Listening to and understand your customer’s needs is critical to the success of your business. Our Head of Franchise shares her recent experience with a car brand, who didn’t and the impact it had

I received a call from a well-known German car brand who told me I’d been selected for a VIP club where I could get heavily discounted rates on a new car. Perfect timing my car lease is up in September

I was asked what new car I would be looking for? I started my answer with `I have really specific requests for my next car, I’m really picky’

I then proceeded to advise exactly what I wanted, model, colour, specification, even down to wheel size

Next, they asked what I would be prepared to pay, again I was really specific, no more than I’m paying now, my car spends most of the time of the drive

Yes, Mrs Aldridge we’ll be able to find you a vehicle, excellent I thought I’ll be in a new car in no time

Next call back, I was excited for the call, great news we have found you a vehicle, they proceeded to real off the specification of a car, it couldn’t have been any further from my brief, and to top it off they summarised with it’s just £155 more than what you are paying now

What do you think??

I think you haven’t listened to a word I’ve told you, my response it’s not what I’m looking for, and I can’t up my monthly payments

Have you thought about a different model? How about an X1?

I referred him back to our first conversation, where I advised I had an X1 but need an X3 because of the children

What about a 5 series? Again, we had already covered it had to be an X3

I felt so frustrated that they weren’t listening and understanding my requirements, off they went again to find me a car, guess what they have never come back to me

I would never of selected to use that particular dealership due to a past bad experience, but as they called me, I thought I would give them a second try, a complete waste of time

It was obvious they were just trying to sell what they wanted rather than what I wanted

So I called the dealership who I brought my last car off, they took the time to question me to understand exactly what I wanted and where I was prepared to compromise, who are now looking for my new car

How does this relate to holidays??

You must understand exactly what type of holiday experience your customers are looking for. If you start presenting quotes back that are different to your customer’s needs, you are not only going to lose the sale, but you will lose that customer and how many people they are going to share this with, do this, and don’t have a business.

The other area you need to be mindful of, is pushing the destinations, types of experience, or itineraries you like or have experienced, this isn’t your holiday, you have to balance sharing your knowledge and experience to guide a customer get to their perfect holiday.

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it, if you think about that, you’ll do things differently

Warren Buffett

Our 1:1 Sales Through Service training will guide you on exactly how to understand your customer’s needs to ensure you get a maximum return on your time and investment