While I really look forward to the day I won’t be blogging about inventory constraints, based on the newest information regarding chip shortages, there is talk that it could affect vehicle production into 2023. We have clients that have already filled their entire allocations with orders for future vehicles. Ordering vehicles will now have to become a sales skill for today’s automotive professionals. Yet how does one learn to take orders for vehicles without being an order taker? There is a way.

Just because you’re taking orders doesn’t mean selling is over. Let’s face it, we could have a software program or showroom kiosk take orders, but there is still valuable opportunities we can explore and smart car sales training will get you there. When engaging with shoppers, there are 10 steps to ordering vehicles the right way.

Acceptance

First off, for your own sanity, recognize this is the world we live in now. (Accept that this is a part of the new world so understanding inventory availability is imperative. A firm grasp on one’s inventory needs to be part of every consistent car sales training you emphasize for your team).

Acknowledgement

An early acknowledgment to the shopper that their desired vehicle is one sought by many with limited supply and production is important. Don’t get their hopes up just to delay their excitement for 6 months. An early introduction to the process of ordering vehicles process needs to be made.

Education

Educating the customer as to why this is happening in our industry, across all makes, referencing sources, and giving them certainty it’s only an obstacle, but one easily managed is important. Ask if they have heard news about inventory shortages.

Considerations

It is important, now, to not go straight for the deposit, as so many salespeople do. This is where asking questions to best understand your customer is necessary. When you first decided you wanted to get a new vehicle, what steps did you first take in your research? What makes did you consider (or are still considering)? What made you decide on this model? Have you looked into ordering vehicles before? What about the vehicle you desire is a need vs a want? Are there any time constraints you have? Are you concerned with the reliability of your current vehicle? Is your budget available now that may not be later that you should take into consideration? Have you always bought new, or have you purchased a pre-owned in the past? What was your experience with that?

Alternatives

Regardless how dead set they are on their desire to order a vehicle from you (which is still awesome if you think about it), you must let them know you wouldn’t be a good adviser if you didn’t at least recommend a couple alternative vehicles ready right then and there. It is your job to recommend they at least take a peek at something that may serve them better sooner. If you can put their eyes on another vehicle available and open up their potential outcomes, you’re not being an order-taker, you’re providing a solution as an adviser. (This is why understanding your inventory is so necessary.) If they go with that recommendation, which could be financially beneficial to them, continue as you know to handle every sale

Enthusiasm

Hey – maybe they want what they want, and a deposit is the only way to go. Still realize, while they may only be putting down a small amount of money they may later ask to be refunded, at the very least be enthusiastic about them getting their place in line for an order. Selling a place in line must be equivalent in enthusiasm to buying a vehicle in person. You sell incredible vehicles and they should still be excited about this inevitable purchase. Take that deposit as if they’re winning a bid on a new home. They may not be able to move in right away, but it’s theirs.

Accessories

It is not too early to get them thinking about accessorizing their vehicles. Right now, because they aren’t going to be having a payment 45 days out, adding accessories to their future vehicle is like spending play money. There is no sting if they see what it converts to in payments. They don’t get sticker shock. Consider using accessory-focused software that shows the consumer what their vehicle will look like if they don’t just take it as stock, but have it customized with dealer-installed accessories to fit their lifestyle. They can always choose to withdraw it any time between now and when it hits the lot, but this both improves profitability and helps them take some mental ownership of the future vehicle.

Expectations

We need to set realistic expectations on how the deposit works, how long the vehicle is truly estimated to arrive, and also how you will keep them updated throughout the waiting period. Don’t just take the deposit and ring them 3 months from now when you have info on it. Keep engaging them, every 10 days to 2 weeks with any relevant news. It could be anything from info about a factory opening back up to new designs for a model year, all the way to your dealership’s involvement in local charities. Make them a part of the conversation.

