DealersGear
Holding Your Salespeople Accountable
When I sold cars I remember multiple times when the sales manager would tell the salespeople to make their daily follow-up calls and some salespeople would simply respond that they had completed their calls, even when they hadn't. It became a constant battle. Apart from not making the calls, these particular salespeople were notorious at finding ways to cut corners and cheat the system. I know not all salespeople are like the ones I worked with but how do we encourage our salespeople to be accountable for their daily, weekly and monthly activities?
In today’s dealership, 80% of the leads received come through the phone and/or internet. That means that 80% of your business is dependent on your salesperson’s ability to schedule appointments that drive people into the showroom. CRM utilization becomes critical when managing these processes that are attached to your leads.
A CRM tool should allow salespeople to achieve new levels of production with unsold AND repeat customers, thereby increasing their personal incomes. CRM enables salespeople to work more efficiently, be better organized, and better manage time and relationships. The benefit to the dealership is that managers have access to reports that enables them to monitor all activities and can help coach and motivate each salesperson.
The reason accountability was low at the dealership where I worked was because the managers weren’t doing their job of monitoring what was going on every day at the dealership. What they thought was being done in the dealership often wasn’t and they had no concrete way to show that it was or was not happening.
In order to help improve accountability I suggest utilizing these reports to track the number of new opportunities that your salespeople are entering into the CRM. Nothing is worse than seeing someone take multiple ups and not having any of the customers entered into the CRM. A rule many dealers have is “if it isn’t in the CRM, it didn’t happen”. If everything is not getting put into your CRM, it throws off your marketing and ROI reports.
The second key metric is phone calls. It is important that your CRM is integrated with your phone system in order to track outbound phone calls. Having your salespeople mark all of their calls completed is one thing, but it’s better if there is proof that they actually made the call and how long they were on the call. Looking at the data that I have compiled, the top salespeople are constantly those who take the time and make the most calls. If your state allows it, I suggest recording your calls. This is great for managing quality and training. Make sure you are also monitoring inbound calls. It is easy to think since the customer is calling you that it might not need to be monitored like the outbound calls, but most customers are calling multiple dealerships and this is often the first contact the customer has with your dealership. If your salespeople don’t handle inbound and outbound calls correctly it will ultimately affect your conversion rate.
E-mail and weblead tracking is also important. You need to know how many e-mails the salespeople are receiving and sending out, as well as how long it is taking them to respond to their webleads.
Salespeople love people that come in and buy, but what about those that don’t buy or those that they talk to but are hard to get in touch with afterward? Are they reaching out to them? Make sure you are looking at reports that reflect this data.
Pipeline Management is a key for success. When salespeople get busy, the first thing thrown off their plate is prospecting. When sales people stop prospecting, the pipeline eventually runs dry. Make sure when you are tracking calls that you know what types of calls the salespeople are making and that there is always a focus on prospecting. Salespeople also have a tendency to move people to Lost. Often, this is a way to get the CRM follow-up to stop or to hide those customers they did badly with. Do you have a review process in place for a manager to look at each lost deal and try to “save a deal”?
Some CRM tools have a daily activity report or check out report that shows everything the salesperson has done for the day (ups, appointments, calls, talk time, e-mails). One dealership with which I was working had a problem with accountability, so they instituted a new process: before a salesperson left for the day they would print out a report and give it to their manager to check out. The report told the manager everything they had done as well as all of their calls (Daily To Dos) that they didn’t complete. Quickly, managers were able to see what had been done and what had not been done. Often, the manager would send the salesperson back to make more calls before they left. Salespeople began to feel ashamed when they handed a manager their sheet that said they didn’t do anything which motivated them to make more calls. The dealership drastically improved their follow up process and began to see an immediate increase in their sales.
Having a plan and setting goals is also an essential part of improving accountability. It is crucial for salespeople to establish a set of daily, weekly and monthly benchmarks that help them measure and manage their ultimate goal. If the goal of each salesperson is to sell X amount of cars, don’t focus on the end goal, but actually the activities that will help them reach that goal. It also helps if the salespeople are included in setting the goals. If you do this, they should have a personal stake in the outcome. Without inclusion, salespeople will figure out the best excuses in the world why they can’t achieve.
If you have a salesperson who isn’t taking responsibility then you may need to mentor them individually. Focus on their behavior and the problems it is causing and not on the person. They need to be held accountable for their actions which can include low prospecting activity, not meeting sales targets, or low margin sales.
As accountability grows, your salespeople will form a good habit of doing the things they must do on a regular basis and will help them on their way to becoming a top producing salesperson.
Hunter Swift is the Director of Sales Development at DealerSocket and has been with the company since 2005. In addition to his current role he has fulfilled the responsibilities of customer support, consulting, training, and sales. He specializes in helping dealerships improve processes through the use of CRM technology. Prior to DealerSocket he sold cars and is a graduate of Pepperdine University.
