Posts Tagged ‘automotive’

The No-Need Deposition

Sunday, January 1st, 2012

I was speaking to friends at a New Year’s Eve party who had recently purchased a new car. I asked about their experience. They said it was “good”… just as they had expected. They had researched the vehicle online (OEM, Edmunds, KBB and finally the dealership site) before heading into the store. Everything had gone according to plan. I asked if they left the dealership an online review and they said “Yes. Three stars.”

Why only three?” I asked.

Then they told me how the only reason they gave three stars was because the salesperson kept trying to make them feel bad after the sale.

“Feel bad? After?” I asked. It turns out their salesperson kept saying over and over “My manager is really upset at me for selling the car this low.”

“My manager is pretty pissed off he has to let for of this car for the price you got online.” ETC. Etc.

We’ve all heard this before (and if you’ve been doing this for a while, you may have even had a manager tell you to say something similar to a customer.) Allow me to say that, in today’s world, saying these unnecessary statements AFTER the deal is made is only begging for negative reviews.

After hearing this (and laughing a little), I asked myself, ”Why?” Why does this still go on? Why did it go on in the first place? I’m sure, in all of the sales I’ve made and customers I’ve closed, I’ve even said this to a customer before. Why would anyone do this? I’ve never heard of a customer relenting and saying – “Okay, then just raise the price $400 more. I don’t want them feeling bad.” Or “You shouldn’t get in trouble for it. How about we add on a few hundred more just in case.” NO. That’s insane.

As a manager, if you accept a deal… live with it. Urge your salespeople to deliver top-notch customer service after the sale and hope for returning service department traffic. Or don’t accept it. You aren’t a guilt-trip artist. You are a sales manager. It doesn’t work anyway and you should recognize that it doesn’t do any good.

If you tell the customer this to cover up the fact that you are gouging them in the wallet, then why mention anything? It is akin to having a royal flush in poker on the draw and then immediately saying “Wow. I’ve got nothing. What a terrible hand of cards. I hope you folks don’t take advantage of my miserable hand here.” NO. That’s stupid.

If you are a salesperson and this is a tactic you’ve tried, ask yourself what good it could possibly do. There are several phrases that we are accustomed to saying or hearing that are No-Need statements. There simply is no-need to say them so why say them at all. If you know of any other “No-Need” statements, I’d love to hear them.



The Eric Clapton Social Media Plan

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

We know that social networking is going to Change the World, but dealers are jumping in without any plan of action. You need to understand the medium and Get Ready before you Walk Out In The Rain or you’ll have a Losing Hand. Listening to one of the greatest musicians of all time, Eric Clapton, can give you advice on how to become successful at social media when he sings:

“It’s in the way that you use it,
It comes and it goes.
It’s in the way that you use it,
Boy don’t you know.
And if you lie you will lose it,
Feelings will show.
So don’t ever abuse it.
Don’t let it go.”

As countless dealers create FB (and G+) pages every day, they need to develop a posting and sharing strategy and it MUST be tied in to what you are doing on the ground within the community. There are six primary ways that I see dealers posting on the social sites:

1) C.R.A.P. – an acronym developed by my friend Eric Miltsch where he believes in posting Coupons, Reviews, And Pictures. This also includes service specials and fixed ops discounts.
2) Celebrating your Customers – this is the posting of customer testimonials, pics of happy customers, and milestone purchases/services/mileage images.
3) Celebrating your Employees – this is the posting of reviews, employee biographies, videos, personal accomplishments, and more to endear your staff to your followers.
4) Celebrating your Community – Sharing your involvement in local events, charities, and organizational activities in and around your primary market area. Your goal is to align yourself with important aspects of local goings-on and act as a valuable, participating member of the nearby community.
5) Trivia – Since your social prowess is determined by the amount of engagement you have on the social pages, many dealers post questions asking the opinions or their fans. (ie – ‘What was the best Christmas gift you ever received?’ Or ‘Where is the best place to eat barbecue?’) Any way to get others to comment or elicit a response.
6) Being an Extension of the OEM – This is where dealers share information about the newest models, concept cars, third-party validating reviews, and OEM-style material that helps further the brand, but not so much the dealership.

