More than most, I recognize that Internet sales, lead management and digital marketing are specific talents.  These are skills that some have and some don’t.  That being said, with training in place, an average employee can deliver above-average results.  With the Internet proving itself to generate more traffic and profit for all departments than any other medium, it is absurd that we have it sectioned off as an evil stepchild in our dealerships.  (Just look where it is located at most stores.  A customer comes in and asks for the ISM and the salesperson says “They’re all the way in the back.  Let me go get them for you.”

Many dealers treat their Internet departments and BDCs as if they are on an island.  They have little contact to the outside world (or the showroom).  They are positioned out of sight and out of mind.  Internet department is still considered for the misfits that the leaders of the company don’t fully understand.

An Internet department/BDC may be a different department or island, but it shouldn’t be viewed as a place to send the outcasts.  It should be viewed as a rewarding paradise.  Being promoted from the sales team (or, dare I say, the Finance department) to the Internet department should be a privilege.  The eCommerce department should be a stepping stone to the highest echelons of management.  It is not where you send weak sticks from the sales floor to go wither away.  “Hey, Tommy hasn’t sold more than a few cars for the last couple months.  Let’s send him back to the Internet department, get him some leads and sales, and boost his confidence.”

No.  That is a bad idea.  Tommy needs to be better trained or let go.  Poor performance on the sales floor doesn’t bode well for their success in Internet sales.  Sales to Internet Sales must be considered a promotion.  It should come with additional training, vast resources, and more power to effect change.  It is far better, for this reason, that you promote from within rather than bring someone in from outside.  At least the people who’ve succeeded with you know the culture of the store.  And yet, far too many dealers don’t consider promoting their top sales people into their Internet departments.

Too often during my training of dealerships’ sales staff do I meet potentially great Internet sales candidates that have not been considered for an Internet sales position.

When I tell ownership and management about the opportunity to advance a sales professional to the Internet team, I commonly get two responses:

1)     She’s too valuable to take her off the floor.

(This makes no sense – On the floor, a sales professional touches 100 customers in a month.  On the phone and with leads as an appointment-setter, she touches 250 prospects a month.  If you give her the ability, as well as the responsibility to assist in closing deals and taking Internet TOs, she is at least twice as valuable.)

2)    She makes too much money on the floor to want to leave.

(Then you are strongly underpaying your Internet team.  If someone’s impact can be greater in another department, and bring in more dollars to the store, wouldn’t you agree that their compensation should be greater as well?)

These are two common misconceptions about evaluating talent in your store.  Often, because a manager is so close to the people around them, they don’t consider them for other opportunities.  However, a salesperson’s closeness to the dealership’s operations is a true benefit.  It allows them to hit the ground running in their new role rather than have to start an evaluation process from the beginning.

Before you opt to bring in an outside candidate, review the team you have around you.  Recognize the importance of the Internet position and see if there is an opportunity for you to reward a loyal employee with a chance to step up and take on more responsibility.  After all, growing in one’s work status is the American dream.  Why not support the dream?

The Upward Mobility at Car Dealerships

There is a famous line spewed melodically from the lips of Alec Baldwin in the genius sales film known as GlenGarry Glen Ross that most car folks can recite. “A B C – Always Be Closing!” This was the key message that Baldwin’s character challenged the sales team with before he gave them the ultimatum. If they were the best in sales, they win… “first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anybody wanna see second prize? … Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third place is you’re fired.”

This has become a mantra for thousands of sales managers across the country. “A-B-C. Always Be Closing.” They preach the goal that a sale should always be front and center in your mind during every interaction. Unfortunately, this no longer is the case. Much like the movie based on David Mamet’s awesome stage play, this mantra has gotten a little older too. While Baldwin himself has stayed relevant over the years, this catchy mantra has passed its prime. So with that, DealerKnows (with the help of a young Alec Baldwin) brings you a new, more enlightened mantra. A-B-B. Always Be Branding.

"Always Be Branding" ~ DealerKnows

Imagine during your weekly rah-rah meeting, your manager presented you with a fistful of paper leads? You’d probably have to suppress laughter. The world has moved on. Finding all of the information you need to make a sensible purchase decision can be found right online. Your best leads come right from your own website, or better yet, are emailed from your previous clients. People have already made a decision to buy before they even contact you. It’s now up to you to not mess it up.

The sale is no longer only made in face-to-face meetings. Deals are not won and lost based on a handshake over a three-martini lunch. The customer isn’t making their decision based on an interaction in-store (though a great customer experience helps). No. The marketplace has shifted online and it is your branding that either influences shoppers toward you or a lack of online brand presence that will make you less relevant in their eyes.

