Let’s face it: every dollar you invest in your dealership needs to come with a return, and that goes double for the money you spend on boosting sales performance. As competition between dealerships is becoming ever fiercer, savvy owners and GMs are looking for new and innovative ways to increase profits with the most cost-effective strategies. 

There are a lot of consultants out there making big promises, but giving your word and actually knowing how to improve sales performance with data-backed results are worlds apart. Taking your dealership’s revenue to the next level means identifying where dollars are slipping through the cracks and correcting those issues as efficiently as possible so your people can do what they do best. 

Even small increases can lead to big rewards down the road, and nearly every dealership can make simple changes that dramatically increase key metrics like appointment rates. We’ll talk through some of the best ways to go about getting all your numbers where they need to be!

THE POWER OF 1%

Success is often perceived as a huge jump in single areas of productivity. But these solutions are often envisioned as big, vague processes that can seem impossible to take on. You’ve got to think hard about how to improve sales performance at your dealership to come up with practical real-world ideas.

A much more effective approach is to leverage a lot of marginal gains. The idea is that making 1% improvements in as many areas of your business as possible will pay off in a way that is greater than the sum of its parts. 

This is not a pie-in-the-sky theory either—it’s been proven to work. Consider that a 1% improvement in sales volume equates to a 3.3% increase in operating margin, and a 1% improvement in pricing leads to an 11% increase in operating margin.

What does this mean for dealerships? Glad you asked. When you’re looking for a training partner, they should be delivering ongoing training that helps your sales team make incremental improvements and solidify their skills. Relationships are everything when it comes to coaching for success, and the best consultants will never try to sell you on a one-and-done model.

DIG INTO YOUR METRICS

Your sales and performance data needs to be squeezed for every last bit of actionable intel. This may mean investing in better software, people with the right skills, or 3rd-party partners who specialize in crunching numbers. This will give you insights into demographic spending tendencies, seasonal fluctuations, add-on product benefits, etc. 

Any automotive consultant you’re considering for your dealership should be able to back up their strategy with solid analytics as well as specific industry advice—not generic sales jargon. After all, your people are pros, and improving sales performance takes concrete training points taken from mystery shops and other real-world evaluations that lead to results they’ll see in their paychecks and on your bottom line.  

EMBRACE SOCIAL MEDIA AND DIGITAL MARKETING

A smart social media campaign is one of the least expensive advertising campaigns you can invest in. And there are a wealth of advantages:

• Better brand/ product awareness. These days, 43% of customers learn about these through social media
• Increased sales. 87% of customers think social media helps them make purchasing decisions, 71% buy based on social media referrals, and 66% buy after seeing other people’s posts (which can be your shared posts if you design the campaign correctly).
• Lead Generation. Great social media campaigns are shown to improve the number of leads, closings, and even up to 48% larger deals.

Of course, it’s not always easy to understand how to manage a social media or digital advertising campaign, and the learning curve can cost you a lot of time and money with little in the way of results. This is where an automotive consultant can nail down your best targets and help customize a winning strategy. 

INVEST IN A BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER (BDC)

These departments are becoming more and more common in dealerships everywhere. BDCs are critical for managing leads, setting appointments, anticipating customer needs, routing call traffic, providing customer service, and so much more. 

These can be outsourced or built in-house. Which solution is right for your dealership is highly dependent on your budget, expertise, floor space, etc. But you absolutely need a BDC center coordinating all facets of your customer service in order to thrive.

That being said, these sales-boosting dynamos don’t just organize themselves. They’re highly refined revenue-generating investments that require a dedicated training partner to keep them working at maximum efficiency. That being said, you know who’s leveraging them?

The top dealerships in the country. And if you want to compete, you’ll need to get on board. 

INCREASE APPOINTMENT RATES

The single most important thing you can do when considering how to improve sales performance for your dealership is to increase the number of in-person appointments your BDC is booking. If you can believe it, only 20% of most dealerships’ phone and internet traffic results in appointments. Why? 

Because the customer wasn’t asked. 

