In the world of car shopping, a common frustration has emerged among prospects: dealerships that can't be bothered to answer your questions but have no problem flooding your inbox with unwanted marketing emails. This scenario often feels like a slap in the face to customers who simply want straightforward information, only to be met with a barrage of automated responses.

Imagine this scenario: you're in the market for a new car and, after some research, you find a dealership with what seems like a good lease special. You decide to take the next step and inquire about the payments. Here's a snippet of the email exchange that follows:

---

Customer Email

Subject: Inquiry About Lease Pricing

Hi,

I'm interested in the lease special you have on the 2024 Sedan X. Could you please provide the details on the monthly payments, the total due upfront, and any other costs involved?

Thank you,

Mr. Customer

---

Two days pass, and instead of a response to the specific question, Mr. Customer receives this email:

Dealership Email

Subject: Exclusive Lease Specials Just for You!

Hi Mr. Customer,

Thank you for your interest in our lease specials! We have amazing deals on the 2024 Sedan X. Click here to see our latest offers and find the perfect car for you.

Best regards,

ABC Dealership

---

Feeling frustrated, Mr. Customer checks the inbox again later that day and finds another email from the dealership:

Dealership Email

Subject: Is there anythinh I can help you with?

Hi Mr. Customer,

Is there anythinh I can help you with? We're here to assist you with any questions or concerns you may have about our vehicles or offers.

Best regards,

John

Sales Consultant, ABC Dealership

---

It's clear from this exchange that the dealership's processes have gone on autopilot. Instead of addressing Mr. Customer's specific question about upfront dollars, they send a generic marketing email and a poorly spelled canned response asking if there's anything they can help with—ironically after failing to help with the initial inquiry which actually offered all the answers on how to sell this prospect.

This lack of personalized attention (or let’s call it what it is, lack of reading) and the overwhelming reliance on automated emails not only wastes the customer's time but also leaves them feeling undervalued and ignored. It’s a glaring example of how some dealerships have failed to manage their internal processes effectively.

For dealerships, the lesson here is simple: customers appreciate timely, accurate, and personalized responses. Ignoring their questions while bombarding them with generic marketing emails is a quick way to lose potential business. It's time to put the "customer" back in customer service and ensure every inquiry is met with the attention it deserves.

Removing the people from the equation is a horrible idea and there’s no such thing currently as AI that can do it. So, rather than alienate prospects, why not train your people to do that which you hired them to do, engage customers!

For customers, this experience serves as a reminder to be vigilant and proactive. Don't settle for automated responses. Follow up persistently until you get the information you need, and don't hesitate to take your business elsewhere if a dealership can't provide the basic courtesy of answering your questions.

In a competitive market, the dealerships that stand out will be the ones that prioritize genuine customer interactions over automated marketing. Until then, the frustration will continue for many would-be car buyers like Mr. Customer.

Are we still pretending that "unlock the [dealer name] price" is a treasure trove hidden on a dealership website? It’s 2024, and the cat is well out of the bag: most often, the price you see online is the price you get. Yet, the charade continues. Customers click through hoops hoping to reveal a special sales price, only to find it layered with conditional discounts—OEM Loyalty Cash, Military Savings, or OEM Finance cash—that may not apply to them at all. And let's not forget about those additional freight charges and miscellaneous fees that magically appear later in the process.

Dealerships persist with this model of “competitive” pricing, but is this method really serving its purpose, or is it backfiring? In an age where every consumer carries a powerful research tool in their pocket, deceptive pricing strategies are not just frustrating—they're downright insulting.

Yet Dealers continue to clutter their vehicle display pages (VDP) with numerous calls to action. "Call us," "email us," "chat now," "unlock price," "schedule a test drive"—but is this abundance truly necessary? The cluttered approach can overwhelm and confuse rather than facilitate a smoother transaction. Has any thought been given to simplifying the customer’s journey? More isn't always better. Sometimes, it's just more.

Besides competitive pricing, what else are dealerships doing to genuinely stand out? Sure, there are the perennial "customer promises," free oil changes (shop fees and supplies not included), and complimentary car washes. But in the grand scheme, what value do these perks actually hold if the fundamental experience is flawed?

