Who does a courtesy call?

[TangoVictor32 90]

Hi folks, just a quick one and I know some people might be vary of it but do any of you do courtesy calls when someone has bought a vehicle from you and later in the day you call them and ask them if they had a safe journey and everything is ok? (I know it might not be appropriate for those living 2 miles away but they can wait a few days for a call)

I know some of you might think that's opening yourself to telling punters or hinting at punters there was something wrong with the car.

But we've been trying it for sometime now and customers are over the moon and think its beyond excellent customer service and that we're not just after their cash. In fact it has actually prompted customers to leave feedback.

It has built any early rapport with the customer so they know if an issue does arise we wont piss them about either.

For us its all about customer satisfaction more than anything else.

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by TangoVictor32

[NOACROSS 414]

No. However ‘just after’ the journey home might be OK. I dunno, but it’s not for me  

Many years ago (25+)  I used to ask them how they were doing and, if that time, send an Xmas thank you note.

It just attracts leeches/people wanting to suck you dry with minor issues if they think you’re soft. 

PS. I’ve not been drinking with BHM honest. 

[Del Boy 76]

Asking for trouble in my opinion! 

[It's me 609]

no way hussay....................

[TangoVictor32 90]

I suppose it's the market you're in. Obviously it won't be appropriate for a boy racer in a Golf Gti or Mr M3 enthusiast.

We're also looking to invest in text message system to send out something 9 to 15 months later reminding them if they're looking to upgrade their vehicle and telling them where to come. Either this or a simple leaflet / letter through the post.

Again it will be selected customers.

We're a team of 5 partners and most of us have grown up'ish kids who could do with some work experience...you know wash the odd car or do some IT / admin thing since they love gadgets so might as well give it a try. 

[NOACROSS 414]

Get them to deal with your Bookface campaign/snapcahphat campaign - it’s a great resource if you know how to work it  

I don’t sell bangers btw. 

[TangoVictor32 90]

8 minutes ago, NOACROSS said:

Get them to deal with your Bookface campaign/snapcahphat campaign - it’s a great resource if you know how to work it  

I don’t sell bangers btw. 

I never said you did young sir.

Bangers or buggatis - it's all about the buyer and who they are as a person. 30 years of judging people I can tell who will be a nag and who'll be respectable.

Tbh if I spot a nutjob I will let one of the guys deal with them.

[trade vet 697]

1 minute ago, TangoVictor32 said:

I never said you did young sir.

Bangers or buggatis - it's all about the buyer and who they are as a person. 30 years of judging people I can tell who will be a nag and who'll be respectable.

Tbh if I spot a nutjob I will let one of the guys deal with them.

Excuse me...’Team of 5 partners ‘....how does that work ? Sounds like a recipe for disaster in this job.

[David Ayers 171]

25 minutes ago, TangoVictor32 said:

We're also looking to invest in text message system to send out something 9 to 15 months later reminding them if they're looking to upgrade their vehicle and telling them where to come. Either this or a simple leaflet / letter through the post.

Again it will be selected customers. 

Obviously those who have consented to receive marketing data.

[Mark101 536]

Back in the day, I used to give each retail customer a loyalty card inviting them to use our workshop.  It was a friends and family scheme and was placed in the pocket below the tax disc (remember them?). Proper plastic, professionally made credit card style, thought I was very creative, the result was disappointing.

[TangoVictor32 90]

9 minutes ago, Mark101 said:

Back in the day, I used to give each retail customer a loyalty card inviting them to use our workshop.  It was a friends and family scheme and was placed in the pocket below the tax disc (remember them?). Proper plastic, professionally made credit card style, thought I was very creative, the result was disappointing.

Every major organisation did that. That just sat in the corner.

 

Whereas a mobile phone goes ding dong and people will miss their dinner to just be on their phone. 

51 minutes ago, trade vet said:

Excuse me...’Team of 5 partners ‘....how does that work ? Sounds like a recipe for disaster in this job.

How do you think it works?

5 partners everyone invested an equal amount. 3 of us retired nearly 6 years ago and 2 were coming to retirement. It was either do something or sit at home listen to nagging wives.

We all have dedicated roles; 

Stock sourcing, sales, marketing, prep, accounts/ finance etc to name a few. 