Follow him: @HunterSwift
DealersGear
Holding Your Salespeople Accountable
When I sold cars I remember multiple times when the sales manager would tell the salespeople to make their daily follow-up calls and some salespeople would simply respond that they had completed their calls, even when they hadn't. It became a constant battle. Apart from not making the calls, these particular salespeople were notorious at finding ways to cut corners and cheat the system. I know not all salespeople are like the ones I worked with but how do we encourage our salespeople to be accountable for their daily, weekly and monthly activities?
In today’s dealership, 80% of the leads received come through the phone and/or internet. That means that 80% of your business is dependent on your salesperson’s ability to schedule appointments that drive people into the showroom. CRM utilization becomes critical when managing these processes that are attached to your leads.
A CRM tool should allow salespeople to achieve new levels of production with unsold AND repeat customers, thereby increasing their personal incomes. CRM enables salespeople to work more efficiently, be better organized, and better manage time and relationships. The benefit to the dealership is that managers have access to reports that enables them to monitor all activities and can help coach and motivate each salesperson.
The reason accountability was low at the dealership where I worked was because the managers weren’t doing their job of monitoring what was going on every day at the dealership. What they thought was being done in the dealership often wasn’t and they had no concrete way to show that it was or was not happening.
In order to help improve accountability I suggest utilizing these reports to track the number of new opportunities that your salespeople are entering into the CRM. Nothing is worse than seeing someone take multiple ups and not having any of the customers entered into the CRM. A rule many dealers have is “if it isn’t in the CRM, it didn’t happen”. If everything is not getting put into your CRM, it throws off your marketing and ROI reports.
The second key metric is phone calls. It is important that your CRM is integrated with your phone system in order to track outbound phone calls. Having your salespeople mark all of their calls completed is one thing, but it’s better if there is proof that they actually made the call and how long they were on the call. Looking at the data that I have compiled, the top salespeople are constantly those who take the time and make the most calls. If your state allows it, I suggest recording your calls. This is great for managing quality and training. Make sure you are also monitoring inbound calls. It is easy to think since the customer is calling you that it might not need to be monitored like the outbound calls, but most customers are calling multiple dealerships and this is often the first contact the customer has with your dealership. If your salespeople don’t handle inbound and outbound calls correctly it will ultimately affect your conversion rate.
E-mail and weblead tracking is also important. You need to know how many e-mails the salespeople are receiving and sending out, as well as how long it is taking them to respond to their webleads.
Salespeople love people that come in and buy, but what about those that don’t buy or those that they talk to but are hard to get in touch with afterward? Are they reaching out to them? Make sure you are looking at reports that reflect this data.
Pipeline Management is a key for success. When salespeople get busy, the first thing thrown off their plate is prospecting. When sales people stop prospecting, the pipeline eventually runs dry. Make sure when you are tracking calls that you know what types of calls the salespeople are making and that there is always a focus on prospecting. Salespeople also have a tendency to move people to Lost. Often, this is a way to get the CRM follow-up to stop or to hide those customers they did badly with. Do you have a review process in place for a manager to look at each lost deal and try to “save a deal”?
Some CRM tools have a daily activity report or check out report that shows everything the salesperson has done for the day (ups, appointments, calls, talk time, e-mails). One dealership with which I was working had a problem with accountability, so they instituted a new process: before a salesperson left for the day they would print out a report and give it to their manager to check out. The report told the manager everything they had done as well as all of their calls (Daily To Dos) that they didn’t complete. Quickly, managers were able to see what had been done and what had not been done. Often, the manager would send the salesperson back to make more calls before they left. Salespeople began to feel ashamed when they handed a manager their sheet that said they didn’t do anything which motivated them to make more calls. The dealership drastically improved their follow up process and began to see an immediate increase in their sales.
Having a plan and setting goals is also an essential part of improving accountability. It is crucial for salespeople to establish a set of daily, weekly and monthly benchmarks that help them measure and manage their ultimate goal. If the goal of each salesperson is to sell X amount of cars, don’t focus on the end goal, but actually the activities that will help them reach that goal. It also helps if the salespeople are included in setting the goals. If you do this, they should have a personal stake in the outcome. Without inclusion, salespeople will figure out the best excuses in the world why they can’t achieve.
If you have a salesperson who isn’t taking responsibility then you may need to mentor them individually. Focus on their behavior and the problems it is causing and not on the person. They need to be held accountable for their actions which can include low prospecting activity, not meeting sales targets, or low margin sales.
As accountability grows, your salespeople will form a good habit of doing the things they must do on a regular basis and will help them on their way to becoming a top producing salesperson.
Hunter Swift is the Director of Sales Development at DealerSocket and has been with the company since 2005. In addition to his current role he has fulfilled the responsibilities of customer support, consulting, training, and sales. He specializes in helping dealerships improve processes through the use of CRM technology. Prior to DealerSocket he sold cars and is a graduate of Pepperdine University.
Follow him: @HunterSwift
16 Comments
DealerBuilt
Great post Hunter! As we have just completed our own installation of an entirely new, and comprehensive CRM that the entire front of the store is now using I have emailed this to all store managers as a must read! Thanks for posting this!