With customer testimonials and exposés on platforms like TikTok (trust me, if you haven’t seen one yet take a moment and look) becoming more prevalent, the old tricks are becoming less effective. These videos aren't just viral moments; they are testimonials of the widespread dissatisfaction with the car buying process. The modern customer’s patience for pricing games is wearing thin. And whether or not everything in the videos is true, perception is unfortunately reality.

Truly, there’s no need to play games to be profitable. Transparency isn't just good ethics—it's good business. As the industry stands at this crossroads, it’s time for a shift towards genuine simplicity and honesty in how we sell cars. Wouldn't it be refreshing not to worry about a customer’s dealership experience going viral for all the wrong reasons? The automotive industry has the tools and the technology to offer straightforward, fair pricing—it just needs the will to steer in that direction.

Imagine the anticipation of a customer eagerly awaiting a response after inquiring about their dream truck. The clock ticks, the excitement builds, and finally, an email notification pings. But disappointment sets in almost immediately—not only is the response late, but it's also laden with grammatical errors, spelling errors, punctuation errors, and glaring negligence.

**Customer Inquiry**

>From: Jane Doe 

>Date: April 30, 2024 

>Subject: 2024 Ford F-150 

>

>Hi, 

>I saw a 2024 Ford F-150 listed on your website. Stock Number 458. Can you confirm the price and whether it includes any additional dealership fees? Also, can you tell me about the financing options available? 

>Thanks, 

>Jane Doe 

-----------

**Dealership Response**

>From: Sales Rep at ABCMotors

>Date: May 3, 2024 

>Subject: Re: 2024 Ford F-150 

>

>Hi Jane, 

>Thnaks for you're email. We have the Ford F-150. Its a grate truck, lots of fetures. We would love too see you two discuss it more. Let us no what time you can make it down too the showroom. 

>Best, 

>Sales Rep 

This hypothetical exchange highlights a lack of timely follow-up and a fundamental disregard for addressing the customer’s specific questions. Many dealerships’ follow-up on web inquiries has become atrocious; questions go unanswered, and customer engagement is minimal at best. When responses do come, they're riddled with spelling and grammatical errors, which send a clear message of unprofessionalism.

Moreover, amidst today's shifting auto market dynamics, the aggressive pricing strategies that tack on markups above the MSRP are becoming increasingly contentious. Can dealerships maintain such pricing policies realistically without providing exceptional customer service and clear communication? It seems audacious at best.

The narrative we've seen unfold in auto sales reveals a deeper industry malaise. Over the past four years, many dealers have neglected the crucial task of adequately training their staff. This oversight is now manifesting as a struggle to sell vehicles. Those who remain are often ill-equipped in the art of salesmanship, lacking the basic skills necessary to engage effectively and professionally with potential buyers.

As you reflect on the errors sprinkled throughout this article, consider them a deliberate illustration of the frustration and confusion faced by customers daily. The message is clear: in the competitive world of auto sales, professionalism—or the lack thereof—can significantly sway customer satisfaction and business success.

Evaluating your team’s performance is one of the most difficult and time-intensive jobs facing any management team. It takes effort and money to do the work yourself, and the data can be flawed for any number of reasons.

There are several training options available, but many of them can’t give you true insight into what your team can do to improve their performance on calls to boost your sales numbers and hit your monthly goals. Pick the wrong one and you’ll end up frustrating your team and getting little in return.

That’s where mystery shopping companies can make all the difference. These training experts offer your business the most accurate feedback because their people interact with your employees as if they were customers. But how do they do it? Here are five of the most important things these companies can do for your business. 

1. REAL-TIME REVIEW

Receipt, phone, and internet surveys are popular, but they are fraught with poor-quality data. Human memory is fallible, and you’re hardly getting a true picture of customer interactions because they have to send feedback long after the experience actually took place. 

Mystery shopping companies measure your employees’ performance in real-time, which produces a much more faithful and authentic interpretation of interactions. And because their mystery shoppers are trained, experienced, and working according to an evaluation rubric prepared in advance, you are measuring the same variables professionally and consistently every time.

2. ENSURE ACCURATE BRAND MESSAGING AND LEGAL COMPLIANCE

The former is necessary, and the latter is non-negotiable. Mystery shopping companies evaluate not only your team’s customer service skills, but their underlying conformity with company procedures, policies, brand messaging, and the law.

