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USED CAR DEALERS ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO
230 Norseman Street, Toronto, ON M8Z 2R4 Tel: 416.231.2600
Toll Free: 1.800.268.2598 web@ucda.org
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ONTARIO DEALER
is published by Laservision Graphics Ltd. four times a year.
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EDITOR
Gina Monaco
Tel: 1.647.344.9300 or 1.289.456.4617 gina@ontariodealer.com
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Direct: 416.360.0797
Office: 647.344.9300
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Shannon Coleman slk.coleman@yahoo.ca 647.269.4191
PHOTOGRAPHY photosbypierce.com
DESIGN thrillhousestudios.com
CONTRIBUTORS
Chris Chase, Ronda Payne, Bill Sherk, Angela West
If you are interested in having your personal opinion heard, contact the editor at gina@ontariodealer.com
Ronda Payne
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did not return a call or an email, and be proactive, because a small complaint can become larger if it is seen to be ignored.
While good customer service is as important as it ever was, and while it is becoming less and less easy to find, the consequences of not delivering on that promise are more serious than ever. Witness the thrashing Airlines took over the 2022/23 holiday season, on review sites, Twitter, Facebook and countless other social media touchpoints.
1. Your online approach, website, advertising
2. The customer experience in the dealership
3. Interaction with salespeople
4. Feature description, test drive
5. Negotiation and purchase
6. Vehicle delivery
7. Service and the after-sale relationship
By James Hamilton, Interim Manager and Legal Services Director, UCDA
It’s hardly revolutionary to say to any consumer-facing business that customer service is important. That’s not going to come as a surprise to any business. Good customer service is usually the hallmark of any truly successful retail operation, but my sense is good service has become both harder to find and even more important these days than ever before.
When I say harder to find, I speak of my own experience dealing with companies in charge of our phones, cable, health, entertainment, travel, insurance and on and on. Ever try to quickly resolve a question, waiting on the phone for an hour or more, while the recording periodically reminds you how important your call is? They are right, your call is important, but they lose the thread on the execution.
Motor vehicle dealers have always understood the need to be responsive. You don’t want to lose a sale because you
Even more important to our industry is the simple fact that surveys show consumer brand loyalty pales in comparison to the decisions consumers make based on good customer service. The customer will buy the vehicle because they have been treated with the correct professionalism, care and attention, and less because it’s the same kind of vehicle they bought last time.
What that means is good customer service will bring you more business. This carries through, of course, to the after-sale experience. If, as with any used product, there are problems with a vehicle after the sale, and the dealer is responsive, open and helpful, the customer will remember that, and tell their friends and family about it. If you are lucky, they will tell the whole world on social media! But if you drop that ball, they will almost certainly do all the same things in a negative way instead (my impression is they are in fact more likely to do that).
Think about all the points along the way where your dealership has the chance to establish, in the mind of the customer, good service:
Each stage along the way presents challenges, but also offers the opportunity to create a comeback customer. Dealers need to remember, for most people, buying a car, whether new or used, is a stressful and time-consuming process. Dealers can bring very important valueadds to that fact, by making the process smooth, friendly, informative and pleasant for the consumer.
Who knows, if your efforts hit the mark, you may have a customer for life!
In addition to our regular articles in this issue of The Ontario Dealer, such as The Law Matters, Tech Talk, The Common Lawyer and The Old Car Detective, our theme is Customer Service so please enjoy the following articles:
• Content Ideas to Engage Your Customers
• What is Transparency and how to be better at it
• Selling to Businesses
• The Trust Economy and Reviews
• Warranties
You can reach me anytime at j.hamilton@ ucda.org with any comments or suggestions for the magazine! ■
accident for the diminished value of their vehicle. Diminished value claims are also permitted in some U.S. states.
Ontario, on the other hand, has had a “no fault” auto insurance system since 1990. Section 263 of the Insurance Act blocks claims for recovery of damages to an insured’s automobile, to its contents and for loss of use against anyone other than the insured’s insurer.
Zheng appealed from the dismissal of her claim for diminished value in the Brampton Small Claims Court.
Certas had elected to repair her vehicle as well as the legal issue of the trial judge’s error in denying payment of diminished value.
The appeal court was unable to find any error on the part of the trial judge. Certas decided to effect the repairs at its own expense and that decision was communicated to Zheng. Certas approved Zheng’s choice of body shop to conduct the repairs, and Zheng authorized the body shop to do the work.
By James Hamilton, Interim Manager and Legal Services Director, UCDA
The state of the law in Ontario on this subject does not bode well for those who seek to preserve value in a vehicle involved in a collision, damage or other insurance claim on a motor vehicle.
A fairly recent Divisional Court appeal case, Zheng v. Certas Home and Auto Insurance Co., provides some insight: https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onscdc/ doc/2019/2019onsc2753/2019onsc2753. html?resultIndex=1
As our readers likely know “diminished value” refers to the perceived loss of value of a vehicle following an accident-related repair. The argument is based on common sense: an informed purchaser will pay less for a vehicle that has been in an accident than for the same vehicle which has not been.
In certain Canadian provinces, individuals can sue those “at fault” for an auto
Zheng was involved in a motor vehicle accident for which she was not at fault. Her vehicle was damaged. A claim was made to her insurer (Certas), who chose to repair the physical damage to her vehicle. Despite the repair, Zheng sought to recover the diminished value of her vehicle from Certas.
At trial, Zheng provided expert evidence that the value of her vehicle had been diminished by $9,750 due to the accident. The Court, however, did not accept or award diminished value damages, on the basis that s. 6.6 of the Ontario Automobile Policy (“OAP”) gives the insurer the right to repair a vehicle rather than pay for the damage. The trial Judge interpreted the word “rather” in s. 6.6 to mean “either/or”. Certas, therefore, had the right to repair rather than pay damages.
The Court further found: “diminished value, although it exists in reality, is not included in s. 263(2) of the Insurance Act. Similarly, it is not in s. 6.2 of the OAP.” Zheng appealed on the issue of whether
Most importantly, the appeal court rejected Zheng’s argument that Certas’ repair of the vehicle did not preclude her claim for damages for diminished value. Justice Petersen found as follows:
Once Certas elected to exercise its right to repair Zheng’s vehicle “rather than pay for the damage,” it was only responsible for the cost of the repairs, up to a maximum of the actual cash value of the vehicle at the time of the accident (per s. 6.2 of the OAP). Its contractual obligation was simply to repair the vehicle, which it did.
Given this, Justice Petersen held that there was no need for him to determine whether the trial judge erred in concluding the claim for diminished value could not have succeeded under the OAP even if Certas had not made the choice to repair.
Costs of the appeal were awarded to Certas.
This appeal decision is consistent with case law establishing diminished value claims will not generally succeed in Ontario. ■
B. SEPTEMBER 14, 1953 - D. FEBRUARY 19, 2023
The UCDA mourns the passing of Bob Pierce, who served as the Director of Member Services for the UCDA for 23 years, during which time he worked tirelessly to advance the interests of our members. He was a passionate and committed leader, who made significant contributions to the association and the industry it represents.
Throughout his tenure, Bob was a staunch advocate for our members, working to promote their interests and ensure that their voices were heard both internally and with government, third party stakeholders and others.
