I wanted to drop in and share a perspective of mine regarding our brands and who really owns them now that we are nearing the midway point of 2012.  We have all seen a huge increase nationwide in the number of dealerships and OEM’s participating in social media and this certainly excites me as I see it as a risk to not be involved.  While many dealerships and OEM’s are now taking social media very seriously, what does this actually mean for the brand strategy as a whole?  Are the dealers more in control of the brand or is it in the hands of the OEM?

Well guess what, it is your customers who are in control of your brand now more than they ever have been. Brand strategy, historically speaking, has always asserted to some degree that a brand is something that is cared for by the dealerships and owned, at least on an emotional level, by the customer. Now for many dealerships, thinking in these terms was more of a “mind exercise” than reality. The issue is by not putting the customers needs first, and allowing them to own the brand, a corporate culture can develop that doesn’t ever realize the full potential of the brand as a whole.  After all, aren’t we here to service our current and future clients?

Social media is forcing dealerships and OEM’s to rethink the “customers own the brand” philosophy and in a very quick way.  From this point forward I am going to use the term “brand” to include both the dealers and OEM’s.  In the social web we as the brand can direct, participate and engage with our current and future clients.  Now here is the kicker, so can they.  We can find out in a very easy way what people are saying about our brand and become part of the conversation and so can our customers.  Neither side has the upper hand.  It is a level playing field. Our advantage should come down to resources and strategy. If we have those well planned then you can mange the difference between success and failure.

Thinking about our brand’s personality traits is vitally important in today’s market. A brand is more than a logo. Every “touch point” or “moment of truth” our customers interact with will shape his or her view on our brand whether it is in person or in the social web.  On the social media platforms, our current and future clients interact with our brand in much the same way they do as their friends.  Would you agree? They treat it as a person and if our brand has not developed a personality with virtual emotions, then they will assign emotions and personality to our brand and chances are it will not be the ones we want.

Do you recall any past experiences that you can describe as an example to this?  It happens on a daily basis I assure you.  Maybe you called your Internet provider because of a billing or technical issue and found the person on the other line to be rude.  We have all been there and many of us were thinking in the back of our minds, “I really don’t care for this company.”  Then we look for data to back up our point of view, because we don’t like to be wrong. At this point, the emotions have been assigned and convincing us that they are incorrect will not be easy.

This same process happens at all the touch points of our brand, would you agree? The difference with the social web is that we now are able see the reaction and for those of you engaged, the good news is that you can do something about it. Only then your current and future clients will look for the evidence to prove that point of view.

So now I leave you with the mindset of taking the time to build a brand strategy that incorporates interaction in the social web.  Define your personality and make sure your team understands it with the ability to express it both in person and in the social web.  It isn’t going to happen overnight but if you want to elevate your brand and social strategy to the next level, this is a great focus to do so.  Once you get it right, the rewards will come.

I am sure many of you are just as busy as I am with daily business and I feel this post will find all of you doing big things.  Thanks for reading and keep making it happen.

I wanted to drop in and share a perspective of mine regarding our brands and who really owns them now that we are nearing the midway point of 2012.  We have all seen a huge increase nationwide in the number of dealerships and OEM’s participating in social media and this certainly excites me as I see it as a risk to not be involved.  While many dealerships and OEM’s are now taking social media very seriously, what does this actually mean for the brand strategy as a whole?  Are the dealers more in control of the brand or is it in the hands of the OEM?

Well guess what, it is your customers who are in control of your brand now more than they ever have been. Brand strategy, historically speaking, has always asserted to some degree that a brand is something that is cared for by the dealerships and owned, at least on an emotional level, by the customer. Now for many dealerships, thinking in these terms was more of a “mind exercise” than reality. The issue is by not putting the customers needs first, and allowing them to own the brand, a corporate culture can develop that doesn’t ever realize the full potential of the brand as a whole.  After all, aren’t we here to service our current and future clients?

Social media is forcing dealerships and OEM’s to rethink the “customers own the brand” philosophy and in a very quick way.  From this point forward I am going to use the term “brand” to include both the dealers and OEM’s.  In the social web we as the brand can direct, participate and engage with our current and future clients.  Now here is the kicker, so can they.  We can find out in a very easy way what people are saying about our brand and become part of the conversation and so can our customers.  Neither side has the upper hand.  It is a level playing field. Our advantage should come down to resources and strategy. If we have those well planned then you can mange the difference between success and failure.

