The following is a report from the RVDA 2020 Virtual Convention/Expo
If there has been a recurring theme over the first few days of the RV Dealers Virtual Convention/Expo this week, it has been that the industry is emerging from the COVID-forced factory shutdowns of last spring into a time of booming sales thanks in large part to first-time buyers.
Michael Rees, president of A World of Training, has been around the business long enough to recognize the pattern and to offer some advice to anyone wise enough to learn from the past.
“When 9/11 hit, as bad as that situation was, a couple of months later we had a similar phenomenon,” Rees said during a training session entitled “Caring for and Feeding First-Time RV Owners.” He continued, “people decided to buy RVs because they didn’t want to get on an airplane because of everything that had just happened. We had a big spike, but a couple of years later the numbers dropped – the reason being we weren’t ready for them.”
Rees said that breaking a sale into three parts – dealership, delivery, and afterward – can help a sales team focus on meeting the customers’ needs and providing a better experience that not only will bring them back but will provide valuable referrals of other future customers.
During the sale, a salesperson should make sure to introduce customers to the sales manager and provide a tour of the service and parts departments. This will help them understand that this is just the beginning of the relationship.
During the vehicle delivery, it is important not to schedule the event for the salesperson’s day off. Having that initial point of contact available on the “big day” and also solidifies the contact.
After the sale, Rees stressed the importance of keeping up with the new buyer. He suggests calling them 24 hours after delivery to see how the drive home went and if they have any questions. Salespeople should call again a week later to see if they have used the RV for camping yet and if they have questions. Then, Rees said, the salesperson should call a month later to talk about that first trip and see if any issues have arisen that they can help the customer with.
At this point, the salesperson should have built up enough of a relationship that they can ask for referrals. Continued calls just to check in every six months will help to improve that customer experience, Rees added.
Rees’ presentation will be added to the on-demand section of courses available on the convention/expo site through January 31, 2021.
To register for the online event and to see the complete lineup of speakers, click here.