How To Get More Customers This Summer | SDR #242

Welcome, everybody, to the big show. Today we're going to talk about how you can get more customers this summer. Believe it or not, Chris Joan goes into a very, very sad story about how his grandfather influenced his trauma in a lot of the external issues that you witness on the show consistently.

The behavior that you witness, it all gets explained consistently. And there's some fun stuff in the news. And then Christian goes crazy about a service experience that he had and night drops, all kinds of stuff. It's going to be really fun. So let's get started right now on service driver volition.

How you doing, Chris Joan?

Better than ever. How about you?

You're lying to the audience right out of the gate.

No, I love life, man. Like, I really feel like I got a pretty fortunate life.

You were, you were complaining about a service experience that you recently had that doesn't affect you.

Oh, was I complaining about that?

Maybe.

So it was. So it was time to service the Toyota again. And I think that I told you this, that I really like to utilize a night drop, the texting feature, and no human contact for the most part. And then I want to come in, pick it up, it'd be ready to go, and then I just leave.

Would you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert?

Boy, I tell you what, it's. That's a really good question because it's not. I don't mind talking and being in. In a group, but like, let me.

Let me tell you, you're an introvert.

Okay, I. I definitely. And I'm okay with not talking to people all the time too. So. Yeah, I used to think that I was an extrovert, but the more that.

I've learned about it. No.

Yeah. So that's fascinating. But so I went there. The place opened at 6, and I got there to do the night drop at 5 in the morning. So I pull up really easy. There's like the little thing, the night drop case with the, the envelopes and everything. Like, so the. It started off rough because I flipped up the things.

Didn't have a pencil.

No, no pencil, no envelopes. Right. So. So then I just tried.

Golf pencil.

Yeah. And then I tried to just drop the keys into the box, but they didn't go down into the, into the protective hole. So I'm like.

The clunk.

Yeah. So I'm like, okay, so here we go. And then all of a sudden, out of this, out of nowhere, this knight in shining armor comes up. His name was Alex and he was a service advisor. So at this moment, at 5 in the morning, when they open at 6 and I see a service manager or service advisor, I already start to get excited, right? Because if you have to pick the person that's going to be your service advisor for the day, you want it to be the person there an hour before they open. It just seems like that person always has everything together. So it started off because.

He'S like, hey, can I, can I help you? I'm like, yeah, I just wanted to use the Night Drop, but, but, but there's no envelopes and I couldn't get the key to go down. He was like, no, there's envelopes in there. And I'm like, okay. So walks over lists at the things. There's no envelopes. I'm like, yeah, no envelopes. So that's the thing that I think that I attracting to my life lately and I think I've seen this happen to you a lot where like happens.

To me all the time.

It's like just too.

When I ask people a question, I'm like, hey, so what are we having for dinner? Well, it's like, no, what for dinner? What?

Two words? Four words, Max.

Chicken enchiladas.

But yeah, that's my thing. It's like I'll say something to somebody, they're like, no, it's not. I'm like, okay. And then they go. And then they figure out that I'm right. Like I don't just make that stuff up just to say.

But they like you're driving around to is just trying to mess with them. Yeah, like morning.

Like I'm a customer. How would I know what the Night Drop envelope looks like? No chance. But, but that was everything from there went off really early. He's like, well, hey, I know you got to get going, so just leave me your keys, give me your name. So he wrote it down on a piece of paper and he's like, have you been here before? I'm like, yes, I have. And you know, essentially last five visits have been done here. He's like, no problem, man. So I'm going to give you a call as soon as I, you know, kind of get everything opened up and checked in, everything like that. Loved it. 6:30 calls me.

I love 6:30am yeah, love it.

Me too. So calls me, played a little bit of phone tech. So he called me and then I called him back and he's like, hey, okay, so I got you all set up because I buy the Toyota care package where it's just. I don't want to mess with it, the oil changes and the rotations are already just kind of paid for five in advance. And he's like, by the way.

I don't see an alignment in your history. You need to do an alignment. I'm like, yes, I do. And nice.

That's awesome. How much was the alignment?

150 bucks. So I thought it was. It was good. And whatever it was, I was going to pay it because I think that I want to support them in doing the right thing. So the. Here's where it starts to get really good, though.

