Here is my newest (somewhat) comedic video, The Dating Game. Created for the Lead to Appointment Show session at the 8th Digital Dealer Conference, it details how dealerships must put their best foot forward when managing a customer’s expectations before visiting instead of confirming their beliefs that they will be meeting with old school car folks.
Posts Tagged ‘car sales’
The Dating Game
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010Are Your Emails Being Tivo’d?
Friday, May 7th, 2010I bought a Tivo the very first month they were introduced in the market. I wanted to be a pioneer before an early adopter. I paid the $300+ one-time fee that was available to be granddaddied into the service for life. Shortly thereafter, they began charging a monthly subscription fee for those jumping on the bandwagon late – so I felt on top of the world for several years (until I switched over the a regular DVR). I haven’t watched commercials since. Never. I will pause a show, find something to do, and return just to fast forward it. I hate advertisements. Now stick with me here as I connect this, as per usual, in my stream of consciousness way.
Dealers ask me to mystery shop them frequently and give them my assessment of their email templates. Over time, I’ve found that dealers are pushing to be more progressive, more professional, in the emails they are sending out to customers.
In the past, emails were sent in plain text, easily read, the occasional spelling error mixed in. Then we began including banners of the dealerships for branding and pictures of the Internet Sales Managers thrown in for good measure. Today, templates have involved into flashy, overdesigned advertisements.
I understand why dealers have paid vendors for these jazzy versions of email responses. They want to appear to be as sophisticated to their consumers as possible and they’re looking for some conformity for all of their templates.
Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I believe these glittery, some say garish, email template advertisements being sent out (being paid for) are getting your customers to fast forward, to Tivo, past your emails. I check email much the way everyone else does, and when I see a bright, shiny picture to review – or worse, click to “show images” – I click past. There is very little value to me in an email that appears to be nothing more than a template advertisement. It is just like a commercial in need of skipping.
There are some consumers out there, I could imagine, that prefer these snazzy, ostentatious emails, but to most who take the time to submit an inquiry, they want a proper, personal email back. They don’t want something that looks as if it is an automated, showy response that is all glitz, no guts.
This is the same reason why some CRMs allow dealers to decide if they want their emails to be sent in html or plain text format. The same reason other CRMs let the dealers decide if they want to include the “opt-out” message or not to their automated templates.
Don’t get me wrong. I actively train to send dynamic video messages, include fun, personal pictures in the emails, and well-created e-Brochures. However, I also request that there are a variety of templates being sent. Specifically, in the initial emails sent, it is important they get through spam filters which is why a plain text email works best. It also seems that a customer would be more willing to read something being sent from a person than a computer system. (And I won’t even delve into the content being sent – which is just as important.)
So put yourself in your customers’ shoes. Sit in their living room and flip open the laptop. Mystery shop yourself and determine if your emails are coming across as emails or getting fast-forwarded like commercials. Do the templates look like the normal spam emails you receive and automatically delete? If so, change the design of what you’re emailing. Don’t let your prospects Tivo past the value propositions you are sending.
Stop the Clock (Joe Webb)
Thursday, April 29th, 2010
How important is response time when handling leads? Not very, if you check out this comedic video about automotive internet sales by Joe Webb of DealerKnows Consulting. Spend the time to respond with quality content if your goal is to elicit a reply from them.
Know Your Role
Sunday, April 25th, 2010For dealers, your store often tells the story of your life. This is especially true for those second and third generation dealers. Every day, your dealership puts on a show for the consumer. The customers are your audience and you are the director. When you open the doors, you are pulling back the curtain for all to see. You’ve brought in the cast and paid their wages. You’ve done your job. Now, are you sure everyone knows what they are supposed to do? While we hire talent to run our dealerships, we don’t always guide them with written job descriptions. We must.
“Places, everyone, places” the director shouts. You have put everyone in position, but can you ensure your cast understands what needs to be done? Do they know what is expected of them? Many of your sales managers and service writers have been given the title and responsibility because they’ve succeeded on the sales floor or as a service tech. They’ve filled in during the absences of other managers and excelled. When promoted, though, few are given quality, written job descriptions detailing what their position entails because we feel they already know what is asked of them. Or perhaps a job description wasn’t provided solely because many don’t know what all to include.