Bob was always ready to assist the association in its submissions to government on behalf of our members.
His knowledge of the industry and his dedication to our members made him an invaluable asset when the association was confronted with
the many business and professional issues that required thoughtful and reasoned policy development.
Early in his career, he worked for the MTO and had other government appointments, including as the dealer Registrar. He was instrumental in creating and producing the Used Vehicle Information Package for Ontario.
He went on to head the new car dealer association in the 1990’s before starting with the UCDA in 2000. Bob was a central figure in the creation of OMVIC and the new dealer legislation that came out in 2010. A firm supporter of dealer education, he steered the process that led to the UCDA working with OMVIC and Georgian College on mandatory industry education programs.
In his long and storied career he helped countless registrants with his unparalleled knowledge base and
good humour. He was not just a font of know-how, he had a can-do businesslike approach to everything he did, which appealed to the membership who are, of course, business people themselves. Bob spoke their language and they responded accordingly.
On behalf of the entire association, we extend our deepest sympathies to Bob’s family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time.
He will be missed as both a colleague and a friend by all who were lucky enough to know him.
The family ask that you please consider donations in lieu of flowers to https://supportthepmcf.ca/ui/ BobPierce/donations/start
For more information please feel free to contact James Hamilton, Interim Manager and Legal Services Director, UCDA at j.hamilton@ucda.org or 416231-2600.
GOOD CONTENT IS THE SECRET SAUCE THAT CAN TRANSFORM A DEALERSHIPbringing in new customers, establishing a business’ reputation, and driving new revenue streams. It’s also a powerful way to distinguish yourself from your competitors, grabbing the attention of potential customers before they do.
Just as quality content can boost your business, bad content can damage it. The last thing you want is to give your customers and leads a negative impression; so take the time to carefully craft your content, plan it out, make a schedule, and follow it. If you’re not sure where to start, read on for some best practice tips and ideas for content creation.
Prioritize online content, particularly social media
Meet your customers where they are, not just the first time they walk through your door. For the majority of Gen Z and Millennial car buyers, that’s online. 70% of Canadian car buyers found their new vehicle online last year, according to Google, and 9 out of 10 researched their car online before even setting foot in a dealership. Without a presence on social media channels like Facebook and Instagram you’re missing out on that huge audience and a lot of leads. TikTok is worth exploring as well if you want to attract younger and future buyers to your dealership.
Everyone has a short attention span. Keep showing them the same sort of posts and they’ll quickly switch off. If you want your business to appear vibrant, engaged and relevant, you need to be switching up your content regularly. Use a mix of mediums and, for Instagram and Facebook, different formats such as reels, stories, or carousel posts.
Variety is important, but it’s worth bearing in mind that video is one of the most compelling mediums for automotive advertising - so make it central to your strategy. Research from Google shows that 66% of Canadian
shoppers are heavily influenced by videos when deciding which vehicle to purchase and 68% of buyers say they were motivated to buy because of something they saw in a video. You can exploit this trend by posting more on platforms like YouTube which are the perfect place to share virtual test drives or autotech demonstrations.
The ABC of sales - Always Be Closingapplies here with a slight adjustment: Always Be Posting. You need to keep that content coming, and the bulk of it should be original rather than just freshened up recycled material.
You can’t cut corners with your content if you want to look professional. Throwing up a blurry photo of the sales team might save you time, but it won’t win you customers. Take the time to source high-quality images, graphics, and videos as anything amateur will make your business look amateur. If you don’t have the capacity in-house, consider hiring a professional team like the kind real estate agents would use to do a video about once a month - that will boost engagement and interest on your social channels significantly, and is well worth the investment.
Your content reflects on your business, so don’t just jump into posting. Spend some time thinking beforehand about your online personality and the tone you want to strike. It can sometimes be helpful to have a brainstorming session with staff to determine words that describe your brand, e.g. approachable, knowledgeable, relatable, and relevant. Capture everything in a content strategy that you can refer back to when crafting posts.
Have fun!
Yes, you should be professional but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. Don’t be afraid to keep your content lighthearted and add in some humor. People are more likely to trust brands that show some personality and they’ll remember your business if you manage to make them laugh. 90% of people will remember a funny advert and 75% would follow a brand if it’s funny on social media, according to a study from analysts Oracle.
Building up a bank of content ideas gives your marketing team a head start when they’re feeling uninspired. Cycling through these categories will provide plenty of variety and give your customers a good feel for your business, its products, and its brand.
1. Customer stories
It’s always a good idea to share positive customer experiences when you can (and with their permission obviously). Not only does this reinforce the idea that you’re providing great products and services, it also helps build that all important trust with new audiences. People will relate to your happy customer who is sending the message that you’re a business that can be trusted to deliver.
2. Giveaways or offers
Social media is the best way to get your special offers in front of a massive audience. This is where you can hype your latest deals, competitions, and incentives with exciting content that drives home the sale.
3. Behind-the-scenes
Behind-the-scenes posts are always a crowd pleaser. They don’t just give
your audience a glimpse into the inner workings of your dealership, they also make your staff more approachable, your business more relatable, and deepen the relationship with your customers.
Photos of furry office mascots, employee profiles, short videos showing the mechanics at work, images from the latest staff party are all content gold that will drive plenty of likes, shares, and clicks.
4. Seasonal content
Posting around holidays demonstrates that your business is relevant and responsive. You can be strategic about this too, targeting the specific holidays that are important to your demographic.
If you want to sell more family vehicles, for example, base a campaign around school break or Family Day. If you’re looking to target young couples, plan out content for Valentine’s Day. And, of course, don’t forget the big shopping seasons - Christmas is typically when people are more prepared to make large purchases while summer is roadtrip season.
Buyers will feel more confident purchasing from a dealer who’s knowledgeable, friendly, and clearly knows what they’re talking about. You can model all those characteristics in one “how to” video or blog.
Tips are always good: on cleaning your car, how to check your tire pressure, fixing a crack in your windshield or the top ten things to look for when buying your first car. You can get really creative here, trying to reach as many customers as possible. But make sure you’re sharing actionable content that offers solid advice, not fluff. The idea is to build trust so that the buyer is ready to purchase, they’ll think of you and your helpful guidance.
In a similar vein to “how to” content, FAQs can help you show off your expertise and share it with your audience. Focus on things your customers often ask to help move prospects along the buyer journey by answering some questions they have right off the bat.
If you come across some industry news that’s relevant to consumers, share it! New vehicles on the market, auto tech innovations, the rise of electric vehicles, stats on car ownership in Canada, events in your local area - keep your audience informed to keep them
relationship with your brand. There’s lots of ways to do this, from hosting virtual events to starting a group chat. Even just asking your audience a question or putting out a poll. Whatever you do, keep it relevant to your niche and focus on content that’s useful to your audience.
Once you’ve mapped your content ideas and plan, you need to build it into a long-term strategy.
Start by drawing up a content calendar and identifying what content you can create ahead of time so you’re not scrambling for ideas at the last minute. Build out clear workflows so every member of your marketing team knows their responsibilities and keep detailed guidelines on your strategy, your brand, and your processes so that if you lose a team member, any new hires can quickly get up to speed.