An entire generation has grown up with brands that are not just trademarks, but interactive entities. Look no further than Red Bull. In just 25 years the company went from formulating an energy drink to owning five soccer teams, two Formula One racing teams, a record label, sponsor countless athletes, and recently spun-off a critically acclaimed marketing wing. They now sell 4.5 billion cans of Red Bull a year, nipping away at the heels of Coke and Pepsi.

A-B-B. Always Be Branding. In everything you do. In every marketing dollar spent, every entity online, every email sent, every handshake at a chamber of commerce luncheon… you no longer have to sell. You just have to brand yourself or be able to deliver a clear brand message. Make people want to BUY FROM YOU (your people, your company, your value proposition, your deliverables) based on your brand. You are what is important. Selling is now a step down the road. Branding comes first. If you don’t realize that A-B-B mantra IS the new Glengarry lead of this generation, prepare for Alec Baldwin to give you some new cutlery. Or your walking papers.

However, once a dealership has overcome the hurdle of giving out prices, there is still a good amount of red tape that goes along with actually getting the pricing.  This internal transfer of information, from software/tool to delivering party, is still a roadblock to fast Internet replies.  The Internet shopper goes online, finds a vehicle of interest, and requests a quote.  What they expect is transparency and we, as dealers, have opted to give it to them.

Unfortunately, there are a few hoops to jump through in many stores to get the requested pricing.  Here are a few different scenarios of how pricing is obtained by the “lead handler”.  If leads are distributed to the sales floor, with each lead the salesperson must approach the desk and ask for a price on the unit.  Provided the sales manager is available, not eating, remotely interested, and not overwhelmed with five other tasks, they give the salesperson a figure to send.  Usually, though, the sales manager is preoccupied and giving a price to email away is put on the backburner.  The clock starts, the price request is forgotten, and the lead is marked lost three days later.  Sad.

Knowing that time is of the essence, this bottleneck can cost dealerships countless sales.  This same structure is what holds up countless ISMs and BDC agents from delivering valuable pricing information to customers in a timely fashion.  Want to increase your response and closing rates?  Eliminate the sales manager from the equation and stop making them give out pricing every single time a new lead comes in.  Instead, create a pricing matrix for the Internet department.

If a new price is given at each and every lead received by a sales manager, they will likely not be working off of any logic or historical data when handing out the price.  Instead, have bi-monthly meetings where ISMs, Sales Managers, and General Manager alike review some mystery shops from other local, same-brand dealers and then determine a set price per make/model based on plus or minus invoice/MSRP.  Take the data and create a simple pricing matrix that your BDC team can refer to.  This way, as each lead comes in, the ISM can calculate the pricing (provided they are given the access they deserve in the back-end tool) without involving the Sales Manager on every occasion.  This will increase response times, closing ratios, and simply make it easier on your team to deliver for your potential customers.  Once again, this requires the ISM/BDC Agent to have access to whatever software necessary to find information on availability, invoice, and MSRP.

An even more progressive way to cut through the red tape of pricing is to have a dedicated desk manager specifically for your BDC team.  If you believe that every deal is different, and you want to deliver total transparency (invoice pricing, Internet pricing, financing/lease payments, etc) to your customers, consider placing a desk manager inside the BDC to garner the pricing info as quickly as possible.

Don’t let dealership politics or power plays get in the way of a quality showroom and Internet process.  Talk to your sales, Internet, and management teams to determine the best method of pricing for your customers.  Cut through the red tape, think of customers first, and find a way to deliver pricing quickly, effectively, and transparently for your Internet shoppers.  Your ISMs will thank you for it.

Cut Through the Red Tape of Pricing

We all have countless sales stories from our retail days (those of us who’ve done retail at least) of instances where finding a common ground with customers has helped us sell them a car.  It still can go a long way in creating a more comfortable sales experience.  However, I will say it again… “building rapport” is out.

The new focus should be “Fostering Relationships”.  I know many of you are saying “splitting hairs” or “semantics”, but I don’t believe these two phrases mean the same thing.   Building rapport is looking for some mutual understanding or trying to find ways to align yourself with the individual person.  Fostering relationships involves the development of trust before the handshake, during the interaction, and long after the customer leaves the store.

Building rapport happens mostly in person and occasionally on the phone and email.  Fostering relationships is peer to peer.  It involves creating an evidence of honesty in your interactions with other customers.  It relies on developing ways to grow your relationship further.  It carries with it the idea that a relationship should develop after the sale opposed to just prior to the sale.