So you are at a Crossroads. You don’t have to decide right now. Wait until After Midnight. Whichever way you choose, I urge you to listen to some Clapton and recognize that your success will be based on “the way that you use it”.

If you are only utilizing one of the strategies above (which is what most dealers are doing), you need to Reconsider Baby. Instead create a plan to post using ALL of the tactics above. Tell the Truth, you don’t have as many Lay Down Sally’s walking onto your showroom as before so you need to begin reaching them in a contemporary fashion. My guess is that if you look at your most recent posts on FB, with The Shape You’re In, it’ll take Five Long Years to see any reward from your current strategy.

If you aren’t involved in social networking at all, you’ll be Standin’ Around Crying Tears in Heaven and Groaning the Blues without a franchise because these are the places the public is turning for information. Only those that develop a social marketing plan From the Cradle will look Wonderful Tonight. There is a way to be the Cream of the crop while marketing your dealership socially and that is to be a little like Clapton.



The Probability of Accountability

Sunday, December 4th, 2011

I arrived roughly 10 minutes early to train a new dealer client last week.  I meandered around the showroom trying to get a feel for who they were as a store and how they presented their dealership brand.  That’s when I came across a salesperson sitting at his desk with a very familiar CRM open.  To my wide-eyed amazement, I got to see him complete ALL of his scheduled calls for the day (roughly 30) in the 5 minutes before the store opened.  All without picking up the phone.  This guy was gifted.

“Left message, LM, LM, LM, LM, Flip to Lost, Flip to Dead, Flip to Bought Elsewhere, LM, LM, LM”.

 

Essentially, this gentleman had no desire to call a single customer back, but was more dedicated to simply getting his workload off of his plate for the day.   He was throwing away opportunities to both interact with his current clients and, in some cases, sell a car.  This is happening at your store too.

 

There are three things I know about the majority of salespeople in our industry.

1)  They will work their pay plan.  Whatever it is, they’ll work it.
2)  They won’t follow-up with their customers

3)  They won’t follow up with their customers.

 

I see managers hypocritically hold BDC and Internet teams to a high standard of number of calls made, number of appointments set and shown, but I find it amazing how they don’t hold their own sales team (those that they actually manage) accountable.  In my experience, the lowest probability of accountability happens on the showroom floor.  Your sales managers are around your salespeople so often, they easily overlook everything they aren’t doing.  You could almost remove the word “manager” from their title at all.  This needs to stop.

 

Salespeople won’t make their calls on their own.  They just won’t.  Even if you ask them nicely or schedule the call for them in the CRM and demand them to make the calls, they will find a way to push off, put away, hide, falsely complete, delete, bury, or kill that action scheduled for them.

 

You MUST actively train, track, and hold accountable your team to ensure they are making all of their follow-up calls, unsold calls, sold calls, lease retention calls, birthday calls, anniversary calls, bird calls, cat calls, or any other calls you have scheduled in the CRM for them.  Otherwise, without being held accountable, they will almost always take the path of least resistance, cycle through their day’s tasks and eliminate their opportunities to connect with a customer.  They simply don’t have their feet held to the fire enough.

 

There are systems out there (PBX boxes, call monitoring/recording software) that can increase the likelihood that accountability will become part of your showroom (and management) process.  Whether you invest in the technology, the people, or the training, you must demand that your entire sales team performs the duties asked of them in the CRM.  It is not just your livelihood; it’s theirs as well.  They just aren’t held accountable enough to realize it.



Middle Management is Killing Your Internet Sales

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

Here is an article I wrote for DealerRefresh – or read below

This doesn’t hold true for all, but it will hit the nail on the head for many.  Your middle management is killing your Internet sales.  Not in a good way.  Not like “Wow!  You guys are killing it!”.  No.  They are hurting your online sales efforts.

How?  What they don’t know, WILL hurt them.  DealerKnows fields many calls from dealers, but even more from their Internet personnel.  What we continue to hear is the pushback your Internet Sales Managers and BDC teams are receiving from the sales managers in your stores when trying to fulfill their job duties.