You’ll also need to
sessions should also leave time for brainstorming so the team can share ideas for future campaigns.
Regular reviews will help you switch up your strategy, tweaking it as necessary or abandoning anything that’s not resonating with your audience. But you can’t do this without data. It’s important to track the results of your content with analytics tools that show how it’s being used, viewed, and engaged with. These numbers can help you spot which platforms are giving you the best return on your investment.
Above all, be mindful that your content strategy is an organic document. It’s not, and shouldn’t be, set in stone. It should evolve as your business evolves so it’s always in line with your dealership’s goals and objectives. ■
By Ronda Payne
PERHAPS ONE OF THE BIGGEST HURDLES SALESPEOPLE GENERALLY HAVE to overcome is the consumer's perception that they work with a hidden agenda to get the best for themselves without any consideration of others. This bias that salespeople (often those in used car sales) are dishonest, secretive or hiding information is something that may not come up daily, but will certainly be a regular challenge to overcome.
It’s not just the relationship between salesperson and customer either. Sometimes the thought that there is information being withheld also applies between colleagues; managers and employees; or owners and staff.
This is definitely not an issue confined to car sales. It’s something that has been around as long as people have worked together. Transparency is the key to unlocking this mystery and while the term has been bandied around for a while, what it really means is open, honest communication with nothing withheld.
Pam Paquet, a performance management consultant and certified counsellor with The Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, describes transparency as pure clarity of information.
“It’s a wonderful word and everyone
wants it but very few know what it means or how to achieve it,” she says. “It’s not easy, it’s not automatic, it takes work.”
Beyond this sense of ‘putting all the cards on the table’, transparency also includes not withholding information, remaining open to receiving feedback and taking responsibility for actions.
There are times when people may not want to be transparent. A sales manager who also works the floor may justify taking the next customer
who walks through the door despite knowing that wasn’t the plan. The parts department might hold back data on how the month is going in hopes it will get better soon. An owner may prefer to not discuss the opportunity of selling a dealership to protect employees from fears of job losses.
A lack of transparency doesn’t always come tied to malicious intent. Often it is well-meaning, but it can still be damaging to how a business runs, the relationships within a business or the overall sense of organizational culture.
“As soon as you start withholding information, it’s the equivalent of lying,” Paquet notes. “In this world of social media, good luck for anyone who tries.”
For example, if a merger opportunity has come forward, owners may want to keep that information to themselves until the transaction is confirmed to be going forward. She says this is a mistake.
“Your employees are going to find out about any sort of merger long before you even think about not telling them,” she says. “If I think I’ve heard a rumour about a possible merger or acquisition, [I will wonder] am I going to lose my job? If I don’t hear about it from my company, there’s no trust.”
In essence, she’s saying that it should be assumed that anything you might
think about keeping secret, won’t be. People will get information from a variety of sources.
“A good question to ask yourself, is what is a valid reason for me not sharing this information with you, my team or my people?” she says. “What reason do I have to hide things, to not be honest, to withhold information?”
Although there are times when that reason is to protect people, if the assumption is that they’ve already gotten a taste of the information, they will need clarity in order to maintain trust. Conversations are overheard every day, social media is rife with rumours, people love to talk – get ahead of it.
“When you have a lack of trust in any organization, association or company, you’ve got problems,” Paquet says.
Remember how undercoating was the epitome of a hidden agenda for car buyers? No one wanted to buy undercoating. It didn’t matter how good it was or wasn’t. Once word got around that some salespeople were selling it to line their pockets, it became the pariah of car sales.
Everyone knows what both sides should want in a car sales transaction:
• A salesperson should want to find the right car for their customer, ensure that customer has the knowledge they need to feel satisfied about the transaction and to earn a fair wage for selling it
• A buyer wants the best price, knowledge about any defects or issues and confidence that what they were told corresponds to what they drove off the lot.
How often does this actually happen?
The benefit of open, honest
communication with buyers is they are happy with their experience, refer others to the dealership and aren’t outraged or pointing fingers when something goes wrong with the car.
“Look at certain steps, communication areas and how we can change that,” says Paquet. “You look at the very basics. There is just pure clarity coming forward and information sharing.”
It means that everyone is in agreement about the end goal and the process to get there. It should be made clear at the start of the conversation.
“We’re sharing, we’re helping, we’re supporting,” she says. “Transparency is saying we’ve got four people on the sales floor today. We will equally rotate the next person that walks in the door.”
Transparency may not be disclosing exactly how much money is being made off the sale of a car or an aftermarket modification package or a warranty, but if someone wouldn’t be willing to disclose that amount if asked, there may be an issue. When someone has a sense of others getting ahead off their back, there is definitely a problem.
As Paquet says, it comes from agreeing on a common goal and working back to agree on the steps to get there. Nothing is hidden, everyone is included and everything is on the table. If transparency is done right, there will never be a sense of needing to hide anything or wondering who has what information.
“I think as a company, you look at what gets us in trouble. What gets certain employees or certain staff in trouble,” she says. “What creates certain challenges or issues. It can probably be dialed back to what didn’t get shared; who didn’t understand the common goal or outcome; who wasn’t transparent.” ■
BELLBOTTOMS, THE PRICE OF BREAD AND HAIRSTYLES AREN’T THE ONLY THINGS that have changed since the 70s. That decade was when the first used car, or extended, warranties were offered to consumers. The need for them and the concept behind providing customers with peace of mind haven’t changed, but the products themselves have gone through a tremendous shift over the decades.
A pandemic the likes of which no one living has ever seen, a shortage in vehicle inventories and a tremendous desire for people to get away created the perfect storm for further change
in used car warranty products in this decade. Gerry Cloutier, National Training and Development Manager with People’s Choice Warranty says coverage has improved, claim amounts have changed and the demand for warranties has increased.
“For the buyer, it’s peace of mind,” he says. “No matter how many blogs you read on the internet, the first thing anyone is going to tell you about an extended warranty is peace of mind.”
The dealer becomes the hero in offering the product, but they too gain peace of mind as repairs on the vehicle are covered and there is no bickering or
finger-pointing about the state of the vehicle. It makes the customer’s visit to the dealership that much better. Plus, it’s an added profit centre for the dealer. “In all my years, I’ve done every position in the car business and my happiest customers are the ones with the extended warranty because they’re not paying the bill,” he says.
People’s Choice Warranty offers a range of programs to meet customers’ budgets as well as delivering variety in coverage. New offerings also include electric vehicle hybrids as well as electric sports vehicles like motorcycles and skidoos.
“We’re the first program that’s going to have an EV hybrid program,” he says. “It’s comprehensive. It’s just like buying a new car.”
Also like buying a new car, are the high mileage limits, as generous as a new car warranty. There are also warranties without time limits for those who don’t drive as much.
“During the pandemic, people weren’t out driving their cars,” he says. “But they were still covered. That’s a big advantage. So long as they go for their regular service, if they drive 10,000 kms. a year, they will be covered [up to the maximum mileage even if it takes 25 years to get there].”
It’s been said thousands (millions?) of times, that for most people, a vehicle is the second most expensive thing they will ever buy and prices have hit all time records. Buying a house in the 1970s would have set someone back about $50,000, which is about the average price of a new car today. Granted 50 years have passed, but the fact remains that a vehicle is a big investment, prices aren’t coming down and for most individuals a car is essential to work and life.