To keep up with the top performers in the industry, your rate must be at least 60%. The key here is simple: your people need the best training and scripts. Phone scripts (executed properly) are key to giving your CS agents a proven roadmap that covers all common scenarios, and reminds them to ask the necessary questions, like “Would today or Friday be a better day for you to come in and see our amazing new deals?”

PHONE NINJAS KNOWS HOW TO GET PEOPLE THROUGH YOUR DOOR

At Phone Ninjas, we know how to improve sales performance for the dealerships. We’ve made our name in the industry by boosting our clients’ appointment rates from phone and internet channels far beyond the average to 60%, even 80% and higher. But that’s just one aspect of the value we bring to our partners in the automotive, motorcycle, and marine sales industries. 

Our proven training model is world-class. Our VP of Training, Mike Hoyser, conducts initial group activities to orient your salespeople to the areas we’re going to tackle. Then, our coaches work with your team in one-on-one weekly coaching sessions to improve their consistency and skills until everyone’s ready to fly on their own. We follow up with our mystery shopping team to ensure your customers are experiencing the very best service. If any shortcomings are identified, we continue working with team members to make sure no revenue opportunity is left on the table. 

You can stop wondering how to improve sales for your dealership. Reach out today for a free demo and to claim two free mystery shops! We can’t wait to help you break new records!

As showroom traffic slowly drops and customer habits change, your sales team’s phone skills are becoming more important than ever for maximizing revenue and hitting monthly sales goals. Customer service, in-person appointments, long-term loyalty, and higher sales and service engagement are all critical benefits you’re relying on your team’s phone skills to deliver.  

The average customer spends about eighteen minutes on any given customer service call, and a whopping 97% say a business’s customer service impacts their brand loyalty. Clearly, your team’s phone skills have to be top-notch. With so much on the line, how can you get the most out of your training investment?

Without a doubt, bringing in a phone mystery shopper is the fastest and most effective way to get real-world feedback and training tips that directly translate to increased sales and repeat business. If you’re not leveraging mystery shopping at your dealerships, here are seven reasons why it’s time to change your strategy.

1. ADDRESS NEEDS AND CLOSE DEALS

Customers who initiate a phone call are known as “high-intent” customers, meaning they’re already interested in a purchase and are looking to move down your sales funnel. Your sales team’s job is to identify what they want as quickly as possible and give them the answers they need to close the deal.

However, a few missteps here or there on a call can be the difference between a win and a loss. By mimicking a real customer interaction, a phone mystery shopper can identify areas where a salesperson is leaving revenue opportunities on the table and generate tips that will benefit your entire team. 

2. KEEP CUSTOMERS COMING BACK

Customers who use an outside source for service and financing are much more likely to shop somewhere else when they look for their next car. One of the easiest ways to build loyalty is by connecting buyers with in-house service and financing options, and the best opportunity to do that is during those early sales calls.

A phone mystery shopper makes sure that your team never forgets to include all the deals and benefits your dealership offers and highlights these areas in your phone scripts. Not only does that make the most of your existing revenue streams, but it ensures that you’ll have more repeat customers down the line. 

3. GET AN ACCURATE LOOK AT YOUR TEAM’S SKILLS

One of the hardest aspects of a GM’s job is evaluating skills in the workplace. The problem is, it’s not as simple as just standing over someone’s shoulder and taking notes. Every boss knows employees don’t behave the same when they know they’re being watched, and the observer effect ruins the evaluation.

Mystery shopping finds out how your team is actually performing—not what they do when they’re nervous or trying to impress you. Those real interactions are what affect sales, and a phone mystery shopper will find out exactly what’s going on under the hood. 

4. COMPARE TO THE COMPETITION

A phone mystery shopper doesn’t just look at your business. They can (and should) evaluate your competitors as well. That will allow your training partner to find key areas you can take advantage of as well as places you need to improve. 

5. IMPROVE COMPLIANCE

When it comes to company policy and legal regulations, you simply cannot afford to operate outside the margins. A phone mystery shopper confirms your team’s compliance with these non-negotiable items. There’s nothing worse for a customer than getting conflicting information when it comes to issues like financing and product information. If they’re confused, or worse, don’t trust you, they’ll definitely hit the road. 