I previously detailed one of the primary ways in my blog titled “The 4 Words That Make Sales Managers Sound Stupid”.  Those four words?  “Just get ‘em in.”  Without preparing your BDC agents and ISMs with any information, they are expected to coerce a researched, interested party into the store with no value to give them.  Needless to say, the “hallelujahs”, “thank you’s” and “TESTIFY’s” we got through email was great.  That is just one way your managers are hindering your online sales.  Many have no willingness to (or understanding why) give out information to the customers before coming in.  This tactic is killing you.

Another way?  If the sales management insists on handing over a new Internet price for every…single… lead… rather than a researched, validated price structure for all models that the ISM can be trusted to speedily calculate and hand over, then they are hurting your online efforts.  Timing is key.  If your Internet team has to go for them every…single….time they have a new lead and want to give out a price, you are slowing down the response time and likely giving the manager the ability to choose the Internet pricing they give that day, on that car, off the top of their head.  This is killing your response time.

Want to hear more?  Micro-managing.  Who do your sales managers think they are to brow-beat an ISM over their closing ratio, their pricing, or worse off, their customers when they are letting the salespeople run wild on the showroom floor?  If your sales managers are constantly asking your ISMs “What is going on with this lead?”  or “Whatever happened to the folks interested in the…?”, but are not enforcing ANY of the sales folks to call back ANY of their customers that have been in, then they are hypocrites  and they are killing your Internet team’s motivation.

 

  • What are some other ways your sales managers are destroying an online foundation in your store?
  • Demanding to handle inbound calls/leads/etc for your store, rather than your BD team, so they can remain in control, yet are unwilling to call to confirm appointments.
  • Not demanding the sales team to make appointments as well.
  • Not reinforcing the use of the CRM on the showroom.
  • Not requiring the sales team to source customers properly.
  • Not forcing the sales team to obtain a customer’s email address.
  • Taking their sweet, old time to get pricing, availability, truthful spec info and more to their Internet team so they can then pass it on to the interested party.
  • Not getting pricing up on the newest pre-owned cars that hit your lot.
  • Not supporting new digital initiatives in the store that might help them win ZMOT, while at the same time, not listening to how their sales team handle calls.
  • Allowing the salespeople to handle calls.
  • Not training the salespeople to handle calls.
  • The list goes on
  • And on
  • And on…

I know I am preaching to the choir here because there are more ISMs and Internet Directors reading this than there are dealer managers and owners likely.  (Sad that the group most thirsty for information and willing to learn and progress are often the ones with the least amount of power to do so.  As is in life.  Still shameful.)  However, if you are a dealer owner or GM, I strongly urge you to open up the blinds, let the light in, and ask your Internet team what they NEED and WANT from the middle management at your store to improve their job performance and the numbers.

Too many great people in eBusiness positions are scared of speaking up for fear of causing waves in the water, but if prompted and protected, they will give you the keys to untold sales.  Look at the hierarchy of the people in your store and make sure the sales managers are not stifling the productivity of your Internet team.  Or keep the blinds closed and watch as they kill your Internet sales one by one.



Social Spamming – by Joe Webb

Monday, November 14th, 2011

We have grown up with a different concept of advertising.  The way we have marketed ourselves over the years has been far too ‘push’ and not enough ‘pull.’  So when a new medium such as social media presents itself, many believe it is just a new platform we should deliver ‘push’ advertising through.  Understand, though, that this is spam.  Social spam.

 

Countless dealers have created Facebook pages and begun the slow, arduous task to understand it.   However, those two tasks should happen the other way around.  Instead of comprehending the needs, wants and wishes of their online social sphere of friends and followers, they just start more ‘push’ advertising.  It is akin to turning on the car and driving off… when you are 13 years old… before you have a license or even understand how to operate the vehicle… just because you saw it on TV and it looks doable, doesn’t mean it is without training and knowledge.

 

Prices and deals and Interest rates, oh my.  You can still see dealers sadly posting their inventory to their Facebook walls, tweeting out about the new model in stock, and offering below invoice pricing on their pages.  None of these ways work.  It is not the right vehicle to promote your vehicles on.  It isn’t the right medium.  Not for your followers.  Your Facebook page cannot be a new version of your newspaper ad.  Twitter and Youtube cannot be the where radio station-style ad spots are blasted out.

