The last time I bought a car we had a very specific requirement. The vehicle had to be big enough that we could fit two bicycles inside.

We’d destroyed too many bikes by forgetting they were on the rooftop carrier, and my husband’s bike was too expensive to leave out for thieves overnight.

We started at the Toyota dealership because we’d been happy with our Camry.

First, it took a lot of effort to get a sales rep’s attention. They were too busy chatting with each other.

We had one of the bikes with us, and explained that we had to be able to fit two into the back. He started showing us cars with seats that didn’t even fold down!

I had to be the one to tell him that from looking around the lot I thought a Rav4 might work (but it would be close).

“Maybe,” he replied.

“Can we try it?” I asked.

“Oh.” He sighed. “I’ll have to go back in and find the key.”

Twenty minutes later he finally came back. The bike was a bit too long. He offered no suggestions for alternative cars that might work.

Needless to say, we did not by a car from that dealership (and I presume he’s no longer employed there, but that dealership has lost our business forever).

Car Dealers: Give Me A Reason to Come to You!

Today is Part 2 of my conversation with Bruce Kirkland, Dealer Principal of Lexus of Edmonton West. If you missed Part 1, you’ll find it at http://frankreactions.com/109. In that one we discussed:

* How starting a dealership when he had zero experience in that industry proved to be a real benefit (though it was tough at the beginning).

* The huge importance of culture training, and his 3 Pillars of success.

* How they’ve survived – even thrived – in a recession.

* And  unique things his dealership does to keep customers incredibly loyal.

In today’s interview, we discuss:

The risk of disruption of car dealers by Amazon

Hop on over to Amazon Vehicles and you’ll see that they are ready to take on the car dealers.

For now they’re still lobbying for rules to be changed to let Amazon sell cars in North America, but, as we’ve seen from Uber, when an industry is ready for disruption, lawmakers aren’t going to be able to stall it for long.

So car dealers, like retailers before them, have to offer outstanding customer experiences if they want a hope of competing.

In Part 1 we heard about how Lexus of Edmonton has made its environment special, with touches like a grand piano played by local college students in the showroom, a well educated door greeter, a dealership dog, and on-site massage chairs. As Kirkland puts it,

That said, he’s not technology resistant.

The dealership is doing a test of staff using iPads, for example, and he’s already thinking about how he’ll defend against Amazon by, for instance, ultimately being able to bring a car to someone’s home and sell it to them on the spot — no need for the customer to go to the car dealer.

Great staff are key to great customer experiences

That’s no shock to anyone who’s worked in customer experience for a while or been a follower of this blog. Without happy staff, you won’t have happy customers.

I was surprised when Kirkland told me that he insists on hiring educated staff, with at least a degree or college diploma. It’s not so much about what they learned in school, but about their willingness to learn.

To be lifelong learners.