Chevy dealer's 'bucket tour' gives gifts, guidance

Vandergriff Chevrolet's F&I staffers ask customers buying new or certified used vehicles an unusual first question: "How was your tour?"

After a 2012 store remodeling, staff members started giving car buyers "bucket tours" of the Arlington, Texas, dealership as a way to better acquaint them with the renovations.

The short tour, which included a gift bucket with dealer information and car-care products, was received so well that the dealership decided to make the tour a part of the purchase process for customers.

"It's been great. People appreciate it," said Rick Cantalini, managing partner of the store. "Our whole point is we want to teach you how to use our facility to your convenience."

Customers start on the showroom floor with their salesperson, eventually making their way through the 60,000-square-foot dealership — from waiting area and online department to service, parts and accessories — and into the F&I department to finish their purchase.

"I was a big proponent of process, so I wanted everybody to go the same way," said Cantalini, who bought the store in 1999. "We were trying to perfect our sales and service handoff. ... We had all of these new areas — the parts counter, service appointment area and service drive. We said, 'We can make all these things go together.' It really works well."

Along the way, customers receive the Vandergriff Chevrolet bucket — a tradition of the dealership for about 15 years — that has information about the dealership and off-site collision centers, as well as Zak car-care products including a sponge, shammy, soap and tire and glass cleaner.

"It's just a question of giving somebody a gift. They're $10 to $12, but I buy 500 or 1,000 at a time," he said. "We've done the buckets for years, but they weren't used 100 percent of the time, so we just integrated it into the tour."

The bucket has information about the dealership and off-site collision centers, as well as Zak car-care products including a sponge, shammy, soap and tire and glass cleaner.

The dealership, according to Cantalini, also tosses relevant or seasonal coupons and offers into the bucket when they are available. The bucket used to include a free oil change offer to help get customers back to the dealership, but General Motors now supplies that service for customers buying new and certified used vehicles.

"They're just things to get customers engaged with one of the other departments," Cantalini said. "It's pretty simple."

The bucket tour has helped the dealership receive "very good" customer retention as well as customer satisfaction scores "generally above" the region average, according to Cantalini. The dealership also earned a regional award for sales and service in recent years.

Vandergriff Chevrolet, which opened in 1937, has also received multiple Chevrolet Mark of Excellence Awards and the Chevrolet Dealer of the Year Award.

On Google and DealerRater.com, Vandergriff Chevrolet is rated above 4 out of 5 stars with more than 1,200 combined reviews, including one user saying he had an "amazing bucket tour."