Thinking about our brand’s personality traits is vitally important in today’s market. A brand is more than a logo. Every “touch point” or “moment of truth” our customers interact with will shape his or her view on our brand whether it is in person or in the social web.  On the social media platforms, our current and future clients interact with our brand in much the same way they do as their friends.  Would you agree? They treat it as a person and if our brand has not developed a personality with virtual emotions, then they will assign emotions and personality to our brand and chances are it will not be the ones we want.

Do you recall any past experiences that you can describe as an example to this?  It happens on a daily basis I assure you.  Maybe you called your Internet provider because of a billing or technical issue and found the person on the other line to be rude.  We have all been there and many of us were thinking in the back of our minds, “I really don’t care for this company.”  Then we look for data to back up our point of view, because we don’t like to be wrong. At this point, the emotions have been assigned and convincing us that they are incorrect will not be easy.

This same process happens at all the touch points of our brand, would you agree? The difference with the social web is that we now are able see the reaction and for those of you engaged, the good news is that you can do something about it. Only then your current and future clients will look for the evidence to prove that point of view.

So now I leave you with the mindset of taking the time to build a brand strategy that incorporates interaction in the social web.  Define your personality and make sure your team understands it with the ability to express it both in person and in the social web.  It isn’t going to happen overnight but if you want to elevate your brand and social strategy to the next level, this is a great focus to do so.  Once you get it right, the rewards will come.

I am sure many of you are just as busy as I am with daily business and I feel this post will find all of you doing big things.  Thanks for reading and keep making it happen.

Mentoring is something that I haven’t thought to write about until recently and after a few discussions with others, have come to understand that this is something our industry needs more of.  Mentoring from either an organizational standpoint or individual standpoint can be very powerful for learning and growth for someone you take an interest in thus increasing the probability for positive outcomes in their career path.

Many of you reading can recall someone who, at some point in your career, has had a significant influence on you and may have shaped or determined your course bringing you to where you are today.  I certainly can say there have been a few individuals I have come to know over the past twelve years that have encouraged me to do well or help me overcome something I wasn’t totally grasping. 

Recently, however, I can certainly say I consider myself having a mentor that I can trust to give me honest responses and opinions on anything I care to discuss and encourages me to try something new or different that I may have trouble taking that first step in doing.  Do you have anyone like that in your life or are you that type of person to someone else? Do you know how powerful it can be on someone? I am here to say that these experiences, if you haven’t experienced it from either side, are very beneficial and rewarding to both individuals involved.

Now, I am here to ask, if mentoring has so many positive aspects to it, why do we not see it happen more in our industry? Is it because we are taught to be competitive from day one in the business? Yes, you may be the superstar your entire career, but at what point do we decide to “refill” the pipeline to continue the success of our dealership or industry? It needs to happen at some point. Anyone else agree?

Here are a few questions I would like to ask from both an individual and organizational standpoint and encourage your responses.  I understand and appreciate the benefit of having a mentor and look to get others thinking alike:

• How can we help make mentoring an emphasis in our dealerships?
• How can a successful mentoring program be facilitated by the dealership itself?
• How do we select good mentors?
• How can we better prepare mentors and protégés to be successful?

I believe mentoring serves the needs of both mentors and protégés in different ways and will thrive better when left to flexible terms rather than being process driven or mandated if such program exists within the dealership.  Let the relationship cultivate on its own, giving it the room to breath and allowing the time for the information transferred to process.  I certainly experience the benefit first hand and hope to see mentoring grow in our industry as it is in important in the development of our employees and can have a significant influence on the course of their careers.

Mentoring, when the right conditions are present, can be one of the most powerful mechanisms in propelling a career forward. 

Now I want to ask, is there someone you have thought about taking under your wing to help ensure their success? Did you act on it?

Mentoring is something that I haven’t thought to write about until recently and after a few discussions with others, have come to understand that this is something our industry needs more of.  Mentoring from either an organizational standpoint or individual standpoint can be very powerful for learning and growth for someone you take an interest in thus increasing the probability for positive outcomes in their career path.

Many of you reading can recall someone who, at some point in your career, has had a significant influence on you and may have shaped or determined your course bringing you to where you are today.  I certainly can say there have been a few individuals I have come to know over the past twelve years that have encouraged me to do well or help me overcome something I wasn’t totally grasping. 