6. STAY ON TOP OF CUSTOMER TRENDS

Customer habits and priorities change over time—especially in the automotive industry—and staying on top of it all usually requires a dedicated training partner who keeps you up to speed on the latest facts and figures. 

As your team adapts, a phone mystery shopper can track how well new information is being retained and how effectively it’s being delivered. After all, learning takes time, and a few follow-up mystery shops are often all it takes to drill down on the most important details. The faster your people get comfortable, the sooner it will translate to a boost in sales.  

7. DRIVE APPOINTMENT RATES 

Internet car and truck purchases are increasing, but only account for 3% of overall sales. The overwhelming proportion of customers still prefer to buy cars from real people, and with showroom traffic falling, that puts more pressure than ever on your team’s phone skills to bring customers to your door.

Unfortunately, the average dealership only converts about 20% of phone calls into appointments, and it’s often for one simple reason: your team forgets to ask! By using well-designed phone scripts focusing on appointment setting, the top dealerships are hitting rates of at least 60% if not higher. 

One of the most important benefits a phone mystery shopper delivers is an evaluation of your team’s effectiveness in booking these appointments. Once you see where you’re falling short, you can get this major KPI up to where it should be.

CONNECT WITH A WINNING PHONE MYSTERY SHOPPER

Here at Phone Ninjas, phone training and mystery shopping are our bread and butter. Our clients routinely see their in-person appointment rates from phone traffic triple or even quadruple. It’s just one of the many aspects we work on with all our clients to build their business and bury the competition. 

Our training program is a complete system that supports your team from beginning to end. We start with a mystery shopper to get a baseline of your phone performance. Then, our VP of Training, Mike Hoyser, conducts an initial training session with your entire team. Finally, our Phone Ninjas go to work, coaching your employees in individual sessions on a weekly or monthly basis. 

Once the training is complete, we send in a phone mystery shopper to evaluate your team’s skills and highlight areas for improvement. With the results in hand, we follow up with shopped employees with further coaching to make sure they’ve mastered every detail.

To find out what Phone Ninjas can do for your dealership, reach out today for a free demo and two free mystery shops. We can’t wait to meet you and start training your team for success! 

You’ve been going over your dealership sales team’s KPIs and it doesn’t look good. You’ve been spending on training, but nothing seems to work. What’s going on? 

It could be any number of things, but there are a few obvious places to start. In most cases, revenue opportunities are left on the table because of inefficient or dated sales practices that aren’t giving customers what they need to make a purchase. This is especially true when it comes to the phone, and bringing in a mystery shopper can make a huge difference for your bottom line. These undercover professionals can give you the scoop on where your team is succeeding and where they could brush up on skills and consistency.

While you’ve probably heard of mystery shopping before, you may not know just how powerful it can be compared to other forms of feedback. Our team has put together a first-class guide to give you the lowdown on this game-changing customer service evaluation tool.

WHY IS MY TEAM FALLING BEHIND?

There are any number of reasons your sales department may be underperforming, and all of them are correctable with the right tactics and training. Some of the more common issues include:

Skill Drift

In a surprising way, the smart go-getters you’ve hired to sell your products can negatively impact the overall effectiveness of your sales team if they become too creative in their approach. Today’s customers are looking for consistency of messaging and branding across every aspect of your business—no matter who picks up the phone. Over time, increasing individualization of key content can result in inconsistent experiences that impact sales goals. 

Additionally, specific product, policy, and pricing details can also start to blur, especially as new information comes in. It’s been demonstrated that memory details can drift 37% in a single year, so it’s important to make training and review an ongoing process at your dealership. 

Lack of Accurate Feedback

Even the best employees don’t always know how their daily interactions are impacting a sale, and it takes accurate feedback to make meaningful changes to their game. However, if the information they’re getting isn’t useful, then they might as well not get it at all—and you’ve wasted a lot of money! 

Customer surveys and comment cards occasionally have some valuable information, but in most cases, they don’t point in the direction of positive change. Owners and GMs should invest in tools that generate fast and detailed points for improvement and follow up with actionable advice. 

Limited or Ineffective Training

In an environment as dynamic and ever-changing as car sales, training has to be an ongoing priority. Ideally, dealerships should have a dedicated training partner who works with your team on a weekly or monthly basis to introduce new information, keep their skills on point, and make sure they stay in line with current best practices and policies. 

