Brian Pasch’s open letter to Ford CEO Jim Farley has gone viral. (If you’re not familiar, Pasch is a longtime consultant helping car dealerships go online.)
Farley’s comments and Pasch’s letter and whatever happens next is not content for this blog.
But the comments thread on Pasch’s post? They’re worth a read. Some appreciate his advocacy for dealers. Some think dealers are just getting what’s been coming to them.
If you are really brave, go read comments on one of the automotive blogs’ articles about the letter.
Many have said that automotive retail earned its bad reputation in previous generations, and we are still trying to shake that reputation. And there are still bad actors reaffirming the stereotype.
But: What are you doing at EVERY step of the customer’s journey to ensure they get the message that you are different?
If you are on this blog, you are not interested in being a “one-and-done” store. You don’t take advantage of customers now, thinking they will come back and if not, who cares. You are thinking long term.
If so, know you are fighting an uphill battle, and you can’t afford to slouch through a single customer touch point.
(Dealership folks, as a balm, here’s Dale Pollak’s data and recommendations on where to source your most profitable inventory and–true to his form–which to turn.)