Recently, however, I can certainly say I consider myself having a mentor that I can trust to give me honest responses and opinions on anything I care to discuss and encourages me to try something new or different that I may have trouble taking that first step in doing.  Do you have anyone like that in your life or are you that type of person to someone else? Do you know how powerful it can be on someone? I am here to say that these experiences, if you haven’t experienced it from either side, are very beneficial and rewarding to both individuals involved.

Now, I am here to ask, if mentoring has so many positive aspects to it, why do we not see it happen more in our industry? Is it because we are taught to be competitive from day one in the business? Yes, you may be the superstar your entire career, but at what point do we decide to “refill” the pipeline to continue the success of our dealership or industry? It needs to happen at some point. Anyone else agree?

Here are a few questions I would like to ask from both an individual and organizational standpoint and encourage your responses.  I understand and appreciate the benefit of having a mentor and look to get others thinking alike:

• How can we help make mentoring an emphasis in our dealerships?
• How can a successful mentoring program be facilitated by the dealership itself?
• How do we select good mentors?
• How can we better prepare mentors and protégés to be successful?

I believe mentoring serves the needs of both mentors and protégés in different ways and will thrive better when left to flexible terms rather than being process driven or mandated if such program exists within the dealership.  Let the relationship cultivate on its own, giving it the room to breath and allowing the time for the information transferred to process.  I certainly experience the benefit first hand and hope to see mentoring grow in our industry as it is in important in the development of our employees and can have a significant influence on the course of their careers.

Mentoring, when the right conditions are present, can be one of the most powerful mechanisms in propelling a career forward. 

Now I want to ask, is there someone you have thought about taking under your wing to help ensure their success? Did you act on it?

I have been in many conversations over the past few months with others alike about changing the image of our industry and definitely see the positive efforts being made to help make that happen.  As we all know it will not happen overnight but every new customer experience we are a part of can certainly move the needle in the right direction.  We should all see it as an honor to be of service with every customer interaction and for those that conduct business in this manner, I applaud you for a job well done.

Still today, we can all find articles where the FTC is involved from where a consumer felt they were deceived by a dealership’s business practice.  Now whether the cases are true or not, something made the consumer feel this way.  Not much good comes from many of these cases and the lasting effect is deadly.

I wrote last month in “Hope To Win or Plan To Win” that most of the objections confronted in the F&I office would fall into one of the four categories:

• Affordability
• Product Misconceptions / Lack of Information
• Need Perception
• Fear Of Making Poor Decisions

Today, I wanted to discuss two separate mindsets that we can find still with today’s F&I managers:  Deceptive and Aggressive. 

The “deceptive mindset” is not hard to explain.  It is tricking the customer into buying products because the person presenting them doesn’t believe in them.  If one has to lie or hide something to close on the product, this is the mindset they are in.

The “aggressive mindset” is not bad to have at all and should be the mindset in every F&I office across the country.  It is having the belief in the products being presented and transferring that excitement to the customer.

Consider these few points when discussing the “aggressive” F&I manager and not the “deceptive” type:

• The customer always comes first and foremost.
• They understand their products completely.
• They expect to be the best.
• They don’t set limits on themselves.
• They have a plan and work it on a daily basis to achieve their goals.
• They have a planned presentation and stay the course even through welcoming objections and answering them thoughtfully.

I am here to say with both of these mindsets, the F&I manager cannot have both.  They can’t on one hand sell their products with enthusiasm when it fits their purposes, and then on the other hand choose to deceive a customer when they think they are gullible enough to let them.  F&I managers can change but they can’t come just halfway.  It will involve a complete paradigm shift for it to work starting with how they see themselves as an F&I manager.  This includes the way they see the products they offer and their value as a true sales person. 

We can all agree that the best F&I managers are those who genuinely believe in the products that they offer.

I have been in many conversations over the past few months with others alike about changing the image of our industry and definitely see the positive efforts being made to help make that happen.  As we all know it will not happen overnight but every new customer experience we are a part of can certainly move the needle in the right direction.  We should all see it as an honor to be of service with every customer interaction and for those that conduct business in this manner, I applaud you for a job well done.

Still today, we can all find articles where the FTC is involved from where a consumer felt they were deceived by a dealership’s business practice.  Now whether the cases are true or not, something made the consumer feel this way.  Not much good comes from many of these cases and the lasting effect is deadly.

