Top 5 Customer Relationship Management Tools For Car Dealers

Foreign.

Welcome, everybody, to service drive revolution. We are starting a revolution in your service drive. No longer is the service department forgot about it is the most important part of the business. We are taking service advisors that don't know how to connect with customers and turning them into customer collectors. We are taking service managers who are frustrated working 75 hours. I had somebody tell me that they're working 75 hours a week. It's crazy. Killing themselves, going into work and not knowing if they're winning or losing every day to in control of their department, hitting the sales button, running a profitable business and having fun in the process. Because you know what, you're allowed to have fun. That's a part of the revolution, is having a little bit of fun. So that's what this is all about. Service drive revolution here with my trusty sidekick, Jeremy o'. Neal. How are you, Jay?

I'm doing awesome.

Yeah.

Happy to be here. Absolutely.

Lots of fun every day. You have. So today we are going to talk about the top five customer relationship management tools for car dealers. So the top five customer relationship management tools for car dealers. And we have a question.

I have a question. Yeah. But I like to just bring up something about that work life balance. I just. At our earlier break, I just found out that a good friend of mine who's a service manager literally had a heart attack. Yes.

Really?

No, I'm not. Yeah, Seriously.

Oh, I feel bad.

No, he did. I. Al's a great guy and I've known him for years. And Al, I'm glad you're heading home. And 100 blockage. So he made it to the hospital time. So literally, I mean, when we talk about.

Mid-40S.

Jesus.

So when we talk about this work life balance, it's. It's something you have to take serious. It's not, I mean, get one turn at least in this lifetime.

Was he, Is he healthy?

He's. I mean, he's not obese or, or anything. Just.

Does he work out? Does he eat right? What's the. Is it stress? Is that what you're trying to say?

I've got to say it's stress. Yes, absolutely. Yes. And lack of exercise, lack of diet. And I mean, let's face it. I remember when I worked at, at Commonwealth, Volkswagen in Audi, we would have double western bacon cheeseburgers for breakfast and about 10 Red Bulls during the day. And not to mention the donuts that the rental car place has dropped off. So it's very easy to not eat healthy in this business. So we need to revolutionize that and change it.

Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, and how often would you even take lunch? Right?

What is that? Yeah, yeah.

So you're going to eat fast and something bad.

Absolutely.

But it shouldn't be that way. Like you should be able. You know, when I was an advisor, the last advisor gig that I had, I had a deal where I went and worked out for an hour and a half in the middle of the day.

Oh, that's.

So I'd go to the gym.

It's good.

That was my, you know, that was my deal too. But I was a prima donna kind of with that.

Hey, maybe that's.

I put up the number.

So maybe that's a new thing that if you're trying to attract talent, think of the, the, you know, hidden paycheck. If you have benefits like that, that might be something that you can attract top talent with. Yeah, absolutely.

Well, what's his name? Al.

Al.

We hope you get better soon, Al.

Yes, absolutely.

Terrible. What do they do when you have 100 blockage? They're putting in bypass.

Either bypass or a stent. I. I didn't read.

Have you seen that stuff on stem cells?

No.

So they're. They're doing stem cells and it's fixing that.

Really?

Yeah. But you got to go to Panama.

They're not doing it here in the States yet.

It's stupid that it's illegal here.

I don't. I would agree. I would go out. The powers that be, you know, there's.

Two kind of stem cells. The stem cells that cause cancer and create tumors are embryonic.

Right.

Because embryonic stem cells want to become a baby. They want to grow into something. But non embryonic stem cells are kind of the fountain of youth. And I've had a couple friends do it and.

Interesting. It's worse.

They lose weight.

Really?

Their sexual performance increases, I guess back to like when they were 17. Honestly, like, who doesn't want that? Yeah.

Especially if you're role playing.

Probably not your wife.

Your role play partner might want that. So.

Wow. So you finally admit. You admit it, that you're role playing.

Dirty stuff, Timing belts and break jobs and all that stuff, right?

Yeah, but it fixes that sort of stuff, arteries and all that. It's fascinating. I'm thinking about doing it.

Interesting.

You lose weight too. Like you. Because you just. Your metabolism, I think, speeds up. So. Something that I could use.

Yeah. I mean, it's. I just hope that everybody out there just, you know, listens to their body and does the right thing, you know. Absolutely.

