Effective communication
Every week, Boeckmann and his two sons, who also help run the
business, meet with Galpin’s entire sales staff. They do the same with
the company’s managers, usually during lunch.
The meetings are an opportunity for everyone to get in a room and
meet face to face, the communication method Boeckmann prefers
above all others. Boeckmann and his sons announce upcoming
events and review what the company is trying to accomplish.
Managers and salespeople are given an opportunity to provide feedback and voice their own concerns.
“When you work for Galpin, whether it’s Galpin Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, Volvo, Aston Martin, Mazda, Saturn, Honda, you’re working
for Galpin and you need to adhere to the Galpin philosophy,” he says.
“So every week, I am with our salesmen, seeing what issues they
have.”
Boeckmann values face-to-face communication the most because
it is the method that offers the most immediate feedback. While it
can be time-consuming and not always practical, he says in-person
communication should be how you operate whenever possible.
“In face-to-face communication, you’re looking at the other person
and you can tell an awful lot,” he says. We communicate better when
we see facial expressions. I can tell if you understand what I am saying, if you’re a little bit perplexed or if you have a question just by looking at you.”
Though the 76-year-old Boeckmann says he finds e-mail and other
forms of Internet communication annoying at times, he also says it is
a valuable tool that should not be overlooked, particularly when it
comes to internal communication.
“It’s still a tremendous way to communicate. It’s a tremendous way
for the assistants in our business to communicate with each other.”
Galpin uses e-mail as one of the staples of its communication with
customers. Whenever someone purchases a car, the associate handling the sale asks for an e-mail address, which serves as a way to not
only notify customers of upcoming promotions, but also as a way to
get feedback on their experience with Galpin.
Customer feedback is an important part of the communication formula in any business. Boeckmann says it serves two main purposes:
To improve the customer experience and to educate employees on
how to do their jobs better.
“We solicit feedback when we sell a car, we ask the customer
upfront if there is anything they’re unhappy with,” he says. “We also
follow up by telephone for every service visit.”
If you want to have a company that has successful, long-term relationships with customers, you need to learn to see every piece of customer feedback, positive or negative, as an opportunity to improve.
Handling dissatisfied customers is one of the most difficult areas in
which to train an employee, but Boeckmann says it’s well worth the
training time.
“A lot of our people talk among themselves and they say, ‘I really
don’t want to call an unhappy customer,’” he says. “But I tell them,
‘Wait, that’s an opportunity, not a negative.’”
He says employees who work in an environment where open communication is valued are employees that are more likely to communicate well with customers. A dissatisfied customer who has his or her
problem addressed in a timely fashion could very well become a satisfied customer, and one who sticks with your company because you
took care of them.
“It may take a little time and a little patience, but if a customer comes
in to see me with a problem, our secretaries have a joke about how
long it will take before we’re all laughing,” he says. “If you handle it
right, they can end up as even more loyal customers than they were
before. You not only didn’t lose them, they are a stronger customer
than they were before.”