YouTube and online forums are the go-to destinations for DIY vehicle troubleshooting these days. But things are different in the rarefied world of luxury sports car buyers, according to Porsche retailer Robert DiStanislao.
In the pursuit of selling six-figure cars, about a year ago the dealer launched a high-touch service for a clientele that has neither time nor patience to futz around on the Internet.
Porsche of the Main Line in Newtown Square, Pa., has a full-time employee dedicated to simply answering customer questions about their new vehicle — from reprogramming the dashboard clock to pairing a smartphone to the infotainment system.
“And we’ll go to their home or office and do it for them,” added DiStanislao, president of RDS Automotive Group, which sells several luxury brands, including Lamborghini, Maserati and McLaren.
Porsche requires dealerships to walk customers through their vehicle at delivery. But that often isn’t enough time for customers to familiarize themselves with all of the vehicle’s high-tech features, DiStanislao said.
“Customers at delivery just want you to give them the keys and go start playing with their toy,” he said. “Then, when they get home, they realize they should have read the instructions and need to know what to do.”
He believes the free concierge service has helped the store sell more vehicles, improve customer satisfaction scores and turn clients into advocates for the Porsche brand and the dealership. Porsche of the Main Line reported sales of 575 new vehicles and 484 used vehicles for 2020.
“Every manufacturer has retention programs and pull-forward programs for leases,” DiStanislao said. “But how do we cement the relationship with our customers? It’s through the experience. This is a relationship-building tool.”
Robert Fallon is the affable 20-something who wields that tool at Porsche of the Main Line.
“I work interdepartmentally — answering queries from sales and service clients,” said Fallon, a former Midas mechanic.
It’s a demanding job that involves taking phone calls and answering emails and texts 24 hours a day. Fallon receives about 50 queries daily — from how to activate the auto high-beam assist feature to deciphering error codes.
“Robert’s experience as a technician is invaluable because he’s not going to immediately default and make it service’s problem,” DiStanislao said.
When Fallon can’t resolve a customer concern remotely, he hits the road. He once traveled 180 miles round trip to northern New Jersey to help a customer get their Porsche Panamera to work with the garage door opener.
On that vehicle, the HomeLink garage opener module and the lane-change assist module are located in the same area, Fallon said.
“The frequencies overlap, preventing the car from communicating with the garage door motor,” he said. “You have to disable the lane-change assist module in the vehicle, requiring fuses to be pulled from under the passenger seat.”
The fix took five minutes, while the trip itself took Fallon a few hours.
DiStanislao said the investment is worth it because it helps build customer loyalty.
“It’s for the good of the brand and the business,” he said. “The cost to bring in a new customer is exorbitant.”
Customers are responding. About 40 percent of the store’s customers — and 90 percent of buyers of the Taycan electric vehicle — have used the concierge service. It is especially popular among DiStanislao’s older clientele.
“Boy, do they feel like a big shot if somebody comes to their office to reprogram their clock or show them how to download music to their iPhone, which they can then play in their Taycan,” he said.
DiStanislao plans to build a team around the concierge service and expand it to his Lamborghini and McLaren stores in suburban Philadelphia.
“In this world, where everybody has become used to having to get online to get questions answered, we’ve taken the human experience out,” he said. “We’re putting it back in.”