I've been Traveling too much travel is tough.

I had a grueling week a couple.

Weeks ago and I gotta raise my speaking fee. I was talking about that yesterday. I'm gonna raise it.

Doesn't matter what you raise it to, they're still gonna hire you.

No, I gotta raise it to the point where only half of them hire me. I'm gone way too much. So I was gone last week. Although that's coaching, so that's different. But before that I was somewhere. I'm leaving this week. I'm going to Canada.

Hold on. News flash. This just in. If you've been thinking about hiring Chris, you should book him now or the rate show up.

It's too late. I'm so looking forward to the holidays just to be home. I miss my little dogs.

Absolutely. There's nothing like being home for a day.

It's so. It's so hard on the coaches too, that.

Work for us that are out there on the road every week. Like, I feel so bad for them.

We make such an impact though. I mean, when you go on site, you there's.

Yeah, no, it's necessary. But it takes a special kind of person. It's. You know, it's funny when, when people grind me on, on prices on coaching, which our coaching is. Is really affordable. I'm always like, you know, we're just a boutique company and I have the. I have the best coaches and I gotta pay them good. And so if you want good people, if you don't want the, you know, retired BG rep and you want somebody who can actually fix your department, you know, what you pay for, what you get, like the ROI is huge. But the ROI wouldn't be there if I didn't, you know, if I didn't have the team. And for them to leave their families every week, it's. I mean, that's crazy to be on the road all that much.

It is a lot. Absolutely Has a toll.

What's the question? Who's it from?

We have two questions, by the way.

While he's, while he's bringing that up, anybody who asks a question and you can send it to Jeremy, to myself, on our YouTube, on our Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, anywhere. It'll be caught by our team and we will read it on the show and if you do, we will give you some service. Drive revolution swag. Like a notebook, a T shirt, a hat.

I'm actually going to take of Chris's customer collector mugs that he.

So we ordered SDR coffee mugs and we had to throw them Away.

How come?

Because they're not, they weren't painted on, they were stickers. And the first time you washed it, they would fall off.

Oh, yeah, that's not.

It's like a little bait and switch. So they have to replace. They're going to replace them. But it was a sticker. I'm like, there's no way I'm sending this out to anybody. The first time they wash it. Yeah, it'll be gone or it'll, it'll fade.

True.

So we don't have mugs yet. I think we'll have the mugs next week. But we will send you out some swag. So who's the first person that's going to get swag?

Fabian Cantu.

Fabian Cantu.

Yes. Fabian, how are you? Thank you for the question. Fabian is a service advisor at a Chevrolet dealership in Amarillo, Texas. So middle of the country there. Great partner.

Amarillo by morning.

I was hoping you'd sing that.

First question, two great questions. One that we all deal with. First one says, I have clients that make an appointment, let's say at 10am and within an hour they're calling and want an update on their vehicle, which the technician hasn't looked at yet. Help. You have a great rule of thumb for this. Well, there's two parts to this one. But I love one of your principles, which is the process that helps service departments run like a well oiled machine. It's one of the first things you would tell Mr. Fabian on this.

I think the first part is you're not framing it right up front. You're in control. So because you're not telling the customer and they don't feel safe, then they're jumping ahead and they're kind of telling you that they don't trust you in a weird way. Because if they're calling within an hour, that's pretty aggressive. So they're a little bit worried.

Well, he is in Texas though, so I mean they.

So you should worry about people in Texas.

Well, you can carry. I mean, there's a lot of things you can do in Texas that you can't do in other parts of the country, like eat barbecue. Eat barbecue. Driving with an open container in a car, you can. Yeah, absolutely.

You can drive around with a cocktail.

You can if you're the passenger.

Oh, I love that. I didn't know that.

Yeah.

So I can just hop in a car with a tequila.

Yep. If I'm driving and I'm not partaking, you can have fun, do whatever you want to do.

Okay.

Yeah, I didn't know that they are in Texas.

So yeah, you still got to move to Texas.

So with the framework, it's all about managing the client's expectations. So at the remember, we're going to do the majority of our work with the sales presentation and building trust. At the initial ride of petting the dog, you've got to build trust and you got to manage that expectation. And early on in my career I was guilty of over promising and under delivering meaning my brain thought we can do this in X amount of time. I'll have an update for you and an answer. Not realizing the labyrinth of dispatch that they had nine other advisors and we're dealing with 45 technicians. So you've got to manage the client's expectation properly. So Fabian, a couple things. Frame it, right. The framework is key. And then also make sure that you're setting the expectation and then communication. You talk about the two hour rule. What's the two hour callback?

