23 February 2015

Do you run ‘VIP’ evenings? You know the drill. Invite your customer database, decorate the showroom festively and order in the Cava and frozen canapés.

Plenty of retailers do. And while few invitees believe for a moment that the ‘VIP’ tag makes them in any way special, enough usually turn up to make the place look busy. But if you’re among the ones that ‘do’, is it something you undertake principally because it is familiar and has worked in the past? Or does it genuinely deliver the best return on your cash?

Let me explain why I ask. A quick quiz of friends and business contacts who’ve bought a car (new or used) within the last year revealed that most had received invite to such events but nobody had bought on the night or soon afterwards. And while several had purchased subsequently from the retailer hosting the event, all claimed that the evening hadn’t influenced their decision one whit. A couple, however, complained that they received a barrage of follow-up sales calls lasting for months.

We are all at times guilty of favouring what’s familiar, even sometimes when we doubt whether it remains the best. However, as more customers go online to inform their car buying decisions, practices that date from pre-WorldWide Web days must be ripe for re-evaluation. And perhaps the day of the VIP event is finally done.

Ray Castle

Tags: autonomous cars, licensed mechanics, Self driving cars, servicing