Posts Tagged ‘sales’

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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.

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Posted in Leadership/Sales Management | 2 Comments »



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

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Posted in Blog, Internet Sales Training | 2 Comments »



Overthinking It

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

Setting the Insane Parameters for a Legitimate BDC/Internet Sale

While on-site training at a dealership recently, the dealer and I put into place a new pay plan for their BDC team.  However, he had a concern that the BDC team would reach new heights in their bonus levels by taking credit for sales that they didn’t put enough work into to deserve.  Reasonable enough concern.  My answer was that they simply needed to be spot checked by a manager to keep them honest.  Unfortunately, this answer was not good enough and I was asked to detail the very specific parameters that count for a BDC/Internet sale.  Since I myself have managed leads and handled internet sales myself, I know the time that is put into bringing a customer in from prospect to appointment show.  I understand not all customers set appointments. As I started putting the rules in place, I realized that I was overthinking it.  However, if it has to be written and defined, I didn’t want to leave anything out.

Allow me to first state my professional opinion that what can count as a sale for BDC members is subjective.  You should indeed review and spot check each and every sale the BDC team turns in, but this can be time-consuming so it is best if it is handled by their own department manager.  You hired the person and put them in charge so allow them to use their best judgment to decide what is “significant involvement” and if it warrants a sale.  Regarding “significant involvement” being a legitimate reason to count a sale, we have to recognize that 40% or so of all customers in contact with a dealership will not set a specific appointment, but will use the data they acquired to still negotiate and purchase from the dealership they were best handled by.  That is why I believe there IS a value for continued, true, live contact and information exchanged with a customer.

If you do attempt to put a specific framework around what is deemed a sale or appointment, here are a few potential “requirements” to look for that could, in each instance, warrant counting the sale.

1)      Inbound call was handled and an appointment was set.  Customer arrives for appointment and purchases the vehicle.
a)  If customer purchases the vehicle within a 48 hour window around the appointment time, after it was set – if post appt. time, follow up call for missed appointment must have been made by BDC team member, but contact on the follow up call is not necessary.
b)  Customer arrives for appointment set by BDC agent, doesn’t purchase, but significant notes are put in by the BDC agent after hearing the outcome from manager/salesperson, and the salesperson OR BDC agent follows up with customer enough to bring them back in (within 10 days time) and then the customer purchases.

2)     Inbound call was handled, customer asks for information not privy to BDC team (pricing for instance), BDC logs all customer information with detailed notes, and hands it off to sales manager.  Provided manager sets appointment with customer, and BDC agent updates the customer profile (adding notes) and stipulates information regarding appointment or potential appointment.  Provided the customer purchases under the same 48 hour window detailed in section #1, and makes an appointment confirmation call, then that can be viewed as “significant imvolvement”.
a)  A call must have been made to the manager both after the first contact with customer and after the manager has spoken to the customer.  Notes must be made on each occasion.

3)     For unsold walk-in customer sale, follow up call must be made a pre-determined time in action plan, appointment must be made by BDC agent, notes put in system, and manager alerted.  If customer comes in for a be-back within 48 hours around the time of the set appointment, a sale is warranted.

4)     For unsold walk-in customer/internet sale, if a customer leaves the dealership unsold, gets online and submits a lead, you follow the pre-determined  follow-up process in the CRM, sending out the proper e-templates as specified, make live contact by phone and set the appointment (and they purchase within 48 hours of appointment), then it is a BDC sale.
a)  All dialog must be documented with customer and an advance search must be performed to ensure it wasn’t another BDC agents customer.

5)     For phone customer, initial contact must be documented and noted in CRM when customer is logged.  If contact is consistently made with customers at scheduled times, provided detailed notes are made and information is exchanged, it will be a sale if the customer purchases within 48 hours from last live contact with BDC agent and customer.  (There IS a value for continued true contact and information exchange with a customer).

6)     Internet lead is answered by the BDC agent and the correct, price-matrix e-templates are sent to the customer at the pre-determined time by the action plan.  If the customer engages the BDC Agent back with either
a)  information/implication that they will be stopping (via email or phone) and its logged in the notes
b)  additional questions that the BDC Agent does their due diligence in answering to the best of their ability and there is a modicum of back and forth question answering (even by email) – and call attempts have been made or offered to customers trying to lure them in then it is a sale provided -
c)  They set the appointment with the customer and the customer comes in within a 72 hour window from last email contact (or appointment scheduled) and purchases within two weeks after visit provided detailed notes of the salesperson and BDC agents involvement after the initial visit or a sale is made on initial visit – or -
d)  The customer arrives without an appointment, but every step of the action plan with all e-templates are being sent at the pre-described time with all the information at their disposal and there Is a back-and-forth question answering (via phone or email) that could legitimately have value for a customer and the customer stops in within 72 hours from last phone call attempt or email sent.