So I ask him. I'm like, yeah, of course. But you know what? I'm just curious. I'd love to see the before and after specs. And so he's like, no problem. I'll just attach it to the ro. And I'm like, I always really like to get a copy of my npi, et cetera, et cetera. She's like, I totally got it. I'll make sure everything happens. Everything else throughout the day happens through text. Through their texting function. They got. So I get updates, I get your car's gonna be done by this time, and then you can pick up. Till this time, like, I never once. Every time it was getting to a point where, like, I wonder what's going on with the car? I got a text. It was so nice. I never had to worry about it. Then I ended up buying another oil change package, too. And the thing that really impressed me the most is that I guess their system went down and their printer got messed up on the alignment machine. So then I got a picture from his personal cell phone. He's like, I wanted you to have the specs. So I just took a picture of the screen, which I thought was really smart because most advisors would have been like, I'm sorry, I can't give it to you because the print is broken.

But now you have a cell phone.

And now I have a cell phone number, which I haven't called him more than six or seven.

Send him inappropriate texts.

Yeah, but. But I just kept thinking, like, how easy is he making this? And I love the first advisor that's there in the morning. They just seem like they get a head start on everybody else, and their day goes smoother than everybody's. And I bet other people, they're like, man, Alex has it so easy, but really what he does is he kiss her before everybody else. And. And he just has a better game plan.

So, yeah, it felt he was the only adviser there.

Yeah.

Yeah. And how many advisers do they have? There do you think?

10? Probably 10, 11.

But I used to love getting the night drops and calling people at like 5:30 in the morning.

I wake up.

Used to be really fun for me. Same thing too. I would go in on Sundays and write night drops. And I would call him.

Yeah.

And great. Like, hey, you got to give me some money to work with. Like, you know, the tech gets it can go to work. Then none of this, you know, Monday morning I gotta call a bunch of people. It's all out of the way. Pre authorize the whole, the whole thing. I remember the first place I was a porter then wrote service and you know.

Arguably some of the best life lessons because they were such terrible operators really from the top on down. But one thing that happened was a couple night drops got stolen. So that's what happened.

Then you couldn't get the night drops or what? They threw the baby out with the bathwater. Of course.

Yeah. No more night drops. How long do you think that lasted?

20 days.

So funny.

There was a lot of that there.

And the thing was. So what was funny is they didn't have a night drop box.

Oh.

So people would put it in the slot in the.

In the door.

In the front door.

Yep.

But you literally with a coat hanger could grab. That's all they did is they stuck a coat hanger through and pulled it up and.

Yeah. Low tech theft.

So then they, they eventually got a box where you put it in high and then it fell down on the other side of the wall and you could never get to it. Yeah. But it's pretty smart. Yeah, it's hilarious.

But yes.

You know what would happen is we would just have cars out there.

Nobody knew where the key, who they were, what they were.

Or sometimes like they would leave the key over the visor. Like it was worse.

Yeah. Like.

And they would be blocking everything. So people would still tow their cars in. But the worst. Guess where the worst place for the keys to be would. Was on a Monday. Think about this. On a Monday morning, you got two cars blocking the drive and you can't find the keys. Where would be the absolute worst place for them to be?

In the gas door?

No, they walked down to the sales department and gave them to them. They don't open it. Like if they opened it a nobody's there until nine and. And then nobody knows where the keys are. They certainly didn't put them anywhere. That made sense. Never, right? No, that's what would happen is then they would walk down to sales and they would give them to them, and then you couldn't. Oh, that's hilarious. God, the memories I have of that place.

Sound fond. They sound fond. Memories.

Oh, yeah. It's all in that. In the book.

Good. Yeah, I was gonna. You know, you got me a little bit. I'm getting nostalgic and I'm making stuff. Yeah. Just with that story about, you know, when you're young and everything like this Sounds like a setup, you know, so I've talked about my grandfather a couple of times. Right.

And my grandfather caused a lot of your childhood issues.

Yeah. I don't know. Maybe. But. But the reason why you're such a people pleaser.

Yeah.

I don't think he had that effect on me. Now, he was an extrovert, though. That guy would love to go anywhere. Just. He would go into town just to talk to people, not to buy anything. Like, he would just go to the store to hang out. That's an extrovert to me. But he was in the Navy during World War II. And I remember, you know.

When he came back, my. My grandmother tells me the story all the time. She's like, yeah. And he came back from, you know, that World War II time with one leg, and she's like, he never told me whose it was.

It's pretty good.

Thanks.

Was your grandfather really in the Navy?

Yeah, both my grandparents were in the Navy.