The best training consultants can achieve great results in surprisingly little time by utilizing mystery shops. These experiences deliver real-world examples of your team’s performance and highlight a few critical points for improvement. It’s a fast and efficient way to keep everyone on the same page while driving all your customers toward a sale. 

HOW DOES MYSTERY SHOPPING WORK?

Your training partner usually has a team of trained mystery shoppers they deploy to call your dealership and explore specific aspects of your phone service. However, not every consultant’s mystery shopper program delivers great results. Here’s what you should look for to get an ideal mystery shopper experience for your business:

1. Mystery shoppers (or their agency) prepare a rubric in consultation with you to ensure everything you need to have evaluated is covered. You’ll have priorities, and good partners can point out details you might not have considered.
2. The shopper calls your dealership posing as a customer. A great mystery shopper is sufficiently trained and experienced to avoid tipping off your sales team.
3. The mystery shopper poses pre-planned questions and investigates issues organically as they come up.
4. Afterward, you should receive a detailed report and a recording of the call to reference.
5. Your training partner uses the elements of the call to celebrate success and offer specific advice to your team on how to improve the interaction. 
6. Employees are individually coached over time to ensure new skills are integrated.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS TO MY BUSINESS?

A long-term investment in a mystery shopping partner can have a major impact on your overall sales numbers. They will:

• Identify revenue opportunities.
• Catch small issues before they grow and cost you money.
• Deliver fast, accurate feedback on the effectiveness of your sales strategies.
• Identify valuable differentiators from your competition. 
• Improve and unify your team’s presentation, procedures, and efficiency.
• Help craft your overall CS protocols to reflect the true needs of your customers.

As you can see, a mystery shopper offers tons of advantages that will drastically improve your sales team’s skill set and get your KPIs headed in the right direction.

PHONE NINJAS DOES IT ALL

We founded Phone Ninjas as a top-to-bottom training program for automotive dealerships, and the mystery shopper experience is one of our most important tools for identifying issues and coaching toward success. We use these powerful evaluation tools to uncover key areas of improvement and use them to create a comprehensive training strategy that is tailored to the needs and resources of your business. Then, we use mystery shops to check in on your team over time and hone in on teachable moments that translate to better sales numbers.

We’re so confident you’ll see the value in our program we’ll perform a demo and two mystery shops of your dealership for free with no further commitment. And we don’t do long-term contracts that lock you into an expensive payment plan. We bill month-to-month, so you partner with us for exactly as long as you need.

Call or email us today so we can start transforming your sales numbers!

One major component of any automotive Owner’s or GM’s due diligence is a constant and ongoing evaluation of your sales team members’ skills, growth, consistency, and quality of delivery. If you don’t invest in training upkeep, their skills slowly become outdated and develop holes, and that means one thing for your dealership: lost revenue opportunities.

But you’re already slammed in a dozen different ways. Twenty-four hours simply isn’t enough time to do regular deep dives into each employee’s performance. What’s the answer, then? Internet surveys? Nope, only 44% of those are returned. Receipt surveys? Much worse, with just a 1% return rate. And all of these rely on customer memories being recalled days, even weeks later. 

Mystery shopping, on the other hand, is a precise and accurate tool that will reliably give you an ongoing X-ray of your team’s skill sets. By incorporating mystery shops into your training program, you’ll save time and give your employees actionable advice from real-world experiences they can take to the phones today. If you’re new to this and asking, “What is mystery shopping?”, we’re going to tell you everything you need to know to deploy this fast and powerful technique. 

HOW PHONE INTERACTIONS LEAD TO REVENUE

All business boils down to one simple question: “Is my customer satisfied?” In customer service-heavy industries like car sales, that means spending a lot of time on the phone listening carefully, answering specific questions, and supporting a purchase process with all your options and service packages. There are a TON of opportunities to generate revenue in that narrative—and many more to lose it. 

This is why a lot of dealerships have moved to using dedicated business development centers (BCSs) and phone scripts. The specialists in a BDC save time for your sales team by engaging with customers on a range of topics and directing traffic. That frees up the salespeople to focus on giving the customers exactly what they’re looking for and pairing it with financing and service plans that make sense. 

