1. Eliminate Communication Black Holes
No matter what platform you use to communicate with a customer, make sure that you’re responding quickly and transparently so they don’t feel neglected or confused by insufficient information.

If a customer is working with one of your sales reps but calls back a few hours later with additional questions, make sure that they can still have those questions answered if that sales rep isn’t immediately available.

You don’t want to lose a sale because a customer was transferred to voicemail and wasn’t able to get their questions answered until the following day. Find someone else who can answer their questions and keep them engaged in purchasing the vehicle they’re interested in.

2. Empower Your Staff
Don’t underestimate the importance of hiring great people and providing them with the resources to polish their skills and incentives to stay on your staff. Their interactions will leave a big impression on your customers and they should be knowledgeable about your inventory while being able to engage with customers tactfully and with confidence to help build their trust.

At the end of the day, your staff will help to define your car lot’s success.

3. Remove Friction Points
Nothing sends a customer running to the competition faster than facing hurdles during the car shopping process. Get rid of any friction points by asking customers to provide feedback during their car-buying journey so you can identify any issues that you are unaware of.

If you have a dealer floor plan provider such as Kinetic Advantage, your rep can help you find solutions to eliminate any friction points and provide you with tips on creating a better vehicle buying experience for your customers.

4. Be Proactive and Keep Information Online Up-to-Date
Since most customers want to start car shopping online, it’s crucial that you make sure that the inventory on your website is accurate. You don’t want to create a bad first impression by listing a vehicle online that’s already been sold. Check your Kinetic 360 portal frequently to stay on top of all of your vehicles’ statuses.

You should also look for ways to make certain services at your dealership more accessible to customers, such as providing them with a way to schedule a test drive on your website. And don’t forget to keep your dealership hours up-to-date online, including any holiday hours.

5. Lean into the Power of Customer Reviews
Don’t underestimate the value of customer reviews and referrals in positioning yourself as a trustworthy independent dealership. You can have the best-looking inventory online but if a customer comes across a bunch of negative reviews, it could cause them to start looking at another independent dealership’s website.

Customers don’t want to risk purchasing a vehicle from a dealership that’s unreliable, so take the time to feature and promote your best reviews and customer testimonials on your website and social media channels.

Kinetic Advantage believes in building strong relationships with our dealers. If you want to work with a floorplan provider who values transparency and integrity and can help you become a top independent dealership in your market, then contact us today!