Stateline Sales LLC
Accountability is top down. If you are having problems with sales people not doing what they should the problem is not the salespeople. Its the sales managers, GSM and GM not doing what they should be. next time you run into a sales person accountability problem lets look at what the sales managers are really doing. Are they getting on the phone with the missed deals trying to make rain? Are they getting on the phone and confirming appointments 100%? Are they sending a personal email to the customer who left frustrated? Etc................ Who is holding these managers accountable? Being a good sales manager requires them to actually help put deals together, not do the daily checklist. A monkey could do that.. Managing activities is imperative but lets make sure we are holding the right parties accountable.
Southtowne Volkswagen
Well said Paul. Management should be more DO than TELL. "You do not lead people by hitting them over the head. That's assault, not leadership" Dwight D. Eisenhower
DealersGear
Thanks for the commentary... Possible follow up article... "Holding Your Managers Accountable".
Fixed Operations Group
I know not all will agree but I have never seen a dealer where the managers and salespeople did an adequate job of this. CRM tool or not. I've been to dozens if not hundreds of dealerships and witnessed this. I'm a firm believer that the moderate to large dealer needs to invest in a BDC and separate the functions of follow up/appointment setting from the sales process. I have seen much better results when sales people are not doing appointments and follow up. Just my 2 cents.
DealershipMarketingServices.com
In the past it was our job to handle all the phone ups and help each customer on a personal level. Personal follow up is a lost art. "Thank You" letters are not being mailed out from the GMs, GSMs, Sales Managers, and Salespeople everyday. I can keep going on and on.... We never had to be asked to follow up, and our home grown CRM's worked because it was in our job description to do everyday or get fired. What does it take now? We know of many dealerships that do a great job at it and break records every month. It all starts from the top (GM) and a pay plan to back it up! Sales is one of the hardest jobs to do, but also the highest paid job.
Central Cadillac
At our dealership, our sales managers also sell. Do you really think a manager that also sells has the time to help make sales for his/her staff? They are more interested in supplementing their own pay. Add all the other things that are supposed to happen at a luxury dealership and salespeople are really on their own. Anyone else have this arrangement at their dealership? I think the time has come to re-think this! We look at the reports, but doing actual follow up and holding salespeople accountable goes by the wayside!
Contractor
The accountability factor is essential and easier to perform than it ever has been in light of the CRM systems we all should be using. We have just recently installed a CRM in our store, there never was one there prior to this, and we are all just getting our feet wet, as it were, learning the basic navigation etc, that comes with a new tool but I tend to take things like this to the extreme so I am on it night and day. One of my first observations is that my Sales Manager never even looks at it unless I force him to. The salespeople, some of them, just look for ways to remove tasks from their dashboards as opposed to using it to do business and the more successful salespeople have embraced it from the first day and are seeing results. I have just begun using the reports to hold my SM accountable and I am teaching him to do the same with the salespeople but not by "rolling up the results spreadsheet and beating them over the head with it" but by actually sitting with each salesperson and executing the tasks for them, in front of them, exactly as the CRM suggests to show them the slow but steady build of results through appointments, etc… You are so right about accountability!
Dealer Inspire
Great stuff Hunter, but it's a shame how lazy some salespeople are with some of the great tools out there that they have in their back pockets. I've seen salespeople find reasons NOT to follow up with a customer and try to 'fake out' the call. Then when management does their follow up, it's too late and they already bought a vehicle. I just wish that I had a CRM back in the day when I sold cars.
Kelley Buick Gmc
Great stuff! You must have buy in from the sales managers to make this work.
DealershipMarketingServices.com
This has to be a "have to do it, or get fired" with no questions asked! If that means replacing one of the sales managers to get the point across to get everyone's full attention then do it. All appointments need to be set in the CRM, phone verified by a sales manager and logged in the sales tower for M, T ,W, T , and so on.... (Spiff them if you have to for the most appointment's sold and the highest gross deal every day! My son is a GSM for the number one Hyundai dealer in Texas and if has to let someone go that's making 15-K to 18-K a month, he just does it. He tells me the salesman is not following up on his leads, logging his appointments everyday and handling his business in the CRM. He doesn't have the time to babysit a grown man. This has to start from the top, with a pay plan to back it up!
Loving Honda
I recently discovered an absolutely fantastic book entitled "Wining with Accountability: The Secret Language of High Performing Organizations" . What many fail to recognize is that Accountability flows in both directions - up the chain of command as well as down! Think about that for a moment - far too often "holding someone accountable" is a loosely disguised euphemism for how management wields the club to enforce policy. When team members are ASKING to be held accountable because they truly UNDERSTAND what is means, then and only then will the organization succeed and thrive.
Fixed Operations Group
Manny, your sons store has sales people making 15K - 18K per month? At a Hyundai store? That has to be the extreme exception. In my travels I see the exact opposite. As a matter of fact the main reason there is such difficulty getting sales people and managers, for that matter, to be accountable is the low quality of the people hired. I attribute that to the low pay and long hours demanded by these jobs. Most GM's I know would either be cutting that persons pay or trying to make them a Manager. I see too many dealers with high turn over trying to keep these "variable expenses" low then scratching their heads when they cant keep good sales people. All this stuff hangs together and it starts with the quality of your people and how you compensate them. If you asked most sales people they would tell you the resent the constant changes in pay structure, stair step incentives (which dealers will tell you they hate when the factory does it to them) the monthly contests, spins, minis and what have you. If you want accountable productive people, hire quality people, pay them fairly and treat them with respect.