“It’s not going to go down anytime soon,” says Cloutier of pricing. “The pandemic has changed the pricing. The MSRP's have gone up two or three times.”
Global Warranty has also made changes to its program recently says Joe Korab, vice president of sales and marketing. The company has made changes to
address challenges dealerships are seeing as well as those of the end user.
“They’ve gone through a lot in the last three years,” he says of dealerships. “Having to deal with loss of income and personnel leaving the industry, they’ve endured all that then they’re hit with the aftermath, the collateral damage of low inventory, supply issues for parts, loss of new cars and more.”
He says Global Warranty looked at these issues when coming up with solutions for program revisions. The flexibility for dealers is a high point.
“I like to say we have a program for every customer and we have a coverage for every vehicle,” he says. “In a sense, we’re saying that any car out there, we have something for them.”
For example, a 25-year-old Ferrari buyer may have a hard time finding coverage, but Korab says with a powertrain warranty for up to 1,000,000 kilometers on a mechanically-inspected vehicle, it can be covered through Global Warranty. It’s just one more way to cover more cars in a time of limited supply.
“Retailers are selling more out of their comfort zone,” he adds. “It’s what they can sell, what they can get their hands on.”
A dealership unfamiliar with imports may have found themselves selling them because of availability. Or perhaps they started selling diesel-powered trucks despite having not offered them previously.
“We wanted to take that sort of approach, take that way of thinking to the next level,” he says. “We enhanced our diesel protection as one example. We felt with technology changing and demand for certain items that were never covered before, we had to enhance our coverage.”
Because used cars include everything from a car driven off a lot last week to that 25-year-old Ferrari and more, the need to cover what’s coming off the assembly lines today pushed Global to provide more coverage.
“Air suspensions or power spoilers or anything that has to do with sensors or safety equipment, they’re all covered under our coverage,” he says. “A used car dealer is going to want that covered.”
Standalone options are also available with both warranty providers making things like air-conditioning an add on for the used-car buyer who wants a minimal package, but protection on their A/C. These changes in the industry give everyone more choice, which is always a good thing.
Alternatives ensure that the pleasure driver who drives ten kilometers to work each day is covered as well as the person who uses their vehicle for a three-hour daily commute and a quarterly drive to the Maritimes. There is no average used car buyer anymore and now, their warranty can reflect that. ■
The Tornador Car Cleaning Gun is a topof-the-line, multi-use car cleaning tool that will change your life (and your vehicle).
This handy gadget works with your air compressor to blast air into the tuckedaway crevices and cracks that cleaning wipes can’t reach. It takes its name from the tornado-like cleaning action caused by the cone-shaped nozzle and oscillating tip.
The Tornador goes everywhere you can’t - between the seats, deep into pockets, under mats - to remove lingering dirt and grime. It works on a variety of surfaces, including upholstery, rubber mats, plastic trays, dashboards, and even the steering wheel. It works on your vehicle exterior too, providing a fuss-free way to quickly clean fabric convertible tops, emblems, wheels, and more.
The best part is, you don’t even need to scrub! The gun does the hard work for you. Use the Tornador with a cleaning solution or just add water to spray a fine mist that dries almost instantly. Just spray, wipe, and you’re done.
For more information on the Tornador Car Cleaning Gun, visit tornadortools. com
pockets - it’s just the right size and weight for easy maneuvering.
The spare filter and filter cleaning brush help extend the longevity of the vacuum, making it great value for money so skip the auto detailing and DIY your dirt!
To find out more about the ThisWorx Car Vacuum, visit thisworx.com
It may look like something your kids play with, but TICARVE cleaning gel is your secret weapon for cleaning your car’s dusty air vents.
A blob of malleable putty, it’s pressed into vents, cracks, and all your car’s tricky nooks and crannies to ensure every last bit of dust and dirt is captured. Store the gel in its airtight container when not in use and you can happily reuse it over and over. You’ll know it’s time to replace it when the gel turns dark.
Now that winter is over there’s work to do. Your vehicle’s been through a lot the past few months - ice, snow, slush, dirt, salt - and it deserves a thorough clean. If those two words fill you with fear, you’re not alone. Everyone likes a clean car, but very few enjoy the actual process of cleaning it. Thankfully technology is here to help.
We’ve rounded up some of the best high-tech cleaning gadgets out there so you can give your motor back its mojo without breaking a sweat. If you like the sound of a tidy trunk, sweet-smelling seats and dirt-free floors, read on!
From pets shedding hair to kids dropping food, your car’s seats and floors are a magnet for mess. If you find yourself regularly picking up after passengers, the ThisWorx car vacuum can help.
Ideal for light cleaning jobs, this handheld, cordless vacuum has all the power of a larger model but with more portability. Just toss it in the truck and you can clean spills as soon as they happen.
The portable cleaner plugs into your car’s 12V outlet and comes with a variety of interchangeable precision nozzles so there’s nowhere crumbs can hide. Glide it around your floor mats, whisk it over the seats, probe into door handles and side
An inexpensive way to make your car’s surfaces sparkle, the cleaning gel doesn’t leave a residue, isn’t sticky to touch, and comes in a variety of colors and scents. Use it on the steering console, in cupholders, against vents, on the dashboard, or wherever dirt collects. Press. Pull. Clean. It’s that easy.
Find out more about TICARVE cleaning gel at ticarve.com
Sweaty hockey equipment, dirty pets, food spills - it’s no wonder cars get stinky. Clear out obnoxious odors with a Ceeniu Smart Car Air Freshener. Unlike disposable air
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fresheners, this unit doesn’t need to be replaced every few days and uses a turbo fan system to waft the pleasant scent all around your car.
It’s also pretty stylish, available in a sleek, rounded cylinder that fits neatly into your car’s cup holder and lights up as it disperses fragrance. You can set the device to power on when the vehicle starts and automatically shut off when it stops. Alternatively, you can let the diffuser run overnight so you wake up to a fresh smelling car every morning.
The Air Freshener has two modes, depending on whether you’d prefer a light or strong scent, and holds 135ml of fragrance.
To find out more about Ceeniu Smart Car Air Freshener, visit amazon.ca
Purify your air
From scenting the air to purifying it, you’ll need something more than a diffuser if you want to truly clean your space. If you or your passengers suffer from allergies or asthma, it might be time to invest in a filter that removes impurities and common allergens like pet hair and dust.
The Purifair car air filter improves air quality by releasing naturally-occuring negative ions which bind to pollutants and neutralize them. It removes 99% of airborne pathogens and allergens within seconds, making it perfect for sensitive drivers.
Quiet, lightweight, and portable, Purifair can be used throughout your home as well as your car, making it a great buy for all the family.
For more information about the Purifair car air filter, visit ca.purifair.com
Over time headlights become dull and dingy, especially if they’ve been exposed to the elements for prolonged periods. Dirty headlights aren’t just a nuisance, they’re also a safety issue - making you less visible to other vehicles on the road and giving you less illumination to clearly see what’s ahead. Meguiar's Heavy Duty Headlight Restoration Kit has everything drivers need to keep their headlights sparkling clean. Remove cloudiness, restore shine, and even buff out nicks and scratches with the all-in-one kit that includes headlight protectant, plastic cleaner and polish, and sanding and buffing pads.