Caveat:  The only way to get credit for a Phone Up sale or an Internet Lead sale is to follow the action plan set in the CRM, sending out all templates designated on the day they are to be sent out, filling in any information required of said template, all calls are being made/attempted to customers (or connected with customers), and detailed notes are logged in the system defining your work to bring the customer in and/or the customer’s expectations/motives are documented.  In other words, MAKE THE CALLS ON TIME, DO YOUR BEST TO LEAVE OR SEND VALUABLE INFORMATION, SEND THE e-Templates ON TIME FILLING IN NECESSARY FIELDS IN SAID TEMPLATES, and follow the complete time-line.  Then meet one of the “requirements” listed as 1-6 above and you earn the sale.

As you can see how complicated this is, and I still cannot be 100% certain this is absolutely correct, and I’m not missing anything, I still suggest every sale, if it will be reviewed by Manager anyway, should be taken on a case by case basis to determine its validity.

I’d love to hear your opinion about this over-thought concept.  And PLEASE let me know if I’m missing anything on this list.

Joe Webb

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Posted in Blog, Understanding Internet Sales | No Comments »



The (De?)Evolution of the Internet Sales Manager

Monday, November 1st, 2010

Joe Webb and Bill Playford of DealerKnows Consulting share a (comedic) study of how the automotive Internet Sales Manager’s job responsibility has grown to be more than one can handle on their own.
Another funny “car guy” comedy creation from Joe Webb.
Starring Bill Playford as the ISM Joe Webb as the GM
Written by Joe Webb
Directed by Dave Hudson of D. Hudson Productions

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Posted in Funny Videos, Videos | No Comments »



Planning Ahead

Friday, September 24th, 2010

With the 9th Digital Dealer Conference fast approaching, it’s never too early to begin preparing for the experience.  If you are one of the lucky dealership professionals attending (along with a thousand of your peers), make sure you get everything out of it you need.  To do so, start with a plan.  Either your ownership or you see this conference as a valuable enough learning institution to spend hard earned dollars for you to attend.  So, don’t take it for granted.

Steve Stauning of Kain-Stauning and Pladoogle wrote just last week in his Dealer Communications blog about the five ways to get the most out of the Digital Dealer Conference.  It was a great piece and I want to both add to that list and flesh it out a little more.

It is imperative you attend this conference with a list of goals to achieve because I know the bright lights and loud slots of Vegas can get you off course.  However, this conference is too important to waste.  Again, let me say, you don’t want to take it for granted.

I hear back from attendees often after their trip to a Digital Dealer conference. The first thing their owners and general managers ask is, “What did you learn?”  Before you can answer that, you first need to have questions going into the conference.  So let’s start planning ahead.

What are you currently missing?  What is it you are doing that isn’t generating the dollars that it should?

What technologies are you most interested in exploring?  What new skills would you like to come back with?

Once you’ve answered these questions, go to http://digitaldealerconference.com and look at the agenda.  Read the descriptions and determine which ones you think will most benefit you and your dealership.  Write down a couple for each time slot. There are ten slots with seven sessions each – 70 workshops in total. (There are three general sessions also, one each day.)

After doing this, you’ll want to look at the speaker’s page.  Who is giving that session?  Are they a practitioner (senior management level from a dealership), a trainer/consultant, or a vendor? Does that matter? Watch the speaker’s video and see who you might connect with most while watching.  That is how you can set a game-plan.

For every three sessions you see that involve topics right in your wheelhouse, check one out that you have no involvement with.  This type of ‘big picture’ learning can help you grow in the future.  Get your own agenda set before the sessions begin so you don’t stand there lost in front of the big agenda board trying to flip a coin as to who to see.  In other words, do your homework.  You will be thankful you did.

Next, check out the 80 or so exhibitors that will be in attendance.  (Just click on the exhibitor tab on www.digitaldealerconference.com and you’ll see the list there.)  Surely a few of these have been calling on you for a while asking for a little of your time to view a demo.  Why not set it up there?  When the hall first opens, go and meet those solutions/companies that have been blowing up your phone.  Schedule a specific time for a demo of their product while on-site.  (Often, these vendors give special deals if you sign up on-site so having your ducks in a row and planning ahead could save some cash.)

Then visit the booths of those companies you already use.  If they aren’t one of the “big boys” in the room, they may be willing to give back for your valued patronage and take you out one evening as a little payback.  This is when the squeaky wheel gets the grease, so to speak.