Maintenance

If you’re already going to be making them a part of the conversation, why not try to bring them into the fold of the dealership as well? Your service department builds long lasting relationships that improve retention. If ordering vehicles means customers are several months out before their new car or truck arrives, why not ensure your team is caring for their current vehicle between now and then? Whether it could be a perk from the dealership that the vehicle they’re trading in gets a free oil change between now and the time their car arrives, or not, you can start building a strong relationship between dealer and customer well in advance of the customer taking delivery.

Gratefulness

In the end, be grateful. (As DealerKnows listens to sales calls and provides corresponding training as part of our services for dealers, we hear a lot of “take it or leave it” language, and this is not the way to start a positive relationship with a client.) Show them how grateful you are they picked your brand, your model, your dealership, and yourself to place this order for their future vehicle. Be grateful they gave you attention and time while you assisted them. Ordering vehicles might be nothing more than paperwork, but it still involves commitment and trust. Salespeople must not overlook this when assisting customers with such a transaction.

At DealerKnows, we spend a lot of time training salespeople and BDC agents on how to overcome obstacles and convert shoppers to customers. Inventory constraints, be damned, ordering vehicles cannot be viewed as a secondary job. Using these 10 steps above will improve the customer experience when ordering vehicles while increasing profits. While ordering vehicles is typically not what excites salespeople, as I’ve shared in my past blog, an important car salesperson tip is to appreciate the small wins. Never be dismayed if someone wants to do business with you. A deposit is definitely something to be happy with.

I answered my phone and greeted the BDC Manager we’ve been training at one of our client’s stores.

BDC Manager: We have started getting a bunch of calls about a mailer that was sent out and my team doesn’t know how to handle them. Can you write up a script for us?

Me: Of course. Can you send me a copy of the mailer?

BDC Manager: They never gave us one.

Me: Do you know what the mailer says on it?

BDC Manager: I’m not sure.

Me: Does it make an offer to the customer?

BDC Manager: I don’t know.

Me: Does it invite them to do anything?

BDC Manager: No clue.

This is not uncommon. BDC training is an afterthought (or never takes place) when new marketing initiatives launch. Sales and marketing departments are not often integrated as they should be. On the regular, we see dealerships operating at a high-level in their BDC, at a strong pace on their showroom floor, and dominating the market with their advertising. And yet, rarely are these three integral departments sharing information openly. Long has our industry heard the customer knows more about the vehicles on our lots than the salespeople themselves. Whether this is due to some shoppers’ willingness to research their vehicle of choice tirelessly, or it be chalked up to salespeople’s unwillingness to educate themselves on product without being pushed to do so, take your pick. Now there is yet another glaring deficiency in our sales and BDC teams and that is the lack of knowledge of their store’s marketing initiatives.

The ad agency meets with the owner and General Manager to plot out a campaign to rev up sales. The eCommerce Director connects with the digital marketing agency (sometimes an entirely different company) to roll out a (sometimes entirely different) campaign to drive traffic. Maybe the individuals above remember to tell the sales managers of these new marketing initiatives. Even if they do, I assure you, it is rarely passed down to that of the sales and BDC teams. The last thing any organization wants is for their consumer-facing team members to be ill-equipped to answer customers’ questions. Knowing shoppers often have questions about current incentives, promotions, specials, and deals, why wouldn’t we want to make sure our sales team have access to that information.

A marketing department should:

Allocate a budget to each resource

   •  Identify specific audiences based on their opportunities and the needs of the              shoppers
   •  Create omni-channel marketing campaigns
   •  Develop content and call-to-actions based around those campaigns
   •  Target the audience with their messaging
   •  Incorporate that messaging across all platforms and teams
   •  Measure and analyze the effectiveness of the campaigns

Do this monthly, and you have yourself a marketing department. The breakdown occurs when ownership, management or marketing creates and launches advertising campaigns without educating the sales and BDC teams about these new initiatives. It is one thing to place a banner on your website’s homepage. It is something entirely different (and better) to keep them abreast of all active campaigns in weekly meetings.