Once you’re done wiping the lights clean, apply the heavy duty coating which can keep your headlights in top condition for up to a year.
For more information on the Meguiar Heavy Duty Headlight Restoration Kit, visit meguiar.com
The YoGi Prime Trunk and Backseat Car Organizer is the perfect antidote to car clutter. You can put it in the trunk to store all your gear or maximize your space by clipping it to the backseat headrests and leaving the trunk floor free for other items.
Made from high-grade, durable polyester, this quality organizer can handle a lot of wear and tear so don’t be afraid to throw everything at it. Sports equipment, toys, lunchboxes, shopping bags - there’s plenty of space to tidy away your things in the sturdy compartments.
And with four pockets, you can keep everything separate if needed. Velcro lids fold over the top so you can be confident everything is safely tucked away and won’t
tumble out on bumpy roads.
The organizer is waterproof and wipes clean, making for a very easy clean-up if there are spills. It’s also incredibly easy to attach and detach so you can just fold it up and pack it away when you want more space in the trunk.
For more information on the YoGi Prime Trunk and Backseat Car Organizer, visit yogiprime.com
Unleash your inner child as you clean your vehicle with the TORQ Foam Blaster 6 from Chemical Guys. This fun and effective foam blaster shoots soapy suds at your vehicle, giving you all the power of a pressure washer without the expensive price tag.
The thick foam gently cleans without subjecting your paintwork to abrasive pads or jets so you get a shimmering, streak and scratch-free shine. Just hook it up to your hose and turn the nozzle to choose the ideal amount of suds, then start blasting. Get the whole family in on the fun, this is one chore the kids won’t complain about.
Buy the Foam Blaster as part of Chemical Guy’s All Season Arsenal Kit and you’ll get even more cleaning goodies, including a heavy duty detailing bucket, cyclone dirt trap, cleansing wash and gel, and a microfibre mitt.
To find out more about the TORQ Foam Blaster 6 or the All Season Arsenal Kit, visit chemicalguys.com
WANT TO SURPRISE PEOPLE? Drop the pursuit of a medical career and start a used car dealership. That’s exactly what Andro Shakir owner of Limitless Auto Sales did and by all indications, the decision was the right one. At just age 25 he has two locations: the smaller in Ajax, opened in March 2020 with one salesperson and the larger in Scarborough, opened in October 2021 with six salespeople. Including Andro, that’s eight staff focused on creating excellent experiences for customers.
The date of the first location’s opening likely rings a bell. “Me and COVID are having our anniversary,” he says. Right after opening, he had to close.
“The first month was super scary because COVID hit,” he says. “That was the biggest shock. Then as soon as we were deemed essential, the shift to online was pretty easy.
That transition was pretty good. Then in April, May and June things felt good.”
There were the typical COVID pains everyone felt and had to learn to work around, like understanding the limits on people permitted in the dealership, the sanitation requirements and how to manage the hands-off delivery process. Making the shift to online sales wasn’t difficult for Andro because he’d experienced it with the dealership he’d worked for in Ottawa. It was when he was preparing for med school that he began looking for a part-time job.
He got on at the Ottawa dealership and found how much he enjoyed the work. Soon, part-time sales turned full-time and then he progressed to being the finance manager. “I’ve always been that guy that’s been amazing with numbers,” he says. “I love math puzzles.
When I found out I could do that as a career and I could combine it with my love of cars, I thought, "let’s run with that and see where it goes.”
His family had a bit of a shock when he told them he would be putting away his scalpel and med school books and picking up a laptop and calculator instead, but everyone sees how well it’s worked. He finished his med school prep education and earned his degree, but didn’t take it further as he now applies that knowledge to working with his customers and team.
“It worked out for the best,” says Andro. “I wouldn’t have thought it would help me in the car industry, but because I have a health science degree, it was more about the relationship between patient and doctor. Being able to use that same knowledge about dealer and client, just the communication aspect itself. I think that was the number one thing that helped me. It’s all about customer service.”
He feels this focus on customers is what has allowed him to earn and retain a fivestar Google rating for the two locations of Limitless Auto Sales.
But going from working at an auto dealership to owning one is a big step. It seems Andro isn’t one to do things half way. “I was planning to come back home from Ottawa and I thought, since I was already making that big change, I already knew the ins and outs of the finances of a dealership,” he explains. “I thought I may as well come back home and hit it on full blast.”
That’s when he started filling out his OMVIC application. He told himself that if he got the approval, he’d completely embrace the idea.
“I just started the OMVIC application,” he says. “It took me a long time because I was very young.”
Obviously, that application was accepted. “I got my approval, I gave notice, I came back to Toronto, found a lot and set up shop,” he says. “I feel like I’ve lived three lives!”
Starting up a successful car lot is quite an undertaking, establishing a second location even more so, but to do so before age 30 is highly uncommon and a testament to Andro’s work ethic. Now, the first lot, in Ajax, which is shared with another dealer, has about 20 vehicles at a time after starting with five. The lot in Scarborough also has about 20 vehicles.
The focus is solely on used car sales. “We do have a good amount of inventory. That definitely helps,” he says. “We target a lot of northern clients. We’re really big in Sudbury, Thunder Bay, North Bay, all of Northern Ontario.”
Reaching those customers is done through ads on online channels like Facebook, Instagram and Google and part of selling to northern residents includes providing free delivery of vehicles. His experience in
the Ottawa dealership gave him exposure to advertising and selling online so the transition during COVID was relatively easy and has remained.
“I took that way of doing things and just incorporated my way of doing it to operate at a smaller scale,” he notes. “Maybe 15 to 20 years ago, the location was where the dealership would get all the business. Now expanding to other areas would really be a positive. Clients are more used to the idea of online car buying. Don’t be afraid to step out of the geographical location that the dealership is located.”
Andro has faced challenges being young in the used car business, but he found that once he could demonstrate his knowledge, he was able to build respect and move past any concerns.
“It was a bit of a hurdle at first,” he says. When looking for salespeople, he sees youth as an asset. Only two of his employees aren’t under age 25.
“Because they’re young, they’re more easy to train,” he says. “I don’t see any bias with young employees as long as you have ones that are eager to learn and eager to listen.” With a new hire, he will have them work with a client and watch their approach. After the client leaves, they’ll discuss what went well and where improvements are possible. He will then have them sit in on his work with a client.
“Maybe they just need more help in the delivery rather than in knowledge of the industry,” he says. “Our dealership gets rid of that stigma of used car dealerships of the past. We’re always there for customers.” In action, customer and community relationships are a part of Limitless Auto Sales’ success.
“We have a really good relationship in both locations,” Andro says. “In the Ajax community, we had a community BBQ. We’ll be doing that again this year. It was really great to meet people and hear what they think we brought to the community.” ■
WITH THE TRANSITION FROM WINTER TO SPRING comes some hope for car dealers and consumers: Auto industry analysts predict that supply-chain constraints will ease this year and lead to longer-term stability in the used-vehicle marketplace in Ontario and nationwide.
