The author | Wang Dan
Edit | Island
Period: 2735
Source: People and Island members
It has been three years since the wuhan epidemic in 2020, and the "home economy" of the epidemic has made the network amplifier effect of social media prominent, and daily small things may become hot searches. Individual events involving a wide range of areas, or individual events with high public sensitivity, may trigger group or policy content and be concerned, such as the "Xi'an Mercedes-Benz Women Incident".
The "national team" accelerated its entry into the field of short video, which will surely set off an MCN boom, and everyone will be a "public relations expert". In particular, the implementation of the new three guarantees law in 2022 has made the owner's awareness of rights protection stronger, and normal rights protection has nothing to worry about for any car dealer. For car dealers, what is afraid is that car owners use complaints, media and other means to put pressure on dealers to overdo their rights. The annual 3.15 is coming, and today I will talk about how car dealers can manage the 3.15 crisis.
First, crisis prevention
1. Precursor to the crisis of automobile dealers
Case study: This case and the picture come from the network
I believe that this photo will not be unfamiliar to everyone. This is a photo of a woman standing on a Tesla car just after the opening of the Shanghai International Auto Show last year. As soon as this incident came out, it quickly became a hot search on the Internet.
The event has already happened, we do not judge who is right and who is wrong, but the occurrence of this event will not be accidental, there will be many signs in advance. Of course, there are dealer-level and OEM-level. Many of the behaviors of our customers cannot be controlled, but we can predict them and prevent crises.
2. How to carry out crisis prevention
01
Set up a crisis public relations team
Key Responsibilities:
● General manager: Generally the general manager of the store, responsible for communicating with the outside world, and maintaining contact with the main person in charge of the outside world.
● Designated press spokesperson: Usually the marketing department is responsible for acting as a press spokesperson, maintaining good relations with all sectors of society and accurately transmitting company information.
● Crisis PUBLIC RELATIONS Manager: The department manager or marketing manager involved in the case is the role of forming a public relations working group to collect all the information and assist the company in handling the crisis.
●Business department: generally mainly sales department, after-sales department, used car department. The business department organizes its own staff, collects potential risk crisis customers, and reports to the crisis public relations manager according to the risk level.
02
Division of labor
● Department employees: mainly sales consultants, service consultants and used car consultants, we can also call them window employees. Window employees should always pay attention to changes in customer emotions, and window employees should report to the manager of the department in a timely manner about things that are unreasonable and unreasonable.
Note: Employees who receive calls from the media at the front desk respond politely to interviews and truthfully record media appeals. Avoid an irresponsible, prevaricating attitude
● Department manager: First of all, it is necessary to clarify the reception/answering process, explain to the front desk, the business department involved and the general manager that there may be media interviews or online interviews, and clarify the responsibilities.
The business manager and spokesperson (marketing manager/general manager) are ready to respond to the interview.com. Where legal issues are involved, there is a need to coordinate lawyer resources.
Note: Everyone should be unified, and in principle, the market manager should be interviewed. As an alternative, the business manager understands and is familiar with the caliber to avoid inconsistent information obtained when the media interviews multiple people. Remind the relevant personnel of the department not to talk about the case with strangers and avoid being secretly visited by the media.
● Crisis PR Manager & Designated Press Spokesperson:
3. The three stages of crisis management
The complete crisis management process needs to consist of 4 stages, and each part of the work needs to be coordinated and coordinated.
2. Crisis management
1. Four-level early warning process
2. Dealer early warning process and object
3. Crisis management principles
What should I do?
Act quickly, gather information and report in a timely manner.
Maintain communication with consumers and the media, and the channels are smooth.
3
Maintain a friendly attitude of cooperation with the media.
4
Record all the facts communicated by consumers and the media in advance for the reference of superior leaders or the internal reference of the marketing department.
What shouldn't be done?
Do not publicly accuse who is right and who is wrong.
Do not express personal opinions to the outside world at will.
No information is passed on.
Non-designated press spokespersons are not allowed to be interviewed.
Third, the media response
1. Principles and techniques for dealing positively with the media
Basic phrases commonly used by press spokespersons:
Pay attention to communication details
If the media clearly indicates an interview, they can ask for relevant documents such as press cards, and leave the details of the reporter who arrived at the store in exchange for business cards.
When interviewing, try to avoid the exposure of the brand logo, maintain real-time monitoring, and pay attention to customer dynamics and media appeals.
Customer care and after-sales and other relevant departments to maintain active communication with customers, do a good job in customer pacification, negotiate solutions with them friendly, avoid escalation of complaints and lead to the expansion of the crisis, and timely feedback to the marketing department.
During the communication, pay attention to the reasons for the media's involvement in this matter, intentions, follow-up attitudes, and reporting time.
5
Beware of undercover visits by the media and be vigilant in answering.
2. Response to secret visits
Discernment of undercover visits:
Holding a handbag in his hand and constantly adjusting the angle, one side is always facing the answerer.
When you come with the owner, you will ask a lot of related guiding or closed questions, such as "can the car shake be understood in this way", "... Right? etc.
Always ask about recent in-store complaints or sensitive topics.
Accompany the parties together, have a calm attitude and basically do not speak, and are in a state of listening throughout the whole process, possibly recording.
Driving the problematic vehicle for maintenance, not in a hurry to repair, always want to enter the workshop and talk to the technician.
If a suspected undercover visitor is found, front-line personnel need to do:
Give timely early warning to your supervisor and marketing manager
Speak only within the caliber
Do not rob equipment that may be a covert visit
Don't rush to terminate the conversation
4. Case simulation
Scenario Description:
There was a problem with a user's engine, and after several repairs, the problem remained unresolved. At the same time, 4S stores cannot meet the various harsh conditions proposed by users. The customer said that he complained to the media during the period of 3.15. As an after-sales manager, how should you deal with this?
Contact the personnel related to this matter: SA, warranty personnel, technical managers, maintenance technicians, marketing departments, customer service, etc., collect information, and predict the severity of the problem.
Whether our product quality and service have brought serious adverse consequences to customers.
3. Are the customer's requirements reasonable? If the 4S store compromises, what are the direct or indirect costs we pay? If you meet customer needs, is there no risk of exposure? Or would you rather take exposure to solve it?
3. Take the initiative to contact customers to further understand the real situation, and apologize for the inconvenience caused by the product or service to the user.
3. Understand the customer's background, further test control of customer expectations, and resolutely expose whether it is true.
3. Use a good attitude to stabilize customers first, let customers feel hope, and buy time for our internal processing.
3. Report to the company's senior management, and the senior management and the marketing department will agree on countermeasures to start the crisis handling process.
3. Coordinate with the direct personnel of this matter, feedback the handling opinions to the customer, pay close attention to the customer's reaction, and report to the company's senior management in a timely manner.
summary:
Any crisis will have symptoms, so we must pay attention to daily work. The occurrence of a crisis is not terrible, a crisis is a coexistence of danger and opportunity, reasonable prevention, you can turn the crisis into an opportunity. Think about how many customers are our friends or loyal customers as a bridge between us and the relationships we build when dealing with customer crises.
Remember that in crisis management, each person and position has different roles, responsibilities and processes. When dealing with the media, we must be a group, a leader, and a voice.