Long before he worked in the car business, Andy Steinhauser was a cruise director managing a team of 85 people. On a cruise ship, he says, staff learn to leave their personal struggles behind the crew door before stepping into the guest areas.
“I may be having a terrible day, but then when I go out behind that crew door and I’m into the public areas, these people that pay thousands of dollars, they don’t care. You’ve got to check that at the door.” Andy Steinhauser
Some of those guests saved all year for that trip. Car buyers aren’t so different.
Royal Caribbean’s Gold Standards, Applied to the Dealership
Steinhauser, now director of sponsorship and business development for the LA Auto Show and AutoMobility LA, learned four “gold standards” at Royal Caribbean. Staff trained on them about four times a year, and he can still recite them today. Here’s how each one translates to a dealership:
Gold standard | What it looks like at a dealership |
|---|---|
Greet and smile | Every customer gets a warm welcome within seconds, whether they walk onto the lot, call the store, or pull into the service drive |
Own the problem | The person who hears a complaint takes it all the way to resolution, instead of passing it to someone else |
Look the part | A clean showroom, a tidy service lane, and a team that looks ready to help |
Deliver the wow | A delivery moment so memorable the customer tells their friends about it |
None of these require new technology or a bigger budget. They require repetition. “It’s simple, but it’s not easy,” as we put it on the show, which is exactly why the cruise line drilled them again and again.
The best customer experience isn’t a feature. It’s a habit a team practices until it becomes who they are.
How Dealers Can Build a Hospitality Culture
Retrain the basics on a schedule.
Royal Caribbean revisited its standards about four times a year, even with experienced staff. A quarterly refresher, with real examples from your own store, keeps the basics from slipping.
Treat every lead like a guest.
At AutoMobility LA, the LA Auto Show’s media and industry day on Nov. 19, product specialists can’t sell cars, but they collect shopper information and send it to dealers. Steinhauser says he once shared his info at a booth and got a dealer’s call about five hours later. That kind of speed is hospitality, too.
Learn from the whole industry.
A show floor lets a salesperson study every competitor in a single day. Seeing what’s coming next makes every conversation on your lot sharper.
Every customer who walks through your door deserves the version of your team that showed up ready.
Hear the full conversation on this week’s episode of Auto Collabs.
Other Links
LA Auto Show and Automobility LA: https://laautoshow.com/media-and-industry-day/
ASOTU CON West: https://asotuconwest.com/
Andy Steinhauser: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andysteinhauser/
Subscribe to the Automotive State of the Union Daily Email: https://daily.asotu.com/