I wrote last month in “Hope To Win or Plan To Win” that most of the objections confronted in the F&I office would fall into one of the four categories:

• Affordability
• Product Misconceptions / Lack of Information
• Need Perception
• Fear Of Making Poor Decisions

Today, I wanted to discuss two separate mindsets that we can find still with today’s F&I managers:  Deceptive and Aggressive. 

The “deceptive mindset” is not hard to explain.  It is tricking the customer into buying products because the person presenting them doesn’t believe in them.  If one has to lie or hide something to close on the product, this is the mindset they are in.

The “aggressive mindset” is not bad to have at all and should be the mindset in every F&I office across the country.  It is having the belief in the products being presented and transferring that excitement to the customer.

Consider these few points when discussing the “aggressive” F&I manager and not the “deceptive” type:

• The customer always comes first and foremost.
• They understand their products completely.
• They expect to be the best.
• They don’t set limits on themselves.
• They have a plan and work it on a daily basis to achieve their goals.
• They have a planned presentation and stay the course even through welcoming objections and answering them thoughtfully.

I am here to say with both of these mindsets, the F&I manager cannot have both.  They can’t on one hand sell their products with enthusiasm when it fits their purposes, and then on the other hand choose to deceive a customer when they think they are gullible enough to let them.  F&I managers can change but they can’t come just halfway.  It will involve a complete paradigm shift for it to work starting with how they see themselves as an F&I manager.  This includes the way they see the products they offer and their value as a true sales person. 

We can all agree that the best F&I managers are those who genuinely believe in the products that they offer.

Many dealers across the United States will be closing out a great month of sales today and all of you should be congratulated for the efforts put forth.  It’s not over yet.  The great news is that we still have this wonderful Saturday to dig down deep and make it a month we haven’t seen in some time. Again, well done.

Now that we lived that moment for a few seconds, what is your game plan for April? Do you have one? Do you approach the day wondering what will become of it or do you approach the day having a pretty good idea what will become of it? Are you spot on with every customer interaction, product presentations and handling objections the proper way rather than on the defensive?

I have noticed over the years, in all capacities, that customer’s objections haven’t changed much yet dealer personnel still stumble many times when challenged. Especially in one of our biggest profit centers:  The F&I office.

Most of the objections we are confronted with can fall in one of the four categories:

• Affordability
• Product Misconceptions / Lack of Information
• Need Perception
• Fear Of Making Poor Decision

This upcoming week is one of my favorites for sports ending with The Masters golf tournament so naturally I have to throw in a sports analogy.  Imagine you are the basketball coach for one of the Final Four teams playing.  It is your job to prepare and condition your “team” in the fundamentals, develop a winning game plan and execute that plan properly.  A big part of this game plan is to know what your team will be up against.  If your team has been beaten by the same four plays, game after game, you need to start questioning ability.  To all the F&I professionals out there, you have watched the game films, gathered your important information and also had a chance to see the playbook ahead of time.  How do you plan to win?

It is very important to understand how customers like to make a purchase.  Intangible products sold in F&I are made by a transfer of beliefs and enthusiasm mainly, in my opinion.  It involves a super star presentation that is based on solid product knowledge developed with empathy for the customer.  If you approach your presentation in this manner, you will sell the way they want to purchase.  Your customer’s are buying a majority of the time because they want to, not because they need to.  I can think back on many occasions when I have put off making a purchase on something that I needed but didn’t want, compared to how many times I have purchased something I wanted but didn’t need.  Anyone else? I think selling is more motivational rather than persuasive and knowing that will help close more sales.  We have heard over and over that people make a purchase when their perception of value exceeds the “cost.”  Cost can be in terms of money, time or aggravation.  Without a perceived need, all of the features and benefits of any product create no value and without value, no pricing will be cheap enough for the customer in front of you.

You see, each time a purchase is made; an internal conflict takes place with an emotional desire to have the product and the fear of paying too much or being taken advantage of by the seller.  Customers then search for answers to help resolve this conflict by a series of questions listed below but not limited to:

• Do I or can I trust this sales person?
• Reputation of company?
• Will the product serve my needs?
• Does value exceed price?
• Do I want it now?