As a dealer, if you’re dedicating dollars to marketing efforts (and we know you are), you need to ensure both your sales and marketing departments are working together to generate a high return on your investment. The moment a shopper encounters a salesperson or BDC agent who doesn’t reinforce the campaign, or even worse, gulp, isn’t familiar with it, the campaign loses all credibility.

Here is how to integrate your sales and marketing at each campaign’s launch:

   •  Educate your entire team on the new marketing campaign in a company                      meeting. (Yes, both sales and service, if you’re doing it right).
   •  Explain the opportunity for the campaign as well as any specifics regarding the           audience targeted and why.
   •  Provide copies of the campaigns/ads to them, including links to webpages for             them to review.
   •  Create point-of-sale material for them to have at their desks and reference when        working with shoppers.
   •  Incorporate into email templates for your lead handlers and, if possible, build out         a custom workflow process within the CRM for those leads specifically, both                  pre-visit and post-visit.
   •  Craft phone scripts for the BDC to use if calls will be generated (or, if your our               client, just call DealerKnows and we’ll create the phone scripts for your team)
   •  Request the sales team to do their part in return by sharing the campaign                       across their own social platforms, or at the very least, their own book of                          business within the CRM.

Inevitably, some advertising campaigns (smartly) revolve around “why buy” messaging. If that is the case, it is still important for the sales and service teams to see the content (and hopefully exude those tenets as well). In marketing, there is what is known as MQL (Marketing Qualified Leads) and SQL (Sales Qualified Leads). In automotive, suffice it to say, the great majority of leads are considered SQL – leads where the prospect expects to connect to a dealership agent to discuss a transaction. MQL’s are typically leads that indicate a customer has shown interest in a campaign, but generally would need to be a “soft-touch” if engaged with in the short term. Both MQLs and SQLs need to be nurtured, only differently. In both instances, the sales and BDC teams must have the insights to understand what drove that potential shopper’s intent or desire.

This flow of communication and content should also be a two-way street. If marketing is smart, they’ll seek out insight from the sales team as to what is trending in their conversations with customers so it can be incorporated into future campaigns. Sales can definitely lend a hand in understanding current shopper needs and concerns. The teams should be open to discuss what is working and what is not, by offering suggestions, providing feedback, and even sharing constructive criticism. Only constructive criticism. Include management as a part of these discussions as well.

In the end, your dealership is spending money. Money to drive attention, traffic, leads and sales. You can be amazing at marketing, but if your consumer-facing team is blind to your advertising goals, you’re throwing money away. Make sure your marketing, service, and sales teams are sharing content with each other, working toward one common goal. They must be an integrated workforce. Otherwise, your salespeople look like a deer in the headlights when the phones ring and the leads pour in about offers which they have no information. Integrating your sales and marketing efforts is the key to setting yourself up for seamless success.

Want to get better at marketing? Read about lessons learned from my New Years Eve party two years ago.

• Want to get your team better at selling your store? Train them not to give lip service.

Dealers spend far too much time focused on where the traffic is coming from and not near enough on what is happening with the traffic once we’re in contact. With so much attention focused on digital initiatives, it is no wonder consumers are now talking about a poor customer experience. We focused so much effort on the evolution in marketing that we forgot to keep an eye on the quality of CX.

As sales fluctuate, so do dealers’ advertising budgets. Just 15 years ago, a typical dealer might have a handful of vendors serving them. Today, any walkthrough of your accounts payable department will show that number has grown considerably. Moreover, any walk through a conference exhibit hall and you will find an endless amount of providers also looking to partner with your organization. This has caused us to change the questions we ask ourselves. Where we used to ask how to reach and serve customers better, we turned our attention only to… “Where do I need to spend my money?” This eventually morphed into, “Did I spend my money wisely?”

