One of the first things I was taught after making my first sale this summer was the importance 
of maintaining your relationship with the customer. Many used car salesmen are one and done guys- meaning they sell you a car, you drive off and hey are on to the next guy. Where I’ve been told this works well for used car dealerships (and I’m not convinced that it does), for new car dealerships who make the majority of their money on follow up sales and service, keeping touch with our customers is key.
GM has realized that the best customers are the ones you already have and have developed a system through ADP to make sure that salesmen, service managers, and BDC workers are 
keeping up with their previous customers. ADP is a software that allows each salesman to store keep information on his past, present, and prospective customers and target personalized correspondence with them with relative ease. Starting from the day a customer buys a vehicle form us they enter into a follow up phase that includes a 2 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 month, and 6 month calling pattern as well as a series of emails. The purpose of which is not to try to sell anything, or even to chat, but simply to keep the customer up to date with whats going on at the dealership, checking in to see how the car is running, and solving potential problems. We also help with scheduling maintenance and buying subscriptions to Onstar and XM.
Even prospects get the special treatment, with regular follow up on car searches, current sales, or new financing options. We also like to call customers (and potential customers) around the holidays just to let them know we are thinking about them. Most people don’t know how to respond when their old car dealer calls to wish them a happy birthday, or a happy anniversary. None of this has anything to do with cars but at the same time it has everything to do with cars- when you show your customers that you really genuinely care about them, and not just the sale, you are building rapport with them and ultimately the guy they trust is the guy they will buy from.
BoweryJE22
This is a great post and I like that you drew from your personal experience as to what you know works for sure and what really happens in a sales position. Following up is a great tool that I think most people don’t use much at all. People only see limited benefits to following up, but in reality it is much greater than most people think.
Thanks for sharing this! I think following up can go so much farther than just the selling world as well. Any professional who I have met always has given me the advice to follow up and regularly stay in touch with different individuals who you would like to have in your network. This should not simply be done hoping to get something in return from these individuals in the future, but hopefully is a sign of respect for them and shows just a bit of gratitude for their assistance within your life. A short email or phone call can leave a lasting impression is someone’s mind of you as a person. Good thoughts.
I really like this post. I bought a car in September from a dealer and have had great service. The salesman that I worked with called me a couple months later to make sure everything was still going okay and said that he would check in another time. I think following up is a great thing to do and keeps the relationship between the salesman and the customer.