It's no secret that customer satisfaction affects brand loyalty directly. But far too many specialty vehicle sales journeys fall short of satisfactory. In fact, a recent report conducted by RV Trader revealed that 35% of RV shoppers consider their experience negative. Let's evaluate a few common scenarios* that leave customers unhappy and what to try instead:
After making a deposit on a vessel at a boat show, a customer is unable to get any information regarding the status of the boat. Over the next few months, he calls the dealership several times and receives the answer “We don’t know” repeatedly. Finally, the dealership tells him they can’t find the boat in their system, and the manufacturer must have canceled it.
Due to a lack of information from the manufacturer, the dealership was unable to present new updates to the buyer. In turn, the customer felt left in the dark.
In this case, you can prevent some of the buyer’s uneasiness by being upfront about the situation. Reassure the customer that your team has been attempting to communicate with the manufacturer and will update them as soon as possible when they receive new information on the boat’s status.
A customer purchases a used RV from an out-of-state dealership with the understanding that the unit’s current issues would be repaired. The unit is not fixed when it gets delivered to the new owner.
Because the customer and dealership discussed repairs to the RV before delivery, the customer was disappointed to find the problems still remained when it arrived. They were frustrated by the extra burden of fixing the unit and the inability to enjoy their purchase right away.
Oversights happen, but in cases like the one above, the customer is left assuming the worst about your dealership. Make sure you have a process in place to track and complete any necessary repairs or agreements before sending out a vehicle for delivery. If you conduct service work before delivery, consider sending a video to the customer walking through the work done to prevent liability for potential damage to the unit while in transit.
A customer works with a sales rep to find the best trailer for their needs. They leave the dealership with a brand-new trailer, only to find that their current vehicle lacks the proper towing capacity.
The sales rep and customer failed to discuss an essential piece of the puzzle — whether the buyer’s vehicle can handle the weight of that specific tow trailer. This oversight leaves the customer unable to use their purchase.
Ensure your sales team is prepared with needs-assessment questions to determine ahead of time if there are any risks to selling a particular model to a customer. Your reps may be wary of pushing buyers from higher-value items, but the customer will appreciate your employees asking the right questions to figure out if the trailer they’re interested in is the right fit. Consider implementing a dealer management system that stores unit details and other information that reps can easily reference from the lot.
A customer walks into a motorcycle dealership with the intention of buying a bike that day. After 15 minutes waiting without being approached by a sales rep, they walk right back out.
When there's a lot on your plate and multiple customers on your property, it can be difficult to ensure everyone gets taken care of promptly. Since no sales reps approached the potential buyer, the customer felt neglected and disrespected. Whether the sales reps forgot about the customer, didn’t notice they had entered the building, or thought someone else was taking care of the customer, the delay caused the dealership to miss out on an easy sale.
While your sales reps are likely aware, it doesn't hurt to remind them how important it is to greet every customer as soon as possible and determine their needs. Have a clear process in place for assigning reps to a prospect, preventing confusion about whether they’ve been approached and helped already.
After doing ample research online, a customer arrives at an RV dealership knowing exactly what they want and most of the details about the unit. The sales rep isn’t even aware their dealership has that model in inventory.
The customer gets the impression that they know more about the RV they’re looking at than the sales rep. They’re left feeling underwhelmed by the level of help they received during their visit.
It’s a feat to know every minuscule detail about every model out there, but stress the importance of being experts on the units you have on your lot. If your reps are unsure of an answer to a customer’s question, they can tell the customer they’ll do more research and follow up with them as soon as possible. By demonstrating a commitment to delivering answers, the customer will feel more confident in their interaction with the rep and your business. Additionally, following up with answers gives your dealership another chance to engage with the prospect and continue building that customer relationship.
A bad sales experience can cause your dealership to lose a deal or prevent repeat business from a customer. By learning from real-life situations that occur at dealerships every day, you can create game plans for each scenario and minimize the number of customers who leave your dealership unhappy.
* These examples are based on real customer experiences. To maintain anonymity, some details have been left out.