A job description simply states the roles and responsibilities required of the position along with a reporting structure and details involving hours and expectations. It should address future questions, employee’s potential for growth/earnings, functions of the job, skills needed, and how actions will be conducted.
Here are the basics for every job description:
Job Title
Confirm the title of their position. Representative, Associate, Consultant, Specialist, Coordinator, Manager, and Director all mean different things to different people. Having the job title spelled out will deter them from asking for a special designating word on their business cards (i.e. the ever-popular “sales specialist” being chosen over “sales representative”.
Salary Range
This serves as a reference guide to comparable salaries within the industry. Make sure that the starting salary is noted as well as well as mid-range (and high) expectations for the position. If applicable, specify commissions, performance bonuses, percentage of profit, and any potential raises for long-term employment.
Purpose of the Position
Specify the objectives of the position. This section allows you to place a little weight on their shoulders and makes them understand how important of a role they play in the overall success of the dealership and the team.
Job Description/List of Duties
Beginning with the most important tasks first, list every duty required of them to perform their position. As the list continues, detail what their role is in the completion of each task. Are they simply delegating the work and ensuring it is done or is it their personal responsibility to complete it?
Hierarchy and Team
Define who they will be reporting to and what individuals be reporting directly to them. Many new employees come in with the expectation that, due to their title of manager, everyone without the title of manager reports to them. This can be a sensitive situation in those dealerships where the Internet department team reports solely to their Director and that Director reports to the General Manager only. It is best to clarify this “structure” of the departments up front so there is no confusion and specify who is on their “team”. A new employee understanding their supervisory role is imperative to their success and the streamlined processes you’ve created within your dealership.
Ideal Candidate / Skills Needed
The new employee must be told the skills they are going to need to be successful in the position. If there are certain solutions, software, or programs that are imperative they know going in, it is best to detail it here. If they are to have completed certain tasks during their past experiences, describe how the ideal candidate for the position will encompass those abilities.
Hours
We’re in the auto industry and it is well known that we often work insane hours. That being said, it is necessary to assign specific work hours expected for the position and include the dealership’s operating hours as well.
“And Other Duties Assigned”
The beauty of the car business is that no two days are the same. Every customer is different and each day there is a new circumstance to handle or concern to assuage. Including “And Other Duties Assigned” tells the employee they are responsible for those random chores that essentially help “take care of business”. Hopefully, we are all hiring those candidates that are looking to take on more responsibility and willing to fill up that rare free-time during the day with goal-oriented objectives on their own.
This statement of duties should be provided to every new employee on day one to overcome any unforeseen conflicts of the future. After all, it is usually the bad performance from an employee that causes the store to lose a sale or valuable customer, but, in the end, it will be you who shoulders the blame. Preparing a written, detailed job description for each and every position in the dealership (no matter how big or how small) provides total accountability because they now “know their role”.
With their roles clearly defined for them, you are setting them up on a path for success. As the director, you’ve given them their lines, their blocking, and all of the notes necessary for them to perform for the public day in and day out. The rest is up to them to put on a good show.
Saving Deals
Thursday, January 28th, 2010I recently sat through a vendor’s webex presentation. It was another in a long line of sales pitches looking for some product endorsement and sales referrals. In this case, their product was designed to help dealerships “save a deal”. This technology, embedded into the CRM and desking modules of our lives, have been available for quite some time. The thought-process of looking back on yesterday’s opportunities to make a deal for today has been around forever, though. Nothing new here.
The challenge of “saving deals” has not been the inability to commoditize those deals needing saving into a software, but it is changing the overall mindset of management. (Granted, having a tech solution to funnel this deal info and print it into reports is exceedingly helpful nowadays). First and foremost, the biggest challenge of saving deals is that management simply has never created the processes necessary to make it a standard way of life within the dealership.
Here are the two most effective ways to save deals that I’ve found while involves just a little effort and time from multiple departments.
