When we started this personal car shopping business 5 years ago, we were going into it blind. There is no business model for a car shopper because it’s such a new concept. Our initial idea was to be added as a “perk” or a “company benefit” for startups in the Austin area. That was difficult to accomplish because it turns out the people who make those decisions don’t actually talk on the phone. Like NEVER talk on the phone. Fortunately, our website was generating some “regular” customers which was nice because, well, having customers is nice.
The average length of ownership is five years for about two thirds of all Americans (I’m not sure that math fully makes sense). When I was running new car dealerships, we really started amping up our follow up at 30 months after a new car purchase because the average person would be running out of warranty. That was a relatively successful strategy for us.
After five years of having this business, we looked over our customer base and figured out that fully a third of our business is repeat/referral business. That’s humbling in a good way. We take pride in the work we do for our clients and it’s good that our clients recognize that value.
A good deal. Isn’t the definition of a good deal when both sides are happy? In our case, it’s a good deal when we and our clients are happy. But not dealerships. Dealerships define a good deal as “making the most profit without the customer hating us.” And if they make a LOT of profit, they don’t really care if the customer hates them.
A dealership is that narcissist, selfish person in your life. At least you only have to deal with them at special times, but heaven’s, even in that little amount of time, dealing with them is brutal. They are going to tell you that you are trying to keep them from making any money. If you just lay down and say yes, they are going to pound on you to pay more money because the dealership MUST MAKE MORE PROFIT. “You drive a hard bargain” is what they always tell the person that they are making a big big profit.
We can’t stop the dealership from making their sales pitches, but with us, those pitches don’t matter. We are not going to allow ourselves to get backed into a corner. We are immune to their attempts to guilt us. Their sob story is not your concern. We will listen to them and tell them no. All we care about is getting you the best deal we can get. By having this mindset, we genuinely believe it’s a good deal. A good deal for you that makes you happy. And happy you is a good deal for us. The proof is in our clients. One out of three being a repeat/referral, what we are doing is working.
We are so very lucky. As personal car shoppers, we get to take an unpleasurable situation for people and turn it into a positive situation. We get to take something people dread and create something people enjoy. That’s a good deal for all of us.
Read What Our Clients Are Saying or go ahead and contact us here.
