If I were talking with a dealership manager who wanted to improve customer experience over the next 90 days, I would start with three simple things.
First, walk the store like a customer.
Not once a month. Every day.
Sit where customers sit. Walk through the showroom entrance. Visit the service lounge. Walk the parking lot. Look at the dealership from the angles customers see rather than from the employee entrances and offices we use every day.
Second, relentlessly reinforce friendliness and attentiveness.
Nobody should stand at a counter wondering who is going to help them. Phones should not ring endlessly. Employees should acknowledge customers even when the customer isn't “theirs.”
Get people where they are trying to go quickly and graciously.
Third, watch the actual transaction.
Managers spend enormous amounts of time studying results. They should also occasionally watch how those results are produced.
Sit near a vehicle delivery. Pay attention to an F&I signing. Observe how an advisor explains a repair.
Then ask a simple question:
If I were the customer, how would that have felt?
There will always be new technology, new facilities and new customer-experience programs.
Those investments have value.
But I don't believe the luxury automotive industry spends too much on customer experience. If anything, we can become overly focused on the visible parts of luxury while investing too little in teaching employees how to deliver it.
The snacks matter.
The building matters.
The gifts matter.
But none of those can overcome a customer feeling ignored, rushed or processed.
Ultimately, luxury isn't about how expensive an environment looks.
It’s about whether someone cared enough to notice.