Predictions are also positive for the economy at large, as the Bank of Canada is confident that inflation will continue to fall and make life more affordable in all sectors of the marketplace.
Canadian used-vehicle wholesale values stable, U.S. wholesale prices on the rise
As of March 2023, the Canadian Black Book (CBB) Used Vehicle Value Retention Index was at 158.0 points. That’s down 0.6 points compared to our last market update and 7.4 points lower than the index’s peak a year earlier, but the index has held steady around the 158.0-point mark since October of last year. According to David Robins, CBB’s Principal Automotive Analyst and Head of Canadian Vehicle Valuations, that points to “overall stability as the economy continues to show strength and the U.S. wholesale market heats up.”
According to Adesa Analytical Services’ most recent update on March 19, 2023, wholesale used vehicle prices in the U.S.
have risen about 12 per cent since January 2023 to an average of $16,525.
As of the week of April 24, the Canadian dollar was trading at nearly US$0.74, down about a tenth of a cent compared to our last market trends update. While that exchange rate theoretically remains favourable to U.S. dealers sourcing inventory from Canadian auctions, the downward trend in Canadian wholesale values suggest it’s having a less pronounced effect than it was earlier in the pandemic.
However, there are conflicting opinions on how the Canadian dollar will fare through the rest of 2023: Some economists think it could go as high as $0.77, while others predict a weaker performance that could see it drop below where it is now.
According to a KPMG survey of the semiconductor industry, the outlook for 2023 is mostly positive, with semiconductor executives confident the chip shortage will ease by the middle of this year. Meanwhile, about a quarter of those executives “believe there is already an inventory excess and the chip supply shortage is over.”
KPMG says that, for the first time in its research, “the automotive sector is considered the most important revenue growth driver for semiconductor companies.” The growing popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) – driven in part by forthcoming regulations aimed at reducing tailpipe emissions – is behind much of that demand. The KPMG survey also points out that some automakers are “building more direct relationships with chip companies” to help guarantee a more predictable supply of chips and alleviate new-vehicle production shortfalls, and some carmakers are even developing inhouse chip production capabilities.
As of the second half of April, inflation was at 4.3 per cent, down from the 6.3 per cent we reported in our last update. According to Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem, who testified in front of the Senate of Canada’s Banking, Commerce and the Economy Committee in April, the central bank has been working toward moving the rate of inflation back to a target of 2 per cent. But part of the bank’s challenge will come from businesses working to reinforce their supply chains against geopolitical and pandemic-related disruptions.
“That will, inevitably, add cost through that adjustment period. That’s going to be a factor that will make it harder to bring inflation down,” said Macklem. “In our own forecast, we have it coming down quickly to 3 per cent, but getting from 3 per cent to 2 per cent takes some time.”
Macklem went on to say that despite that challenge, those more resilient supply chains will have a direct benefit to the economy in that there will be “fewer supply bottlenecks . . . impacting prices, so there will be less variability of inflation.”
Meanwhile, Statistics Canada data says the price of gasoline, and transportation costs generally, have increased since we compiled our last market update at the beginning of 2023, and the Consumer Price Index, which tracks changes in the cost of living across Canada, has been on the rise through the first three months of 2023 after briefly stabilizing in December 2022.
Canadian Black Book says its average used vehicle listing price fell by $500 to $36,000 in the first part of 2023. That marks a slowdown from late 2022, when the average price dropped $850 between September and January. In fact, Canadian used-vehicle wholesale values had all but stabilized by the end of March, dropping just 0.12 per cent between March 28 and April 11 of 2023. By contrast, wholesale values were decreasing by around 0.4 per cent per week in January and February of this year.
Ongoing supply-chain issues in the new-vehicle marketplace are still to blame for elevated used-vehicle values, and while auto industry experts are hopeful things are moving in the right direction, resolving those problems will take more time.
“Maybe it could take as long as two more years,” Bob Armstrong, former president of the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, told CBC News in April 2023. “Hopefully, next year it will be where it should be. But it could take longer.” And even if supply chains get back to where they were before March 2020, used-vehicle values may never fall back to where they were before the pandemic.
“Looking at the forecast four or five years from now, it will be coming down every year, but it’s gradual,” David Ross, Senior Automotive Analyst with CBB, told The Globe and Mail. “It’s not likely to get to the levels we had seen before the pandemic.” Ross said that because some automakers are still having trouble ramping up new-vehicle production to pre-pandemic levels, used car dealers can expect shortages of cars and trucks from the 2021, 2022 and 2023 model years.
“We’ve already had two years of really low [production] and that means the used market is going to have a suppressed amount of volume three, four and five years from now.” ■
months' base pay (or almost $60,000) on the employee's behalf!
"5 months for being with us only 3 months!!! This is b@(($#!+!!!" was my client's very understandable reaction.
Waksdale
Waksdale v Swegon North America
By Justin Jakubiak"But we have a really good employment lawyer, and she redid all our employment contracts a few years back…"
I recently received the above response from one of my largest dealer group clients. The group is sophisticated, well organized, completes regular training, has internal audit procedures and more – in short, the group sets the benchmark for what most dealers should strive for in all aspects of their business.
The groups response was further to my advice regarding an employee (a business manager) who had recently been terminated from one of their dealerships. He had been terminated, on a without cause basis, just past the expiration of his 3 month employment period. I was called after the dealer had received a letter from an employment lawyer demanding 5
"Let me see the employment agreement" I replied – the employment agreement is the first place I look when an employer comes to me with this sort of dilemma. A well drafted employment agreement is an immensely important tool and can help with all sorts of scenarios – unreasonable demands for pay in lieu of notice, theft of company property and corporate opportunities, wrongful competition and more.
But a bad (or in this case an old) employment agreement is often barely worth the paper it is written on.
Unfortunately, like cars, employment law is constantly changing and evolving. Consequently, employers must constantly review their employment agreements, policies and procedures to ensure they are in line with the latest legal developments and continue to remain enforceable.
Upon review of my client's employment agreement, I was left with the unenviable position of telling a valuable client bad news – the termination provisions in the agreement were no longer valid further to a 2020 decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, Waksdale v Swegon North America.
(2020 ONCA 391) is an Ontario Court of Appeal decision which caught the entire employment bar off guard and essentially necessitates that all Ontario employers must take a good look at their employment agreements, even if they are relatively new and even if they were drafted by excellent employment lawyers. The Court of Appeal ruled that ‘without cause’ termination provisions of employment contracts are unenforceable if the wording of any other termination provisions in the same contract contravene any aspect of the Employment Standards Act (“ESA”), or its regulations. The employment agreement in Waksdale had three provisions:
A. a “just cause” termination provision (that did not comply with the ESA);
B a standard termination provision (that complied with the ESA); and,
C. a severability clause.
Like with my client, the employee in Waksdale was terminated without cause, and pay in lieu of notice was calculated in
accordance with the properly drafted and legally compliant termination provision. As with my client, there was no allegation that the employee was terminated for cause and accordingly the just cause provision (improperly drafted) was not relied upon.
The employee challenged the termination provisions of the employment agreement and took the position that he was entitled to common law notice. The employee's lawyer asserted that the just cause termination provision in the agreement was not legally enforceable and therefore all the termination provisions, even those that were not technically offside, were improper and must be struck.