I will not tell you to do away with the “Where did you go to school?” or “Where do you work? questions.  I won’t ask you to cease the “How do you use your current car?” inquisitions or the “Yeah, my sister lives in that town” scenarios.

Instead, I’d like you to think of ways to engage the customer before you are engaged.  Reviews, testimonials, video bios and more are all ways to start fostering a relationship with customers before first contact.  What is the difference between building rapport in person or fostering a relationship in person?  The former is asking questions, looking for commonalities.  The latter is discussing how you will serve them and continue to earn their business long after the sale.  (Think “new owner clinic discussions” and “loyalty program talks”.)

Put a strategy into place today (whether it is in your service department, your social media calendar, your CRM follow-up, or your post-sale deliverables) that will allow you to truly foster a relationship with this customer.  In the days of multiple mediums to communicate (especially social platforms), it is more important than ever to maximize your connection with your customers.  This connection shouldn’t just be between the customer, the salesperson and their church, but instead, how your entire organization serves the church, the community, and the individual customer with your personal services.

Stop thinking that building rapport is all you need to sell a vehicle in a 2012 world.  You must foster relationships before, during and after, if you truly want to develop ongoing customer satisfaction.  Building rapport is all about completing a short-term action while fostering relationships are about implementing long-term strategies.

Why the same old questions?

It is amazing how social networking has connected us as a society and, at the same time, seems to be making companies less social. Too many people are touting social media as the primary focus for consumer interaction, but ignoring real interaction. Well, I have a news flash for you (read: “news flash” was a colloquialism said back in the days of newspaper and television). Companies that are active in their communities, participate in local events, and THEN celebrate their grassroots efforts on the social platforms will be those that truly drive business forward.

Social media cannot only be about asking interesting/cute/engaging questions or holding self-serving contests, much like campaigning isn’t just about writing idealistic memorandum. You need to share your involvements with your constituents. People like watching others interact. You must socially share your attendance in different organizational activities and local events. Much like your dealership has always done (attending local chamber of commerce events, hosting job fairs, supporting a little league team or sponsoring an event for a charity), the same involvement in your local community is as crucial as ever. Only now, you must broadcast it to your social supporters.

So I urge you… press the flesh. Get out in your community. Let the sun splash warm across your face as you shake hands with the people around you. Then, simply document your activities. This type of content far outweighs the OEM-induced vehicle/product blogs that are far too common on Facebook walls for dealerships. Just recognize that, in an effort to capitalize on your grassroots efforts, you want to be press releasing about your involvement in said events beforehand, taking photos and videos while on-site at these events, and blogging about your participation afterward. Highlighting this type of local, out-and-about, multimedia-enriched content will be the key to truthfully being more social in social media.

Pressing the flesh

The hierarchy is most ideal if the Sales Management and Sales team doesn’t retain power in the department.
- Dealer/General Manager
- Internet Director/eCommerce Director/Business Development Manager
- Internet Sales Manager
- Business Development Agent/Internet Sales Coordinator/Customer Contact Rep
It is my opinion that no one should be responsible to report to anyone equilaterally.  The ISM shouldn’t have to report to the Sales Managers.  BDC staff should never have to “explain themselves” to the sales consultants.  They are independent entities that work together, side by side.  Too many personal agendas get in the way when one with a “sales” and “profit” agenda controls people with an “appointment first” agenda.  One sales manager setting pricing or controlling follow-up process to make their own showroom job easier usually creates obstacles for the Internet person focused on bringing in qualified customers in the first place.

When creating your Internet department, make sure to set specific rules regarding the hierarchy in the dealership.  This will allow people to focus on their own jobs rather than how someone else should do theirs.

Defining the roles of your Internet Department

There are a few ways I’ve learned to avoid the cold front that occurs when a new manager is hired. One method is to get your current team bought-in and even excited about the new arrival. “How the heck do you do that?” you ask? Simple.

The first step is by involving the sales floor in the hiring of said manager. It is unlikely that your sales team is native only to your dealership. My guess is they’ve worked elsewhere and experienced other processes and people. Your sales team understands the makings of quality management material. For that reason, get them involved. If you are shopping for a sales manager (and not looking to replace someone on the floor currently), ask your top sales reps if they have worked with any great managers at other locations. Since sales managers are such valuable commodities for a store, why not try to reach for the best and snag away a competitor’s top performer? If your team feels you are valuing their opinion, they will be more open to a change at guard.