 

Look at how you are engaging in discussion, creating awareness of topics that are important to your followers.  Nobody gives a good gosh darn (that is me being civil) about the awesome deal you have on the 2005 Camry.  Not on the social networks they don’t.  Post those types of content and in-your-face advertisements on a social landscape and you will be discarded like a Viagra ad in an email inbox.  You are social spamming them.



Dealership Day Care

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

Sometimes people need to be babysat.  It happens.  Inevitably someone will prioritize something (from attending a wedding to socializing on the showroom floor) over the basic duties asked of them at work.  Or assigned to them in their CRM.

Your CRM is there for a purpose.  For the longest time we allowed our sales teams to carry a notepad in their back pocket to keep track of their customers.  We would trust that they would pull it out once a day, flip through the past few pages, review what needs to take place, and have the necessary notes stored in able to then follow up with the store’s customers.  If not this way, then you had them log all of their opportunities onto an Up Sheet that you would hope they visit once a day to complete some follow-up.  Obviously, these methods fall slightly short of being an “exact science”.

So CRMs (a good CRM anyway) has allowed us to determine the time intervals that are best to follow up with our clients.  They let us choose what method of communication (phone, email, text, etc) to trigger the sales team to utilize.  A CRM gives us the ability to alert our team when a new lead arrives or action actions that must be taken.  We can build out intricate follow-up processes that continue long-term, based on several variables, even when different events occur in the customer’s lifecycle, consistently, on-going, every time.  Well that is all well and good, but it still takes someone to perform a little “dealership day care” to keep the sales and Internet teams using the system to its fullest.

There are two things that salespeople are known for:

Working their pay plans and

Not following up with customers the way they should (or at all)

It’s not their fault.  Our industry seems to magnetically pull in those with self-diagnosed ADHD and lets them run wild in between our walls.  Your sales team loses focus, stops dedicating their energy to the task at hand within the CRM and goes off on a tear about something else.  It requires your Sales Managers to wrangle them up and get them back on point.  This is where your CRM’s dashboard comes in handy.

I often ask dealers, “How do your Sales Managers manage your sales team?”  Let me tell you, nowadays there are no right answers to this question without the words “ensure” “utilizing” and “CRM” in them.  Your managers should be keeping a watchful eye on the CRM dashboard throughout the day to ensure your team is utilizing the CRM to its fullest and actually completing the tasks scheduled for them.  Then your dealership must make it financially rewarding (or punishable) to do so.  If it is 2pm and you see Jimmy drinking his Red Bull and laughing on the showroom floor, take a look at how many of the day’s tasks he completed.  You will see only one of two scenarios.

a)  He’s made only 2 of the 33 scheduled follow-up calls for the day (yet he has time to ham it up with the folks on the floor) or
b)  He made ALL 33 of his day’s calls, somehow miraculously between the times of 9:05am to 9:09am.  Oh yeah, and he left messages on every call.

Your managers must begin “managing” their teams and holding them accountable.  Whether utilization is tracked, measured, and spiffed upon, or simply browbeat into the team, they must start making the calls and emails required of them.  If you want to sell more cars, get your teams to honestly make the calls prescribed for them.  Simple as that.

While your Internet team can fall off the wagon too, it is likely because they can get overwhelmed if they lose any time for the day.  A few leads are missed, an alert isn’t received, a customer comes in that takes more of their time than expected, and there is no catching up.  Unlike the sales floor where the salesperson can just not take a customer for the day and get through all of their overdue tasks, the Internet team has opportunities that pour in…. and never stop pouring in.

The reason our Virtual Dealer Training program was created in the first place is because dealers don’t have the staff or the time to track what their Internet teams are missing. You need someone to perform Dealership Day Care for your Internet teams.  Your Internet Director/eCommerce Director/BD Manager often doesn’t have the time to monitor all email correspondence, but, believe me, it is necessary.  Do you know what your staff is emailing to your customers?  Are they answering their questions?  Are they NOT calling and NOT following up with them?  The CRM allows you to catch these things, but only if you are looking.  While our teams are much more mature than children, they need constant guidance (and positive reinforcement through training) to keep ahead of the class.

