In a world where customer experience has become a key differentiating factor, businesses are increasingly recognizing the importance of employee satisfaction.

Happy and motivated staff contribute directly to better customer relations, which in turn strengthens customer loyalty and a company’s brand image. It’s essential to provide a fulfilling work environment so your team can serve your customers with a genuine smile. The labour shortage is hitting the automotive industry hard, so it’s time to develop new strategies to attract qualified employees, or potential hires who can be trained.

There’s no magic formula, but recognition, appreciation, favourable working conditions, opportunities for advancement, and a positive workplace culture are the keys to successful recruitment. The coming years won’t be easy, so improving employee satisfaction and the customer experience will be crucial to achieving 100% customer satisfaction, nothing less!
Look at your employees and assess their potential within your organization. Can they be moved to another department? Give your most loyal team members access to new opportunities, offer them advancement prospects, and provide ongoing support.

A game plan

Several practices are already common in the industry, such as continuing education, feedback, communication, and incentive programs. We must foster autonomy and give employees the ability to make decisions that reflect customer needs. When you invest in staff well-being, they will take care of your customers in return. Automotive dealerships will stand out based more on customer experience than on product alone. What is customer experience? “The sum of the emotions, perceptions and interactions a customer has with a business throughout their journey, from discovering the brand to after-sales service.”

Personally, I firmly believe that every business should have a customer service department, whether internal or external, to follow the customer every step of the way. We’ll face major challenges in terms of customer experience, are we ready for that? Customers want personalized gifts, added value, tasty treats (like prize draws), a VIP experience, and to feel special compared to others!

Customer retention is a constant, everyday challenge: fewer work orders, lower loyalty rates, fewer customers, shrinking inventories, and more. Retention is affected by declining loyalty, and customers are increasingly fickle, always looking for the best price and the fastest service. We live in the age of automation, and companies risk coming across as impersonal unless they customize their processes.

It’s hard to keep customers engaged over the long term, which is why targeted marketing strategies must be implemented. In this fast-paced world, we must strive for perfection.