Yeah. So but I think the two hour rule is different. Right. Because if they're calling within an hour, the two hour wouldn't even work. But the two hour is like I want to update the customer within two hours, which in our strategy that's to get to them before they get to us.

Correct.

But something's happening if they're calling within an hour. Because usually two hours is before they're reaching out.

Correct.

To you. So you're preventing it.

Maintenance, service work, you know, or if the customer is just expecting they're impatient. Keep in mind, when we are repairing cars and we're doing a diagnostic or a test and we're trying to find the root cause of broken valve springs. Right. This takes time to figure out. I may want to set the customer up that I need the vehicle all day, maybe possibly multiple days. So if it's a broken vehicle, maybe you want to set that up where you need the car for two or three days just to buy yourself that time and then you can dazzle them with that two hour callback. Right. Early on. Yeah.

So you got to frame it up for. You got to say like, hey, I'm going to call you in a couple hours and let them know that you're going to call them and not them have to call you.

Yes. And let them know that if they do call you within an hour that you're going to remove them from your VIP list and kick them into the regular customer pool where they won't get your VIP treatment. And that's not what. Why are you shaking your Head now.

Don't do that.

Why not?

They're all VIPs.

No, they're not.

Yeah, they are.

Have you seen some of the customers in the high Desert?

Yeah. You have the ones missing teeth?

Yes.

They need a Cracker Barrel.

Sorry. I hope none of my customers from Freedom Auto.

If anybody goes to visit Jeremy in the high desert, he frequents Cracker Barrel.

Yeah.

And orders.

Not the Cracker Barrel.

We went out to dinner at Cracker Barrel because they had a bet whether they could get me there or not. And they did. I didn't know I had a bet. Two times we went there. Twice we did. Oh, because we had breakfast.

Oh, no. We went there once.

I went there once. I think you guys.

I was just shocked that you went there one time.

But then, like, the next week, I'm reading online, like, the worst things you can order in a restaurant. And the thing you ordered, which was like, grandma's special kitchen sink or whatever it's called, was what you order is pretty. It's pretty.

So good. I haven't eaten a meal since that time three months ago.

Or checked your cholesterol.

Yeah, absolutely.

What's the second question?

Second question. Customers come in with a check engine light on, and they want to know if I can scan it for them. Now, the dealership does have a scan tool that he can use, but he says if I scan it, I'm not making any money. So there's kind of two things to this. One, the money part, I think we need to put that secondary, because if our focus is only making money, guess what? The customers are going to feel that we're not going to be able to build trust with them. Remember, instead of making money, what we want to be focused on is helping customers and building our trust fund by being a customer collector. Right. That's ultimately important. So, Fabian, your money's going to come if you help enough people. And I think helping customers. Let's look at the damage a quick scan does on the drive. I know you used to run out and scan every car that came in, right?

Bro, I wouldn't have a clue how to scan a car. I'm not handy like you. I wouldn't even know what. Like, there's. I wasn't diagnosing anything.

Right. Driveway diagnosis is probably one of the worst things we could do as advisors. Right. Our job.

Scanning tool. I've never hooked up anything to a car, but my phone.

Actually, I have my scanner in my backpack.

Yeah, see, you love that. You just random people on the street. You'll Be like, you want me to check?

No, I stand on the corner. We'll scan for.

I saw you when I was at your shop that day. I saw you.

Charge an AC system. Just right there.

Like, whatever it takes. Yeah, whatever it takes.

So how does fanbing help his customers that want a quick scan?

Okay, one thing we gotta take into consideration in this scenario or the context of this question is he has a manager. And so his manager is gonna set the policy on how they handle check engine lights. Correct. So now doing check engine lights for free is a good way to drive traffic. But if that's not a part of your pricing strategy or how you're driving traffic, then.

You know, I just wouldn't. I would just tell customers that our process is because we've made some mistakes and jumped to some conclusions. And sometimes codes lead to other codes. We have technicians that are qualified do this. And so I'm going to need to create a repair order and actually have a tech look at it, because we've diagnosed things in the drive before, and it ended up that it was a code that led to another code. But we're only looking at half the equation. Something. I would tell a story, something like that because it's true. You're not a technician, and I don't know that we're qualified to be looking at codes. Good point. Let's get the doctor to diagnose it, not the nurse.