Over the past decade plus in automotive, these questions forced us to take a close look at the ROI. Were we getting a sensible return on investment? Back in the day, we all had a version of an ROI calculator that we could deduce what providers were allowing us to be profitable, and which were not. (Typically, this was determined by formulas wrote in an Excel sheet featuring stats such as lead count, sales, margin, and cost per sale. Some rang that up against the F&I’s sourcing sheets they did before vehicle delivery).

As leads dried up, providers began calling themselves “advertising sources”, opposed to one that would generate leads. Brilliant. How can they determine if we’re good at not if there is no way for them to see valid data? That’s when attribution models solved the equation. No longer a first point or last touch quandary, but multi-point attribution could pinpoint their basic value. So as dealers we comb through statistics regarding all of the sources that might have influenced a lead, visit, consideration, or sale.

Yet, if Google states the average shopper visits 18 different websites before purchasing a vehicle (out of 100’s available), how might a dealer wrap their head around what percentage of profitability is reliant on each provider? If you can’t direct money to all of the sites they visited, which bear the most fruit? If they visited all, must you give money to all? And as the questions tunnel deeper down the rabbit hole, we’re off in the weeds. We lost sight of the most important aspect of the sale: the customer’s experience.

Whether it be a great phone experience, a poor lead handling experience, a pleasant greeting, the lack of test drive, a great product presentation, or no introduction to a manager, consumers will make up their mind predicated upon how they’re treated; not just what information they gleaned from your website. No amount of money can fix a poor phone, lead, or showroom experience. Dedicating dollars and attention to bringing in traffic rather than handling that traffic professionally is putting the cart before the horse. Anyone who has sold vehicles will tell you much of a consumer’s journey and decision-tree has occurred in advance of their visit, but few will say the shoppers’ minds were fully made up.

One wrong move in your communication (peer-to-peer online or in-person on the showroom) will cost you a sale. At the upcoming DrivingSales Executive Summit in Las Vegas, my great friend Brent Wees of The Next Up and I will show you the attribution markers that are stealing your attention away from the task-based metrics that truly influence a sale. Our session is titled “The Results Are In… And You Are NOT the Father of the Sale”.

Yes, like an in-studio awakening from Maury Povich, it is time we pay attention to the elements that contributed to a profitable customer experience. What do you feel influences the customer most?
Your ad budget?
Where your inventory is listed?
Your displayed price?
Your impressions?
Your VDP views?
Your clean website?
Or how you communicate and treat your customers?

We feel the same. And we have the data to prove why it is the more attributable to a sale than a single ad dollar spent. Check us out at the DrivingSales Executive Summit in Las Vegas.

As shoppers seek more and more information before transacting on a vehicle, it is no wonder that they are inquisitive, not just about the price, but about the deal. Dealers have long displayed a price, but rarely do they justify it with data.

Edmunds has been offering their assessment of “True Market Value” for more than a decade. CarsDirect and, later, TrueCar built their business around, not just sharing the price, but analyzing the price. CarGurus ranks the quality of your online price against competitive vehicles in the area and CarStory Market Reports have been confirming the legitimacy of the deal with a higher level of data insights for a couple of years now.

The survival and now success of these corporations prove that more is better when it comes to building trust with pricing data.

Now Cars.com is in on the mix. With their recently released pricing comparisons and deal badging on your inventory listings, there is one more automotive marketplace helping shoppers determine the quality of your online price. You may not realize it, but this is a good thing. The newest data suggests consumers in the car shopping phase spend roughly 60% of their time on automotive resource sites, and yet they are still surfing across a multitude of different sites, because one site doesn’t have all the information they seek.

They search vehicle reviews on reputable sites. They seek out consumer reviews in online forums. They ask around to ensure they’re choosing the right vehicle, they scour dealership ratings to do business with the right dealership and are going so far as to select their salesperson in advance of a store visit. It is only natural that the price of the product needs to be justified. They’re using all the info the Internet has to offer as a means to prepare themselves for a purchase (that fits their budget and their lifestyle). They’ve always asked “what’s the best deal?” Now they have the data to answer it. As dealers, you must embrace this.

