What happens when consumers need information to help drive their vehicle purchase decisions? They seek recommendations from their friends. Gone are the days when they turned to TV and print ads for recommendations. Word of mouth is now the best ad – positive buzz about your service and products passed from one reliable person to the next is the most cost-effective way to build a loyal following and reach new customers.

This article cited survey results from J.D. Power which indicate that younger vehicle buyers experience the shopping process differently. One of the prime drivers when it comes to choosing an auto dealer is a recommendation from a friend or family member. Nowadays, dealers can benefit a lot more from customer advocacy than they used to, but loyalty has become harder to attain than in the past. If a dealer is looking for an advocate amongst its millennial customers, it will need to score a 10 out of 10 for them to share their experience. Millennials in particular cannot be overlooked because they are the most avid social media users compared to other demographics and are endowed with more friends and influence.

GoRecommend, a social media advocacy solution is a program that enables you to identify customers who are highly satisfied with the service provided at your dealership and give them immediate opportunity to recommend you via their social networks. Your potential advocates are everywhere. When asked to recommend, most will respond positively – they just need a little reminder to do so.

Don’t let another potential advocate slip away without giving them a chance to recommend you. Visit our Automotive section to learn what else you can do to drive advocacy.

Customers don’t always remember the products they purchased or the service they received after the fact, but they will always remember the little gestures you made that enhanced their overall purchasing experience. Making them feel good about not only making the purchase, but making it from you, should be part of your customer service goals. It is also what a differentiating customer experience is about.

These days customer service is no longer adequate if you merely provide service to satisfy your customers. This article points to the importance of going above and beyond to do whatever it takes to win the hearts and minds of your customers.

What are the ways to “wow” your customers with your customer service and win their long-term loyalty? Learn these five tips:

1. Make your customers feel special. People love it when they are made to feel special. Acknowledge your customers, greet them with a warm and genuine smile, show them respect, ask them what they are looking for, help them find what they are looking for, and give them special discounts.
2. Give your customers more than they expect. Everyone likes a pleasant surprise once in a while and what could be more pleasant than getting more than what they had expected? You could offer a free product as part of a purchase or a free service as part of a contract. You don’t have to do it every day. Doing it on special occasions is enough to win their loyalty.
3. Go out of your way to do the little things. People really appreciate it when you go out of your way to do little things for them. Open the door for them, help them pick up the things they have accidentally dropped, giving gifts to their children…etc.
4. Stay true to your word. It is the best way to build trust. For example, if you have announced a special holiday discount of 20% on all items, give your customers the stated discount even if you later find out that one of you staff members posted the discount in error. It leaves a bad taste in the customer’s mouth if a business is not true to their word.
5. Build a personal relationship. Every small business depends largely on the loyalty of their regular customers. So try to get to know every regular customer and build a personal relationship with them. Once you win their friendship, many of their friends will soon become your customers.

The battle for customers today is based as much on the emotional connection than price or product features. Brands that pay attention to their customers’ needs are those that win their loyalty. Read more on customer experience and learn how you can get under the surface to understand what really make you special to your customers.

With Mother’s Day always falling on a Sunday, it’s the all-time most popular holiday for dining out. Restaurants look forward to this special day as it is one of the most profitable holidays. According to this survey conducted by National Restaurant Association, more than one-quarter of American adults will celebrate Mother’s Day by dining out and 80 million American adults are expected to enjoy restaurant meals on May 12, 2013.

The potential of bringing new sales during Mother’s Day is such exciting news but don’t get carried away and lose sight of the customer experience you should deliver on this special day. People will remember their holiday dining experience — from the quality of the food to the level of customer experience delivered, every element can potentially make or break your chance with them. You want to achieve more than just drawing these new customers in for one-time dining experience – you want to keep them coming back after Mother’s Day.

So how do you deliver a dining experience so wonderful that your customers can’t resist coming back for other occasions? You need to first learn to walk in your guests’ shoes. What initially draws people to your restaurant versus another? Is it the menu, the location, the ambience or the review they read online?  What is their first interaction with you like? Is the wait-staff attentive and helpful? How do they like their food? How fast is their food served? Do they have to wait for long before their bill comes? Customer Journey Mapping helps you examine all these factors that serve as potential key decision points for imposing brand standards and consistency in operations to ensure every visit is a perfect one. It also helps you determine the magic moments that need to be built, managed and monitored to ensure a differentiated and compelling brand experience.

Do you want repeat customers that attest to consistency of food, service and experience? Learn more about Customer Journey Mapping today.

Today’s connected customers expect a seamless shopping experience. They don’t think in channels, they see every brand as one entity no matter how many channels the retailer operates. According to this article, 49% of consumers believe the best thing retailers can do to improve the shopping experience is to better integrate in-store, online and mobile shopping channels. Furthermore, an overwhelming 89 percent of consumers said it is important for retailers to let them shop for products in the way that is most convenient for them, no matter which sales channel they choose.

By implementing a multi-channel experience, a brand can understand the current customer journey and when during the customer experience the real “moments of truth” happen for the customer that frames their opinion. Once you identify these critical moments of truth on the customer journey, you can then focus on the key areas of influence for the customer experience.

Creating perfect customer journey means creating more satisfied customers who are likely to return and make repeat purchase. Isn’t this what every brand wants?