The value of consistently branded messaging can’t be overstated in the current sales environment. Customers often interact with your website long before they ever call, and they are more informed than ever. If your team’s messaging doesn’t match their expectations—and deliver accurate information in critical areas like financing and service agreements—they’re going to hang up quickly.

3. CATCH EMERGING ISSUES EARLY

No matter how well-trained an employee is, the fact is, skills drift, trained concepts fade or blur in memory, and subtle variations that may not be perfectly aligned with your business are introduced by individual team members. This means that unless you measure your team’s skills on a regular basis, your current amazing customer service will start to shift out of focus. This is not a result of bad or lazy employees—it’s just human nature!

These skills are especially critical to monitor in high-stakes, high-dollar sales environments like automobile dealerships, marine dealerships, etc. With so much on the line for every major transaction, you need to catch skill drift and customer service issues at the earliest possible moment before they start costing you sales and tanking your appointment rate.

This is why a sound business strategy always invests in long-term relationships with mystery shopping companies. It costs a little money upfront, but it definitely delivers huge returns in the long run. Plus, with regular timetables for review and solid working relationships between employees and your training partner’s team, these issues can be corrected quickly and positively.  

4. IMPROVE OVERALL TEAM SKILL LEVELS

Whether you’re looking at mystery shopping companies to support your business development center (BDC) or just to keep your sales and service teams on point, the benefits they’ll deliver translate to every aspect of the job. Mystery shops often reveal principles that can apply to a range of situations, and these insights can be shared with the entire team to build everyone’s skill set. And because they typically focus on a few specific instances of how language is used, your coaching partner can work in short, efficient training sessions that don’t waste valuable time.

It’s important to keep these sessions positive and use them as opportunities to celebrate success and grow skills as opposed to punitive experiences for less-than-perfect results. You should prioritize:

• Leading with the employee’s successes.
• Rewarding people materially for their good work. 
• Address deficiencies in a kind and mentoring manner, stressing you believe in them and this will make them even better at their job (a powerful motivator in commission sales jobs such as automotive sales).

Remember: it may seem counterintuitive, but when you hire mystery shopping companies you are actually counting on finding failure. Doing something incorrectly is only a problem if it’s not turned into skill growth, and that’s what mystery shopping companies are all about. 

5. HIGHER MORALE

By encouraging a growth mindset at your business through the positive follow-up to mystery shopping feedback, you raise more than just your customer service. It’s proven that companies that foster a growth mindset have significantly happier employees.

By working with a top mystery shopping partner, you can give your team the expert advice and supportive training they need to close more deals and develop more successful careers. That translates to more money and a better work environment they will definitely value at the end of the day. 

CHOOSE YOUR PARTNER WISELY

There are a lot of different models mystery shopping companies may use, and finding a true expert can be the difference between higher revenue and sagging sales. For most businesses, the best return on your investment will come from partnering with a company that really takes the time to get to know you and your team. They should work with you to develop an evaluation rubric and mystery shop protocols and to manage the follow-up sessions and subsequent training.

At Phone Ninjas, we pride ourselves on making sure our training and mystery shopping fit your business’s needs and goals. Our mystery shopping services are a core component of our business model. We’re a training powerhouse with a track record of boosting KPIs by 300% and beyond and gladly perform follow-up reviews and training to maximize and unify your team’s skills. And we’re a great long-term partner because we work with each team member in weekly one-on-one sessions to make sure everyone is learning thoroughly and quickly. Learning never stops, so neither do we.

We’re so sure you’ll see the benefits we’ll bring to your business, we put our money where our mouth is by performing two dealership mystery shops completely free of charge. Reach out today to access these complimentary services with no further commitment, as well as schedule an in-depth demonstration of our training and mystery shopping programs.

We'd be lying if we said we didn't enjoy the time when cars flew off the lot faster than we could restock our inventory. But as that excitement hit the road, have we asked ourselves, "Are we ready to sell again?" Let's be real, over the past three years, we could easily overcome objections and even achieve record levels of profit. But did we actually stick to a sales process during this frenzy? The truth is NO, most of us didn’t.