As leads, calls, and walk-in customers flow into your store from these sites, are you using the data they’ve provided your clients to your benefit? Your team must reply back with validation of their data. You can’t say “that’s not really correct” when confronted with this information because they carry more trust in these sites than they do you at this point. You haven’t earned their trust enough to scowl at that pricing data. Instead, you need to re-confirm it. Your research and subsequent replies must include this information back to them, even if it may be redundant. Let the shopper know you’re on the same page with them regarding the professional reviews your vehicles have garnered. Make sure they’ve seen your dealer ratings. And by all means use these sites as well to justify your pricing. This will help streamline the in-store negotiation time and hopefully deliver a less antagonizing experience for every car buyer.

Just because it is online information doesn’t mean it works against you. Leverage it to your advantage. By showing you’re in-line with the online data, you’ll earn their trust and their business.

“When you get the customer in, you’ve got to slow them down.” This is a very saying that is meant to allow the salesperson control of a customer in the store. People feel by slowing a shopper down, they are able to make them go through the organization’s road to a sale. That is bad advice. I do not remember a single time I’ve walked into a store and said “I really hope I could speak to someone who would make my path to purchase longer.”

Online shopping has given customers ADHD when it comes to the actual transaction. By all means, they research more than ever before, but once their mind is made up, they only seek someone to validate their research, present the product, answer questions, and complete the paperwork. Only four steps necessary to take the customer from greeting to sale.

The problem lies in the fact that sales professionals think those four steps are best to be completed by them and them alone. So they treat the process as a sprint. “How quick can I rush the customer through this and bypass as many obstacles or objections as possible?” they challenge themselves. When you make the four steps to a sale a sprint, it does not work to your advantage. Haste makes waste. Corners get cut, relationships aren’t given time to blossom, and value isn’t built. Other times, customers feel hurried and feel that something is amiss because of the speed of the transaction. They feel their time is being valued, but not their opinion. No one likes being rushed to spend money.

On the other side of the coin, some salespeople take the antiquated statement of “slowing them down” to heart, and drag out the process, spending countless hours doting every “I” and crossing every “t”. Consumers get bored, are given far too much time to rethink their decision, or feel as if these long delays show their time is not a priority. The salesperson again tries to address all four process tasks by themselves, adding in even more time-consuming steps. This causes delays to the sale, wasting far too much of the customer (and salesperson’s time) to complete just one transaction.

Instead, a sale should be a relay race. I’ll still use the word race, because a level of urgency and purpose in the process is important. There is still, indeed, a finish line that you are working toward. But the beauty of a relay race is that it is a team effort. The baton can be handed from one person to the next. Multiple people in different positions participate in the interaction with the customer. Specialists in different aspects to the steps become involved allowing others to focus on the administrative work necessary to move the transaction forward (without the customer waiting on them to be present throughout the more mundane tasks).

Sales management needs to be actively involved early and often in the in-store customer’s experience. Nothing requires finance management to be an end-of-the-line individual, with only customer contact at the tail end of their visit. From accessories specialists, delivery coordinators, and more, selling should be a team-related activity, like a seamless race where the customer’s time is valued, all steps are completed thoroughly, questions are answered immediately, and all elements to the transaction that are not customer focused can be done simultaneously. You don’t need to dizzy them with multiple, customer-facing interactions by different personnel, as some players can be completing tasks behind the scene that speed up the process without costing a customer time.

Find the star sales athletes on your team and work to perfect the best relay race process for your store. You’ll be surprised how fast and effective your sales can become when working as a team.

I’m not about to get into semantics here. Pricing is not an objection. Just returning for an on-site visit to a car dealership client, I was confronted with a store that actively avoided talking price at all costs. Even when the shopper asks. Even when being displayed on the website, they choose not to re-confirm in email or on the phone.
“Why bring up an objection?” they said.
Your product’s pricing shouldn’t be one.