Looking at these questions, we need to ask ourselves if these are logical or emotional decisions.  Is there any logic in trust?  The customer may have your trust but their spouse may not.  Your dealership’s reputation is subjective too.  This is definitely an emotional thought process and value is the customer’s personal judgment.  Customers are buying emotionally with just enough logic to justify their decision.  Knowing this, is your F&I presentation built solely on facts, features and benefits?  Many times I can remember as an F&I manager thinking if I can explain enough features and benefits, I will close on more products.  Then “menu selling” made its way into our dealerships that taught F&I managers to present 100% of products, 100% of the time to 100% of the customers.  Now please don’t get me wrong, I believe features and benefits along with a proper F&I menu presentation are key but “value” is created only when the product presented fulfills a desire or solves a problem.

With all this in mind, presenting that beautiful, well-prepared F&I menu and overloading your customer with features and benefits will only get you so far.  Sure you are going to sell a few products but you will definitely end up with even more lost opportunities unless you, the F&I manager, take the time to sell yourself and the dealership.  It’s time to truly identify “buying motivations” and demonstrate how the products presented can satisfy your customer’s perceived need.  If you help your customer answer the five questions I mentioned earlier in a positive way, you will increase your chances of closing on more products.  Only then will you no longer be in a win or lose situation with the customer but both of you will have won with you closing on more products and helping the customer by solving a problem.

Close strong and make it a great April 2012.

Many dealers across the United States will be closing out a great month of sales today and all of you should be congratulated for the efforts put forth.  It’s not over yet.  The great news is that we still have this wonderful Saturday to dig down deep and make it a month we haven’t seen in some time. Again, well done.

Now that we lived that moment for a few seconds, what is your game plan for April? Do you have one? Do you approach the day wondering what will become of it or do you approach the day having a pretty good idea what will become of it? Are you spot on with every customer interaction, product presentations and handling objections the proper way rather than on the defensive?

I have noticed over the years, in all capacities, that customer’s objections haven’t changed much yet dealer personnel still stumble many times when challenged. Especially in one of our biggest profit centers:  The F&I office.

Most of the objections we are confronted with can fall in one of the four categories:

• Affordability
• Product Misconceptions / Lack of Information
• Need Perception
• Fear Of Making Poor Decision

This upcoming week is one of my favorites for sports ending with The Masters golf tournament so naturally I have to throw in a sports analogy.  Imagine you are the basketball coach for one of the Final Four teams playing.  It is your job to prepare and condition your “team” in the fundamentals, develop a winning game plan and execute that plan properly.  A big part of this game plan is to know what your team will be up against.  If your team has been beaten by the same four plays, game after game, you need to start questioning ability.  To all the F&I professionals out there, you have watched the game films, gathered your important information and also had a chance to see the playbook ahead of time.  How do you plan to win?

It is very important to understand how customers like to make a purchase.  Intangible products sold in F&I are made by a transfer of beliefs and enthusiasm mainly, in my opinion.  It involves a super star presentation that is based on solid product knowledge developed with empathy for the customer.  If you approach your presentation in this manner, you will sell the way they want to purchase.  Your customer’s are buying a majority of the time because they want to, not because they need to.  I can think back on many occasions when I have put off making a purchase on something that I needed but didn’t want, compared to how many times I have purchased something I wanted but didn’t need.  Anyone else? I think selling is more motivational rather than persuasive and knowing that will help close more sales.  We have heard over and over that people make a purchase when their perception of value exceeds the “cost.”  Cost can be in terms of money, time or aggravation.  Without a perceived need, all of the features and benefits of any product create no value and without value, no pricing will be cheap enough for the customer in front of you.

You see, each time a purchase is made; an internal conflict takes place with an emotional desire to have the product and the fear of paying too much or being taken advantage of by the seller.  Customers then search for answers to help resolve this conflict by a series of questions listed below but not limited to:

• Do I or can I trust this sales person?
• Reputation of company?
• Will the product serve my needs?
• Does value exceed price?
• Do I want it now?

Looking at these questions, we need to ask ourselves if these are logical or emotional decisions.  Is there any logic in trust?  The customer may have your trust but their spouse may not.  Your dealership’s reputation is subjective too.  This is definitely an emotional thought process and value is the customer’s personal judgment.  Customers are buying emotionally with just enough logic to justify their decision.  Knowing this, is your F&I presentation built solely on facts, features and benefits?  Many times I can remember as an F&I manager thinking if I can explain enough features and benefits, I will close on more products.  Then “menu selling” made its way into our dealerships that taught F&I managers to present 100% of products, 100% of the time to 100% of the customers.  Now please don’t get me wrong, I believe features and benefits along with a proper F&I menu presentation are key but “value” is created only when the product presented fulfills a desire or solves a problem.