It is time dealers do a little Dealership Day Care on behalf of their sales and Internet teams.  You need to maximize the opportunities you are receiving and the only way to do that is to monitor, police, measure, and motivate your teams… through the utilization of your CRM and through consistent training and management.



How Costly is Your Haircut? A Guide to Finding Internet Training

Monday, October 24th, 2011

People view the services they receive in different ways. Some want immediate service so they find those businesses that can help them immediately. Some want high-class service with high-class ratings and results so they call ahead and set an appointment. They recognize they can afford to wait.

This is not meant to be a gripe session or make DealerKnows sound cocky, stuck-up, or ungrateful. We are talking about a rewiring of how dealers should go about considering future partnerships… be it Internet training or choosing where to get their haircut. We believe people should expect more from the service companies they choose and not rush to a decision. Patience, they say, is a virtue.

DealerKnows Consulting certainly doesn’t take on every single dealer client that reaches out to us for training. Several factors come into play before we determine whether or not it will be a fruitful partnership for both parties. However, recently, two different clients that engaged DealerKnows for their training needs turned away because we “just can’t get to the store fast enough.”

Let it be known that DealerKnows Consulting is not Supercuts. If you want to partner with an Internet training company that is obviously in such low demand that they can begin training the next day, I believe you need to reevaluate what you are looking for in a consulting partner. We do typically book out 3-4 weeks in advance, but please understand, that isn’t an indictment of our level of service, but a testimonial toward it. If you walk into a Supercuts for a haircut, to save either time or money, understand that results may vary.

We are more of a boutique salon. Every customer is different and every “stylist” here is well-trained to handle your individual, unique needs. That is why those customers that go to a Great Clips will go to any Great Clips and expect the same, average service. Those dealer clients that chose our salon of trainers in the past are now our evangelists. They wouldn’t go elsewhere.

Does waiting three to four weeks really affect the success of your non-existent Internet operation? It is 2011. I know you want to right a wrong immediately, but you’ve waited a minimum 10 years too long (and we are giving you a few years credit here) to get involved in digital so will another three weeks destroy your business? No. But choosing the wrong stylist might. You don’t wait until your wedding day to go dress shopping or the day of your 20 year high-school reunion to get your hair cut for the first time. Aligning with an Automotive Internet training company is no different. It is a process that you shouldn’t take lightly.

The only negative we’ve ever received (beyond the recent “you aren’t able to get here within the next few days so you aren’t in consideration”) was on the DrivingSales Vendor Ratings page where we have top marks across the board, but one person said a “con” to DealerKnows Consulting was that “you have to book in advance”. When someone is sought-after, I assure you it is rarely a bad thing.

If you are looking for a walk-in type service that will likely deliver fast food results, it is your choice. Understand, though, that you might end up walking out having received a real hatchet job and your appearance will look worse for it. So ask yourself… how costly could a bad haircut be? Sure, waiting a little while and setting an appointment or scheduling an event isn’t fun, but you do it – just like at the doctor’s office, lawyer, accountant, dentist, high-end hotels and restaurants, salons, heck, even fortune tellers – because you realize that they are professionals and you’re putting your livelihood in their hands. You can’t walk up to the gate and buy a ticket to see the Rolling Stones. They’ll be sold out. And you can’t complain about the lousy seats you get on the airplane when you were the last to call about tickets.

So as you look for a service to fulfill your needs, be it Internet training or hairstyling, decide how you want to look and feel when you are finished. Some people apparently want Supercuts. We are not Supercuts.

DealerKnows Consulting – 847-456-5130



A Heaping of Thought for your BDC

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

Sometimes it is not the skills of your people that cause your store’s numbers to flatline. Sometimes your BDC is fledgling, not because their phone scripts are poor or that the technology is weak, but for the fact that they just don’t see the full impact their role plays in the organization.

