Any good entrepreneur or a VC will tell you retention is the long-term game. There are tons of metrics to measure customer satisfaction like NPS (Net Promoter Score). But how you build the rapport is where your genius shines.

Take for instance the case of Joe Girard, a Guinness world record holder for automobile sales. He sold 13,001 cars in a span of 15 years!. That’s over 2 cars EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR 15 YEARS STRAIGHT!

But amongst many things he ensured in his selling process – making customers feel blessed was his best skill. His knacks are our metrics today – literally. Take a look:

1. Time to First Response: If a customer brought in a car to repair, Girard had mechanics rush to fix it right away. The sense of urgency installed customer faith in his work.

2. Engagement: If you bought a car from Girard – you have signed up for a lifetime of handwritten letters sent to you every month! All that he wrote on the letter was “I like you” and that was enough. 

3. Similarity Bias: You are more likely to trust someone you feel ‘is just like you’. Girard wore casual clothes to fit into his prospective persona’s personality all through his sales career without letting money change his habits at the workplace. Naturally people who walked-in felt they belonged with him already.

Here’s Girard mentoring real estates agents on his sales methodology.