Considering that customer response times have declined in the last three years, chances are our sales process suffered a similar fate. And while we've always struggled with consistency in our sales approach, it’s even more crucial to follow one in the weeks and months ahead. Customers have more choices again. So, for those of us whose heads have been stuck in the sand counting dollars, it’s high time we put a plan into action and execute.

The good news is that it doesn't have to be complicated. It's time to get back to the basics - or as they say - focus on the core aspects of a sales process… You know, manage your managables. Let's remember that customer buying behavior has changed in the last three years. However, one thing remains true: customers expect their questions to be answered. And more importantly, they expect to know what comes next when they step into the dealership. It's safe to say that customers don't visit the dealership just for fun today; they're there to buy a car.

But make no mistake, as customers have more options, their patience for dealing with a lack of a sales process will wear thin. Do we really want to miss out on sales opportunities simply because we don’t have a structured approach? Or, worse yet, we aren’t inspecting what we expect and the one we have still isn’t being followed? Instead, let's focus on ensuring our Sales Consultants and BD Agents understand the phone and web processes. These are, after all, the ways to communicate with your store. Unless you’re still receiving faxes saying “sales opportunity” and the customer is “accepting offers” which I used to HATE! They need to grasp the various options customers have when making inquiries via the phone and the web. This way, when your Sales Consultants or BD Agents interact with customers whether online, on the phone, or in person, there’s consistency.

A smooth process on the phone, online, and in-store will make a significant difference in the overall customer experience. And a positive experience - thanks to your dealership following a solid sales process - means more cars sold and better customer satisfaction scores. It sounds simple, right? But the hard truth is that, more often than not, each of your Sales Consultants and Sales Managers tends to have their own processes. This only makes it more challenging to effectively manage the gaps in their approaches. None of us are perfect, and we all have room to improve. So why make it harder on ourselves by juggling multiple sales processes simultaneously? Instead, let's focus on one unified sales process, a “store” sales process. This way, regardless of who's working with a customer, as a Sales Manager, you can easily step in or assist your Sales Consultants without causing unnecessary disruptions for your customers and confusion for your team.

To get started, take a minute and sign-up for two no-charge Dealership Mystery Shops! We could all use a tune-up as we strive for a new normal. That means following a consistent sales process!

Sales agents spend much of their time on the phone, so it’s important for this time to be used effectively. While some may be natural at selling, everyone can stand to have at least a little training to help them out. There are some areas of phone etiquette that you should be focusing on to help them be the most effective.

Active Listening

Active listening is one of the most important things a sales professional can focus on. Not only will it help them understand what the customer’s actual concerns and needs are, but it also helps the customer feel validated, which in turn helps them have a better experience and a more favorable impression of your dealership. However, active listening over the phone requires different skills than active listening in person. Because body language can’t play a role here, sales agents need to get comfortable with vocalizing affirmations and conversational cues. Active listening can also involve asking clarifying questions and restating what the customer has said to show understanding. One of the best ways to train on this is through Active Coaching. Not only should you be evaluating how your sales agents perform on actual phone calls, but you should also give them opportunities to roleplay and learn to verbalize what they may normally use visual clues for.

Conflict Resolution

If there is one thing that sales agents can count on, it’s that there will be angry customers that they have to deal with over the phone. No one really enjoys dealing with it, but it is a fact of life when you work on the phone. Active listening can play a huge role in fending off conflict, but when it rears its ugly head, you need to have the plan to deal with it. The number one thing you need to train into your sales agents for these situations is the ability to stay calm and roll with the situation. Nothing is worse than having a sales agent lose their cool and fight with a customer. They should also be given resources to resolve the conflict and the necessary information on what they can and can’t do to resolve the conflict. This is where phone scripts and other resources become incredibly valuable. Not only will they give your sales agents the path, but they also help them determine when the phone call needs to be escalated because they are out of options.

Information Gathering and Research

In order to answer any questions your customers have, your sales agents need to be experts in gathering information and researching any questions they aren’t familiar with. This is best accomplished if they can stay on the phone with the customer and give them the answer quickly, but it may occasionally require putting a customer on hold and searching out the information needed. Your sales agents need to be intimately familiar with the knowledge database and how to look things up in order to make sure they find the needed information as quickly as possible. Phone scripts can be incredibly helpful in this area, but you should also make sure that your knowledge database is well organized so they are able to search for any answers they may be unfamiliar with. Make sure you give your sales agents, especially any newer ones, adequate time to become familiar with how any search functions work and what the organization is. The less time a customer has to spend on hold, the better.