With all this in mind, presenting that beautiful, well-prepared F&I menu and overloading your customer with features and benefits will only get you so far.  Sure you are going to sell a few products but you will definitely end up with even more lost opportunities unless you, the F&I manager, take the time to sell yourself and the dealership.  It’s time to truly identify “buying motivations” and demonstrate how the products presented can satisfy your customer’s perceived need.  If you help your customer answer the five questions I mentioned earlier in a positive way, you will increase your chances of closing on more products.  Only then will you no longer be in a win or lose situation with the customer but both of you will have won with you closing on more products and helping the customer by solving a problem.

Close strong and make it a great April 2012.

BDC / Internet operations are near and dear to my heart and I wanted to post this article I wrote for the DrivingSales Dealership Innovation Guide 3rd Quarter 2011 [ http://goo.gl/Lxu8t ] for those who may have missed it:

"How many customers do you lock in your showroom at night?"

This is a question that I enjoy asking dealer contacts around the country when I hear there is not a process in place or a process isn’t followed consistently to respond to customers on the other end of the telephone or the internet.  Believe it or not, as many of us are running full speed with our BDC departments and have been for years, there are still dealers around the country that either do not have such a department or have a half-functioning one.  For those dealers that fall into the latter two categories, it is time to step back, take a deep breath, and get a plan together to maximize on the opportunities that are there just as a customer standing in the showroom.  I have a strong passion for BDC department operations as many of you already know and my goal is to get dealers to read, get the ball rolling for their store and achieve immediate results.  To many, this article may seem elementary but every dealer isn’t running at the same pace.  My goal is to get more dealers in the race.  It is incremental business that is being missed.  Complacency has no home in automotive retail and nobody wants to be left behind.  The good news is that it isn’t too late.

I am a firm believer that the customer standing in the showroom and the customer sitting at home on their computer or calling the dealership on their telephone is no different from one another.  Yet I still see or hear about it happening everyday that the customer at home gets pushed to the back burner until actual showroom floor traffic dies down or maybe not even responded to at all.  Why does this happen? Is it lack of phone training or poor follow up skills? Or is it that old school mentality of unless the customer is standing in front of you they aren’t a serious buyer?  It is probably a little bit of all of the above.  The truth is that almost all customers that eventually walk into the showroom have already been on the Internet researching, comparing and gathering all of the necessary information that they require until comfortable enough to call or pay the dealership a visit.  By putting a BDC department in place and managed right, a dealership will significantly increase appointments which will lead to increased showroom traffic.  So why not “up” the customer before they arrive and increase the chances greatly of closing the sale?  The excitement and energy put forth with the customer on the lot should be just the same with the customer online or by telephone.

Now that it has been established that there isn’t any difference between the customer at home and the customer standing in the showroom, it is now time to have the desire to focus more attention on the BDC department in the dealership and commit to it.  Going through the motions and responding to leads only one time with a price quote will not do a bit of good.  If I were in the market for a product and every company I contacted sent me a price quote when I inquired in general, I would keep shopping until I eventually got the lowest price and all others would never hear from me again.  The goal is to sell the appointment and not the vehicle.  It is very hard to build value in something over email. If the customer does not provide a phone number and requests information, a call to action to the telephone should be clear asking the customer to call the dealership so the information requested can be discussed in detail. 

Proper phone training is needed in order to consistently sell the appointment and have the customer actually show up.  Just as there is a process and steps to the sale with the showroom customer, there should be a process and steps to the appointment once the customer is on the phone.  There are many call guides available to help pace the customer and keep control of the phone call also in which selling the value of the dealership can be included.  Please remember they are guides and should be followed but do not remove personality from the equation.  When on the phone, never stop smiling.  Customers can hear that smile over the telephone and it makes for a better phone call experience for both parties hands down.  Phone skills are the most important and dealers should be sure to have the right staff in this position.

I am sure by now dealers reading are pumped up and feel the excitement they will create when going full force with the BDC department.  It is a full time job and should be staffed as such.  It’s time to stay focused, do a virtual walk-thru of your website and make sure all inventory has pictures with the most up to date information.  We are in July and nobody is interested in the sale that went on during the second week of June.  The website should be monitored daily.