You know, one of the things I always do is everything begins with a repair order. So let me get some information. I'll help you out. Go out, pet the dog, do your walk around. Get the information off the car. Get the customer back to your desk and write the ticket. Right. And then start to collect valve springs. Now, what do I mean by collecting valve springs?

Why did I. Yeah, why did you bring valve springs, by the way?

These are fascinating, man.

Why?

Okay, because this is. Is where our industry is today. This is off of a Mercedes E350 with 106,000 miles. This is off of a Volkswagen Jetta with 89,000 miles. These parts should not be broken this early.

Is this because of.

You might make fun of me.

I don't know.

Is this the valve that breaks these?

It can be.

Are these on the valve?

These are on the valve.

Okay.

Good job there. Yes.

So they're on the valve. Yep. And so we have here on the desk, if you're listening to this and not watching it, he has two broken valve springs. And so what. What causes this is the valves being gummed up and not doing a Fuel service. Is that the message?

The message, though, is this. There's no simple repair today. Now these all started. These are live. These are jobs that we did at our shop. And every single customer called them for a price on a tune up because of a misfire. And you can't take anything for granted today just because you think, hey, it might be a coil or it might be a spark plug. I haven't had a tune up. I'm at 106k. You could have some major internal engine damage from a lack of maintenance or properly maintaining your car. So what the customer needs is not a quick scan. They need a trusted advisor to help them navigate this repair in the most affordable way. And that's why our process is going to help you with that.

You.

And that's basically how we do that. So then we write the ticket up and then get them enrolled in our Level 1 testing package to find the root cause of what caused your check engine light to come on and fix this in the most affordable way. So we just can't take things for granted.

Just walk around with these in your pocket.

Yeah, It's a new jewelry line my daughter's going to start making.

Very entrepreneurial.

Yes, yes, absolutely. Well, I mean, collect these things. I think, you know, one of the things that, you know, we show and tell. Absolutely. We work on sharing stories as trainers and engaging in stories. Your customers are no different. They want to connect with you at a different level. And if you tell somebody, hey, last week we had a customer that had a similar issue to you on a vehicle just like yours. And it was this. We need to do some testing because it could be a couple things. That's where you're going to win. So let's not be focused on making money quickly. Let's build these customer relationships, build trust, and enroll the customer in the right process. Which is your testing package, right?

Yep.

Good.

Good question. So let's get his size and address and send him out. Simone.

Absolutely. So maybe got some swag coming your way. Great job.

And be a part of the revolution. So top five customer relationship management tools for car dealerships.

CRM. Customer relationship manager. Management. CRM.

Yeah. Okay.

Number one, car is a commodity.

The car is a commodity. I think too many people fall in love with their brand or whatever, but the car is a reason to collect a customer. Your future is in your relationship with the customers, not in your relationship with the car. The car is irrelevant. The car is just the vehicle for you to have that relationship.

It is. And how many advisors have made an estimate to a customer, and the customer is ready to say yes. But then they say, hold on, I'll get right back to you. And the next thing you know, the salesperson's coming in, tapping you on the shoulder, saying, hey. And then as a service advisor, you know, it's kind of frustrating because we put all this work in to get this sale, and what sales is going to take it now? But we're all on the same team. Correct. So we're all under the same umbrella. So we want to keep the customer. I think that's important that you focus on the relationship, not necessarily on the car. So the car is just a commodity.

People fall in love with the brand, but it's not the brand. No excuse.

Absolutely. And if as service advisors, if we do a better job building these relationships, what's that going to translate for the dealership?

More car sales? More gross, everything?

Well, absolutely. So when that commodity is at the end of its useful life and it's time for that customer to go into a new vehicle.

I like how you said that. The end of its useful life.

Yeah. There we go. The end of the trade cycle. You know, hopefully you have got a great relationship with your customer, and they ask you for help, and then you enroll them in the process, which we're gonna get to that here a little bit later on. So number one is the car is a commodity. What do you have for number two?

