Are your vendors truly partners or are they just out to take your money? In this Freebie Friday, ELEAD1ONE Partner Bill Wittenmyer shares strategies for finding vendors who are invested in your success.

Bill Wittenmyer explains the concept of why dealerships should train their staff to "eat the big frog first" in this short video blog.

The biggest source of leads or lost business might be right under your nose. In this Freebie Friday quick tip, ELEAD1ONE partner Bill Wittenmyer shares why referrals are still the most important aspect of your business.

Atlanta, GA - October 31, 2017 - ELEAD1ONE announced today the release of a free eBook for auto dealers, titled "Fix Your Phones & Boost Profit in Your Service Department." The eBook presents a compelling case on why dealers need to address phone processes and improve customer communications in the service department. 

In a recent CallRevu analysis of 4.2 million phone calls into dealership service departments, 68 percent or nearly 2.8 million calls connected with an agent. That means 32 percent of calls did not connect, representing 1.3 million missed opportunities3. Approximately one out of three people calling into dealership service departments aren't being helped. 

"Today's consumer is accustomed to on-demand buying experiences delivered by companies like Amazon, as well as on-demand information delivered by smartphones and social media," said Bill Wittenmyer, Partner with ELEAD1ONE. "The majority of dealership service departments are not meeting their customers' expectations when it comes to connecting quickly, getting questions answered, setting appointments and solving problems. If dealers want to stay competitive they need to fix their phone processes." 

"Fix Your Phones & Boost Profit in Your Service Department" explores technologies that dealers can implement, as well as best practices to follow, to improve communications with customers. Technologies that increase customer connections include online scheduling, texting and virtual service BDC solutions. Best practices such as dedicated call answering, service advisor training and adopting transparency in pricing are also covered. 

The eBook includes real-world examples from dealerships including the Gettel Automotive Group in western Florida and Berglund Luxury Auto in Lynchburg, VA. Both dealerships bridged their customer communications gap with solutions outlined in the eBook. 

To download the eBook visit: https://hubs.ly/H08-VTj0 

 For more information visit www.elead-crm.com or call 855-983-9470.  

About ELEAD1ONE 

ELEAD1ONE, the benchmark in automotive software, helps dealers bridge the gap between sales, service, and marketing operations. The company’s automotive-only contact center, CRM, and service drive technologies are the foundations of their unique suite of products that drive its clients forward through strategic business advantage. Headquartered in Georgia, ELEAD1ONE has over 1,500 employees nationwide and serves more than 8,000 dealerships across the United States and Canada, including six of the top ten dealer groups. 

ELEAD1ONE continues to lead the industry standard by providing insight to the community, identifying trends, and through the continuous development of personalized retail solutions that help dealers operate more profitably. For more information, visit our Website, like us on Facebook, YouTube, or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

Bill Wittenmyer shares the importance of leveraging digital word-of-mouth at your dealership in this week's installment of Witt's Wise Words.

Customer Experience Improvement Drives 15 Percent Increase in Fixed Ops

Atlanta, GA – October 23, 2017 - ELEAD1ONE announced today that its inbound call center service delivers a 70 percent appointment set rate for Florida-based Gettel Automotive Group. Of an average 7,200 inbound calls to the group's 22 stores every month, more than 5,000 total appointments are set. This is significantly higher than the industry average of 30 to 50 percent appointment set rate.

Along with other improvements, the call center has helped drive a 15 percent same store, year-over-year increase in fixed ops gross for the last eight years. Additionally, ELEAD1ONE's call center agents answer 100 percent of the total inbound calls to Gettel's service departments, with an average time to answer of just seven seconds. Recent industry research shows that in the average dealership, 25 percent of inbound service callers never connect with a dealership employee, causing dealers to miss service opportunities.