10 hands always better than 2 especially when you known folks for a long time and have relied on them in difficult situations.

 

[trade vet 697]

11 minutes ago, TangoVictor32 said:

Every major organisation did that. That just sat in the corner.

 

Whereas a mobile phone goes ding dong and people will miss their dinner to just be on their phone. 

How do you think it works?

5 partners everyone invested an equal amount. 3 of us retired nearly 6 years ago and 2 were coming to retirement. It was either do something or sit at home listen to nagging wives.

We all have dedicated roles; 

Stock sourcing, sales, marketing, prep, accounts/ finance etc to name a few. 

10 hands always better than 2 especially when you known folks for a long time and have relied on them in difficult situations.

 

I think it is remarkable that you guys have kept it together after 6 years.I doubt you will all be ‘laid back’ given your previous occupation.I would imagine with 5 equal partners you could have some big rows when someone cocks up and it costs you a few grand which happens to all of us.Partnerships of 2 people with start ups in this job usually don’t last much longer than 2 years....

I hope you continue on here,we might learn something.

[lastyboy 23]

Normally send a courtesy email 14 days after sale personally.

[TangoVictor32 90]

7 minutes ago, lastyboy said:

Normally send a courtesy email 14 days after sale personally.

A phone call is more personal.

Dont get me wrong but written text is written in one manner and read another. (Think of some instructions in a flat pack that make no sense)

@trade vet just asked me something and after a long day I nearly read it wrong and thought he was having a dig with sarcasm. 

Whereas a phone call... You hear a persons voice... Always say "cheers" than "thank you very much". The latter is dull, its robotic like the virgin media call centres based abroad. 

 

17 minutes ago, trade vet said:

I think it is remarkable that you guys have kept it together after 6 years.I doubt you will all be ‘laid back’ given your previous occupation.I would imagine with 5 equal partners you could have some big rows when someone cocks up and it costs you a few grand which happens to all of us.Partnerships of 2 people with start ups in this job usually don’t last much longer than 2 years....

I hope you continue on here,we might learn something.

I didnt elaborate. I know the fellas over time and at work... Life and death situations let's say. 

Over the years we progressed and in the force as you progress you learn more about management and running of a team or department rather than front line policing. 

So since we all were fairly up in the ranks we had a lot of experience and knew what each of our strongest points are. 

For example those that were good with communications prefer the sales side of things.

I know what you mean about cock ups. But the key is communication. Be clear, be specific, if in doubt leave it out. 

[MrV 66]

I do this 5 days after sale and I think its an old skool vs new skool thing, in my very humble and inexperienced opinion I believe today's younger and Internet savvy buyer expect this level of service whereas the older generation aren't so demanding and are quite happy with good old manners etc but we now live in a world where fantastic service is rarely appreciated but poor service makes people go absolutely batshit crazy! The younger generation are simply arseholes, expect everything for nothing and bollocks to the welfare of the seller whos simply trying to feed his kids in an honest manner. Anyway I've drunk too much whiskey so bollocks to society I'm off to live on the moon with Wallace and his mate, hiccup. 

[awc1000 93]

22 minutes ago, TangoVictor32 said:

A phone call is more personal.

Dont get me wrong but written text is written in one manner and read another. (Think of some instructions in a flat pack that make no sense)

@trade vet just asked me something and after a long day I nearly read it wrong and thought he was having a dig with sarcasm. 

Whereas a phone call... You hear a persons voice... Always say "cheers" than "thank you very much". The latter is dull, its robotic like the virgin media call centres based abroad. 

 

I didnt elaborate. I know the fellas over time and at work... Life and death situations let's say. 

Over the years we progressed and in the force as you progress you learn more about management and running of a team or department rather than front line policing. 

So since we all were fairly up in the ranks we had a lot of experience and knew what each of our strongest points are. 

For example those that were good with communications prefer the sales side of things.

I know what you mean about cock ups. But the key is communication. Be clear, be specific, if in doubt leave it out. 

Interesting being a team of 5, and unusual... i'm curious was this decided because you needed a specific amount of money for a specific venture? i.e acquiring a site.

and can i ask how many units you stock in what price range?

for me i would not want to be an equal partner and share profits with someone who is doing the prep, marketing, or accounting.