First contact basics. And what I mean by first contact basics is how are we answering the phone? How are we greeting them when they come in? Focusing on the basics. A lot of times in our coaching meetings, one exercise that I love to do is the first day of the coaching meeting. I'll ask them like, hey, how do you guys do with appointments? And they're like, oh, we're great. We're so good at it, the whole thing. And then the second day, I'll collect everybody's cell phones so they can't text back and jump and cheat. Cause they're cheaters. Well, they hate to lose, I guess.

Right?

And then I will. I'll put a phone in the middle and I'll call. I'll have them pair up and I'll call the dealership and have the other person that's not from their dealership that they're paired up with say, hey, I'm just in town. My check engine light came on. Could I come in and get that checked out? And then watch how it's handled. And, you know, I usually get them to wager some money or I'LL put money in a pot.

Oh, nice.

If. If, you know, I'll ask them, like, what's important about a phone call? Like what. What basics should we get? And it's funny how we don't get just the basics. How we don't. We don't control any of it. We don't sound friendly. We're the anti. You know, everybody wants a higher RO count, but we're anti RO count in the way that we do things, and those are the basics.

So hold on. I mean, dealerships are busy places. They have a lot of cars. They're backed up for three, four days. I can't get a car into the shop. What do you want me to do?

You're telling me you want me to be helpful, smile and be accommodating to the person on the other end of the phone?

Is that weird?

For some dealership service advisors, it is. But no, you're right. We need to be accommodating. I love the word accommodating. And I look at this from the restaurant industry, right? I remember this is decades ago. I was having lunch with a colleague down in Long Beach, California, at the Rock Bottom Brewery. Restaurant was packed, it was busy. It was an awesome day. You know how blue the sky is in Southern California, like, every day of the year. It's just great weather. Couldn't find my server anywhere. My drink was dry, and I'm like, man, I need to refill my iced tea. I see this bus boy hustling back.

You want us to believe that you're drinking iced tea?

I was drinking Long island version, but iced tea, right? So I grabbed this bus. Excuse me, sir. I know this isn't your station, but can I get a refill? My iced teas? Absolutely. I'd be happy to help you that. I'll be right back. He comes right back out with a picture of ic, sets it down. He says, I know who your server is. You're gonna need that. And he left. But it was the way that he responded. I'll be happy to help you with that. And I've taken that in my career as a service advisor. And you want to disarm the most threatening price shopper? Any customer is upset. Anytime anybody asks a request of you. If you respond with, I'll be happy to help you, that melts their heart. They just. Their defenses drop, and it's right there. So absolutely. First contact, basics. Accommodating is my word for that one.

Yeah. Get as a leader, get out there and make sure that we're Doing the basics, that we're answering the phones, that we're, you know, trying to let people in. And if you know one last thing on that too is like a lot of people overlook that customer that's stranded from out of town and they will say something to the effect of oh well, they're not going to come back. But the truth of the matter is is you're, you're thinking short minded. One, they might come back. Two is usually those tickets are higher ticket ros. Because they're stranded, they have to do whatever it is you want. So it's an easy sale.

You know there's a gold mine there.

Yeah.

With this out of town customer, do you know what it is?

No, tell me.

It leads us into point number three.

So the third point for customer relation management is social media and user generated content. So as a service, ugc. UGC baby. Ugc. User generated content. Some of the most powerful marketing that I've seen done has been the organic user generated type where let's pretend that you were out of town and your vehicle breaks down and you have a service advisor that goes out of the way to help you and they get you back on the road and they, they do an amazing job. If you were to take a selfie with that service advisor and leave a five star review organically on Google, Yelp, Facebook, anywhere, do you realize the tens of thousands of dollars that it would cost to get the same impact? And it's absolutely free. Free, absolutely. So social media, I believe service advisors. Now if you're in a dealership, check with management, please don't just go off and start throwing stuff up on your own. Make sure you're within the policies of your company and your dealership. But you should have your own social presence and you should identify the area that you want to build your trust fund from and start to gather these stories. Right?

Yeah, but, but I would say like don't underestimate the value of customers. Seeing your kids, seeing you in normal situations on social media humanizes you and it makes them feel like you're just like them. Right. And so like for me one of the big icebreakers is people see my dogs on social media and so they see my bulldogs and then if they like dogs, then they're dming me and they're like oh wow, like what are your dogs names and that sort of thing. And it's a bonding type, you know, type of interaction on there. So you know, like Jeremy said check with your boss and all that but when they see you with Your kids or your spouse or whatever online. It humanizes you and it builds trust. And don't underestimate that. It's not just about the car, like we said. Right?