In addition to the sessions and exhibitors, you do not want to miss the Peer Networking Tables that begin and end the conference. You sit at a table with eight of your peers (people from other dealerships) and a moderator. This is a great place to discuss challenges and solutions you may have, as well as picking up new ideas to take back to the dealership.  (As a regular moderator of the Networking Roundtable, make sure to track me down.)

Lastly, take notes throughout.  Write down every new idea and progressive ideology you can from the sessions and gather all of the detailed info you can from each vendor you speak to.  This will save many headaches in the future when you try to remember who offered what service at which price.

So prepare yourself as you would if you were gearing up for a test — especially considering you may be asked to take one when you return.  If you plan ahead, you have the chance to come out the smartest person in the class.

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Posted in Blog, Digital Marketing Conferences | No Comments »



Who is the Thoroughbred on your Internet Team?

Saturday, September 18th, 2010

Great people breed success.  As it is with all businesses, the better the people you surround yourself with, the better the accomplishments will be of the team.  If you are dominating your market online, you can likely pinpoint a member or two of your workforce and credit them for much of the success.  But who is the thoroughbred on your Internet team?

There are several types of employees, but I am only going to highlight two of them for this question.

Show Pony – This person is, straight up, the most talented on your squad.  They have the highest closing ratio, the strongest word tracks, and the greatest skill.    When they have a customer on the phone, the show pony will convert to an appointment at an exceedingly high clip.  When a customer is in front of them, more often and not, they buy.  When the commissions come in, the gross profit is substantial.  However, their effort level is fleeting.  They don’t apply themselves 24/7, but when they do, the success is there.  The Show Pony tends to doddle.  Take some time off.  Not manage their time as well as they should or make all of the follow-up calls set for them for the day, but those they do make end in results.

On the other side of the room, there is the Work Horse.  This employee isn’t going to set the world on fire with their statistics, but when they are at work, they are working hard.  The Work Horse is disciplined, does all that is asked of them, completes all of the calls in a reasonable manner, closes the customers at the average rate, and keeps themselves busy WITH WORK during downtime.  If there is one thing you can assure yourself of is that the Work Horse will exhaust all effort in selling a unit and completing their calls. 

Now I ask you, who is more valuable to have on your staff?  The Show Pony or the Work Horse?  The one with unending talent and skill or the one with amazing work ethic?  Ideally, we’d like to have both characteristics in one perfect person, but this is rarely the case.  So when interviewing candidates, ask them which one they believe they are.  Or when giving your employees their monthly reviews, categorize them and praise/train them accordingly.

You are the owner of this stable.  If you do have someone with both of these traits, be thankful.  Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.  Praise the person.  However, don’t be afraid to celebrate someone in the winner’s circle and dole out some public praise for their skill or effort.  Just ask yourself first, which is the more admirable quality to have?

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It’s Good to Do the “Get Around”

Monday, August 16th, 2010

One reason study abroad programs are so popular for today’s youth is that it opens one’s eyes up to new experiences and cultures.  Very often, some of our fondest memories in life stem from vacations we’ve taken.  Travel we’ve made.  It’s expanded our thinking and changed our beliefs about how we fit into our world.  Very few things can have as profound an impact as going from place to place.  Getting around.

Each one of our dealerships are their own separate little planet.  As you move from department to department, you pick up life experiences.  Each different department has its own language, its own lifestyle, its own pulse, its own personality.  As it is with most successful GM’s and owners, the more understanding they have about the functions and functionality of each department, the more well-rounded they become in their thinking.  However, to get to know the departments, it takes a little travel. 

Since we are always grooming each individual in our store to be better, it is imperative that you give employees the opportunity to experience life in other departments, if only for a day.  Make it a requirement.  All new hire orientation programs, regardless of the department for which you hired, should insist each candidate spends time in the dealership’s other departments.  Allow your employees (new and current) to witness what it takes to perform the daily duties required of their coworkers from other departments. 

Dedicate one spokesperson (Department Liason) from each department (Sales, Service, Body Shop, Aftermarket, Marketing, Internet, Management, Finance, Parts) and create an internal ‘Study Abroad’ programs where they can see what goes on behind the curtain.  And for dedicating some of their valuable time to the greater good, the Department Liaisons that are taking the shadows under their wing can be promised the first look when a promotion/opportunity comes up in their department.

Not only does it help build organizational rapport, but it gives your employees the chance to see all the work that goes into operating the whole rather than just the section.  If you do right, you hire everyone with the hopes of them being the General Manager of the future.  If this is true, then you must let them travel throughout the other departments  even if just for a few hours a month or a day a quarter.  The understanding of the dealership on an organizational level will be a true benefit to every employee.

