Is everything OK with your new car Mr Johnson?

Perhaps the most damning statistic for today’s car dealers is the one which tells us that 44% of customers who have bought cars have had no further contact from the supplying dealer. Yes by “no contact” we mean, um, no contact, nothing, zilch.

That means that those customers will feel little if any loyalty to that dealer and the business in turn will have less opportunity to try and network with friends or colleagues of that customer who they may have wished to recommend.

Many years ago, before it was so easy to market to customers and most business was conducted locally, sales people were encouraged every time they sold a car to send a letter of thanks followed by an

“is everything ok Mr Johnson?” call and ending with an attempt to find out if anyone else the customer knew might be in the market for a new car, simple but often very effective.

I know there is a fine line between following up with a buying customer to check they are happy with the product and service you have provided and hassling and hounding someone into an early grave, but when they have spent the kind of money we are talking about surely at the very least a follow up courtesy call would be welcomed by many customers and maybe even a six monthly and annual follow up to boot.

I know most people who have experienced this kind of attentiveness are certainly very pleasantly surprised when it does happen and are happy to recommend as a result.

Many businesses are investing thousand in call centres which are checking every aspect of the buyer experience but surely a simple call from the sales person who sold you the car or even e mail would go a long way to making a customer feel special.

It’s a simple concept but only just over half of the customers are getting it.