Setting Appointments

No matter how much time a sales agent spends on the phone with a customer, if they aren’t able to set appointments and commitments, then they aren’t being effective. While sales agents won’t be successful 100% of the time, it is important for them to be effective at setting commitments and appointments with the people to whom they speak. Phone scripts are helpful for this, mainly because they prompt the necessary parts of the conversation. Still, you should also employ active coaching and stealth testing to see how each agent is doing and whether they use their resources appropriately to set commitments.

Good phone etiquette training is an integral part of helping your sales agents to be effective employees and to see success in their phone conversations. These sales agents are a large part of the overall impression of your dealership, so make sure you prioritize helping them find success.

Would you like to know how Phone Ninjas can help you? Click here to learn more about our methodology.

Artificial intelligence is one of the current buzzwords in business. Everywhere you look, articles and posts talk about how artificial intelligence can redefine your operations. Artificial intelligence has quickly become one of the most important tools your dealership can use to increase sales and the customer’s overall impression of your dealership and the sales process.

Identify Customer Behavior

In sales, one of the most important things you can do is understand how a customer thinks and is likely to act. This information can help you provide better customer service and more personalized interactions, especially during phone calls and in-person meetings. Artificial intelligence can analyze your conversations and customers' online behavior to help you understand what they need and want. Customer data is one of the most valuable things you can use in sales, so you should ensure that the data you are collecting is accurate and safeguarded. Data gathered from artificial intelligence can also identify customers’ root problems, spot customer trends and suggest actions to improve them, and capture your customers' emotional and cognitive responses in real time.

Boost Productivity

There are endless tasks that need to be done at a dealership, especially in the sales and phone sales departments. Finding a way to streamline these tasks allows employees to focus more on productive activities, spend quality time on the phone with customers, set appointments that show and buy, and follow up on successful sales. Artificial intelligence can take over some of the menial tasks and free up your sales and support agents. Not only does this help things move faster, but it can also help your records and other tasks be completed more accurately since they aren’t exposed to human error. These tasks also tend to be the least favorite part of the workload, so removing them can also improve morale. These tools can also make your phone agents' jobs easier, leading to more overall success.

Assist in Coaching

To have effective sales, your phone agents need to be properly trained. Artificial intelligence is an incredibly valuable tool for coaching and training. Just as it can analyze your customers in real-time, it can also measure and analyze your agents’ performance while performing their jobs. This data can help you identify performance patterns and decide what kind of coaching each employee needs. During individualized training, artificial intelligence can also provide assistance at any point and immediate feedback during the training process rather than having to wait. Allowing mistakes to be corrected at the moment prevents them from being reinforced. With the data gathered by the system, you can also allow employees to have more customized training, which will work to your advantage. Combined with experts' coaching sessions, artificial intelligence training can help your entire department of phone agents reach new levels of productivity and success in appointment setting.

Improve Communication

Your clients care about the communication they receive. In fact, the communication you have as part of the sales process is often one of the things that leaves the biggest impression on clients. Artificial intelligence allows you to set up automated messaging filled in with the details of your interactions that best reflect where the customer is in the buyer's journey. These digitized communications are perfect for following up effectively after setting an appointment. Reminders as the appointment approaches make it more likely that they will actually show up. Appropriate messaging after the appointment can improve the overall impression that your customer has of the entire experience, and it allows you to get real-time feedback on their impressions.

Suppose you aren’t using artificial intelligence as a dealership sales strategy. In that case, you are missing out on some of the most valuable tools you have at your disposal to improve the performance of your phone agents. To succeed with the state of the auto industry today, you need to use your resources to improve.

Are you looking for more resources to help with training your phone agents? Click here to learn more about our active coaching service!

Ouch!

Let's preface this article by saying it isn't about beating anyone up. It's about offering realistic insights into the struggles we're currently facing. If we don't tackle the issues we face head-on, we're asking for a rude awakening in the coming months. For those living under a rock, according to a recent NY Times article, auto sales in 2023 will be at a low that we haven't seen since 2011. Sure, with the increased gross profit, that'd be okay. But is that the perspective of looking through rose-colored glasses?