DealershipMarketingServices.com
Hans Meyer, I agree. Selling cars and making big money working bell to bell twenty days straight is not for the weak. If anyone needs a great job and will work hard let me know. My son hires young men out of high school. He trains them and in six months he has them selling 18 to 25 cars making 10-K to 12-K a month.
DealersGear
Yelp's Review Filter Complaints
Having a “good” online reputation can send many new customers your way. However, a negative online reputation can cost a business in lost revenue. We are asking our customers to rate us, and Yelp is one of the biggest online reviews sites. But some businesses aren’t happy with how Yelp is handling their reviews.
Yelp has an automated filter/algorithm that suppresses reviews they deem ‘suspicious.’ It’s doesn’t always seem either consistent or fair, but that’s the way it is.
A friend of mine recently posted this on facebook of her husband's medical practice.:
"Yelp cannot be trusted - they are extorting small businesses!! Because my husband will not pay Yelp's advertising fees, they have blocked all 17 of his five star reviews, and only posted his 4 negative ones, 3 of which are posted by patients who are not in his patient records (fake patients). Yelp has been informed that these patients are not in my husband's records, and will not remove them."
Yelp says it filters reviews from lesser known reviewers until there is "trust" established, so reviews do NOT show up and are not counted in the tally. They also filter reviews from new members who have a slew of 5-star or 1-star reviews. So much for only review those businesses you really like or only review businesses when they have wronged you.
Although it stated on the Yelp FAQ "The sort algorithm does not take into account whether the business is an advertiser or not." and "Businesses cannot pay for favorable treatment." Some have been told "You'll get bad reviews unless you purchase advertising with us".
One Business Owner stated "Yelp algorithm filters out good reviews from businesses that are not willing to spend $500/month advertising on Yelp."
Another business stated, "I've had my business listed for well over a year, and have enjoyed only five star reviews. Two weeks ago I was solicited by Yelp to purchase advertising. I declined... Another five star review came in this week, but this one got filtered."
Apparently Yelp was just hit with a class action lawsuit for its data mining algorithm. So it will be interesting to see what the future holds.
While I am not completely convinced that Yelp is extorting money from businesses, I am 100% convinced that their review filter algorithm needs alot of work.
As dealers have you notice your reviews being filtered? Have you been told that if you advertise there was any benefit to your reviews?
What are your thoughts?
Hunter Swift
Follow him: @HunterSwift
3 Comments
N/A
It is the same deal with the company I work for. We haven't had a positive review stick around since this past summer. Every single good one has been filtered, whereas several negative ones that should have been filtered have not. Coincidence? Don't think so.
N/A
It is the same deal with the company I work for. We haven't had a positive review stick around since this past summer. Every single good one has been filtered, whereas several negative ones that should have been filtered have not. Coincidence? Don't think so.
DealersGear
Yelp's Review Filter Complaints
Having a “good” online reputation can send many new customers your way. However, a negative online reputation can cost a business in lost revenue. We are asking our customers to rate us, and Yelp is one of the biggest online reviews sites. But some businesses aren’t happy with how Yelp is handling their reviews.
Yelp has an automated filter/algorithm that suppresses reviews they deem ‘suspicious.’ It’s doesn’t always seem either consistent or fair, but that’s the way it is.
A friend of mine recently posted this on facebook of her husband's medical practice.:
"Yelp cannot be trusted - they are extorting small businesses!! Because my husband will not pay Yelp's advertising fees, they have blocked all 17 of his five star reviews, and only posted his 4 negative ones, 3 of which are posted by patients who are not in his patient records (fake patients). Yelp has been informed that these patients are not in my husband's records, and will not remove them."
Yelp says it filters reviews from lesser known reviewers until there is "trust" established, so reviews do NOT show up and are not counted in the tally. They also filter reviews from new members who have a slew of 5-star or 1-star reviews. So much for only review those businesses you really like or only review businesses when they have wronged you.
Although it stated on the Yelp FAQ "The sort algorithm does not take into account whether the business is an advertiser or not." and "Businesses cannot pay for favorable treatment." Some have been told "You'll get bad reviews unless you purchase advertising with us".
One Business Owner stated "Yelp algorithm filters out good reviews from businesses that are not willing to spend $500/month advertising on Yelp."
Another business stated, "I've had my business listed for well over a year, and have enjoyed only five star reviews. Two weeks ago I was solicited by Yelp to purchase advertising. I declined... Another five star review came in this week, but this one got filtered."
Apparently Yelp was just hit with a class action lawsuit for its data mining algorithm. So it will be interesting to see what the future holds.
While I am not completely convinced that Yelp is extorting money from businesses, I am 100% convinced that their review filter algorithm needs alot of work.
As dealers have you notice your reviews being filtered? Have you been told that if you advertise there was any benefit to your reviews?
What are your thoughts?
