Build Your Sales Culture: Leverage Customer Relations for Growth
Over the past two months, I have written a series of articles related to building a sales culture as we have been hearing repairers are slowing down and backlogs have declined from weeks to days. The idea is to provide thoughts on implementing a sales and SERVICE culture to encourage the entire state to be on the sales team to fill the shop going forward. This article aims to reinforce how to leverage SERVICE via legendary customer relations to drive ongoing growth.
It Started with CSI and Led to NPS
In the 1980s, I met Dennis Kiyohara while working for 3M ARM$ (the industry’s first large-scale management system company, which was innovating automated estimating, job costing, production control and an integrated accounting system) and he started reading books on this new concept called CSI, or Customer Satisfaction Indexing. He was so convinced of its value that he started AutocheX. As the years went on, experts refined the raw CSI score and created the Net Promoter Score (NPS), as it was a bit more of a refined way to predict which customers would and which would NOT refer a business.
What is NPS?
If a customer scores their experience as a 9-10, they are quite likely to repeat or refer others. It’s the goal of the organization to build a sales and service culture where the customer experience process results in the customer being willing to score their experience as an 8-10.
The customers who score a 7-8 rate their experience as so-so and are therefore not going to go out of their way to repeat the experience or go out on a limb and refer others. This is the score a repairer receives when they were treated as a number. Finally, a score below a 7 is a leading indicator of a detractor or someone who would bad-mouth your company and discourage anyone from having you repair their vehicle.
The Bottom-line Message of Google Reviews
CSI and NPS are solid internal viewpoints to satisfaction, but in the past decade, the internet enabled “reviews” to be posted by the consumer to reflect their feeling about the experience. This raw expression of emotion partnered with VERY SPECIFIC customer experiences, have made Google Reviews the go-to assessment tool of a company by those using the internet to search for a repair center.
Achieving a high NPS score is ultimately about proving the customer with an experience which is LEGENDARY. A LEGENDARY customer experience is one which they were so impressed with, that they want to tell a friend or family member or make a positive review or post. Here are a few examples:
- “They offered me a ride home when the vehicle I was driving was determined to be unsafe to drive”
- “They kept me informed throughout the entire process and completed the repairs on time”
- “They offered to fix prior damage at a substantial discount, while my vehicle was there for repairs”
The key to building a service culture is active listening and a keen sense of observation. Only with those senses refined can our teams see the opportunity to wow a customer and compel them to say incredible things about your organization.
What things can we do as repairers to drive the best possible experience?
Assignment: Answer the phone with enthusiasm and a smile and actively listen to their needs. Then once their questions are answered, take control so they feel confidence and you earn their trust. Use AI if the CSR is not available to make the contact, gather the information and get them scheduled for an inspection so we don’t lose the opportunity.
Inspection: Attempt to take an “advisory tone” and become their trusted advisor through the entire inspection / estimation process. Use the opportunity to understand what they would like to see repaired through the repair process. Then, schedule them in when you have received all parts, so repairs can begin immediately upon arrival.
Drop-off: Remember to confirm appointment times (early in the day) using CSR or AI. Again, at the time of the drop-off, attempt to greet them by name. Advise them on the repair planning process and explain that an expected delivery date will be provided ONLY after a thorough disassembly has been completed. Here is a great opportunity to listen to the customer and seek opportunities to compel customers to feel special and say nice things.
You now need to ask yourself what types of process refinements you might make to earn a higher-than-average NPS score.
Here is a key point in the service process, do not wait until delivery to discuss the CSI and ask for a positive review, instead, at drop-off at the vehicle hand them your card with your personal number on it and say, “We try to earn a positive review and 10 on our customer satisfaction surveys, and if at any time we are not earning that review or perfect score, call me immediately so I can address your concern immediately and assure a positive experience.”
In-process Communication: Knowing your customer’s preferred approach to communication, and then following up, is key to reinforcing the trust you desire to maintain throughout his or her experience.
Quality Assurance: Fundamental to LEGENDARY service are repairs that meet OEM and I-CAR standards. To win the optimal review, it is essential that you repair vehicles “right the first time and on-time” (my quality statement) every day! You need to ensure your repair processes yield safe and proper repairs and you avoid ANY repair-related adjustments or comebacks.
Delivery: Having verified EVERY item promised is delivered, and on time, sets you up for success. Offering clear paperwork and reminding them of your written lifetime warranty, reinforces they made the right choice. Then, you have earned the right to ask for a referral or positive review!
Having a culture of kindness and living the above things can really inspire people to repeat the repair experience when the need pops up or they will refer when asked.
If you have done the above, you have earned the right to ask for a repeat opportunity or referral
The foundation of any sales and service culture is positive referrals and very specific positive reviews from past customers. In an independent post repair study, customers were asked, “Did you know of someone in the past year that could use the services of a collision repair shop?” and 87.23% said they did! But, when asked if they referred, only 1.36% said they did. And the longer since the last shop contact, the less likely they were to refer. But why? It’s the fear of reprisal, which means they don’t want to face the negative consequences of a negative experience, so they avoid making the connection.
To encourage these referrals, you need to stay in touch with the customers periodically and reinforce your integrity and willingness to be their trusted advisor. There are companies such as BodyShop Booster and Phoenix Solutions that can help with creating custom email, texts, and even hand-signed First Class Mail documents. These help the shop stay in touch with the customer and remind them of your lifetime warranty and willingness to make any adjustments they might need.
What is the lifetime value of a customer?
If we make the sale and keep the customer for life, we see an incredible lifetime value for these repeat or referring customers:
Years to Repeat (reported claim): 10 Years
Driving Tenure (16-76): 60 Years
Potential Lifetime Repairs: Six R.O.s
Average Insurance-paid R.O.: $5,000
Average Lifetime Value of the Customer: $30,000
(Now, for the Influence Factor.)
By telling five people for each of the six repairs:
Total Lifetime Value: 30 people told
Average Insurance-paid R.O.: $5,000
Average Lifetime Value of Referrals: $150,000
With their repairs, the total lifetime value: $180,000 (above plus $30k)
Summary
The entire sales and service process is a huge circle of introducing you, earning and maintaining trust, offering an advisory tone, delivering on fair and safe repairs, and then building and cherishing customer relationships. It’s when the entire circle is completed with compassion and a keen eye for customer needs that the magic happens: customers repeat the repair experience and are willing to go out on a limb and refer your repair center to others. Build a sales and service culture and watch your customers become a gold mine for years to come!
