A friend of mine bought a new car from a dealer showroom. He asked the floor manager for a bottom line price that included everything, including trade-in of his old car. The final price to take the car home. My friend negotiated a price that fit his budget.
Yet when it came time to do the paperwork, the floor manager presented my friend with a bill that was $1300 more than the negotiated price. When asked about the difference, he was told that it was due to documentation preparation and taxes. The floor manager said there was nothing he could do. The total price my friend was being asked to pay resulted in a razor thin margin for the dealership of $200 above cost.
Two days later, he went back to pick up the car. The floor manager was not working that day but the dealership manager was there. He waited on my friend, who told him about the additional cost quoted him by the floor manager. He then said, "Look, I’m going to buy the car because I like the car. The question is whether I leave with a bitter taste in my mouth or not."
The dealership manager’s reply was brilliant.
"It’s my fault. The floor manager is new, only two weeks into the job. I trained him and obviously, I didn’t train him right."
When something goes wrong, people want to see someone take accountability. It’s human nature. No one is satisfied when they hear the reason things are messed up is because it’s an act of God or it’s just the way the system works, or heaven forbid, it’s their own fault.
Acknowledging responsibility is often enough to get the customer on your side. But there’s more to the story. The dealership manager went further.
"Based on your experience with us, how would you rate us on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest rating?"
"6."
"What do we need to do to get to a 10 and a recommendation?" The dealership manager explained that the floor manager would not get a commission unless the customer rated the experience as a 10. He also mentioned that based on my friend’s profession (consultant) it was likely that he’d tell people to stay away from his dealership.
The dealership manager could see a short-term lesson of a lost commission for the floor manager would also result in a long-term loss of good will with my friend and anyone my friend might talk to about his new car. So he negotiated tire warranties, discounts on maintenance, more money for the trade-in, and full tanks of gas for my friend. When they were all done, he asked my friend:
"Did we get a 10?"
"Yes." My friend couldn’t argue for less than a 10. The dealership manager had provided more than enough value in services and products to make up for the extra cost.
When the car was delivered that day, in going over the checklist of features, my friend noticed that the dealership manager had thrown in an extra goodie–a special coating on the upholstery to make it easier to clean.
This dealership manager knows the value of surprising the customer, to give him or her more than expected.
When something goes wrong, customers want accountability and respect for their situation in the form of restitution. Delighting the customer is as simple and as hard as that.