It's no secret that interest rates have steadily increased. And while half of a point here and there is minimal – it is considerably higher than it was at this time last year. So, while dealers previously could easily justify selling over MSRP in the past due to supply shortages – can they do the same when inventory levels start to saturate, and interest rates continue to climb to an all-time high? The reality is that the dealers will have to start selling again. And if we don't have a game plan, whether that'd be managing inventory or handling a sales process, then we're in trouble.

One of the biggest things dealers will have to be cautious of in the next year or so is what the OEMs will do regarding pricing and inventory. If dealers can maintain lower, nimble inventory levels, then it might work out. But even if dealers maintain lower inventory levels, it doesn't mean they will sell their vehicles. If the rates continue to climb, the customer may be more reserved when purchasing a car. Let us also remember that those customers who bought pre-owned vehicles in the last three years did so at an all-time high. And they will most likely be in trouble when it comes time to purchase another car. Think about it: those who bought in the peak of 2021 will already have their vehicle for a mere two years! If when those customers come back to possibly trade in their cars, are we really going to be able to get them into a new car?

If the customer is flipped, having paid at or above MSRP, or paid 135% of the used car value, the banks will most certainly limit their book-out values. So, are we ready and prepared to deal with the aftermath of selling at record-high profits? Is this going to come back to bite us? I mean, sure, we could do cash for clunkers as we did in 2008. But it's just that the beaters aren't necessarily going to be worth the money the customer needs to purchase a new vehicle. Not to mention, the banks – with increased APRs – aren't necessarily going to offer approvals with substantial negative equity without considerable cash down. And are the OEMs going to be prepared or willing to start offering increased incentives to purchase vehicles? If you've seen the latest trends in OEM incentives, they're actually down year over year, and it's not likely that they're going to go up.

So, what does all of this mean? Well, it means that we have to be strategic in the coming months. We don't have much room for error. Those with digital retailing on their websites – such as offering pre-approvals and monthly payments, ought to ensure their online processes are clear and to the point. How many customers have potentially exited due to the "potential" financing not being within their range? This will only worsen as trade-in values ease, and the lenders are only willing to book out so much of the value.

Bottom line: look, this isn't about being a pessimistic doomsayer; it’s about making sure dealers have a plan to tackle the issues we're going to face. If there is anything we have learned in the last decade is that dealers are resilient and often tackle challenges head-on. Tackling those challenges head-on means that we must have effective processes on the dealer level. Ensuring that we're correctly handling every opportunity we get. Long gone are the hay days of the pandemic when the customers came to us without any objections. There will be objections we have to face, and if we don't face those objections head-on, we will have a hard time.

The good news out of all of this is that there are resources available to ensure that you're on the right track. Every phone call counts more now than ever. Take a minute to submit for a free stealth test. We will mystery shop your dealership, offering insights on what your team can do to improve their customer service. And no, this isn't a one-time phone call review. It's a long-term strategy for improving and refining their technique. A technique that will prove itself valuable in the days ahead.

Are you ready to tackle the challenges ahead in 2023?

Difficult phone customers are the most nerve-wracking thing to deal with as a sales agent or customer service representative. Even if you have years of experience, having someone get upset or yell at you can just ruin your day. Luckily, there are skills that you can develop that make these calls easier and can even help you deescalate the situation successfully.

Don’t React

The worst thing you can do when you are on the phone with someone who is upset or being difficult is to match their attitude. Rather than giving you any real satisfaction or solving any of the problems, reacting and matching their attitude is likely to make things more difficult and escalate the situation. When you feel them start to escalate, make sure you keep your responses calm and polite, even if you want to scream back at them. Once you are off the phone, you can vent to your coworkers, but in the thick of it, keeping your cool and not reacting is the most valuable thing you can do.

Validate Their Feelings

One of the reasons that people get upset when talking to agents on the phone is because they feel they aren’t being heard or that they aren’t being taken seriously. Validating their feelings and acknowledging that a situation may be difficult or frustrating can go a long way to diffusing the tension. Validation doesn’t mean you have to agree with them, it just means you are acknowledging them. Rather than ignoring the emotions, if you give a difficult phone customer space to acknowledge that they are upset, you can take the wind right out of their sails.

