is when you work on a piece of equipment for ½ hour, and then you charge your customer for ½ hour’s worth of work. The problem with real time billing is that it eats away at your profits.

For instance, you may know that a certain job is going to take your A-level techs half an hour to complete, so that’s what you quote your customer. But what happens when you only have a B-level tech available, and it takes them ¾ hour to do the job? Well, you just lost that ¼ hour.

Dealers that have profitable service departments operate more like car dealerships. They have an extensive list of menu and flat-rate pricing on the bulk of the work they do.

Think about this example: if you’re replacing the center spindle on a zero-turn mower, you know your A-level tech can get this done in about ¼ hour if he’s using a lift. But, you would bill this at ¾ hour. Why? Because there’s a good chance that one of your B-level techs

will be doing this job, and it’s going to take them almost ¾ hour to get it finished.

This not only improves your profits when an A-level tech does this job, but it ensures you’re not losing money when a B-level tech gets involved.

You can manage this by making sure every piece of equipment that’s brought into your shop is looked at by a qualified technician. This way a time and a price has been put on that equipment before it’s processed for service. The advantage to this “triage system” is that technicians know beforehand how much time has been allocated to complete that particular job.

Your technicians should also be keeping track of their time with outdoor power equipment technician software, or at least some kind of time log. Many dealers will use these time logs to spur efficiency and motivation in their techs.

Your service department can be an incredibly profitable part of your dealership. By using quality outdoor power equipment office management software to stay on top of key metrics and by setting up a flat rate pricing system, you’ll ensure that your service department carries their weight in the years to come.

Are You Measuring These Key Metrics In Your Dealership?

When was the last time you looked at the gross profit margin in your service department? Or, for that matter, how long has it been since you measured the profit margin of your showroom compared to your available square footage?

It’s easy for owners to get so wrapped up in the day-to-day workings of their dealerships that they neglect to look at key metrics on a weekly or monthly basis. But, these metrics exist for one purpose: to help you measure the health and forward progress of your business. When you go without looking at them, it’s like trying to sail a ship without a rudder or a map. In other words, it’s not something you want to do unless you actually want to get somewhere.

Successful dealerships use quality outdoor power equipment office software to help them measure these key metrics. OPE office management software can give you access to vital information about your business in just minutes, and can drastically shorten the “information gathering” time you’d spend without it.

So, what should you be looking at on a weekly basis to make sure you’re meeting your goals for the year?

The most important performance indicator that you need to be looking at weekly is your gross profit margin on parts, whole goods, and service. If you do rentals in your dealership, then you also need to look at your gross profit margins in this department as well.

Determining where you need to be will vary slightly with each dealership, but in your service department you should be aiming for a gross profit margin of 50%-55%. Your parts should be 48%-53% for OEM, and for aftermarket 60%-70%.

When it comes to your whole goods, you need to analyze this number as it’s compared to the total square footage of your showroom space.

Another key metric you should be looking at is the management cost per dollar sold in each department. Some dealerships are very small, which means that owners are also working as managers. If this is the case in your dealership, then you need to take into account your salary just as you would a manager that you had working for you full time.

When it comes to the metrics you need to be looking at on a monthly basis, parts aging and inventory turns are probably the most important. Now, doing this without OPE office management software is going to be challenging, which is why so many owners find that investing in quality software is more than worth it.

The reason why it’s so important to look at these two metrics monthly is because it’s so easy to let parts and inventory slide through the cracks, especially during the busy seasons. Most dealers only look at this information at the end of the year, since that’s when they do the bulk of their buying.

Staying on top of the key metrics of your dealership is easy if you have quality software to do the work for you. Even if you don’t, however, it’s vital you spend the time compiling this information. These metrics show you clearly how your business is doing. If you discover that you have aging parts and falling margins, you can take action to fix the problem before things get out of control. And that can make the difference between a thriving, and failing, dealership.