That moment you reach for your wallet, and it’s not there. The panic sets in as you race to retrace your steps. The sweat drips from your forehead as you start to accept the reality of having to replace all of your cards and IDs.

This is not an ideal situation, and for those of us who are lucky and blessed enough to find it – would we keep looking for it? I’m not being facetious; would you keep looking for your lost wallet after you found it? Um, no. We breathe a deep sigh of relief and move on about the day. And perhaps grab a drink to celebrate. I mean, just the thought of having to cancel cards and get a new ID is enough to induce nausea. 

So why isn’t the same said when we find a training resource for our dealership? We’ve all experienced the “self-promoter” who hasn’t sold a car in decades, if ever. We’ve also all fallen victim to the “data-guys” who never left their desk to even see what a customer looks like and then there’re are the bold-faced liars…. These are the most interesting because they believe if they smile enough and chirp loud enough their sordid past will be forgotten…. Uh, nope. So, if we find a training resource with relevant automotive experience, a track record of successes that’s priced right, why keep looking? It’s situations like this where we overlook a resource right in front of us and where we kick ourselves months later because not only are we in the same situation, but we’re still “looking for training.” 

The training we’re often “looking for” is a “solution” to “fix” our problems. So, when we come across the “self-made trainer” who can instantaneously fix our problems, we do a little dance (okay, maybe not a dance, but we get excited – don’t lie!). I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we’d all be performing like rock stars if training were this easy. 

The truth is that not all training is created equal. And there isn’t a “simple fix” to the core struggles we face on the retail level. More importantly, it’s not about discussing the end result from the get-go, or working with a trainer who only shares how they got to the end result. Offering training that only explains how they got to the end result using their formula isn’t training. It’s a feel-good story. A story that sells because who doesn’t like to be told “these results over here can be yours.” Kudos to them, seriously. But let’s instead focus on training that teaches core principles, training that helps your team grow and training that not only makes you more money but also makes customers feel good. Oh, and lest not forget a method that sticks, that keeps your team performing time and again in an ongoing manner. 

Going back to the point of “if you found your lost wallet, would you keep looking for it?” – think about all the items in the wallet that would need to be replaced. Credit Cards, Bank Cards, & IDs. The wallet holds all of these items, the “end result.” The wallet holds the things that make it a resource. Well, the same can be said for training. If you find training made up of all of the components that make it a resource, why keep looking?

Think about this analogy for a minute. Much like other general trainers, the same can be said for weight loss products. It’s the idea that we can use “one resource” to fix all of our problems. But the fact is that simply taking a weight loss pill isn’t going to address all the root causes; healthy eating and exercise. The fascinating “general trainer,” aka jack of all trades, master of NONE. They are the end result, but don’t provide the resources and train on how to get the end-result. 

Phone Ninjas is about teaching and training your staff to apply the techniques (resources) to increase your dealership’s appointment set and show rates on the phone. It’s this approach that can and will offer vast success. Do yourself a favor and get a free mystery shop, and stop looking for the unicorn that poops glitter which doesn’t exist. 

Most of us have faced the hard reality of a bad month. Whether that's missing the monthly manufacturer stairstep after we “realized” the dollars or not hitting the new sales volume requirements imposed upon us internally. Leaving you faced with that never-ending cycle of "adding another program car" to make the number. Having your GSM or Sales Manager crunch numbers harder than Accounting, who's paying out the monthly commissions, to then start the "report" frenzy. Looking at every report to see where the "missed" opportunities were or scouring for what we call the "low hanging fruit." 

Looking for the low hanging fruit at the end of the month as you're deciding whether to add additional program cars is not the solution. And reviewing the reports near the end or after the fact is only looking at one part of the root cause. As it's not taking into consideration the total leads (including inbound calls) your dealership received for the month. And sure, none of us are perfect, and leads do fall through the cracks. But when the cracks get bigger and bigger each month, you start losing that many more potential deals. That's everything from the inbound calls that never made it into CRM, potential deals your GSM or Sales Manager didn't follow-up on, unanswered leads, previous month's leads that are still hanging in the abyss, or current web leads that weren’t followed-up on.

Despite many CRM's having workflows, the cold hard truth is many of the workflows are behind the times. Nor do they often reflect how customers communicate with us. Whether that’s through social media messaging, texting, email – etc. In fact, what's more concerning is that so many of today's CRM's don’t even count texting as a means of "following-up" with the customer! *fax much? The point is we cannot solely rely on an antiquated workflow report to get the real story. Instead, you must dig into the CRM and see how these leads were actually answered and followed-up on. Think about it, how easy is it to click a button that says "phone-call" / "left-message" when they might not have actually even called the customer? Or "sent-email," which was nothing more than an outdated "canned" auto-reply template that failed to answer the customer's question. What's worse is that, more often than not, the Sales Consultants and BD Agents’ CRM email signature line has never been updated or offers the incorrect information by way of broken links. And if you think your Sales Consultants or BD Agents are only sending emails out of their work email, invest in a proper third-party mystery shop and see for yourself. Not to mention all of the other messages/follow-ups that are done through social media apps, or other platforms your dealership is using that aren't reviewed or captured.

So how do we globalize their communications and tackle the root cause of the issue? It's not easy. But it is possible. And it starts with Active Coaching. So when they're answering leads, inbound calls, chats, texts, social media messages, or on any other platform, they're doing so properly with consistency. The more uniformity across the platforms and among the team - with quality responses - the better their chances are of closing them. More importantly, avoiding the cracks, tackling the root cause of the issue starts with lead management. And no, this is not just about looking at the reports, either. It's about understanding how the leads - every single one - is handled. You'd be surprised, but there are so many instances where the lead's first response is not consistent with your expectations. Whether that's not sending a well thought out and relevant email to not even sending an email at all (yeah, that happens too). As we know, we tend to have one shot at getting the customer's attention. And once we do get their attention, we have to diligently follow-up with purposeful content until we've built the relationship that makes the sale.

Bottom Line: if we want to end the cycle of adding rentals/demos/service loaners/program cars each month to hit our numbers, we have to tackle the real issue. That issue is handling the leads correctly. But to handle the leads correctly, they need active coaching. Coaching that instills consistency in how they respond to each and every lead. Who doesn't want to avoid a bad month and have their dealership be profitable?