"ELEAD1ONE does a wonderful job of taking care of our customers," said Fred Bartholomew, Fixed Ops Director for the Gettel Automotive Group. "Their call center agents are provided with scripts and training, providing a consistent experience to our customers day in and day out, which is important."

Eight years ago Bartholomew spearheaded efforts to improve the customer experience across all of Gettel Auto Group's service departments. The first step was to ensure that customers' inbound calls were being answered. "Our dealerships then were similar to a lot of others; the calls were not well managed. It was difficult to get through to people or customers were put on hold, sent to voice mail or the phones just rang," said Bartholomew.

To address the problem Bartholomew created an internal call center just for answering inbound service calls. Over the next seven years Gettel's call center grew from four employees to over a dozen, plus a full-time manager. "I really liked what we did, but it was very expensive," said Bartholomew. "Among agents, there is a fair amount of turnover and training required, so we had to pay for a good manager. Then there's the cost of all the IT issues associated with doing it yourself."

In 2016 Bartholomew heard about an inbound call center service offered by ELEAD1ONE. He visited the call center, watched the agents in action and decided to make the switch. "I honestly hated to close our call center down, but ELEAD1ONE can provide economy of scale that we could not compete with internally," said Bartholomew.

The inbound call center is one of several initiatives that Bartholomew implemented that has improved the service customer experience in the Gettel Automotive Group. He says the improvements have resulted in a 15 percent same store, year-over-year increase in fixed ops gross for the last eight years.

Another initiative Bartholomew implemented to improve the customer experience was service advisor training. With far fewer calls coming into the service department, the Gettel Group's service advisors are interrupted less, have more time to pay attention to the customers in front of them, and can be proactive about the things that generate more revenue. "Skilled advisors should not be spending their time setting appointments; that's an administrative task," said Bartholomew. However he does encourage his advisors to make important calls such as answering customers' questions and notifying them when their vehicle is ready for pick up.

Of an average monthly 7,200 inbound calls to Gettel Automotive Group's service departments, ELEAD1ONE's call center agents set more than 5,000 appointments for a 70 percent appointment rate. Another 18 percent of inbound calls are transferred to a specific advisor or flagged as requiring an immediate call back, and 12 percent of calls are transferred to other departments in the dealership. Additionally, call center agents send appointment confirmation emails and follow up on missed appointments, helping to maximize shop capacity.

The significant reduction in call volume has resulted in less tension in the service drive. At first Gettel's service advisors were reluctant to give up control of setting appointments, but quickly realized their fears of losing customers were unfounded. "Our advisors love it," said Bartholomew. "They used to get overwhelmed with constant interruptions and call backs. You can really see, feel and hear the difference now in their attitudes. They are less stressed and that shows in the way they deal with customers."

Another way the call center contributes to a better customer experience is that now appointments are set based on customer preference, not on advisor

preference. When service advisors set their own appointments they may tell a customer that Saturday is not possible if they are not planning to work that day, or that 3:00 p.m. is the last available time because they want to go home early. "ELEAD1ONE doesn't care who the appointment is for or, if it's at 7:00 a.m. or 4:00 p.m., they are unbiased," said Bartholomew. "Our workflow is more even and consistent, and our early evenings, Saturdays and Sundays got much better."

Additionally, the call center agents are trained to conduct surveys and collect customer email addresses. In February 2017 Gettel Automotive Group purchased a Toyota store, which happened to have a dismal 51 percent email capture rate in the service department. "In five months that increased 15 percent to a 66 percent email capture rate," said Bartholomew. "That's still not ideal, we like to be above 90 percent, but in a short amount of time that's a great improvement."

Email capture rate is critical because it's an easy and cost-effective way to communicate with customers, and email marketing is an important part of Gettel Automotive Group's customer retention strategy.

ELEAD1ONE's inbound call center service has played an important role in Gettel Automotive Group's strategy to improve the service customer experience at all 22 locations. "Service advisor training plays a key role too, but it's impossible for advisors to be proactive when they are always stressed about having to return calls and feeling like they are behind," said Bartholomew.