Hunter Swift
Follow him: @HunterSwift
3 Comments
N/A
It is the same deal with the company I work for. We haven't had a positive review stick around since this past summer. Every single good one has been filtered, whereas several negative ones that should have been filtered have not. Coincidence? Don't think so.
N/A
It is the same deal with the company I work for. We haven't had a positive review stick around since this past summer. Every single good one has been filtered, whereas several negative ones that should have been filtered have not. Coincidence? Don't think so.
DealersGear
Slow Sales Can Equal High Revenue
Turn slow sales months into high revenue with CRM best practices.
Auto dealers, like most businesses, face months that are traditionally slow in sales. If you can predict sales downturns in advance, you are in an advantageous position to focus resources on other areas of potential revenue. You can create revenue during slow sales months by mining your DMS and marketing to customers who may be in a position to spend money.
The most productive non-sales searches include:
1. Sold, Not Serviced
2. Serviced, Not Sold
3. Declined Service
4. Lost Service
5. Unsold Follow-Up
6. Happy Birthday Phone Call
7. Lost Service Customers
8. High Dollar Customer Pay RO’s
9. Service Contracts or Extended Warranties
Dealerships can integrate these search categories into their annual business practices, implementing them when the traditionally slowest sales months inevitably rear their ugly heads. Use this calendar foresight to alert general managers, service managers and sales managers that the time has come to focus on bringing in revenue from the above non-sales categories.
Below are statistics and advice provided by Reuben Muinos, director of marketing of DealerSocket MarketPlace. Muinos has more than twenty years of dealership experience.
Serviced Not Sold:
An average-size dealer can generate five to fifteen more deals per month when a dealer offers to purchase a prospect’s vehicle that was recently serviced but not bought from the dealer. Acquisitions of these vehicles can be far more profitable than buying the same model from an auction. This scenario is a win/win, benefitting the customer and the dealer.
Unsold Follow-Up:
I have observed an increase of 33% of be-backs when someone other than the salesperson from the dealership, or an outsourced third party, is used in the unsold follow-up process. Prices, products or salespeople are the most-often referenced issues cited by customers when a deal is not made. Customers are more apt to speak candidly with someone other than the salesperson.
Happy Birthday Call:
Although most salespeople fear this call, it is an effective way to reconnect with the customer. It’s important to make non-sales calls; it really does thrill the customer to get the call.
Lost Service Customers:
Marketing through multi channels (e-mail, mail, phone call) can generate $20 to $35 per customer record. Potentially, 1,000 lost customers brought in through multi-channel marketing can result in a $20,000 to $30,000 service revenue gain.
Greg Hammond, DealerSocket product manager, provided the following information from DealerSocket's CallCenter, based on typical results from a campaign list of 1,000 customers in each category.
No Service X Months
• 100-120 leads (appointments/hot leads/call backs)
• Service Revenues $50,000 within six weeks
• Retention of 15%Vehicle Buyback (Equity)
• 80-100 leads (50 appointments, the rest call backs and hot leads)
• 8-10 sales within six weeksServiced Not Sold• 100-120 leads (70 appointments)
• 8-10 sales within six weeksSold Not Serviced
• 160 leads (53 appointments)
• 15-20% retention within six weeksDeclined Service
• 130 actionable leads generated (28 appointments)
• $85,000 in service revenue generated within 6 weeks
Remember that implementing non-sales DMS-mining into your dealership’s annual business practices during slow sales months works. Now get back on the floor and make some money!
Hunter Swift is the Manager of Market Development at DealerSocket and has been with the company since 2005. In addition to his current role he has fulfilled the responsibilities of customer support, consulting, training, and sales. He specializes in helping dealerships improve processes through the use of CRM technology. Prior to DealerSocket he sold cars and is a graduate of Pepperdine University.
Follow him: @HunterSwift
No Comments
DealersGear
Slow Sales Can Equal High Revenue
Turn slow sales months into high revenue with CRM best practices.
Auto dealers, like most businesses, face months that are traditionally slow in sales. If you can predict sales downturns in advance, you are in an advantageous position to focus resources on other areas of potential revenue. You can create revenue during slow sales months by mining your DMS and marketing to customers who may be in a position to spend money.
The most productive non-sales searches include:
1. Sold, Not Serviced
2. Serviced, Not Sold
3. Declined Service
4. Lost Service
5. Unsold Follow-Up
6. Happy Birthday Phone Call
7. Lost Service Customers
8. High Dollar Customer Pay RO’s
9. Service Contracts or Extended Warranties
Dealerships can integrate these search categories into their annual business practices, implementing them when the traditionally slowest sales months inevitably rear their ugly heads. Use this calendar foresight to alert general managers, service managers and sales managers that the time has come to focus on bringing in revenue from the above non-sales categories.
Below are statistics and advice provided by Reuben Muinos, director of marketing of DealerSocket MarketPlace. Muinos has more than twenty years of dealership experience.
Serviced Not Sold:
An average-size dealer can generate five to fifteen more deals per month when a dealer offers to purchase a prospect’s vehicle that was recently serviced but not bought from the dealer. Acquisitions of these vehicles can be far more profitable than buying the same model from an auction. This scenario is a win/win, benefitting the customer and the dealer.