Yeah, exactly. And you've got your own. Your own personal social media going on here. And then you just interject and bring your professional life into it as well. Right.

I mean, I. I do.

It's natural. Right. And we need to be proud.

Just like having pictures of your kids on your desk works.

Yes, it does. Absolutely.

Or your pets or whatever. Like, it humanizes you. So social media is an easy way to do that.

It is. Absolutely. So it's huge. And then, ugc, you can also make sure if you do get selfies from your customers, let them know you're going to use it. So, hey, if I took a selfie with you, if we did a great job, I'd just say, hey, is it all right if we use this in our Facebook marketing? So we have permission to.

Not only that, but everybody wants more followers. So all you have to say is, hey, is it okay if I tag you in this?

Absolutely. There we go.

So I wouldn't even ask for permission. I always just say, hey, is it okay if I tag you in this? And people are, you know, because I have a lot of followers. People are always like, oh, thank you. Like, they appreciate it because they know they're going to get some followers by me tagging them in it. And, you know, I have some pretty dedicated followers, so usually if I put something, you know, they'll end up getting a lot of followers.

Absolutely. It is a social world.

So I don't even ask permission. I'm just like, hey, can I tag you?

You are asking for permission then.

Yeah, but in an assuming way. Does that make sense?

Yes. Not in a dorky way like I was going to ask.

Well, it's not. It's not in a way that they can say yes or no.

Right. So it's a yes. Yes. It's a win. Win.

I'm just assuming.

Lesson learned.

Number four, take reviews seriously.

Only the good ones, right?

No, all of them.

What do you mean?

Well, I think there's two parts to this, right? Is like, if we're not asking clients for the reviews, or we don't have some sort of system in place to get the customers that are happy, the customers that love us to post reviews, you're mostly only going to get people that are pissed off because the people that are happy are just happy. And you have to kind of encourage them to post something. They're not going to post it organically or naturally. Right?

Yeah.

And so if 99% of your customers are happy, but we're not asking them to post on Google or Yelp or whatever it is or CSI, whatever it is you want to, and the 1% that's unhappy post, you're going to have way more posts from the 1% because they seem to be more motivated to post.

Yeah.

So you got to take it seriously on both ends. Then when the unhappy customers, and hopefully it's not 10 or 20% of your customers posting, you got to take it seriously. You got to address those issues. Like says you guys weren't friendly, you weren't friendly. If you had a comeback, you had a comeback. You need to attack those things. You need to contact the customer and you need to apologize and make it right. And then at the end, ask them if they would change their review if you've made it right. But you need to overwhelm them, not ignore it. I see so many shops and dealerships that completely ignore the reviews as the customers are crazy. The customers aren't crazy. Some of them might be a little hard to please, some of them might be a little bit demanding. But the fact of the matter is, is businesses that are really good and really care about customers can make difficult customers happy. Like, that's the game, that's what we're here for. So you need to change your outlook on that.

Absolutely. That's execution right there.

Yeah.

You got to be able to execute.

But a lot of, a lot of, a lot of managers just ignore it.

Well, it's easier to kick the can down the road or sweep it under the rug. Right.

So, and then I'll ask them, I'll be like, well, hey, did you talk to your advisor about this one? And they'll be like, no, like it's been up for a week. You gotta attack this stuff.

Yes. Immediately. Right.

It's a chance for us to get better. It's a chance to learn.

And with reviews too, you gotta understand that your reviews, it's a 90 day public scorecard. So every 90 days it's, it's changing. You need, you need new, fresh reviews every 90 days. And like you said, you have to take it seriously. So as a service advisor, even a service manager, I would play a game with this. This is, you know, gamification at its finest. Right. It's your public scoreboard. If you service 100 cars a week and you're only getting five reviews, that's 5% of your client base. That was motivated enough to leave you that type of feedback. There's 95% of the people that were just, meh, just meh, whatever. You did good, you did bad. But I'm not motivated enough to go out and take action on it.

But one more thing on that is I had somebody I don't know like a month ago tell me when it in reference to Yelp, they're like, why? Because their reviews weren't that good and the good ones weren't really landing and the bad ones were at the top, you know, and their point was, well, it's a mafia thing and I refuse to support their.