1) You must institute daily meetings to ensure that no stone is unturned and no customer is lost without trying twice. Your management staff should collectively review the previous day’s in-store and online opportunities (preferably pulling a detailed report quickly from a CRM module that gathers the data automatically for you) and meet every morning. They should hold daily meetings with F&I to determine necessary actions to finish off any unclosed deals and hold a brief 5-minute one-on-one meeting with each individual sales representative to discuss what can be done to convert lost customers into be-back sales.
2) The second most important step to saving deals is having your Business Development Center be the backstop for your dealership. There are ways technologically to ensure your sales people are making their follow-up calls to past and recent customers, but you have no way of knowing if it was the salesperson that may have prevented the deal closing in the first place. Use your BDC staff to act as a Customer Care Center and let them be a second voice at the dealership for your customers. When you have someone else reaching out to your customers, you are ensuring that no customer is being discarded by a salesperson and you are opening another channel for that customer to discuss a potential deal.
So remember, a dedicated policy of saving deals requires effort from your management, F&I, Sales and BDC teams, but it will all be well-worth it come month’s end.
Joe Webb - Automotive Internet Sales Trainer - DealerKnows Consulting
The Importance of Being Earnest
Thursday, December 24th, 2009
Joe Webb's Automotive Digest blog - The Importance of Being Earnest
Dealers — be truthful to your Internet customers. There is a dichotomy in the business development centers and Internet departments of our stores. Many are using their Internet departments to flood the floors and do whatever it takes to bring the prospect from lead to appointment by any means necessary. Others are thinking beyond the sale and creating an entirely new customer-centric experience – based in fact, truth, and value.
This is the Internet age
At this point in the evolution of our dealerships, everyone has an individual or team handling their Internet leads. However, some approach internet leads much the same way they’ve been taught to lure in a phone up. Ask questions, overcome objections and set appointments. We’ve all heard our managers say “Get ‘em in. Get ‘em in. Get ‘em in.”
Way back when…
In the digital age, however, we cannot simply stand by the policies of the past and get them into the dealership at any cost. Too many old pros relied on shadowing the truth to reach their end goal of selling a car and they’ve passed this belief onto our internet teams. With the over-researched shoppers of today, these overused practices of yesteryear are a detriment. Yet, mystery shop your competition and you will still see them mislead and misrepresent the truth to achieve their goal of setting an appointment online.
Do what’s right.
Follow in the footsteps of those dealers that are upfront about pricing and inventory. Unfortunately, I’ve seen dealers still doing the “destination bump” to their internet customers as recently as a few weeks ago. I knew a dealer didn’t have a vehicle in-stock yet still tell me they did. These poor practices continue to negatively affect the entire reputation of our industry. So for your sake, tell the truth to your internet shoppers. Not only are they far too researched to fall for the deceit, but your reputation and trust is destroyed when they catch you in a lie. It damages the way we are all viewed in the industry.
Be upfront in the information you provide your customers and you will see a growth in your sales and CSI. It pays to be earnest.
The Not Good Interview
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009A car sales manager interviews a potential employee using only closed ended questions – with hilarious results. Written by Joe Webb and Performed by Joe Webb and Dave Hudson of D Hudson Productions in Chicago, The Not Good Interview details the importance of knowing how auto dealers should interview and what questions (open ended and closed ended) to use to find the right candidate. Also known as the “Jez” video.
Gridiron Greats
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009It’s football season once again which means thousands of car
salespeople are thankful that their states have laws in place giving
them Sundays off from the store.
Many of us have a passion for football the same way we have a passion
for selling cars. We sit on our coaches in our living rooms
(showrooms) and play armchair quarterback. We call plays. We tell
the young folks how it used to be. What we would do different if we
were in charge…if we were throwing that pass….if that was OUR
customer.
Majority of sales people are the same. They prefer to sit on the
sidelines and talk about what went wrong rather than get on the field
and get their hands dirty. You need a strong sales manager (QB) to
lead the staff onto the field. The question for dealers is: Is it
best to employ a Game Manager or a Playmaker to your sales desk? NFL
teams live and die by the person (QB) leading their teams as does any
owner relying on a manager to bring the profit.