Unsold Follow-Up:
I have observed an increase of 33% of be-backs when someone other than the salesperson from the dealership, or an outsourced third party, is used in the unsold follow-up process. Prices, products or salespeople are the most-often referenced issues cited by customers when a deal is not made. Customers are more apt to speak candidly with someone other than the salesperson.
Happy Birthday Call:
Although most salespeople fear this call, it is an effective way to reconnect with the customer. It’s important to make non-sales calls; it really does thrill the customer to get the call.
Lost Service Customers:
Marketing through multi channels (e-mail, mail, phone call) can generate $20 to $35 per customer record. Potentially, 1,000 lost customers brought in through multi-channel marketing can result in a $20,000 to $30,000 service revenue gain.
Greg Hammond, DealerSocket product manager, provided the following information from DealerSocket's CallCenter, based on typical results from a campaign list of 1,000 customers in each category.
No Service X Months
• 100-120 leads (appointments/hot leads/call backs)
• Service Revenues $50,000 within six weeks
• Retention of 15%Vehicle Buyback (Equity)
• 80-100 leads (50 appointments, the rest call backs and hot leads)
• 8-10 sales within six weeksServiced Not Sold• 100-120 leads (70 appointments)
• 8-10 sales within six weeksSold Not Serviced
• 160 leads (53 appointments)
• 15-20% retention within six weeksDeclined Service
• 130 actionable leads generated (28 appointments)
• $85,000 in service revenue generated within 6 weeks
Remember that implementing non-sales DMS-mining into your dealership’s annual business practices during slow sales months works. Now get back on the floor and make some money!
Hunter Swift is the Manager of Market Development at DealerSocket and has been with the company since 2005. In addition to his current role he has fulfilled the responsibilities of customer support, consulting, training, and sales. He specializes in helping dealerships improve processes through the use of CRM technology. Prior to DealerSocket he sold cars and is a graduate of Pepperdine University.
Follow him: @HunterSwift
No Comments
DealersGear
Mobile CRM
- “Our people self-train themselves on how to use the MobileCRM. It’s incredibly easy to use.”
- "Managers are involved and logged into MobileCRM inspecting the sales dashboard which has added another level of accountability."
- “Salespeople no longer have to leave the customer to log information in the CRM. Customers feel more comfortable giving information to someone with an IPad vs. someone sitting behind a desktop.”
- "Some of our stores have even replaced their desktop kiosk w/ an iPad."
- "Our solds have gone up because we have more people to follow up with… because more information is being logged in the DealerSocket MobileCRM App."
Follow him: @HunterSwift
No Comments
DealersGear
Mobile CRM
- “Our people self-train themselves on how to use the MobileCRM. It’s incredibly easy to use.”
- "Managers are involved and logged into MobileCRM inspecting the sales dashboard which has added another level of accountability."
- “Salespeople no longer have to leave the customer to log information in the CRM. Customers feel more comfortable giving information to someone with an IPad vs. someone sitting behind a desktop.”
- "Some of our stores have even replaced their desktop kiosk w/ an iPad."
- "Our solds have gone up because we have more people to follow up with… because more information is being logged in the DealerSocket MobileCRM App."
Follow him: @HunterSwift
No Comments
DealersGear
Negative Selling
With the president election in full swing I have noticed that the majority of president hopefuls often use negative selling and mud-slinging attack campaigns. It has grown to something I expect from politicians but not from salespeople. Yet recently I experienced some negative selling tactics that I thought I would share.
The first occurred when I was a shopping for a new car a couple months ago. I had decided on what make and model car I was planning to buy but wanted reassure myself that I was making the best choice by looking at some other vehicles. When I visited a different dealership and I mentioned I was doing some research on two vehicles, I was surprised at the salesperson's approach. He immediately began to negative sell by talking about how bad the gas mileage was, that it didn’t score the highest safety ratings, and weaknesses in its performance while failing to point out any of the strengths of his brand. It was a big turn off for me and I ultimately bought the car I was original looking at.
I know this isn’t always a common occurrence but for some salespeople they get fearful and defensive as soon as the competition is mentioned.
It is ok to acknowledge that you have competition but there is a fine line between negative selling and pointing out differences between two products while focusing on your strengths. Knowing your competitions weaknesses is important, but this information should be used in a tactful informative way that is not offensive to your consumer. Too many sales people forget to focus on the strengths of their own product and services.
Salespeople that trick themselves into believing that they can make up negatives about a competitor are kidding themselves.
The second occurrence of negative selling happened last week in my own job. I work for a CRM company and often get the impression that some of our competitors negative sell on occasion. Recently a dealership I was working with was told by another CRM company that the integration we had with a particular DMS was not great. To resolve this concern, I immediately conferenced in a person from the DMS company that was referred to who reassured the customer of our great integration. We ended up getting this customer, but not because of our integration or us negative selling. The dealer said that the moment he knew the competitor had lied they lost all trust and began to doubt the positives of their product.
Spare the negative talk. Henry Ford said, “The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all, but goes on making his own business better all the time.” Focus on you, your company, your strengths and most importantly your customer.
