In real estate it is location, location, location.  In the retail sales world, it is perception, perception, perception.  Every one of your consumers wants to have a individualize experience when doing business with your organization.  I like to call it the “Disney” experience since Disney has set the benchmark in customer service.  It might be a fantasy but a customer’s perception of their experience with your organization is as powerful a force as water.  When a consumer’s experience is a soft rain and everything is gentle, little is done to impact your branding or reputation.  Now let their experience be a rushing flood either good or bad, and their impact can be wide spread.  I think most dealerships have a handle on this concept when it comes to the front of the house, but the back end seems to be allowed to slide off the experience grid.

Example:  I drive 45 minutes across town to a Nissan dealership to have my car serviced.  I pass by two Nissan dealerships on the way.  One is as close as ten minutes from my house.  With gas prices as they are, why would I make the extra journey to have my car serviced?  Perception, perception, perception!!!  The Nissan dealerships closest to me, I have perceived, do not care that I love my car.  It is just a job to them. I am just another person with another car in the long line up of cars in their service lane.

The Nissan dealership across town treats me like I am a rockstar.  I have my own service advisor who knows everything there is to know about me and my car.  I have his cell number, so I can call him directly and not have to be shifted around by the receptionist.  I know the technicians that have worked on my car.  They have come by to say hello and sometimes even leave notes for me in my car.  I just love trying to find where they hid the sticky note regarding the "free of charge french-fry under the seat removal service".  Even the Porter makes my day.  He always asks if I would like him to grab some lunch for me before he heads out for his lunch break.  My car is always clean and the work is done with perfection before I leave the dealership.  If anything….and I do mean anything is just not perfect, they make it right immediately.  I even get personal phone calls reminding me to come in for service because they know I will forget about the sticker they put in my window. 

As a result of having had the rockstar treatment, this dealership has been given glowing CSI surveys from me.  I have even written several letters of recommendation and praise directly to the dealership management and the corporate offices.  I am a loud evangelist for this organization.  I have sent many of my peers and even a few strangers their way.  I do so with confidence that everyone will have the “Disney” experience.  The other two Nissan dealerships in town, I have little to say about.

So, does your service lane come with a red carpet or is it just another piece of oil stained real estate?  Location, location, location has little value without perception, perception, perception.  So, how would creating a “Disney” experience in your service lane affect back end profits?  What about customer loyalty?  Even if it is a fantasy, everyone wants to be treated like a rockstar. 

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