How well they manage those interactions on the phone translates directly to dollar signs. Mystery shops look at what’s really going on during those calls and provide instant feedback on a range of important areas. 

These evaluations will:

• Measure your sales team’s performance and productivity.
• Gauge how well your sales team supports your brand message.
• Evaluate every aspect of your sales plan, from lead generation to follow-up calls.
• Identify revenue opportunities that are being left on the table.
• Make sure those appointments are asked for—and set!
• Provide real-world examples of what to change and how to change it.

HOW DOES MYSTERY SHOPPING WORK?

Mystery shopping involves trained consultants going undercover posing as customers so they can experience your sales team’s skills and delivery. This eliminates the observer bias that gives you a false picture of what’s actually going on. After all, if your team knows the boss is in the room they’re going to behave much differently, and you need to know how they perform on an average call. 

Is mystery shopping the best way to evaluate your talent? The data doesn’t lie: while any method of data collection has its flaws, mystery shoppers consistently deliver higher quality data that is more accurate than any collected through other channel metrics, such as receipt surveys. 

More importantly, it is conducted with a professional and exacting approach that has more in common with a science lab than a random collection of individual opinions.

These calls:

• Use trained professionals.—these people know how to blend in and not tip off your sales team.
• Test specific sales tactics. Mystery shoppers find out what’s costing you money, and can explain what to change afterwards. 
• Explore aspects of service. Because mystery shops are live experiences, they allow for digging deeper into interactions that may be costing opportunities. 

After the call, your training partner breaks down their results and creates a report covering everything that went well and highlights key areas that can be improved. These are often shared with the entire time, and it’s not meant to shame! In many cases, these lessons apply to everyone, so it’s good to make them teachable moments. 

WHAT IS MYSTERY SHOPPING GOING TO BRING TO MY BUSINESS?

With the best companies bringing you super-accurate data, you can begin to pinpoint existing systemic issues, emerging problems, skill and presentation drift, and consistency. Only once you know why your KPIs aren’t where they need to be can you begin actually moving the needle on them. 

Here are some areas you can expect to improve through mystery shops:

• Higher appointment and conversion rates
• More efficient communications and customer service
• Optimized lead generation
• Increased referral rates 
• Higher engagement with service agreements and in-house service departments
• Durable customer relationships and loyalty

These are all key areas for building your business, and all of them lead to higher commissions and more job satisfaction for your employees. Even if they’re a little hesitant to participate, once your team starts seeing the results on monthly sales goals and in their paychecks, they’ll definitely be on board.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT PARTNER

Of course, mystery shopping by itself is not going to deliver you the results you need. It is a measurement tool that allows you to make sure your training, policies, strategic vision, and dozens of other variables are impacting your business.

That means finding an expert training partner who knows how to use mystery shops as part of an overall dealership strategy—and that’s why you need Phone Ninjas. 

At Phone Ninjas, we’ve turned training your sales teams and BDCs to generate revenue into an art form. We work one-on-one with each staff member to develop their skills over time to make sure everyone is learning as thoroughly and quickly as possible. 

And once our mystery shoppers evaluate your team’s hard work, we again meet with them individually to work on any lingering issues and celebrate the successes they’ve already achieved.

If you‘re still wondering, “What is mystery shopping going to do for my dealership sales teams?”, drop us a line! We’re so sure you’ll love us, we start out with a complimentary demonstration and two free mystery shops.

Cold calls are one of the toughest sales pitches in any business. They are fraught with unknowns, and employees have to be prepared to answer sharp questions and navigate interactions on the fly.

They’re also a solid part of any sales plan, and if your team is close to a monthly goal, they can be the difference between clearing the bar and falling short. But how can you make the most of these unpredictable opportunities?

It turns out the best answer is also a little counterintuitive: scripts! Even though you’re going in blind, all the sales fundamentals and best practices still apply. Armed with well-thought-out cold calling scripts for car sales, your employees will have a solid roadmap that keeps them moving efficiently toward closing and maximizes potential revenue opportunities.