In my opinion, the “Playmaker” is the Sales Manager that can close
that
deal for the big hit. The huge profit. All of the coins. Mucho
gross. A “Playmaker” Sales Manager gets the biggest scores. At the
same time, they miss their targets quite often. Reaching for the big
deal often gets intercepted and they lose customers with their
arrogance. They can win huge games, but they can also throw away the
easy ones.
A “Game Manager” sales manager, on the other hand, still concerns
themselves with gross profit, but never makes the big hits. Their
front-end is a little lower and their back-end a little lighter.
However, their accuracy (read: closing ratio, if you are still with me
on this poor analogy) allows them to close more deals than the
“Playmaker” and the CSI is always higher.
It is the good old “gross vs. volume” debate. It is up to your Sales
Managers. The QBs of your showroom. Will they bring your players all
the way through a season/year with a winning record? Will they have
some amazing wins, but not make the playoffs? It is up to you when
hiring for Sales Manager to make that decision.
Categorize your Sales Management candidates and determine who you want
to play with. Who do you want to coach? Who will make the smart
decisions, not for their own interests, but for the store’s?
I may go against industry trends, but I’d call a timeout and bring in
a Game Manager for my staff.
Switch With Me
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009How to Retain Customers by Creating Your Own Social Network
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009Every person and their brother are standing atop their soapboxes and preaching the importance of dealership involvement in social marketing. The reason to be active within these sites is very much the same for being online – to be where your customers are. Since there are many ways to approach this medium in the wrong way, I thought I would share just one small tactic of using it correctly. Here is a quick, best-practices tutorial on how to create and utilize just one form of social networking to better the retention of your dealership’s customers. I believe there are limited ways to be successful when creating your own social site so here are a few simple tasks you must complete when diving into this platform.
1) Understand your primary goals for creating your own site – have an objective.
2) Put someone in charge that wants to be active in following up with customers and is willing to update and manage the network regularly. Consistency is imperative.
3) Create a site on www.ning.com and create a color theme that represents your dealership and brand.
4) Upload pics of staff, logos, and any and all videos and commercials you can gather from your own dealer, the OEM, or third-party sites.
5) Have every sales person and service writer create a profile on the site and share a few family photos. Encourage your staff to show their personalities on the site.
6) Train all sales associates to invite their sold customers to the network as they wait for the business office – and help them sign up. This keeps the customer busy while waiting and gets them as a community member immediately.
a) By signing up, tell the customers they will receive service updates and specials as well as the current financing incentives and new model rollout information.
b) If the customer contacts you through this site for information regarding the purchase of any future vehicle, a social discount will be given above and beyond internet pricing. Let them know of the specific benefits for signing up. It must do something for them.
c) Explain the wide demographic of your customer base and encourage them to promote themselves and their own businesses through your site as well.
7) As the customer is leaving, take their picture in front of their new vehicle (or film a customer testimonial), and immediately upload it to the site. Alert your customers that they will be prominently featured. (This will prompt a customer to go online and actually see themselves as stars.)
Continue to maintain the site and add as much sticky content (media, pictures) as possible and alert them of every special event, sale, or community activity you involve yourself with.
This will not change the culture of a dealership. It will not solve all of your problems. To do it right takes significant dedication and creativity when it comes to content deployment. You are creating your own mini ad agency, but reaching your own customers only. However, with this medium, the customers are one step removed from a dealership’s online presence where, opposed to your website (which is to appease everyone), you have the ability to target specific people with targeted messages. It will take time to catch on and will initially drive more service traffic than sales. It is, though, the only way to effectively create and utilize your own social networking site. You’ll only get out of it what you put into it. The best part? All it costs is time and effort. That’s right. Everything I mentioned is free. Since it is a format that your customers are likely used to anyway, showing them that you are a part of the same online community (and leading the way) will only help you endear yourself to your customers. Use this task list only if you are interested in keeping customers the old-fashioned way…by making them feel special and continuing the relationship after the sale.