“What’s the price?” Or, “What’s your best price?” are not objections from customers. They’re simply questions for which you must find an answer. “I do not want to buy this car.” That is an objection. “I can’t afford this.” That is an objection. Objections are to be followed up with more questions to the prospect.

A customer doesn’t object until they say “No.” Just requesting the price (or bringing up the price) should never stall a deal. It should move it along.

Stop being scared about presenting the pricing. It is what it is. Not all price answers lead to customer objections. Normally, shoppers are simply looking to validate their belief of what the pricing should be. Granted, I see dealers smacking on $2,000 in addendum fees unbeknownst to the customers and that will certainly bring about objections. However, requesting a product’s asking price is not a prospect being difficult or throwing up an objection. It is seeking an answer.

Today’s shoppers are price snobs, and deservedly so. I’m one myself. When I visit Amazon, I cringe at any call-to-action saying I must add the product to my shopping cart before seeing the special price. Customers are no different. Your product’s price is your friend. A necessary element to a loyal relationship.

There isn’t enough time in the day.
At least, not enough time to recollect all the excuses sales teams come up with to skirt their responsibilities. As I walk through the valley of the shadow of showrooms, I see all evils. How we have grown accustomed to allowing these perpetrators from completing their tasks, I do not know.

Common sales scenarios I find ironic:

Problem: Customer is not greeted promptly on the showroom, or at all.
Sales Staff Excuse: “I didn’t see them.”
The Irony: What else are they looking at, if not the showroom for customers? Oh, that’s right:

Problem: The CRM is swimming with overdue tasks.
Sales Staff Excuse: “Uh. I’ve been busy.”
The Irony: They’re busy…

Problem: Won’t adapt to using iPads in the showroom or plainly revolt against tablet usage
Sales Staff Excuse: “I don’t know how to use it.” Or, “It slows me down.”
The Irony:

In most of my posts, I’d say this is the fault of management. Poor monitoring, worse accountability, and a lack of training are all reasons important sales tasks are not completed in a reasonable time frame.

However, it is time we put some onus on the sales professionals of our industry to take what they do seriously. I’ve said before, I don’t believe it is possible to motivate someone. Sounds crazy, yes. There are countless “motivational trainers”, “motivational seminars”, and “motivational quotes” that permeate our daily lives. But they’re not responsible for results.

You cannot motivate another person. People must self-motivate. However, self-motivation is easier if you teach them skill, instill confidence, and provide goals. How are you trying to make sales staff realize the irony of their excuses and the over-use of their own devices? Are you challenging them to embrace new technology by pointing out the similarities with what’s in their hands? Are you providing them hands-on walk-throughs and tutorials necessary to improve their skill-level? Are you showing them how to complete tasks properly, and holding them accountable if they don’t?

Do they even know you’re paying attention?

Therein exists the irony. When tasks go overdue, when sales dwindle, and when technology fails to be adopted, there is selling happening. It’s just the sales staff selling management on the idea that their excuses are valid. Their job is selling customers, yet they dedicate time and effort to selling managers on why selling can’t be done. I’m all for allowing salespeople being able to use their smartphones at work, provided it is for work (and that relevant notes of communication attempts are made in the CRM). But the wasting of time needs to cease. Make it a point to eliminate excuses from the floor, and you’ll get people off their phone, and on task.

JOE WEBB • APRIL 25, 2017 • LEADERSHIP AND SALES MANAGEMENT,SALES TRAINING

The word “Gravy” is used in sales when something extra happens that is a benefit to you. It’s something that wasn’t expected, or additional profit that was made beyond the structured deal.

In automotive retail, for instance, the majority of salespeople’s sold deals come from customers walking onto the showroom floor, being greeted, and subsequently buying a vehicle. If a customer is given to them from the Business Development Center or Internet team, it is considered Gravy. Likely a deal the salesperson wouldn’t have obtained otherwise. If they conveniently catch a phone up and, with little enticing, that shopper ends up coming in and buying, they consider that sale Gravy.