About ELEAD1ONE

ELEAD1ONE, the benchmark in automotive software, helps dealers bridge the gap between sales, service, and marketing operations. The company’s automotive-only contact center, CRM, and service drive technologies are the foundations of their unique suite of products that drive its clients forward through strategic business advantage. Headquartered in Georgia, ELEAD1ONE has over 1,500 employees nationwide and serves more than 8,000 dealerships across the United States and Canada, including six of the top ten dealer groups.

ELEAD1ONE continues to lead the industry standard by providing insight to the community, identifying trends, and through the continuous development of personalized retail solutions that help dealers operate more profitably. For more information, visit our Website, like us on Facebook, YouTube, or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

When you're responsible for managing employees, it's important not to slip into a habit of managing with emails. Your employees are your team. Imagine if a football coach emailed a game plan to his players, instead of reviewing it with them in person. It's hard to get excited or motivated when you're simply reading words.  

In psychology, it's generally agreed that 55 percent of communications is body language, 38 percent is the tone of voice and only seven percent is the actual words we say. This means that emails and text, although incredibly useful for many reasons, are pretty ineffective at conveying emotion, clarifying strategies and for making sure your team members are all on the same page. A single two-sentence email can be interpreted in several ways.  

Most managers know this, of course. They hold weekly meetings to discuss numbers, goals and strategies. In addition to the requisite meetings, I recommend a few best practices to help build a strong team bond: 

1) Increase face-to-face time. 

Try to check in with direct reports on a daily basis, or at least every other day. Don't just ask questions related to goals, or your employees will think you're nagging them. A check-in can be a few minutes of small talk. Hold an impromptu 5-minute coaching or motivational session. Tell a story. Share a success. Keep employees in the loop. Ask them to help you solve a problem. 

2) Let employees do the talking. 

Listening is probably the most important managerial skill. A lot of managers believe that their job requires constant teaching or the sharing of wisdom. At times this is appropriate, but most of the time it's more appropriate to listen to your employees. 

Remember how I mentioned seven percent of communication is words? While you're listening, watch your employees' body language and listen to their tone. It's easy to pick up cues if someone is unhappy or struggling, but you have to be actively listening and paying attention. 

3) Get to know your team members. 

At every opportunity, take the time for some personal chit chat. A good manager knows and cares about their team members. That means you know the names of their spouses and kids, birthdays, hobbies, what's going on in their lives and what their personal and professional goals are. 

This is not an overnight thing, and it does require memory. A tip that works for me is this: If I have learned a little tidbit about someone after a conversation, I'll enter the information right into their contact. That way you don't have to try and remember everything, although over time, the more you look at that contact, the more you will remember. 

Also, don't forget that sharing is a two-way street. Don't expect to get what you don't share, and always be willing to share more than what you're going to get back.  

4) M is for Moderator, not Manager. 

The word 'manager' is really a misnomer. It implies that you're in charge of something or that you're supposed to give orders. I prefer the word moderator. You have a goal, and you have a team. Your team members are responsible for getting to you that goal. Your job as a manager is to give them what they need to succeed. 

Too often, I see managers trying to make everything happen themselves. They try to lead their team to victory, but that's not how it works. You've got to let your employees progress at their own pace and make their own mistakes. Success cannot be taught, and not all people achieve success using the same formula. Success is something that has to be worked out and achieved on an individual basis.  

5) Don't send hasty emails. 

Sometimes it's necessary to send an email, and sometimes email is the ideal communications format. Always take the time to review an email before you send it out, and ask the following questions: 

• Is the purpose of this email clear? 
• Will the intended recipient understand what I want them to do? In other words, is your call to action clear? 

It's also important to strike the right balance between too much and too little information. The only thing worse than a long-winded, meandering email is one that's too short. When responding to an email make sure you are answering all of the sender's questions, and provide short explanations if you think it's required.   