Mine too.

Yeah.

That's how my grandfather ended up in Bremerton, Washington.

Oh, that would make sense.

From Illinois.

Yep.

So from Springfield, Illinois. Moonshiners come from a legacy of moonshiners. But he ended up there because of the Navy and then worked at the fire department.

Yeah, my. My grandparents did the tour, did some Europe stuff in Hawaii.

Anything in the news today?

There's a couple of things in here. A little bit of a carry on from. From the last episode when we talked about, you know, Warren Buffett's really kind of in the news a lot lately, and he was giving his kind of his two cents on the electric vehicle makers and whether or not he would invest in them in the United States.

And he just essentially invested in the one in China. Right?

Yeah.

What's that one called?

I don't remember the name of it, but maybe it'll say it in here. But he says he thinks Elon Musk is a genius, but he still doesn't know if his company is going to be one of those ones that takes off, but there's a mix.

Which company?

Tesla. He loves Musk, but he doesn't know that Tesla's gonna take Off. Yeah, I think it is, but.

Well, I'm not selling my Tesla stock yet.

Yeah. So it's been a, for me it's been a roller coaster. I'm back where I started. You're up still. But I'm like right where I might buy more. Yeah, I've got a thing where I'll buy it more if it gets to a certain price. But, but he just says that, you know, the electrical vehicle is kind of at that point where the automotive industry was a long 100 years ago or so where every day there was another car company coming up. And he said that a hundred years ago that you didn't know who the winners were going to be. And right now we're at that thing where even if there's somebody that gets an early start doesn't mean they're going to be the one that wins at the end. But I don't know, I feel like Tesla's a decent bet. And then the, the second thing we have in the news is talking about subscription based vehicle features where they believe it's going to challenge automakers in unexpected ways, according to Cox Automotive. So they're thinking that the, at the end of the day that these subscription based features that you can get add ons to your vehicle but you have to pay a monthly subscription service for it. I think heated seats is probably the most contested thing that I've read about and heard about. But Cox Automotive is kind of saying they think that might backfire on the industry and it's probably not as good as idea as it seemed. We've talked about subscription based service, not necessarily for the items on the car, but I think subscription based service from sales is really smart. So I wonder if that's gonna take off. And I, you know, the company I'm talking about was like, you just pay like whatever it is, two grand a month and then if you want a 911, then it shows up and then in six months later if you want a different car, it shows up. Then when I think subscription based, that's what I'm thinking in my head. Yeah.

And it includes the insurance, everything.

And it's easy, it's one check and it's done.

So you still write checks?

Oh, I haven't written a check.

That's a good point.

If my mom does, I have a checkbook.

I don't. I, I used to, I'd say probably within the last two years I fill the ledger out and everything like that with everything I did. And like it was so stupid because I have the ledger. But I'm filling it out based on the. Online. On my account online. But I do everything. Electronic cleanup.

Very efficient.

Yeah. Super smart. Right. Let's take a computer and make it into. Into paper. But yeah. So they also kind of point out that they think the subscription service. There's going to be data and security issues with it. But. But essentially they're kind of saying it sound. It sounded like a good idea at first, but they're not so smart. They're not so sure now. But I think that that's interesting to see that develop in the industry. Well, the.

Maybe the one that is the most effective, I think. And it was interesting because you didn't buy it when you had your Tesla auto drive. Thing is the auto drive now. I bought it with. With Mrs. Tesla. And it's interesting, for a long time she didn't use it. Now she uses it all the time. Oh, all the time.

So she endorses it like she's headed.

Down here right now and she'll use it.

Really?

Yeah.

Okay.

Nuts. Like.

But then you said it was grading her on like holding onto the.

Wheel or so she just puts her hand on the wheel every once in a while.

That's it. And it never makes her nervous. Does she watch what's going on?

She said a couple times when there's a lot of cars around and it's like one of those stupid California intersections, it kind of like stops and goes. And she just takes it over you.

Yeah. Okay.

But for the most part, like, if you're just sitting in traffic, just pulling forward, there's no reason for you to have to do that.

Yeah. I think that my, my thought on that is eventually like the end part of that is that you wouldn't even have to sit in the front seat.

Yeah. Well, now here in LA we have those Wayos which don't have a driver.

Oh, really? I've never seen them.

They're. They're around where I live.

Okay. It just picks you up and takes you. Yeah, yeah, I think that's the next level.