WHAT DO I NEED TO INCLUDE?

Whether you’re leaving a message or answering impromptu questions about the most minute details of your inventory, the basic structure will follow predictable patterns that any associate can learn to follow. Every business is a little different, but all cold-calling scripts for car sales should use a branching outline that covers the basic scenarios your associates are likely to encounter. These include things like greetings, common questions, and guidance for turning pushback into productive conversations. 

And remember: anything can happen, and a cold call can end immediately or result in a same-day sale. Your team will need to be on top of their scripts and on their toes to convert these conversations to sales. 

MAKE AN INTRODUCTION

This may seem obvious, but it’s very easy to get off on the wrong foot—especially on a cold call. How your team handles these important details can impact the later phases of the experience, and getting it right can be the difference between a hot sale and an icy fail:

The Greeting: Salespeople should politely and concisely introduce themselves, the business, and (if applicable) their department.

Establish a Relationship: A great script will guide employees through making a connection, as well as support using the customer’s preferred title throughout the call. 

Hook your Lead: When you make your initial pitch, keep it short, informative, attractive, and benefit-based.

Listen and Take Notes: Even though you’ve never met, this call is all about the customer! You’re going to need to find out exactly what you can help them with, and that means careful listening and taking notes. 

Cold calling scripts for car sales give your sales team a clear, repeatable, and professional outline to deliver consistent messaging every time. Whether they’re leaving a voicemail or speaking to a live customer, they’ll hit everything essential without any distractions. 

TRANSITIONING TO CUSTOMER NEEDS

Once they get past this tricky initial phase, a sales associate can move on to the heart and soul of the call. They’ll need to find out what value they can offer as quickly and efficiently as possible. After all, time is money, and that goes double for the customer holding the credit card. 

Qualifying Questions

Once introductions are made, a great script will start guiding a sales associate through the discovery process. Because you called them, these questions are critical to contextualizing the call and presenting a customer with exciting opportunities they don’t know about. 

Crucially, make sure you don’t leave questions open-ended! Customers will need clear choices they can respond to with definite answers to feel comfortable, less pressured, and in control. 

Appointment Requests

When you’ve established they’re interested, it’s time to invite them into the showroom to explore. Cold calling scripts for car sales should offer prompts for firm times, dates, and contact information that are followed up with polite confirmation. 

Vague language that prompts responses like “maybe next week” or “if have time after work tomorrow” should be avoided, and if customers are non-committal it may mean they need time to think. A script should be prepared to support that choice, but it shouldn’t be shy about specifics. 80% of customers feel more comfortable with a business if they can schedule an appointment. 

Confirm and Close the Call

“Thanks for your time, and we’re really looking forward to seeing you!” may sound like a decent enough way to end the call, but without a few core features this friendly closing has the potential to evaporate your lead! 

Be sure your scripts touch on the following important details:

Let them know you’re about to confirm and invite them to get a pen and paper. A missed appointment can make them feel awkward, and it’s always worth making the appointment easier for them to keep.

Make sure they know the name of the salesperson they’ll be meeting at their visit—especially if it’s you!

Provide the address and customer-relevant directions to your dealership.

Confirm the appointment time, date, and location.

Promise a follow-up call to further confirm the appointment.

Thank the customer for their time.

Including these points in the closing of your cold calling scripts for car sales will give the customer everything they need. Attention to detail lets them know you care about their business and value their time. 

COACH YOUR EMPLOYEES

To make sure your cold calling scripts for car sales work as intended, your team will need training, feedback, and lots of practice. Ideally, this will include mystery shops, active coaching from dedicated auto phone sales professionals, and repeated contact over time. 

One excellent method professional phone sales trainers use to get a team comfortable is called the “Leapfrog Technique.” It builds familiarity with your script and gives them a dynamic understanding of how to use it. It’s ideal for cold-calling scenarios that can require pivoting at a moment’s notice. 

First, number every sentence. Then, have your employees practice it in the following ways:

Read each sentence in order.

Read just the even numbers…

…then the odd numbers…

…then in reverse order…

…then evens and odds in reverse order.

Now, they can make the script work in any order circumstances may require.