[Mark101 536]

That is a lot of mouths to feed an equal portion of the profits to.

I would rather scrabble around by myself than have a business partner.  

Having said that, I am looking forward to a time when the business can afford/justify a right hand person.  For example, I miss so many walk ons over a weekend (I go in on appointment). I have thought about working weekends and taking a day off in the week but I get walkers in the week as well, plus I would never see the Mrs (she works mon-fri),  I also prefer attending auction in person but every time I try, I get the call saying, I’m outside your unit - can I view etc.

[NickGCS 14]

10 hours ago, TangoVictor32 said:

 

We're also looking to invest in text message system to send out something 9 to 15 months later reminding them if they're looking to upgrade their vehicle and telling them where to come. Either this or a simple leaflet / letter through the post.

Check out TextMagic, you can great your own display ID name, create templates, add customers etc. We use it all the time 

[williamblackshaw 43]

We use a company called Prospecting Dynamics. Very reasonable costs to do our calls and the feedback is always superb. Don’t under estimate the value in a call. They also check we can use their details to send a feefo online follow up so it doubles up nicely. 

[Rory RSC 596]

9 hours ago, trade vet said:

Partnerships of 2 people with start ups in this job usually don’t last much longer than 2 years....

I hope you continue on here,we might learn something.

And yet I can think of 2 thriving business straight away on here who are partnerships and consistently growing.  Doom and gloom again.

I personally don't have time and would not want to do these calls. If there is an issue usually we are quick enough to know about it. No news is good news.

Edited March 16, 2019 by Rory RSC

[trade vet 697]

16 minutes ago, Rory RSC said:

And yet I can think of 2 thriving business straight away on here who are partnerships and consistently growing.  Doom and gloom again.

I personally don't have time and would not want to do these calls. If there is an issue usually we are quick enough to know about it. No news is good news.

Another sly dig Rory.I know one partnership that lasted 40 years,I also know of dozens of partnerships that failed for various reasons ( I had one ) and Rory remember this ,if you work hard at this job you may become HALF as good a player as me. ........one - nil  !

[Rory RSC 596]

6 minutes ago, trade vet said:

Another sly dig Rory.I know one partnership that lasted 40 years,I also know of dozens of partnerships that failed for various reasons ( I had one ) and Rory remember this ,if you work hard at this job you may become HALF as good a player as me. ........one - nil  !

Its not a sly dig. I tell it how it is quite openly. Every post is doom and gloom, failures, hmrc, negative BS. Its exceptionally dull and boring when I actually reckon you probably have some fairly useful insight.

one -nil? 

[trade vet 697]

8 minutes ago, Rory RSC said:

Its not a sly dig. I tell it how it is quite openly. Every post is doom and gloom, failures, hmrc, negative BS. Its exceptionally dull and boring when I actually reckon you probably have some fairly useful insight.

one -nil? 

Accusing me of pedalling bull shit ? 

[TangoVictor32 90]

10 hours ago, awc1000 said:

Interesting being a team of 5, and unusual... i'm curious was this decided because you needed a specific amount of money for a specific venture? i.e acquiring a site.

and can i ask how many units you stock in what price range?

for me i would not want to be an equal partner and share profits with someone who is doing the prep, marketing, or accounting.

Well the investment was a reason.

But then we knew it's a lot of work and we can split the work. 

Sorry when i said we had specific i didn't mean we stick to these roles. We do chop and change. So the others know the different parts of the business as well.

This way we can get more days off as well. We were used to 4 on 4 off as an example so we needed a way for time off. 

Obviously we dont do 4 on 4 off or 3 long days on and 4 off. But we have the man power to take time off without loss of income.

We have 70+ stock from £4k to £15k (£20k max)

We try not to buy cars that attracts mainly thugs like GTi's / ST etc as they expect too much for their money and give the car a beating when they come to view it or "test" it as they call it. 

[Rory RSC 596]

42 minutes ago, trade vet said:

Accusing me of pedalling bull shit ? 

Did I write that? I did write consistently negative.

In fact I can't recall the last time a contribution of yours was anything useful for anyone rather than just negative, bitter and boring. Good luck getting one up on me. Let me know how that goes for you.