Going the Extra Mile

Going the extra mile can really keep things from heading South when it comes to warranty repair. Toscano RV in Los Banos, Calif. ensures every customer is satisfied, even if it costs the company a couple extra bucks.

When customers come for service, if the repair is not covered under warranty, Owner Marion Santos may just surprise the customer by doing the work for free. The dealership has a proven track record of converting problems into solutions with this policy.

"What we've always done is try to kill them with kindness and take care of their problems, to try to work in a way where we wouldn't upset them in any way," Santos says. "If they came a long way and had a problem, we may buy them lunch, pay for their fuel, give them a set of chairs for their RV We've paid for a lot of things that weren't under warranty. That's just the way I do business."

Santos says this is part of his strategy for building customer loyalty and developing people who buy RVs into life -long customers. He says that while this may sound expensive, it's easily done when dealers hold a fair profit at the initial RV sale. Many times when the dealership explains that the repair is no longer under warranty but that it will take responsibility for the cost of the repair anyway, the customer reciprocates and offers to pay for � merely out of principle.

Santos, who spent a number of years as an automobile dealer, says the auto industry has gotten to the point where dealers "eat each other up on price." While he sees signs of this in the RV industry, he believes it doesn't have to be that way. At his dealership, the consumer is purchasing more than just a vehicle, they are buying a partnership with a business who will ensure their RVing lifestyle is all they want it to be.

"There's no margin left in the auto industry, and that's one of the big problems," Santos says. "The auto industry started publishing the invoice price on the Internet, and I think that really hurt a lot of dealers. Everyone knows what your wholesale cost is. I think it's worse in the car business than in the RV business because consumers truly don't know what our cost is, and I hope that never happens."

Staying in Front

After the initial purchase Toscano RV sends out a box of cookies as part of its program to stay in front of customers. The cookies are followed by a structured direct mail program that includes cards celebrating their RV purchase anniversary, announcements of dealershipsponsored community events like BBQs, aftermarket part/accessory sale fliers and ultimately discount coupons on the purchase of a new RV.

"We use the cookie thing and after three years we'll send out letters maybe every year for three years - the third, fourth, fifth and sixth year," Santos says. "And then we might skip a year and then do it again. We get them back in the dealership in a year sometimes. People will trade from a motorhome to a trailer, then from a trailer back to a motorhome again."

Toscano RVs five -man sales force is an active part of the dealership's efforts to stay in front of the customer after the purchase. Each salesperson has an index of customers they have sold RVs to previously. They contact previous customers when things are slow to continue building the life -long relationship for when customers are ready to purchase again.

Being very active in the community is another aspect of Toscano RVs strategy of staying in front of the customer. Santos provides loaner RVs for senior citizen events, Future Farmers of America events, Four H firework stands in July and church group functions.

"We really get involved in those," Santos says. "If there's any kind of event, like even at the May Day fair, we loan six used trailers so if they have a country western singer down here that needs to change their clothes or whatever, they use one of my trailers. We just try to get our name out there."

Over and Above

Shortly after selling a customer an RV, Santos' phone rang with a very upset customer who claimed that the refrigerator had stopped working. The family had driven four hours from the dealership and the customer claimed that in the time they had been driving, $300 worth of food loaded into the refrigerator had spoiled. Santos immediately had a technician jump in a truck and drive to the customer to repair the refrigerator on-site. The technician then surprised the customer with $300 cash to replace the food.

"I would think not many dealers would do that," Santos says. "We drove four hours, had the mechanic fix it and gave our mechanic money to buy him all new stuff again. But if I've learned anything, I learned that you cannot afford to have anybody angry - you can't. So, you're better off being kind, do whatever you can to make them happy and go on with it."

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Toscano Owner Marion Santos recently redesigned the Los Banos Calif dealership.

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The company sells more than 700 RVs each year.