ASK FOR HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT

As you can see, writing and coaching cold calling scripts for car sales is involved and time-intensive. Sometimes it makes sense to bring in outside help from professionals who write these scripts for a living. 

At Phone Ninjas, writing phone scripts and training employees to use them is our bread and butter. We deliver hand-tailored scripts for your business (not recycled sales jargon by big-box sales generalists) from our team of automotive sales champs who bring over five decades of combined experience to the table.

Even better, we take care of all training, actively coach your people over time with weekly sessions, and use mystery shops to evaluate their skills in real-world scenarios.

Let us turbocharge the performance of your dealership with our cold-calling scripts for car sales. We’d love to chat and demonstrate how to set your cold-calling game on fire.

Let’s face it: automotive sales are becoming increasingly competitive and impersonal with the growth of the online industry. Customers are savvier than ever about getting the best deal, and traditional dealerships are looking to offer greater value through personalized service and better customer experiences. 

Between COVID and pressure from digital brokers, dealerships are keeping 33% fewer cars on the lot than they did a decade ago. 1 in 3 customers know exactly what they want by the time they make contact, and they are willing to wait for the car they want to be ordered. However, for purchases this important, they still want to talk to a human being. Phone leads generate 10-15 times more revenue than web leads, and having an excellent phone game is vital to maximizing your opportunities.  

Automotive phone training is a key part of any plan to ensure your sales team presents a unified, deep, and high-quality experience for customers no matter which employee picks up the phone. We’ll take you through some of the most important ways phone training can boost your sales goals and the advantages it can deliver for your business. 

PHONE CONTACTS OFFER BETTER COMMUNICATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Dealership walk-in rates in the internet age are steadily declining. It used to be that 70% of leads came from walk-ins. Today, 70-80% of leads come from phone calls and the internet. If you want to develop better personal relationships with your clients to close sales and generate referrals, the statistics show that you can’t wait for them to show up at your doorstep. Times are changing, and a solid phone game is a vital part of creating a winning sales equation. 

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of evidence to show employee phone skills have not kept pace with evolving trends. This represents a huge competitive opportunity for dealerships and one that cannot be ignored as shopping habits continue to shift. High-quality automotive phone training can be a critical differentiator that maximizes revenue in this modern, remote-communication economy.

DEEP, ADAPTIVE SCRIPTS UNIFY BRAND MESSAGE AND IMPROVE LEAD CONVERSION

When customers pick up the phone, they are looking for answers to specific questions and help with important concerns. This can be challenging for a sales team, especially when it comes to delivering clear, consistent messaging no matter who takes the call. 

Phone scripts are the best way to take advantage of modern sales dynamics in the industry. They keep everyone on brand, provide support for challenging interactions, and guide your team through every path to revenue. When scripts are written properly and supported with one-on-one automotive phone training, they offer a number of valuable advantages:

Customers get the same experience regardless of which employee they connect with.

They provide your team with branching, adaptive scripts that use proven techniques to overcome common objections and answer complicated questions. 

Scripts keep associates on message and moving efficiently toward closing while minimizing the chances they’ll inadvertently kill a potential sale. 

ACTIVE COACHING ALLOWS YOUR TEAM TO INTERACT NATURALLY AND EFFICIENTLY

Once you’ve got a great script, employees must be coached to deliver it organically. Everyone knows how off-putting it can be to listen to a customer service agent robotically delivering a pre-written script. But the very best, most helpful calls you’ve ever had were probably also supported by a script—you just didn’t know it because they were so professionally presented!

Employees who are coached to deliver scripts over time with effective automotive phone training are able to integrate their individual sales skills with optimized sales content. Coaching agencies who understand the industry and deliver active coaching can:

Ensure your team sounds natural and engaged. 

Deliver scripts tailored to individual sales styles.

Empower associates to improvise as they get comfortable so they can personalize customer experiences. 

Identify effective phrases and techniques and share them with the team. 

Finally, active coaching is all about growing and developing over time—especially as the industry continues evolving. A great automotive phone training agency gives you the flexibility to update your scripts and make your entire sales floor aware of changing trends. Your team will just keep getting better and better, and they’ll be ahead of the curve when change rolls around. 