You don’t have to distract them from their focus… just let them see through someone else’s eyes.  Their area of concentration will always be their own department, but if you are an employee looking to grow, or a dealer looking to have your employees love the dealership as much as they love their team, then it’s good to do the ‘Get Around’.

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Do You Have a BDC or a BCC?

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

BDC is one of the most incorrectly overused terms in the automotive retail environment. Far too often, the roles and responsibilities of the employees working in these “Business Development Centers” are doing no developing at all. They are simply the communicating with the customers. And there’s the rub.

From what I’ve seen during my limited time training dealers, most that believe they have a BDC have a team of individuals dedicated to answering the phones and sending emails. Well someone would have to do that no matter what, so in this instance, you have a Business Communication Center. You’ve created one place where the basic back-and-forth with customers is handled.
The Merriam-Webster definition of Communication is “a process in which information is exchanged between two individuals”.

While I was last on the retail side of the dealership world, I was running a true Business Development Center. The definition of Development is “the act of improving, expanding, or refining.” My BDC team had responsibilities that far exceeded the realm of basic email and phone unsold follow up communication that is so customary in many other dealerships.

A BDC must do more. They must develop business… on their own… on behalf of the dealership… by being proactive… with sales AND service customers. A Business Development Center creates their own opportunities while a Business Communication Center simply handles the normal dealership interaction that others within the store can handle themselves.

Your typical BCC team will handle inbound calls, manage inbound leads, respond to those leads, make outbound internet calls, and set appointments from each of those avenues. A BDC team should do everything above and more. They should follow up on behalf of the floor’s salespeople with calls to their unsold customers. This call can be done under the veil of a “customer satisfaction manager” call, asking questions about the customer’s in-store experience just a few days prior with the attempt to bring them back in for an appointment.

A BDC should also make post-sale follow up on behalf of each individual salesperson. Know that this doesn’t exclude the salesperson from making their own thank you call, but it should be done in addition to so as to ensure no customer is unhappy with their experience. You can’t rely on your sales team, not only to make the call, but to be truthful about what the customer stated. A second voice on the phone is always a good idea.

At the same time, I feel it is the salesperson’s responsibility to ask for referrals. Provided the salesperson has built the rapport they should have with their sold customer, it is easier to extract referrals if the customer trusts the person they are talking to rather than someone they haven’t met.

You should be actively marketing to your database through both phone and email communication. There is no better way to do this than having your team handle upcoming loan and lease expiration calls. Calls to lease and loan ending clients of the dealership were very prevalent several years ago, but I think they have gone away over time. And that is unfortunate. There is no better client to earn than a loyal one you are keeping. Make sure that you have a team and process in place to make calls to these valuable customers.

Not only is your Business Development Center your first line of defense when a prospect calls or emails in, but it should also be the backstop of the dealership. No customer should ever be marked “lost”, “inactive”, “upside down in trade”, “unable to finance”, or “bought elsewhere” unless another member from your dealership, namely someone from your BDC, has reached out and tried one last time. You need your team to play the role of first and last person to touch each opportunity when possible.

Recognizing that a real Business Development Center is the voice of the dealership on every inbound/most outbound calls, make sure you use them in such a way. While I was managing my BDC, we didn’t only manage the customer relationships inside the dealership, but managed the dealership’s brand outside it as well. I’m a firm believer in investing your time in the local community. We executed many grassroots marketing campaigns where I sent out my staff out into the public (and usually accompanied) to work events. From shaking hands, giving out litte give-aways and tchotchkes, running contests, setting up booths at fairs, and attending multiple chamber of commerce meetings, there was not much my BDC team wasn’t able to handle. If they can be the voice of the dealership and are trained, not only on scripts, but product knowledge and customer service initiatives, there is nothing they cannot handle. This is what I consider true business development.

So either require more from your Business Development Center personnel or start calling them a Business Communication Center. Don’t overpay for someone just because they can handle a script, send out well-worded emails, or exchange information between two parties. If you are going to pay a premium for “development”, make it worth the dealership’s while. Make them sound in the art of improving, expanding, and refining. THAT is development.

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Posted in BDC/Internet Department Structure, Blog | No Comments »



The Importance of Being Earnest

Thursday, December 24th, 2009
Joe Webb's Automotive Digest blog - The Importance of Being Earnest

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.

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Posted in Blog, Competitive Edge, Retail Automotive | No Comments »



The Negotiation

Monday, December 8th, 2008

This is what happens when an internet-researched client meets the stereotypical car salesperson. When someone appears overmatched and under-trained, it only looks bad on the dealership. Sales Professionals must dedicate themselves to understanding how to overcome online objections. This is a DealerKnows specialty.

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