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Pampering Customers Becomes Normal At Auto Dealerships

	Pampering Customers Becomes Normal At Auto Dealerships
	American International Automobile Dealers Association Article
	admin Wednesday 24 August 2005
The modern new car and truck showroom is likely to resemble a coffee shop or bookstore, where customers are pampered Next time you’re at Lexus of Colorado Springs, wave to Kristine Johnston. Johnston may be the only concierge in the city who works not in a hotel but at an automobile dealership. Her job: To ease the pressure of buying a car or having it serviced, which she does with cut flowers, fresh fruit, neatly folded newspapers and other comforts. "It’s a tremendous fit for me, because I like going the extra mile to take care of people. I try to anticipate their needs (and) their desires. People are by far the very best part of the car business," Johnston said. Auto dealerships aren’t the same places your dad visited a generation ago. Gone are the cinder block buildings, metal desks and linoleum floors. The modern new car and truck showroom is likely to resemble a coffee shop or bookstore, where customers are pampered "guests," parts departments are "boutiques," and super-clear plasma TVs make a couple of hours in the waiting area enjoyable. "That really has been a trend in recent years. Just over 34 percent of U.S. dealers have upgraded their showrooms over the last five years," said Jeff Beddow, a National Automobile Dealers Association spokesman. The emphasis has been on entertainment lounges, play areas for kids, business centers for customers and showroom improvements, he said. "In today’s environment, people want more. They want to feel part of an organization where they’ve invested $20,000, $30,000 or $40,000," said Jay Cimino, chief executive officer of Phil Long Dealerships. Phil Long is opening a Hyundai dealership at the intersection of Motor City Drive and Motor Way. Instead of climbing stairs, customers will ride an escalator to a waiting area with fireplace, coffee and doughnuts on the showroom floor. "If we truly want a customer for life, we can’t segregate him or think of him as just a service customer only," Cimino said. "We really want him to be a part of our organization, so we’ve designed our entire store to accommodate him." Dealers are doting on customers because the competition is keen. Automakers are selling 267 different makes and models in the United States, double the number sold 30 years ago, according to McLean, Va.-based NADA. At the same time, the number of dealerships is declining, and the number of cars and trucks sold at the remaining stores is ballooning. There are 21,650 dealerships in the country today, down 12 percent in two decades. Meanwhile, the number of dealerships selling more than 750 vehicles a year has jumped 88 percent. That’s helped fuel the trend toward enhanced service. "We need to differentiate ourselves from the competition and meet our customers’ expectations," said Thom Buckley, vice president of Red Noland Auto Group. "There are a lot of choices for customers, and cars have changed. The quality of automobiles has increased, such that there’s not as much to distinguish one car from another. "Let’s face it: If you’re spending $30,000 to $40,000 on a car, there’s not a bad one. So perhaps we’re trying to make the buying experience the differentiator, if all cars are good," Buckley said. Red Noland is constructing a posh $6.8 million Jaguar-Land Rover dealership on Automotive Drive that is scheduled to open in December. One of its features will be a 170-foot test course designed by Outside International Inc., a Houston-based off-road demonstration course builder. Shoppers will get a feel for how Rovers respond while climbing or traversing 30-degree slopes (a rise of about 30 feet for each 100 feet of distance). Buckley wanted to install a climbing wall, but gave up the idea because the ceiling in the new building won’t be high enough. The possibility of lawsuits also discouraged him from the idea. Phil Long Dealerships expects to break ground this fall on an Audi dealership that will feel more like a hangar, manager Jeff Steinke said. "There will be the Audi Quattro cafe, which will have all the various coffees, the plasma TV, soft seating and leather chairs," Steinke said. Customer expectations are different, he said, likening the change to buying a cup of coffee. Twenty years ago, coffee was bought in convenience stores. Today, shoppers go to Starbucks, where they might hang out with the newspaper or surf the Internet on a wireless laptop. "They don’t just run in and run out. They want to talk about cars, and they want to do it in a setting that gets their excitement going," Steinke said.

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