I’m in the very preliminary car shopping phase. Still figuring out what my next car will be. I know what I want, but let’s be honest, the Tesla X is not realistic for this entrepreneur’s budget. So, I’m checking out some cars. The other night I was playing online and submited info to get a price quote and begin the question asking phase. I got 2 emails back to back from the dealership. From 2 different people, Erin & Christine. AND the email  from Erin was signed by Danny.

I appreciate you have setup automated the follow up process, which I FULLY support. If done well. But if I’m going to give you a lot of my money for a car, then I’d like to have ONE point of contact who can actually sell me a car and answer my questions. I don’t want 3 different “internet managers”. What does that even mean? Do you manage sales only through the internet? If I come into the dealership are you my contact? Or are you in charge of the online presence for your company?

I emailed Christine and asked WHO I should be talking to since I seem to have 3 options here.  It’s been a week and no response…

This isn’t the first time that a company I contact has had multiple personality disorder. Make sure you are make contacting your company easy for the CUSTOMER, not for you. But overwhelming and confusing people you lose business.

This past weekend my husband, dad & I went to San Diego for some warm weather & beer tasting. It was a GREAT weekend! As the weekend went on I realized that the hotel staff was awesome! Hotels are a great example of customer service and can teach you a lot about sales. Here are 3 things you can learn from an attentive hotel staff about sales:

1. Be Friendly & Ask. Every time we left the hotel the valet staff asked if we needed directions or knew where we were going. Sometimes we had it planned out, but other times, we needed their help. But they asked EVERY time.

2. Help Other Departments. A Concierge noticed I was standing over by the bar area looking to get my water bottle filled up. He came right over to the bar and asked if I needed help. It was SO simple, but made a big difference instead of me waiting around and giving up. Or “that’s not my job, sorry.” I wish I could punch people in the face when it’s “not my job description.” Empower your team to be cross trained and help out when needed, not when it’s convenient.

3. Remember Me. This one can be tricky, but on Monday morning as we were checking out, I chatted with a gal at the cafe area and she asked how the Zoo was. We ended up NOT going to the zoo, but she remembered from Saturday that I had mentioned we were thinking about going to the zoo. I have to admit I didn’t even remember her (I usually remember a face!), but it was so great that she remembered and asked. Make notes about the personal things (how was your daughter’s volleyball game? what was your son for Halloween?), it makes a HUGE difference!