Reinventing the Car Business–Are They Really?

Are you growing weary, or should I say wary, of GM’s commercial about how they are reinventing the car business? If you are, it’s justified. Just walk into a GM dealership and tell me how much things have changed in the past 30 years.

They still expect you to have the desire for the car that’s on their lot. They spend no time helping you search for a used car, even though they have a network of thousands of dealers. And they rarely, if ever, call you after the sale is made.

What do these salespeople do all day, anyway?

I just talked to my in-laws yesterday, who had purchased a Cadillac two years ago from the local dealership (Lockhart Cadillac). I asked, “How many times have they contacted you in the past two years to a) see how you like the car and b) offer a test drive in a new or upgraded one?” Their answer: Never. Oh yea, a few mailings here and there, but never once have they picked up the phone and called my in-laws to see how they were doing.

You’d go out of business if you ran your business that way. (Oh, that’s right. They are going out of business.)

CarMax should dominate the car buying business.

If you want a good buying experience, go to your local CarMax used car dealership. If you haven’t heard of them, you soon will. They are today what the car companies could have become twenty years ago. But didn’t and won’t.

Because the mentality is just not there.

What about your business? How is your service mentality? Do you call people after they purchase your product and ask them periodically how they’re doing with it? Do you know that your customers have future problems that you can’t even predict, and that you’ll never hear about them unless you call and keep in contact?

If you’re in a business that requires constant, ongoing interaction, then you probably have this nailed (although don’t ever forget how the relationship is going).

But if you’re in a business where interaction is rare, then you’d better buy a little $20 software package that helps remind you about keeping in touch with them every few months. Don’t let your service level become extinct.