My business and my reputation are built on ethical standards and selling my company’s superior service, not bad mouthing rivals. Just because you are my competitor doesn’t mean we can’t be friends either. We can chat and talk about industry issues at trade shows, conferences, and through social media. I have referred dealers to others when I thought they were a better fit. And in turn, other companies have sent business my way.
Strong competitors drive me to be even better at what I do. The automotive technology space is growing and I love the idea that more players are joining in. Yes, it is more competition, but I think there’s enough business to go around and it grows the overall performance of automotive industry.
Hunter Swift is a Sales Business Analyst at DealerSocket and has been with the company since 2005. In addition to his current role he has fulfilled the responsibilities of customer support, consulting, training, and sales. He specializes in helping dealerships improve processes through the use of CRM technology. Prior to DealerSocket he sold cars and is a graduate of Pepperdine University.
Follow him: @HunterSwift
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DealersGear
Negative Selling
With the president election in full swing I have noticed that the majority of president hopefuls often use negative selling and mud-slinging attack campaigns. It has grown to something I expect from politicians but not from salespeople. Yet recently I experienced some negative selling tactics that I thought I would share.
The first occurred when I was a shopping for a new car a couple months ago. I had decided on what make and model car I was planning to buy but wanted reassure myself that I was making the best choice by looking at some other vehicles. When I visited a different dealership and I mentioned I was doing some research on two vehicles, I was surprised at the salesperson's approach. He immediately began to negative sell by talking about how bad the gas mileage was, that it didn’t score the highest safety ratings, and weaknesses in its performance while failing to point out any of the strengths of his brand. It was a big turn off for me and I ultimately bought the car I was original looking at.
I know this isn’t always a common occurrence but for some salespeople they get fearful and defensive as soon as the competition is mentioned.
It is ok to acknowledge that you have competition but there is a fine line between negative selling and pointing out differences between two products while focusing on your strengths. Knowing your competitions weaknesses is important, but this information should be used in a tactful informative way that is not offensive to your consumer. Too many sales people forget to focus on the strengths of their own product and services.
Salespeople that trick themselves into believing that they can make up negatives about a competitor are kidding themselves.
The second occurrence of negative selling happened last week in my own job. I work for a CRM company and often get the impression that some of our competitors negative sell on occasion. Recently a dealership I was working with was told by another CRM company that the integration we had with a particular DMS was not great. To resolve this concern, I immediately conferenced in a person from the DMS company that was referred to who reassured the customer of our great integration. We ended up getting this customer, but not because of our integration or us negative selling. The dealer said that the moment he knew the competitor had lied they lost all trust and began to doubt the positives of their product.
Spare the negative talk. Henry Ford said, “The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all, but goes on making his own business better all the time.” Focus on you, your company, your strengths and most importantly your customer.
My business and my reputation are built on ethical standards and selling my company’s superior service, not bad mouthing rivals. Just because you are my competitor doesn’t mean we can’t be friends either. We can chat and talk about industry issues at trade shows, conferences, and through social media. I have referred dealers to others when I thought they were a better fit. And in turn, other companies have sent business my way.
Strong competitors drive me to be even better at what I do. The automotive technology space is growing and I love the idea that more players are joining in. Yes, it is more competition, but I think there’s enough business to go around and it grows the overall performance of automotive industry.
Hunter Swift is a Sales Business Analyst at DealerSocket and has been with the company since 2005. In addition to his current role he has fulfilled the responsibilities of customer support, consulting, training, and sales. He specializes in helping dealerships improve processes through the use of CRM technology. Prior to DealerSocket he sold cars and is a graduate of Pepperdine University.
Follow him: @HunterSwift
No Comments
16 Comments
Mike TheCarGuy Correra
DealerBuilt
Great post Hunter! As we have just completed our own installation of an entirely new, and comprehensive CRM that the entire front of the store is now using I have emailed this to all store managers as a must read! Thanks for posting this!
Bryan Armstrong
Southtowne Volkswagen
Absolute, sheer #Awesomesauce Hunter!
Paul Rushing
Stateline Sales LLC
Accountability is top down. If you are having problems with sales people not doing what they should the problem is not the salespeople. Its the sales managers, GSM and GM not doing what they should be. next time you run into a sales person accountability problem lets look at what the sales managers are really doing. Are they getting on the phone with the missed deals trying to make rain? Are they getting on the phone and confirming appointments 100%? Are they sending a personal email to the customer who left frustrated? Etc................ Who is holding these managers accountable? Being a good sales manager requires them to actually help put deals together, not do the daily checklist. A monkey could do that.. Managing activities is imperative but lets make sure we are holding the right parties accountable.
Bryan Armstrong
Southtowne Volkswagen
Well said Paul. Management should be more DO than TELL. "You do not lead people by hitting them over the head. That's assault, not leadership" Dwight D. Eisenhower
Hunter Swift
DealersGear
Thanks for the commentary... Possible follow up article... "Holding Your Managers Accountable".