As a manager, it's important to stay in touch with your team. Nobody likes to work in a vacuum, so take the time to meet face-to-face and have genuine, two-way conversations. Your team members will feel appreciated and stay motivated. 

Sales isn’t a spectator sport! In this Freebie Friday quick tip, ELEAD1ONE Partner Bill Wittenmyer shares the importance of getting in the game and taking control of your destiny – and your paycheck!

Recently I tried scheduling a service appointment at a local dealership. I called three times but never got through to anyone—I was placed on hold, transferred around and sent into voicemail. I don't like to leave voicemails because who knows if the person I'm calling with get the message or even return my call. After three attempts, I gave up and called another dealership.

Dealers measure a lot of metrics but many don't measure the percentage of incoming calls that are dropped or don't connect with anyone who can actually help the person calling.

When a customer calls your service department, they want answers to their questions now. They don't want to wait and see if an advisor will eventually get back to them. The good news for dealers is that when a customer does connect with someone on the phone, there's a 72 percent appointment ratio.

The bad news is that a lot of customers' calls aren't getting through. In a recent CallRevu analysis of 4.2 million phone calls into dealership service departments, 68 percent or nearly 2.8 million calls connected with an agent. That means 32 percent of calls, or nearly one-third of customers calling into your service department, aren't connecting with anyone! For every 100 lost calls, that's 72 appointments you don't have.

I don't know about you, but to me losing one out of every three leads is an unacceptable business practice.

I understand service personnel are busy. Your advisor's primary job is to take care of the customers and vehicles that are already in your service department— you really don't want them playing phone tag with customers. Phone tag wastes a lot of time and is very frustrating for the customer.

The key to fixing your service department phone problems is to figure out how you can reduce the volume of incoming and outgoing calls that your service advisors have to make.

Many dealerships have explored the option of setting up a service-only BDC to answer incoming calls. BDC agents are trained, monitored and use scripts for consistent messaging.

One of the primary advantages of having a BDC is that agents are not rushing through conversations. Do your service advisors take the time to ask every customer for updated contact information? BDC agents can deliver a 90 percent email capture rate for customers. For some dealers, this has doubled the response rate of their service email campaigns.

At first, your service advisors may resist the idea of having someone else schedule their appointments. They like to be in control of their own schedules. But what's best for them may not be what's best for your dealership. If an advisor wants to leave at 5:00 pm, do you think he's going to schedule an appointment for 4:30 pm?

BDC agents set appointments based on customer preferences, not those of the advisor. As a result, dealers typically see a 26 percent increase in ROs and an increase in shop capacity, along with a more consistent workflow.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of having a BDC is the high levels of customer satisfaction. With a 14-second average call answering time, customers are immediately connected with someone who can quote pricing for basic services and schedule appointments.

The downside to setting up an internal BDC is that it can be cost prohibitive. Running a BDC requires a skilled and experienced BDC manager, and staff turnover can be an issue.

Another option is to outsource your service department's calls to a virtual BDC. Virtual agents are trained to use your dealership name when answering the phone, and technology allows them to quote your dealership's pricing and connect customers with your personnel. Outsourcing is cost-effective for most dealers because of economy of scale. A virtual BDC center can efficiently handle calls for many dealerships, as opposed to just one group.

At the upcoming Driving Sales Executive Summit I'll be presenting "Hold the Phone: Why Poor Call Handling Skills are Costing You Money." In my breakout session I'll go more in-depth on virtual BDCs, and will also cover:

• How to overcome bandwidth issues and squeeze the most out of every business opportunity
• Proven benchmarks that build consumer trust and grow relationships
• Bridging the customer expectation gap

My session is scheduled for Sunday, October 22nd at 4:00 p.m. See you in Vegas!

Bill Wittenmyer shares which department your dealership has the most opportunities in this week's episode of Witt's Wise Words.