The trial judge rejected the argument and held that even if the just cause provision was invalid, its invalidity did not mean that the without cause provision was also invalid. The trial result was consistent with what most lawyers would have told you was the law at the time.
Notwithstanding same, and to everyone's surprise, the Court of Appeal overturned the Trial Judge’s decision and held that termination provisions must be read together:
10…An employment agreement must be interpreted as a whole and not on a piecemeal basis. The correct analytical approach is to determine whether the termination provisions in an employment agreement read as a whole violate the ESA. Recognizing the power imbalance between employees and employers, as well as the remedial protections offered by the ESA, courts should focus on whether the employer has, in restricting an employee’s common law rights on termination, violated the
employee’s ESA rights. While courts will permit an employer to enforce a rights-restricting contract, they will not enforce termination provisions that are in whole or in part illegal. In conducting this analysis, it is irrelevant whether the termination provisions are found in one place in the agreement or separated, or whether the provisions are by their terms otherwise linked. Here the motion judge erred because he failed to read the termination provisions as a whole and instead applied a piecemeal approach without regard to their combined effect.
This means that employers should ensure that all clauses in their employment contracts are enforceable, regardless of whether they pertain to termination or other aspects of the employment relationship. Employers who fail to do so risk having their entire employment contract invalidated by a court, as well as expensive legal fees and potentially more money owing to an ex-employee than they would like.
In summary, the Waksdale decision has implications for all employers who use custom or standard form employment contracts – especially if they were drafted before 2020.
My client, like so many employers, had obtained an employment agreement that was really good at one time, and simply recycled it with subsequent employees –never thinking that the law could change so radically as to result in the invalidity of key provisions.
As we spring into summer, your dealership should consider obtaining legal advice to ensure that its employment agreements are current and legally enforceable by today's standards. While you are at it, ask yourself if your dealership has the following in place:
• Harassment Prevention Policy and Training (Required under OHSA)
• Violence Prevention Policy and Training (Required under OHSA)
• Health and Safety Policy and Training (Required under OHSA)
• AODA – mandated Policies and Training (Required under AODA)
• Copy of the Occupational Health and Safety Act available in workplace.
• Poster: “Health & Safety at Work: Prevention Starts Here” posted in your workplace.
• Employment Standards Poster posted in your workplace.
• Joint Health and Safety Committee (if your organization employs 20 or more employees) formed and trained.
• Health and Safety Representative (if your organization employs more than 5 but less than 20 employees) selected and trained.
• Disconnecting from Work Policy (required under ESA if your organization employs more than 25 employees)
• Electronic Monitoring Policy (required under ESA if your organization employs more than 25 employees)
The above is a simple list outlining certain legal requirements that apply to most workplaces in Ontario.
If you are missing any of the above, or if you have any questions about your employment agreement and its enforceability, please contact your legal professional (or me!).
Justin is a Partner with Fogler, Rubinoff LLP and is recognized by the Law Society of Ontario as a Specialist in Civil Litigation.
This article is intended for general information purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Views and opinions are Justin's alone. ■
PAUL CALDERONE WAS BORN IN TORONTO IN 1945 and found his first car at age fifteen: a 1947 Ford 2-door sedan in running condition for sixty dollars at Target Metal Co. on Eastern Avenue. But Paul had only forty dollars.
The folks selling it knew what to do to help the deal go through. They delivered the car to his parents’ driveway at 579 Craven Road, jacked it up, removed all four wheels and tires, and kept them at their shop.
Each tire and wheel was five dollars, and each time Paul had saved up five dollars from his paper route, he and a friend picked up a wheel and tire and rolled it home nineteen blocks along the sidewalk and attached it to his car.
When he had all four wheels and
tires paid for, he began driving his car without a license. The police kept pulling him over and fined him for driving without a license. He paid the ten dollar fine and kept driving.
One day driving south on a busy street, a truck going the other way passed too close to Paul and ripped off his left rear fender. Paul climbed out, threw his fender into the back seat, and drove home with three fenders still on the car to re-attach the one that fell off. When he had his photo taken beside his first car, he struck a cool pose with leather jacket, long hair, and his left thumb in his hip pocket. The left rear fender behind Paul is the one that fell off but now back on the car.
You’ll notice Paul has only one aluminum moon disc on his left front
wheel rim. That’s all he could afford before his photo was taken. The left rear wheel rim was black to match the rest of the car and no hubcap. That also was cool because it said a teenager owned this car (Paul’s dad would never drive without hubcaps!).
The whitewall tires were an absolute must back then. If you couldn’t afford real whitewalls, you went to Canadian Tire and bought a set of portawalls. And if you couldn’t afford portawalls, Canadian Tire would sell you a can of whitewall tire paint! Your tires had to be repainted every week but that was a small price to pay for looking cool.
A big ad for a 1946 Ford appeared in the Leamington Post on May 4, 1950 with a car like Paul’s for sale for $1095.00. By waiting another ten years to buy his car, Paul saved over a thousand dollars!
PHOTO #1: (page 26)
Proud owner with his first car!
PHOTO #2: (Top of page 27, center)
Similar car for sale in 1950 for $1095.00.
PHOTO #2: (Top of page 27, right)
Bill of sale for ’47 Ford with “no wheels.”
PHOTO #4: (Bottom of page 27)
1946 Ford sales brochure: “There’s a Ford in your future!” ■
WHETHER YOU’RE SELLING A CAR OR AN ICE CREAM MACHINE, every business transaction involves trust. Every sale is a small leap of faith where the consumer trusts that the product or service they’re purchasing performs as advertised.
Over 80% of customers say trust is a deciding factor in their buying decisions, according to a recent survey from media group Clear Channel, and nearly 90% are willing to pay more for a product or service when it’s offered by a brand they trust.
In the case of dealerships, trust is the secret ingredient that will help convert your customer from a browser to a buyer. Show them they can trust your brand, your business, your salespeople,
and your services and you’ll build a reputation for trustworthiness that will bring in a steady stream of business.
Economists have long known the link between trust and economic prosperity. Business relies on relationships and those relationships rely on trust. But the nature of that trust is evolving as consumers look more to their peers than big brands or institutions.
Customers are now putting more faith in crowdsourced feedback, trusting each other more than the market. According to market analysts Nielsen, 84% of consumers trust word-of-mouth recommendations, while only 69% trust branded advertising.
Businesses have to switch up their tactics to reach these consumers, focusing on so-called ‘earned advertising’ like positive reviews and recommendations to establish credibility. Companies have to work hard to foster grassroots engagement, reaching their consumers where they are, and showing that values such as transparency and accountability are more than just buzzwords for their brand.
A vehicle is a large purchase, something that buyers plan and save for months in advance. They’re not buying a new coat or a carton of milk, this is an important
decision that will impact every aspect of their life from their bank balance to their commute.
Buyers need to feel comfortable and confident when making their purchase and that means dealerships need to shed their reputation for being overbearing and pushy. A 2022 Ipsos survey highlights how damaging the car salesperson stereotype can be - 83% of Canadian buyers surveyed said they either don’t trust, or only somewhat trust, car salespeople.