Hans Meyer
Fixed Operations Group
I know not all will agree but I have never seen a dealer where the managers and salespeople did an adequate job of this. CRM tool or not. I've been to dozens if not hundreds of dealerships and witnessed this. I'm a firm believer that the moderate to large dealer needs to invest in a BDC and separate the functions of follow up/appointment setting from the sales process. I have seen much better results when sales people are not doing appointments and follow up. Just my 2 cents.
Manny Luna
DealershipMarketingServices.com
In the past it was our job to handle all the phone ups and help each customer on a personal level. Personal follow up is a lost art. "Thank You" letters are not being mailed out from the GMs, GSMs, Sales Managers, and Salespeople everyday. I can keep going on and on.... We never had to be asked to follow up, and our home grown CRM's worked because it was in our job description to do everyday or get fired. What does it take now? We know of many dealerships that do a great job at it and break records every month. It all starts from the top (GM) and a pay plan to back it up! Sales is one of the hardest jobs to do, but also the highest paid job.
Karen Croker
Central Cadillac
At our dealership, our sales managers also sell. Do you really think a manager that also sells has the time to help make sales for his/her staff? They are more interested in supplementing their own pay. Add all the other things that are supposed to happen at a luxury dealership and salespeople are really on their own. Anyone else have this arrangement at their dealership? I think the time has come to re-think this! We look at the reports, but doing actual follow up and holding salespeople accountable goes by the wayside!
Christopher Murray
Contractor
The accountability factor is essential and easier to perform than it ever has been in light of the CRM systems we all should be using. We have just recently installed a CRM in our store, there never was one there prior to this, and we are all just getting our feet wet, as it were, learning the basic navigation etc, that comes with a new tool but I tend to take things like this to the extreme so I am on it night and day. One of my first observations is that my Sales Manager never even looks at it unless I force him to. The salespeople, some of them, just look for ways to remove tasks from their dashboards as opposed to using it to do business and the more successful salespeople have embraced it from the first day and are seeing results. I have just begun using the reports to hold my SM accountable and I am teaching him to do the same with the salespeople but not by "rolling up the results spreadsheet and beating them over the head with it" but by actually sitting with each salesperson and executing the tasks for them, in front of them, exactly as the CRM suggests to show them the slow but steady build of results through appointments, etc… You are so right about accountability!
Jim Bell
Dealer Inspire
Great stuff Hunter, but it's a shame how lazy some salespeople are with some of the great tools out there that they have in their back pockets. I've seen salespeople find reasons NOT to follow up with a customer and try to 'fake out' the call. Then when management does their follow up, it's too late and they already bought a vehicle. I just wish that I had a CRM back in the day when I sold cars.
Mark Rask
Kelley Buick Gmc
Great stuff! You must have buy in from the sales managers to make this work.
Manny Luna
DealershipMarketingServices.com
This has to be a "have to do it, or get fired" with no questions asked! If that means replacing one of the sales managers to get the point across to get everyone's full attention then do it. All appointments need to be set in the CRM, phone verified by a sales manager and logged in the sales tower for M, T ,W, T , and so on.... (Spiff them if you have to for the most appointment's sold and the highest gross deal every day! My son is a GSM for the number one Hyundai dealer in Texas and if has to let someone go that's making 15-K to 18-K a month, he just does it. He tells me the salesman is not following up on his leads, logging his appointments everyday and handling his business in the CRM. He doesn't have the time to babysit a grown man. This has to start from the top, with a pay plan to back it up!
Edward Shaffer
Loving Honda
I recently discovered an absolutely fantastic book entitled "Wining with Accountability: The Secret Language of High Performing Organizations" . What many fail to recognize is that Accountability flows in both directions - up the chain of command as well as down! Think about that for a moment - far too often "holding someone accountable" is a loosely disguised euphemism for how management wields the club to enforce policy. When team members are ASKING to be held accountable because they truly UNDERSTAND what is means, then and only then will the organization succeed and thrive.
Hans Meyer
Fixed Operations Group
Manny, your sons store has sales people making 15K - 18K per month? At a Hyundai store? That has to be the extreme exception. In my travels I see the exact opposite. As a matter of fact the main reason there is such difficulty getting sales people and managers, for that matter, to be accountable is the low quality of the people hired. I attribute that to the low pay and long hours demanded by these jobs. Most GM's I know would either be cutting that persons pay or trying to make them a Manager. I see too many dealers with high turn over trying to keep these "variable expenses" low then scratching their heads when they cant keep good sales people. All this stuff hangs together and it starts with the quality of your people and how you compensate them. If you asked most sales people they would tell you the resent the constant changes in pay structure, stair step incentives (which dealers will tell you they hate when the factory does it to them) the monthly contests, spins, minis and what have you. If you want accountable productive people, hire quality people, pay them fairly and treat them with respect.
Manny Luna
DealershipMarketingServices.com
Hans Meyer, I agree. Selling cars and making big money working bell to bell twenty days straight is not for the weak. If anyone needs a great job and will work hard let me know. My son hires young men out of high school. He trains them and in six months he has them selling 18 to 25 cars making 10-K to 12-K a month.
Kevin I. Parker
Garber Automotive
Wow, Hunter you are spot on!