Mafia type style because if you pay them, then you can put the good ones and you can manage it better and whatever. And I, I don't know, once again, like, do you want to be right or do you want to win? I'd pay him. I'd pay him well.

Now, I, I'm not going to get in legal trouble talking about, you know, that aspect.

Why, why would we get in legal trouble?

I, I, I don't know what's the right thing to say. I can just share with you my experience with our shop with Yelp. It's going to deliver 60% of our revenue this year.

And that's what I'm saying. So you're agreeing with me?

I absolutely am agreeing.

Then what do the lawyers have to do with it?

If I, I don't know if I say that, you know something about the Mafia or Yelp and all that. So I just, I'm going to leave that alone.

Like. Oh, like it's, like it's negative towards Yelp.

Yeah. But I mean, you got to look at. Yelp's kind of like the irs, right? They have their own set of rules and you got to play the game within their rules. Okay. It's fine.

Yeah. It might not be fair.

No, it's not fair.

It's not. However, do you want to win or do you want to be right?

Yes, yes. Now, Yelp is Yelp clients can be some of the hardest to please and some of the hardest to get a five star review out of, which means they're judging you at a higher level and your execution has to be better. That's why I love having you. Oh, my gosh.

It's got to get on it.

Absolutely. Three things to help them with getting reviews. Number one, you got to plant the review or referral seed. Two, you have to deliver something truly remarkable every time during that service experience. You can't just go through the motions and then lastly, you have to ask. So you plan it, you deliver it, then you ask for it at the end. My way of asking is simply ask the customer, hey, if we hit the five star mark, would you please share your experience with the world and let others know how we did? That's all I have to say.

Yeah. And if customers came in off of Yelp or came in off of Google, most of the time they're used to posting, so it's an easy thing to ask for.

Piece cake. Yep, absolutely.

Now, if you ask my mom to give you a review on Yelp, she wouldn't know what Yelp was and you'd have to create a login for her and do it yourself.

Just ask her for her phone and just write the review that you want and you're done.

That's all. Like the podcast. Like, I have to subscribe her to the podcast.

Right.

And then she's always like, how do I find the podcast? Some of your favorites, number five, and this is one you're really, really good at, is send a handwritten letter or note.

Yes. Love this. In today's digital age, if you want to really separate yourself from your competition, every first time customer gets a handwritten thank you card. And we do a little token of appreciation. So we have these customized really nice, you know, cards that are just blank inside and we hand write on them, welcoming them to our family. And basically we're here to take care of you with anything you need with your vehicle. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you. And then we put in a little $5 coffee card just as a token of appreciation. And it works like magic. Now the backside of this is repeat customers we just send a handwritten postcard to which is thanking them for their continued trust in us. And it works like magic because everything's digitized today. So how many people send you handwritten cards?

Oh, yeah, when I get them, I definitely take notice and I ride them like I had some really nice stationery made. And I write a lot of handwritten notes to people. It matters. It always gets a call or some sort of response.

Absolutely. It sure does. And it's amazing. So it also helps you build that relationship and then foster it and make it work.

Yeah, and so an easy way to execute this is, you know, once or twice a week, you can pull new customers and have the advisors all write handwritten notes and you can have cards made up pretty inexpensively, but just spend 15 minutes where everybody just does it and gets it done. Pull the list, say, hey, you know for 15 minutes, we're going to write these notes. They don't have to be long. It's the thought that counts.

Yeah, absolutely.

But pull the list of anybody new coming in that's a new customer to your business or you know, whatever it is you want to highlight. Anything like that. Customers that are inactive, you can send them a we miss you handwritten note. Nobody else is going to do that.

I didn't think of that.

Those sort of things add up. So to recap, the top five customer relationship management tools for car dealers. The car is a commodity. It's about your relationship with your database. Number two, the focus on first contact basics, how we answer the phone. You know, remember that quote? How we do anything is how we do everything. Number three, social media, ugc, user generated content.

Yes.

Number four, take reviews seriously. The good and the bad. Let's get more of the good and attack the bad ones. And then number five, handwritten cards, notes and letters. That personal touch. Those are the top five. Remember too that if you post a question, we'll send you some swag and we'll answer your question here on Service Driver Revolution. And so I hope everybody has a great week.

Absolutely exciting times coming up. End of the year.

We'll see you again real soon. Have a good one.