Making Customer Service a Priority at Your Door Dealership

By Amy Campbell

Great customer service has always been a cornerstone for the success of every business. But in the last few years, it has emerged as a “make or break” for many companies. With Internet providing instantaneous positive and negative reviews on everything from service at a local burger joint to product reviews, offering the best customer service possible is more important than ever.

In fact, a Consumer Reports survey in 2011 showed two out of three customers have walked out of a store because of poor customer service. The report also found 71 percent of survey respondents were extremely irritated when they couldn’t reach a human on the phone.

Poor customer service has far-reaching repercussions. Not only can you expect to lose that person as a long-term customer, it’s highly likely the upset customer will offer negative feedback about your company to just about anyone who will listen.

To ensure your door dealership is offering the best customer service possible, start with a solid training program. It should be an ongoing one, as well. Everyone needs a refresher now again on customer service. Rather than having a typical “here’s how to provide great customer service” meeting with a lot of rhetoric, try role playing different scenarios. This gives everyone a chance to provide feedback and can give your company a consensus on how to handle certain situations, such as a complaint about a product or a billing issue.

Also, keep track of the good and the bad. If an employee receives a compliment, share it with everyone in your company. You can even post it on your website as a testimonial. You should also reward employees who excel at customer service with small tokens of your appreciation, such as movie tickets or a gift card to a local restaurant. If you have a customer complaint that makes for a good training example, save it for the next meeting.

Here’s a great article from longtime PDD columnist Earl Rivard on ways door dealers can meet and exceed their customers’ expectations. You can also find dozens of articles online and, of course plenty of books on the topic.

What are your secrets to providing excellent customer service? Post a comment below to share your insight.