The second step is by bringing a leader from the sales floor into the interview process. Most dealerships have that one popular salesperson that can both stir up the pot, but also lead the pack. When you are interviewing candidates for executive management positions, by all means, allow the salesperson to interview them as well. If you can get buy-in from the leader on the sales floor, they will, in turn, share their approval with others and immediately generate goodwill before they ever start. One little “I like him. I think he’ll be really good.” from their lips to the ears on the showroom floor can go along way in minimizing any anxiety that occurs when a new manager begins.

If you don’t give your sales team a voice during this hiring process you are opening up the ability for them to resent the decision, thereby causing bad blood.

How else can new blood negatively infect the positive vibes on a sales floor? Allowing them to make immediate technology decisions. Any good manager measures the tools at their disposal when they come into a new store environment. However, many new managers want to immediately surround themselves with only solutions and technologies that they know. They try to create a “former dealership west” or a mirror image of the store they recently came from. Just because it was being used at their previous store doesn’t mean it was successful there. Unfortunately, some managers just like working with those tools they are most comfortable with. They bring in these vendors, not because it is the right thing for the store, but because it is most convenient for them.

When looking to change up the technology (think CRM, websites, desking), make it an organizational decision rather than a one-person, “they must know what they are talking about” situation. (Same goes for any major process overhauls they recommend.) “This is what we did over at my last store”, isn’t worth anything because all dealerships are different. If new blood brings in these wrong solutions and processes, then it will negatively affect the entire sales floor’s performance and the sales floor will blame them and you for it. Don’t allow that one person to change the direction of the ship without proper guidance from the crew. Don’t get me wrong… I don’t believe the sales team should run the roost. However, a strong, motivated crew in the showroom goes a LONG way to a store’s success and overall culture.

One last way to help create a positive relationship between new hires and current employees is to sponsor regular lunches with them. A few times a week after the new hire begins, send a small group of your employees out to dinner with them. Pick up the tab. It doesn’t hurt a dealer’s pocketbook to cover a few lunches and the time your salespeople (as well as service and parts managers) spend getting to know the new manager outside of work breeds a better working relationship. Also, your salespeople won’t get disheartened when a new floor manager starts as it means free lunch for them. It’s amazing how the little things can have such a big impact.

As ownership, it is imperative that the people you hire into your dealership adhere closely with the culture. Nonetheless, even with the right hire, there will always be hiccups and hesitation that must be overcome early on. You must do your best to ensure that the infusion of new blood into your store doesn’t cause a cancer in the rest of it. Take a few measures to involve your sales team into the process and you will see much quicker buy-in and better working relationships.

Adding a new piece to the puzzle?

A great discussion popped up on Facebook yesterday from renowned LBS-guru Aaron Strout. It caused such a heated debate that my good friend, Eric Miltsch and I, decided to write about the power (and problems) with dealers not monitoring theses LBS (like Foursquare) in their own store. Whether it is your own customers besmirching you or your own vendors (in this case, Edmunds.com), you need to get involved.  Here is a link to the article on DrivingSales

Be There or Be Foursquared

Do you have bugs in your dealership? If so, DealerKnows can help exterminate these bad habits.
Starring Joe Webb, Bill Playford, Arnold Tijerina, Tim Hommer and David Hudson.
Written by Joe Webb
Directed by David Hudson

One of Internet shoppers’ chief complaints is that dealerships don’t answer their specific questions.  Now many ISMs believe that if there was nothing written in the comment section, the consumer must have no specific questions.  This is false.  The call-to-action that brought them to the form field, and the page they were on, all carry with them questions.

The first thing I am advocating for is to target all of your responses based on what the customer sent in and where they sent it from.  However, you do not need to answer every question.  You are not required to be a help desk clerk, giving out endless information and meeting every customer’s whim.  While I’m all for transparency, I understand that not every single question should be answered in email.  Sure, eventually, if requested more than once, you will need to provide them either a specific answer or a very good objection as why it is most beneficial to have that answered in the store.

You must, though, ADDRESS every single question.  If they came in from a trade evaluator site or conversion tool, you must address the value of their trade.  If they ask what their payments are, you must address the fact that payments are important to them, and give them reasonable next-steps.  Whether the consumer asks for a simple test drive or a detailed breakdown of 10 lease scenarios, you must acknowledge their request in your correspondence.  Yes, an answer might be necessary, but always start by addressing their specific request for more information.  Addressing is the first step to prove that you are listening.