Automotive: Who owns the Customer?

A colleague of mine recently bought a car.  He kicked tires, did some research, negotiated on the price and drove away happy.

Two days later though, he got an email from the manufacturer about a new sale on the very car that he bought - at an even better price. He was no longer happy.

What happened after was more of a customer satisfaction exercise and that's ok, but the lesson in this is for the different pieces of the automotive organization to understand who owns the relationship with the customer, and who can say what when.

All different elements of the organization want something more from every prospect and customer, but to the customer they are all one and the communications must seem as they are from one.  How do you do this?  By establishing a contact strategy that puts the customer in the middle while addressing the results that each of the areas needs to achieve for a healthy business.

The Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) supports the other areas by focusing on customer acquisition and awareness.  They should establish a lead management process that qualifies leads and delivers them to Sales when they are ready to buy.

When a prospect is ready to buy it is time for Sales to do their job.  The entire process and all communications related to it should remain with Sales until a sale is completed.  If no sale is made, the customer should go back to the OEM for ongoing communications.

Once a sale completed however, that customer relationship should be owned by the Dealer.  The time between sales for a customer is long and it is the job of the dealer to maintain a positive relationship and a connection through communication.  Ideally, this is done with the support of the OEM through communication platforms, content and messaging - but the relationship stays with the Dealer.

Part of maintaining that relationship is through Service.  The vast majority of revenue for Dealers comes through Service, but as the key driver in customer satisfaction (both good and bad) only a relationship that is based on trust will only pay off.

Cool down periods between steps in the process, and sorting out recent purchases is a part of the process - but can't be implemented without a full understanding of the various areas and how they relate to the customer.