They have this little thing on the top that's like spinning. You haven't seen those. You might think that they're like Google, the Google ones taking a picture or something. But they're actually like an Uber. And then I believe they have their own app.

That's ironic. I just saw one yesterday pass the office. Yeah, I thought it was a Googler thing.

No.

Okay, so now I know what you're talking about. Yeah, it had like, it looked like a satellite on the top. Right.

So that's their version of Uber. I was at a meeting a long time ago, and they talked about Uber's, you know, blind spot is that the car companies like Tesla and Ford and BMW or whatever will go direct to consumer with driverless. So you'll have a BMW app.

Yeah.

And then a BMW will come pick you up.

Interesting.

Okay, you want to talk about how to get more customers this summer?

Oh, yeah.

So I. I think the first thing that we should point out, and this is a lot like when we're going through financial statements for our clients in February and September.

Right. When do you plan on February? Now, February has less days, so you have less working days. And it's in the middle of the winter, so less trap. Less. Less traffic.

Yeah. So five months in advance.

Yeah. So in November, you want to be planning February.

Right.

You don't want to start planning February. Mid February.

That's right.

So I'd say the same thing about the summer. Your summer traffic is you want to plan it in probably January, February, way ahead of time. You want to be thinking about this. It's almost too late now to be thinking about it.

Yeah, I think that that's fair. You got it. I think we've got a couple of weeks where people could throw things together, but at the end of the day, it is the same. You have to have a game plan. For some people, summer's the slow months. Sometimes it's a crazy month, too. So you have to really identify what the opportunity is. But no matter what, it doesn't have to be bad.

Yeah. So plan. Plan ahead. Then the. The next one is. I think you want to understand how the summer is different. So people are out and about.

Right.

They're camping, they're making road trips. Right. They're going to Disneyland or Magic Mountain or whatever it is. Yosemite. Whatever it is around you that is an attraction, that's outdoors. And I think more and more people are doing that sort of thing. Maybe Covid is a part of that, but I think people are just kind of craving nature in the outdoors and doing things like that.

Yeah. I've spent the last three summers doing nature stuff, and it's. It's been packed.

The fix to getting more clients in the summer is to have more tax. Because when there are people coming through your town, what is bound to happen to, I don't know, let's say, one out of 25.

They're going to break down.

They're going to break down. Now, when they break down, what do they do panic. And then what?

Google. Nearest Chrysler dealership. Not that all the cars that break down are Chryslers, just most of them.

And then they call.

Yeah.

And then when you call and you say hey I'm from out of town, blah blah, blah, and they go, well sorry, our next appointment is four weeks out. Two weeks out, whatever. If you don't have the technicians to get those walk ins and those drive ins and those emergencies.

That'S the time to get it is the summer.

Yeah.

And those are higher value customers because they're broken and they have no choice.

Yeah. They're captive audience. The other thing too is what I've noticed about that particular customer is that if ever, if ever you're going to solicit someone to write a Google review, like a raving beautiful review about your dealership, it's that person.

Yeah.

They will light, they'll write a letter to the president, they will write a letter to the owner of the dealership. But it's one of those things where they have so much appreciation for understand that you like help them in that time of need. I think it's the best customer to have on your team even if they live in another state.

The other thing that I would add to this is I would secret shop your department. Have a friend call on speaker while you're sitting there.

Or just somebody that they, they don't know. But see how your advisors handle it because I guarantee you they're turning away your, you're sitting there as a manager or as a dealer or whatever. You're sitting there going, hey, we need more ros, we need more count. Meanwhile you're booked out weeks.

Right.

And your advisors can't get the work done that they want to sell for the cars that are there. So they're turning everything away. And you, you perceive that that isn't what's happening. But I would say secret shop randomly over and over again and watch how hard it is to get into your service department at 10 o' clock on a Monday or whatever.

Yeah.

And I nobody answers the phone. Nothing.

And when they do, it's the weirdest thing. I don't know if you've seen this lately, but I've seen it where a store might only be built, be booked out a day or two, but on that Monday morning when everyone's like they're at the worst possible things, all of a sudden somebody gets in and they're so there's so much panic going on on the advisors that they stretch it out like you said, they're like I couldn't imagine touching another car for a month. So they tell this customer they're booked out four weeks when they're booked out two days. And I think that that's a tragedy. But you'd be amazed at how often that happens. But advisors are sometimes during those times, they're just trying to tread water.

Now, if you're running.