Here is a sales tip: Gravy should be your meal, not just the extra dressing you get on top of your monthly commissions. The moment a salesperson recognizes that their phone skills alone can single-handedly produce unlimited appointments and sales for them, they’ll learn that it pays much better than waiting on a random customer to step foot in the showroom. So long as they can take phone calls, the gravy boat is in their hands.

Same thing goes with Internet customers. The majority of dealers generate considerably more Internet leads than phone leads. As soon as a salesperson begins embracing these shoppers, putting an emphasis on how much work they should put into their online conversations, the minute more gravy will find its way onto their plate.

With enough Internet lead, phone up, and chat opportunities, any professional, well-trained salesperson can easily make a very filling meal on that gravy alone. When their skills on the phone and email supersede their abilities to be the first to shake a customer’s hand, their palate (and paycheck) will change completely. Their entire meal will be made up of gravy, and they won’t have time (or even crave) anything else. Even in stores where leads and calls don’t make their way to salespeople themselves, they can still hone their proficiency at taking care of these shoppers’ in-store experience (which shouldn’t be too far off from their online shopping experience). Either way, it will strengthen their prowess to work with researched shoppers.

Much talk has been made about the mystical “Internet Dealership”. This nomenclature needs to be changed. Almost all dealerships now are “Internet Dealerships”, however, the term is meant to represent stores that distribute all leads, calls, texts, and chats to each and every sales agent on the floor. The concept is, if all shoppers are online, our entire team must have the expertise to handle them throughout the lifecycle of their shopping journey. It is a noble cause, just one that I haven’t seen much success from without at least some discrepancy in profit leakage.

In the end, though, it is the direction dealerships must begin working toward, and it starts with improving the deftness of your sales team’s phone, email, and communication skills. Teach them the recipe needed to make the best gravy, and you’ll soon find you have the makings of a prosperous, thankful team.

JOE WEBB • MARCH 12, 2017 • INTERNET SALES TRAINING,PHONE TRAINING,SALES TRAINING

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The role of sales manager is the most important position in any retail operation. A great one can become the internal engine driving the sales team. A successful manager is the motivating force behind profit growth. A dedicated sales manager is the training arm that keeps the education of product and process front and center. Yet, a bad sales manager can kill enthusiasm, cripple cooperation, and condone bad habits.

While working alongside auto dealerships and small businesses to improve their communication, engagement and performance metrics, much of my training focuses on the utilization of tech (CRM, website, etc.) while the rest is dedicated to improving the know-how of the personnel. Never before has sales management been more integrated into the success of a store than now. They single-handedly influence policies, processes, technology and teamwork on the sales floor.

Poor sales management skills wreak havoc on culture and profit. Here are 10 ways sales managers fail:

• They don’t realize they’re role models. Being respected as a leader starts with listening, not by delegation.
• They don’t actively monitor how many available opportunities are being worked at any moment in the store, or online.
• They treat every salesperson the same, not catering their training down to the individual.
• They look at potential customers as “deals” rather than as people with a unique situation to be addressed. They’re rarely flexible to a new way of selling a product.
• They don’t dedicate near enough time to performance reviews or sales forecasting, and do little coaching throughout the month to help each individual achieve their goals. They believe holding sales quotas over someone’s head is paramount to positive reinforcement.
• They don’t know how to inspect their team’s activities. Instead, they only react to results after the fact. Accountability of staff is a core component to being a good mentor.
• They don’t embrace mastery of their CRM or productivity technology as a means of finding existing sales opportunities to close.
• They don’t try to get to know their staff on a personal basis, and in turn, rarely know how to motivate anyone beyond money or threat of termination.
• They seldom reinforce the importance of a customer lifecycle (derived from multiple purchases). Instead, they only focus on the in-store process. The best sales managers realize rapport sells someone once, but relationships sell someone forever.
• They don’t engage the customers themselves enough. This is the biggest opportunity for improvement. Far too many sales managers are “chairborne managers” rather than “airborne managers”. Today’s sales management need to integrate themselves into the customer’s in-store process earlier and more often. They must greet customers the moment they enter. They must leap out from behind the desk and work with the customer one-on-one at the first opportunity. They cannot send salespeople back and forth from the desk to the customer with more info or new pricing, using the sales team as an echo. They need to insert themselves into the process. Get involved in personally presenting a solution the moment the customer is ready to make a decision without forcing the salesperson to be their mouthpiece.