Finally, be prompt in getting the information back to the customer and answer their questions.  One thing I dislike is someone ignoring a question I asked in the beginning.  The more times a customer has to ask the same question, the less likely they will ever step foot into the showroom.  One of the biggest complaints from customers is not getting a response at all from the dealership they inquired with.  That is the same thing as going home at night and locking a customer in the showroom.   

What current processes do you have in place that are working well? 

BDC / Internet operations are near and dear to my heart and I wanted to post this article I wrote for the DrivingSales Dealership Innovation Guide 3rd Quarter 2011 [ http://goo.gl/Lxu8t ] for those who may have missed it:

"How many customers do you lock in your showroom at night?"

This is a question that I enjoy asking dealer contacts around the country when I hear there is not a process in place or a process isn’t followed consistently to respond to customers on the other end of the telephone or the internet.  Believe it or not, as many of us are running full speed with our BDC departments and have been for years, there are still dealers around the country that either do not have such a department or have a half-functioning one.  For those dealers that fall into the latter two categories, it is time to step back, take a deep breath, and get a plan together to maximize on the opportunities that are there just as a customer standing in the showroom.  I have a strong passion for BDC department operations as many of you already know and my goal is to get dealers to read, get the ball rolling for their store and achieve immediate results.  To many, this article may seem elementary but every dealer isn’t running at the same pace.  My goal is to get more dealers in the race.  It is incremental business that is being missed.  Complacency has no home in automotive retail and nobody wants to be left behind.  The good news is that it isn’t too late.

I am a firm believer that the customer standing in the showroom and the customer sitting at home on their computer or calling the dealership on their telephone is no different from one another.  Yet I still see or hear about it happening everyday that the customer at home gets pushed to the back burner until actual showroom floor traffic dies down or maybe not even responded to at all.  Why does this happen? Is it lack of phone training or poor follow up skills? Or is it that old school mentality of unless the customer is standing in front of you they aren’t a serious buyer?  It is probably a little bit of all of the above.  The truth is that almost all customers that eventually walk into the showroom have already been on the Internet researching, comparing and gathering all of the necessary information that they require until comfortable enough to call or pay the dealership a visit.  By putting a BDC department in place and managed right, a dealership will significantly increase appointments which will lead to increased showroom traffic.  So why not “up” the customer before they arrive and increase the chances greatly of closing the sale?  The excitement and energy put forth with the customer on the lot should be just the same with the customer online or by telephone.

Now that it has been established that there isn’t any difference between the customer at home and the customer standing in the showroom, it is now time to have the desire to focus more attention on the BDC department in the dealership and commit to it.  Going through the motions and responding to leads only one time with a price quote will not do a bit of good.  If I were in the market for a product and every company I contacted sent me a price quote when I inquired in general, I would keep shopping until I eventually got the lowest price and all others would never hear from me again.  The goal is to sell the appointment and not the vehicle.  It is very hard to build value in something over email. If the customer does not provide a phone number and requests information, a call to action to the telephone should be clear asking the customer to call the dealership so the information requested can be discussed in detail. 

Proper phone training is needed in order to consistently sell the appointment and have the customer actually show up.  Just as there is a process and steps to the sale with the showroom customer, there should be a process and steps to the appointment once the customer is on the phone.  There are many call guides available to help pace the customer and keep control of the phone call also in which selling the value of the dealership can be included.  Please remember they are guides and should be followed but do not remove personality from the equation.  When on the phone, never stop smiling.  Customers can hear that smile over the telephone and it makes for a better phone call experience for both parties hands down.  Phone skills are the most important and dealers should be sure to have the right staff in this position.

I am sure by now dealers reading are pumped up and feel the excitement they will create when going full force with the BDC department.  It is a full time job and should be staffed as such.  It’s time to stay focused, do a virtual walk-thru of your website and make sure all inventory has pictures with the most up to date information.  We are in July and nobody is interested in the sale that went on during the second week of June.  The website should be monitored daily.

Finally, be prompt in getting the information back to the customer and answer their questions.  One thing I dislike is someone ignoring a question I asked in the beginning.  The more times a customer has to ask the same question, the less likely they will ever step foot into the showroom.  One of the biggest complaints from customers is not getting a response at all from the dealership they inquired with.  That is the same thing as going home at night and locking a customer in the showroom.   

What current processes do you have in place that are working well?