At the root of this distrust is a feeling that salespeople are being dishonest or not sharing everything with their customers. More than half of respondents said they felt they needed more information when purchasing, 21% felt they’d been taken advantage of, and 27% said they didn’t trust salespeople to give them a fair price.
But it’s not just sales, dealerships should rethink all aspects of their business, looking at where they can do more to build trust in areas like advertising, customer relations, and service. Focus on quality and trust will follow. Establishing your dealership as a reliable place to purchase a vehicle or get it serviced also enables more trustworthy advertising, as your marketing team can push positive results and testimonials to build relationships with a wider audience.
As more Canadians take to the web to research their purchases and buy online, dealerships are faced with a problem - how do you build trust over the internet?
The best and easiest way is to let your (happy!) customers do your advertising for you. In the online era, positive reviews are marketing gold - 85% of buyers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation, according to Gartner.
Customer service is the main driver of
positive reviews so every interaction you have with a customer counts. Don’t be shy about asking your customers to leave reviews, especially if they give great feedback. It’s perfectly appropriate to explain how much reviews help your business and ask them to take a minute to share their experiences to help other customers in their decision-making.
The best channel for these reviews is Google. Google Reviews offer dealerships a presence on one of the most influential online platforms out there, boosting their SEO (Search Engine Optimizing) and sharing their business with millions. Over 60% of customers check Google reviews before visiting a business, according to data analysts ReviewTrackers, so you need to be visible.
Getting that sought-after five star rating with Google sends a powerful message to consumers that you can be trusted. In addition, a significant amount of good Google reviews can help you rise to the top of Google Maps search engine results, which are usually the first thing searchers see when they look for local dealerships.
Every dealership will inevitably attract some negative feedback. Resist the temptation to erase or edit those bad reviews. It’s very obvious when companies cull the negativity to cherry pick the best comments, and that is a sure-fire way to destroy consumer trust.
Instead, respond to the negative in a timely and calm way. Identify whether the reviewer has a legitimate complaint and, if so, take responsibility for it while clearly outlining the steps you’ll take to remedy the situation. For example, if a customer calls out a staff member with a bad attitude, say that you’ve spoken with the employee and apologize on their behalf.
Be careful with your tone - explain but don’t excuse. Sounding defensive will turn off customers as they’ll think you have something to hide or aren’t taking their complaint seriously.
Good reviews are invaluable marketing collateral so use them! Get the customer’s permission to display them in your advertising and then create testimonials that can be used across your website, social media channels, and other advertising.
If someone is particularly keen to sing your praises, think about getting them to share their story with your audience - share their photo on social media with a quote from them or a caption, e.g. “Sandra was looking for a reliable family vehicle to safely get her kids to hockey practice, but couldn’t decide which to choose. We helped her find the perfect ride and she couldn’t be happier.”
This helps potential buyers empathize with satisfied customers and see themselves taking the same path to purchase.
Good reviews can be further leveraged to develop your dealership’s strategic plan - informing future marketing campaigns, giving you ideas for additional services or offers, and adding to staff training.
When reviews come in, good or bad, share them with the relevant team so they can see how they’re performing. This provides great insight into how each department can tweak, refine or reform its services. That responsiveness and focus on quality will in turn build more trust down the road.
Establishing trust isn’t a quick fix or a cynical sales tactic, it’s a core objective that should be embedded into every aspect of your dealership’s operations. Building a trustworthy reputation takes time, but you can speed things up with the following best practices.
There’s a strong link between service quality and customer trust so focus on what you do best - selling and servicing vehicles. When you let your services speak for themselves, you show confidence in your own expertise and create more authenticity for your brand.
2. Build loyalty
Take the time to get to know your customers and nurture those
relationships. Reward repeat customers with loyalty programs and offer discounts or other incentives to those who review or recommend your services.
3. Communicate with customers
Stay engaged. You can’t foster grassroots loyalty or trust unless you’re continually connecting with your market. Be sure to follow-up with customers after their purchase or service visit, prompting them to share their feedback and asking them to leave a review if it’s positive. You should also be closely monitoring any social media, replying to comments where appropriate and responding quickly to any direct messages.
4. Train for trust
Most of the work in building trust will be done by your customer relations department and your salespeople. Train these departments with trust in mind, encouraging the development of soft skills like empathy and communication, rather than focusing solely on driving home a sale. Sell based on quality and value, not rushing to close the deal.
5. Be transparent
The best weapon against mistrust is transparency. Sales teams should never be tempted to withhold information, especially around pricing. Communicate clearly, share relevant information, and never appear defensive or cagey.
When it comes to trust, dealerships can often be their own worst enemy. Too many think of this all-important quality as a nice thing to have for their business or something that only marketing needs to worry about, rather than a fundamental driver of profitability.
They also tend to overestimate customer trust, according to a survey from Erickson Research which shows that nearly 70% of North American dealers report a high level of trust in their salespeople while a Gallup poll contradicts this, showing that only 9% of car buyers report trusting sales teams.
To quote Warren Buffet, “Trust is like the air we breathe - when it’s present nobody really notices; when it’s absent, everybody notices.” Your dealership needs to notice. Don’t take trust for granted; nurture it, grow it, and use it. ■
As part of the law, OMVICregistered dealers must comply with ‘mandatory disclosures’ which is a key pillar of consumer protection.
Ontario’s Motor Vehicle Dealers Act, 2002 (MVDA) mandates 22 specific disclosures dealers must make regarding a car’s past usage and condition. These can be found on OMVIC’s website omvic.ca.
For example, in the case of a vehicle that was in an accident and sustained damage exceeding $3,000, a dealer must clearly disclose this information in writing, so that buyers are equipped with all the necessary information regarding the vehicle’s suitability and safety. Not doing so goes against provisions in the MVDA and can also be a safety hazard for drivers and buyers that are unwillingly purchasing poorly repaired vehicles.
Dealers must disclose numerous details about the history of the car. This allows the consumer to make an informed decision. It is also important for dealers to reveal how their vehicles have been modified and/or which specific parts were involved.
Furthermore, they must inform buyers of the actual distance traveled by the vehicle and cannot misrepresent the odometer reading.
All mandatory disclosures to consumers must be in writing, verbal disclosures do not satisfy MVDA requirements. Regardless of whether the dealer or salesperson discloses the vehicle history, it must be clearly spelled out on the contract. Furthermore, as a registered dealer, it is your responsibility to let the consumer know that unless otherwise noted, Ontario has no cooling-off period, so once they sign a contract, they have committed to the purchase with no exceptions.
OMVIC’s resources are available to you
Do you want to ensure that you’re compliant? Work closely with OMVIC during the process and access its resources.
Stay up to date on the latest guidelines for dealership sales operations at omvic.ca. Contact our dealer support team at dealers@omvic.on.ca or call 1-800-943-6002 Ext. 4 if you have any questions about MVDA laws and more.
OMVIC’s resources, tips, measures, checklists, and recommendations will help you remain compliant with the MVDA in an ever-evolving vehicle sales landscape.
OMVIC also offers free education services and webinars for dealers upon request, email education@omvic.on.ca.
Follow OMVIC on social media to stay up to date on the latest news.
Instagram: @OMVIC_Official
Twitter: @OMVIC_Official
Facebook: Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC)
LinkedIn: Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC)
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