There are a multitude of trainers and programs teaching people “how to sell”. Not enough time is spent teaching management how to actually “manage”. As much focus is dedicated to closing deals, equal focus must be spent on teaching sales managers how to motivate their teams, hold them accountable, coach to the individual, forecast sales, reinforce product knowledge, improve customer experience, and make it a fulfilling place to work. If they’re not living up to this level of acumen, DealerKnows can help with your sales management training.

Those are the duties of a great sales manager. Don’t let any of the 10 ways sales managers fail infect the profitability of your store.

Feedback from customers is imperative to know what your dealership is doing right and wrong when it comes to consumer interaction. From CSI surveys catching the insights of post-sale clients, to online review sites allowing shoppers to share their experiences (sold and unsold). To understand your company’s pain points, it can’t solely be from the customers’ perception. Your own people need to have a safe place to lodge feedback (a suggestion box for instance) as to what they see hurting business within your four walls. Let’s face it… they see the inner-workings even more than your visitors.

Too many salespeople, managers, and BDC agents keep their lips zipped when it comes to expressing how they feel as it relates to opportunities for improvement. They don’t want to be known as a complainer, problem child, bellyacher, tattle-tale, rat, or, worse, a potential lawsuit. So they keep quiet and allow problems to persevere. This is costing you money. And morale.

Instances are brushed under the rug to keep a fake sense of uniformity or team, but it undermines the very essence of building a strong cohesive unit. When training dealers, we see circumstances such as:

• Salespeople whispering that sales managers are unwilling to leave the friendly confines of their desk; making salespeople feel they’re on their own with little support from management to help close deals.
• BDC agents setting hard-won appointments only to have a manager make a confirmation call, seek out objections before the customer arrives (in an effort to I don’t know, maybe make their lives easier or ensure a sale, as if their time would be wasted otherwise?), and subsequently talking the prospect out of the appointment.
• Salespeople getting appointments set on their behalf, only to spend the two hours prior to appointment not learning about the vehicle, finding the car, or pulling it up.
• Finance Managers looking ahead at a deal loaded into the DMS, noticing the client is paying cash, and choosing to kill time until something better comes along, thereby leaving frustrated buyers sitting longer than unnecessary to purchase a car.

Far too many circumstances prevent customers from doing business in your store – and because it’s team effort to sell vehicles nowadays, the people that know best about these deficiencies, process breaks, and crimes of laziness against customers are your very own employees.

Your team doesn’t want to have to openly go to ownership, upset them with bad news, and be labeled. They don’t want to appear they can’t work with others, even if there is a problem. They don’t want to rock the boat, but they do want things fixed. These things aren’t always selfish, but often will make the dealership more money. Or, at the very least, make shoppers happier or improve employee relations. Consider putting up an anonymous suggestion box. Willfully ask everyone to submit thoughts or feedback. Or it can be an open email inbox where people can send anonymous emails from fake accounts. Only the owner should have access to this suggestion box, or someone from HR that is entirely unbiased to a situation, and never should they try to uncover who it is that made the suggestion. Or, you can promise to make the suggestion box entirely confidential with a promise that no direct negative action will occur from being open and honest. If presented to the team as a professional yet safe way to be heard, the suggestion box won’t be abused.

One way or another, you should rely on your people to give you the best feedback on how to make processes better. So long as they feel it won’t come back to bite them, these unfiltered opinions and peeks behind the curtain are the necessary ingredient to building a winning team. That is how organizations evolve.