Focus on the Main Issues

Once people get going, especially on the phone, it can be hard for them to stop. It can easily snowball away from what is important and what you can actually help with. Rather than chasing down everything that they bring up and trying to solve all of the problems they may be upset about, choose one thing and focus on that. Start with the main issue, which will usually be whatever got them started with being upset in the beginning. This does require some active listening and verbal dexterity because you don’t want to make things worse, but with practice, you can keep them on track.

Offer Appropriate Solutions

No matter how much they want you to, there will be some situations that phone customers bring up that you will not be able to solve. Sometimes people want things that aren’t possible, whether it is because they don’t understand what they are asking or because they have unrealistic expectations. Rather than explaining why you can’t give them what they are asking for, give them the solutions that are available for their main issues. Focusing on what you can actually do to help them, rather than what you can’t do, can make the situation more productive. It also redirects the conversation in a more positive direction, which can diffuse some of the tension. 

Stick to Your Script

Phone scripts are incredibly helpful for navigating any phone call, and they are doubly important for difficult phone customers. The point of phone scripts is to give you the tools you need to deal with different questions you may get, the information you need to give, and the solutions you can offer. When you end up in a difficult conversation, these scripts not only give you the answers you need, they can help you avoid promising things that the company doesn’t offer or that aren’t a good fit for the situation. Even if you are nervous, you will have a resource in front of you that gives you the cues you need to handle the solution and lets you know when it is beyond your ability to handle and you need to call in reinforcements.

These skills don’t develop overnight, so make sure you practice them on all of your calls so you are trained and ready for the difficult ones. You can even work with your coworkers when you have slower call volumes to role-play difficult scenarios ahead of time to make sure you won’t be caught unprepared.

Want to see how we can help you? Schedule a demo with us now!

We'd be lying if we said we didn't enjoy the stint when cars drove off the lot faster than we could purchase more inventory. But as that winds down, we must ask ourselves, "are we prepared to sell cars again?" Let's be honest; in the last three years, we could easily overcome objections, and more so, we could even hold record levels of gross. But did we actually follow a sales process in this frenzy? Most will admit they didn’t.

Given that customer response times have slid in the last three years, chances are that the sales process did the same thing. And while we've always struggled with consistency in our sales process, it will become even more critical in the weeks and months ahead. As inventory shortages ease, customers will soon have more options. So, if we're not equipped to answer their inquiries or effectively assist them, we're setting ourselves up for failure.

The good news is that it doesn't have to be complicated. It's time we get back to the basics - or as they say – block and tackle the core aspects of a sales process. Keeping in mind that the customers' buying behavior has changed in the last three years. But the fact remains that customers expect their inquiries to be answered. And more importantly, customers expect to know the next steps when they enter the dealership. It's safe to say that the customer is not coming into the dealership for the fun of it. They're at the dealership to purchase a car.

Make no mistake, though, as the customer has more options, their patience to deal with a lack of a sales process might not last. And do we really want to lose out on sales opportunities simply because we don't follow a sales process? Instead, we should first focus on ensuring our Sales Consultants and BD Agents are aware of the process and when it begins, online and/or on the phone. That is understanding the various options the customer has when inquiring prior to coming in. So that when your Sales Consultant or BD Agent is working with the customer online, on the phone, or in the dealership, there is continuity.

A fluid process both outside and inside the store will make a difference in the customer's overall experience. And having a good experience - because you follow a solid sales process - means more vehicles sold with better CSI. It sounds simple, right? But the hard reality is that, more often than not, each of your Sales Consultants and Sales Managers tends to follow their own processes. That only makes it that much harder to effectively manage the breakpoints in their processes. None of us are perfect, and all of us have room to improve. So why make it that much harder on ourselves by having to manage several different sales processes at once? Instead, focus on one sales process so that no matter who's working with a customer, as a Sales Manager, you can easily step in or assist your Sales Consultants without causing unnecessary breakpoints for your customers.

To get started, take a minute and check out our FREE stealth test. We could all use a tune-up as we work towards a new normal. That is following a consistent sales process!