When you think of TED talks, maybe you think of artists and scientists sharing the latest research on things like artificial intelligence, climate change, or quantum physics. But also, TED features speakers whose insight into consumer behavior, design, marketing, and sales can give your dealership an edge.
Here are ten TED talks worth a listen:
How to make choosing easier (Sheena Iyengar). People have to make hundreds or thousands of choices every day. By the time they come to your dealership looking to buy a car, they are on choice overload. That’s why customers reward companies that help them make fewer choices in the buying process. Sheena Iyngar gives you four ways to do that.
What I learned from 100 days of rejection (Jia Jiang). Fear of rejection may be the most familiar fear to people who work in customer service and sales. Jia Jiang shares his funny, but inspiring, story about how trying to get rejected for 100 straight days taught him something about himself and other people.
We’ve stopped trusting institutions and started trusting strangers (Rachel Botsman). The way information is shared online between strangers is changing how customers relate to brands and businesses. In this emerging “trust economy,” your customers and frontline employees are the most valuable players on your marketing team.
Life lessons from an ad man (Rory Sutherland). Creating value in the customer’s mind is often not a matter of adding (expensive) features; it’s about changing their perception of what already is. When customers change their perception of the value you offer, they will also pay more for it.
3 ways to (usefully) lose control of your brand (Tim Leberecht). “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” The truth is, you have no control over your brand. It is what people say it is. Tim Leberecht explains how giving customers more (or less) control turns them into great brand-builders.
What consumers want (Joseph Pine). What consumers want now is authenticity from the brands and businesses they support. Customers will choose and pay a premium for an “authentic experience” with a brand, product, or service.
Measuring what makes life worthwhile (Chip Conley). Hotelier Chip Conley’s company is enjoying extraordinary customer loyalty, employee satisfaction, and profits by counting what counts most: Happiness. In this TED talk, he explains how and why.
Eight secrets of success (Richard St. John). Richard St. John interviewed 500 TED speakers to find out what are the eight most important habits that lead to success.
Five ways to kill your dreams (Bel Pesce). Do you have big dreams? Big goals? Bel Pesce shares five sure-fire ways to make sure you never achieve any of them.
Great cars are great art (Chris Bangle). Finally, here’s one for the true car enthusiasts. American designer Chris Bangle describes the car as art form (which means auto dealers are actually art dealers).
