When customers walk onto the lot at Sonny’s RV, it’s unlikely they’ll be ignored at the Casper, Wyo., dealership. Not only will they be instantly greeted, but every employee in every department is trained to approach any customer standing by himself or waiting at a counter to either render service or help him find someone who can.

“When customers have to run all over the place by themselves trying to find a specific department or person, they get confused,” said Sherry Volker, office manager. “So we teach everyone how to operate everything to keep customers moving. Our salespeople will even run the parts department on Sunday if someone needs a day off.”

Follow-up fundamentals
Once a sale is completed, customers aren’t forgotten. Salespeople follow up within 48 hours after delivery of a unit to answer any questions the customer may have about the unit or the dealership.

A photo calendar and survey arrive at the buyer’s home within two weeks. The customer service staff also calls each buyer on the three-month and six-month anniversary dates just to “check in.”

“We want to make sure customers were taken care of during the delivery process, that they felt they could trust our staff in the finance and insurance department, and that our sales and service staff were professionals willing to answer their questions,” said Quintin White, sales manager.

Annual Christmas cards thank customers for their patronage and express a desire to continue working with them in the year ahead.

“Our dealership orientations can last two or three hours. It’s easy for customers to get home and forget how to turn on the water heater. So we follow-up to make sure they have a good time with their units,” said Dave Osborn, parts and service manager. “By following up frequently through this process, we have earned an average score of 97 percent on our customer service index.”