When I train a dealership on-site, the first thing I do is impress upon their BDC and Internet Managers that their daily duties are greater than the tasks built out for them in the CRM. I believe that your BDC knows what is expected of them. They know they must answer the phone quickly with a positive tone. They understand the importance of asking either/or questions and going for the appointment. They see the value in being researched and giving the customers the answers to their questions.

The problem they have? They don’t do it every time because they don’t see the value and importance of each opportunity. Over time, leads become so customary that the people handling them don’t attach a true dollar value to each one. As time goes by and leads pour in, they become impersonal to some. It is not difficult for a BDC agent to overlook the importance of every lead and every appointment set, but the sales team is hit noticeably hard when the floor traffic slows down. You, as a manager, dealer principle, and owner must connect the dots and relay the big picture to your appointment-setting team. Sure, you can say that their job depends on it, but I like bringing things a little closer to home. Everyone can be empathetic.

Explain to your team that you know they have the skills to execute their job at a 10 on a 1 – 10 scale, but also know that they don’t perform that way for every opportunity. For every time they give an effort of a 5, they are likely costing the salesperson on the floor a chance to provide for their family.

I tell them “Your efforts, and the energy level and enthusiasm you bring to each and every call or lead opportunity, determines whether or not “Greg” on the floor has to look his son in the eyes while at Target shopping toward month’s end and explain to him why he can’t buy him the toy that he so desperately wants. He has to look like less of a person sometimes in his child’s eyes only because the BDC didn’t give their best effort every time to drive in all of the traffic they could have.”

It is not scripts or tools or templates all of the time. It is the abundance of opportunities that go unvalued. One less appointment set means nothing to your BDC team, but one less sale here and there can mean the world to a salesperson. And to their family.

Relay this. Make sure you put a heaping of thought on your BDC’s shoulders and they understand the ripple effect. Their bad mood or lack of energy and focus truly has an impact on how a good person lives their life. Hopefully they will take more ownership of each and every gift they’ve been given.



A Sneak Peek at the Merchandizzle Videos – Digital Dealer 11

Saturday, October 1st, 2011

Want to know why you should see the session titled “Merchandizzle” at the upcoming 11th Digital Dealer Conference? Here is a sneak peek of some of the comedic videos you’ll be seeing at the event. See it month’s before they end up online.



It’s Not the Length, But How You Use It

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

Let’s talk about quality, not quantity.  It is the only true way to measure greatness.  No matter what position you were in, how good you were during it is more important than how long it lasted.  It’s not the length, but how you use it.  To flesh this out, before there are any misconceptions, I must say that how long you have been in your current role at your dealership is not important.  It is what you have been able to achieve.

As I travel around the nation meeting Internet professionals, I’m am starting to see more and more people who are puffing out their chest and walking with a bit of a strut because they are the top dog at their dealership.  They must be great because they’ve been there for so long.  One individual recently told me “I’ve been doing Internet since 1995 so I must be doing something right if I’m still here.”  No.  No, you are wrong.  If you have been exploring (and commanding) this space for 16 years and you are still in the same position, maybe there is still some room to move and improve.  Stagnant water never thinks it’s a tidal wave.
A good friend of mine in the industry always said “Don’t confuse activity with accomplishment.  Just because someone has done the job doesn’t guarantee that they are any good at it.”  In other words, if you want to walk around with that air of authority and confidence, you better have achieved some impressive results.  You better have some statistical, documented data backing up the fact that you are as great as you think you are before you walk around high and mighty.  The longevity in a position does not prove that you have been successful at it.  It just means that you are serviceable.  Just because you have had your Internet title for 10 years doesn’t mean you are an industry leader and captain. It means you’ve been a dedicated soldier.  Don’t go giving yourself medals because you have battle scars.  You need to have been given them for all of your battle victories.
So, I urge you to be open-minded when you attend these upcoming automotive conferences.  Listen and learn at these events the same way even the true industry experts do.  The time of servitude at your dealership doesn’t play a role in how well you’ve performed during it.  Your success cannot be quantified in years, but with accomplishments.  Your 20 years spent in this industry at your desk might have awarded you the ability to come to a conference, but it doesn’t prove that you know all.  For a few days in October, I ask you to become a student. There is always room to grow.