Promoting a customer-focused culture always starts with recruiting the best talent. Service is what sets successful auto dealerships apart from their competition. However, transitioning away from being a sales-focused organization can be challenging because all that matters is the bottom line for many businesses. Unfortunately, many salespeople are trained and even pressured to meet quotas and treat customers like human ATMs to achieve them. A better solution is hiring and training candidates to be customer-focused professionals that focus on the overall needs of your clients. Instead of viewing sales as one-and-done deals, a growing number of companies are increasing their market share through brand loyalty. Here are some more ways to build a customer-focused culture.
Relating to Customer’s Needs
Sales managers that can think about the world from a customer’s perspective are in high demand. It can be as simple as listening to the needs of your customers. Then, you can gain valuable insight into what’s driving their decision-making, what their goals are, and what they’re feeling. Customer focus should always be a company-wide priority from chief operating officers to marketing directors, not just limited to frontline staff. More executives are stepping out of the office and interacting with customers too. Conducting regular surveys and listening to what customers are saying online about your brand are effective ways to promote a customer-focused mindset.
Customer-Focused Advocates
Also known as chief customer officers (CCOs), this executive position focuses on creating a consistent, customer-first mentality that is trending across the automotive industry, among many others. CCOs can be effective liaisons that can help frontline workers engage positively with customers to improve the overall experience. It’s also essential to gain a 360-degree view of customers and bringing a CCO onboard can help measure customer satisfaction by consolidating and analyzing consumer data.
Customer-Focus Skills Development
Although automotive recruiters are the best source for customer-focused people, it’s still possible to train current employees to develop these skills. Start by teaching the basics of a customer’s journey. Then, there are a variety of training modules that can be used to help improve communication skills. Sales professionals today have to be both sincere and competent to be successful.
Another benefit of onboarding more customer-focused people over sales is that they can better anticipate the customers’ future needs. As new technology continues to revolutionize the automotive industry, those customer-centric dealerships will have a competitive edge by knowing their customer’s buying trends and the relationships to bring them and others back in.
So when you’re ready to have the recruitment team at Autopeople in your corner, give us a call at 1-800-659-9501, visit our website at www.autopeople.com or email us to discuss what Autopeople can do for you.