GET THE BEST TRAINING FROM INDUSTRY EXPERTS.

Car sales strategies and tactics are constantly adapting to keep up with changing customer dynamics. The dealerships that will stand out tomorrow are the ones that embrace effective automotive phone training today. 

Unfortunately, increased competition online has made developing a competitive phone game chess, not checkers, and most dealers don’t have the time or expertise to create effective scripts or train their people to use them well. It takes a dedicated industry expert to get your phone game on point, and Phone Ninjas is the best in the business. 

We’re a world-class automotive phone training coaching agency founded and staffed by legendary industry professionals with over five decades of combined automotive selling experience. We personally craft scripts for your dealership and provide ongoing active coaching to get your employees comfortable and confident.

And unlike some programs, we make sure they’re working while learning. After a 90-minute introductory session, we keep individual training short and constructive so your people can get right back on the phone to meet their sales goals. We also follow up with mystery shops (we’ll throw in two for free!) to give them real-world tips that can make a difference in their numbers today. 

If you think Phone Ninjas can help perfect and streamline your phone service so your team can take revenues to new heights, contact us today to schedule a free demo!

As an auto dealer general manager, you’re responsible for everything from bringing the newest inventory onto the lot to making sure the employee bathroom gets cleaned. No matter what you’re dealing with today, somehow, some way, all of it contributes to the one overarching goal of the business: making sales. And when it comes to the bottom line, one of the biggest parts of your mission is training and coaching your team into world-class closing machines.

Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in the day, and a lot of your attention is divided up managing nitty-gritty details like reports, forecasts, inventory, HR, marketing, budgets, and an endless stream of new developments and issues. Everyone wants a piece of your time, and sometimes it feels like the last thing you can do is actually help your team sell cars!

As a result, nearly any auto dealer general manager will need to bring in an experienced coaching agency to help deliver the consistent and effective sales training their employees need. These companies write scripts and work with your people over time to ensure they deliver high-quality, uniform, and consistent customer service that converts leads into sales. However, while getting the right coaching agency with the perfect strategy can completely revolutionize the success of your dealership, the wrong plan will waste your investment, frustrate your people, and tank your monthly goals. 

Here are some of the top strategies GMs should look for from a coaching agency to reliably increase sales and take their team to the next level. 

FINDING A COACHING AGENCY THAT WORKS

In the automotive industry, the ability of a salesperson to connect and serve your customers remains the fundamental driver for profitability and return business. As you well know, sales in the automotive industry are highly nuanced; you may be the general manager, but a generalist coaching agency simply won’t have the depth of knowledge it takes to make a real impact on your monthly targets. Make sure you partner with a team that’s got a proven track record in the industry that’s backed by broad expertise in auto sales. 

In addition to solid credentials, references, and results, you should expect to see a portfolio of strategies that are effective and reliable in supporting their work. When selecting a company, an auto dealer general manager should keep an eye out for the following elements in their game plan:

• Active one-on-one coaching over time for your team.
• Detailed phone and sales scripts tailored to your dealership’s needs.
• Follow-up reports and coaching based on real-world practice and mystery shops. 

ACTIVE COACHING IS KING

Harvard Business School recommends taking several months to perfect a new skill. They also note the importance of learning from an experienced teacher who’s mastered the techniques they’re teaching and note that many people learn best when not being taught by someone responsible for evaluating them at their workplace (like the auto dealer general manager!)

So, if real growth of a skill takes time, effort, and a lot of personal attention from a coach, what’s the smart play? 

Easy: bring in a company that works interactively with your staff in a one-on-one capacity over a span of time sufficient to truly master the skills they need. And before you start worrying about lost productivity, you should know that effective teaching doesn’t mean hours and hours of training. The most elite coaching agencies can make measurable improvements to a sales associate’s game in as little as 20 minutes a month. They’ll give your team real tactics they can deploy right away without interfering with their time on the phone pursuing sales goals. 

DETAILED AND CUSTOM-MADE SCRIPTS

Some dealerships are hesitant to use phone scripts because they view them as limiting to their most talented salespeople. That may have been true 25 years ago, but the industry has changed a lot since then. Customers experience branding, messaging, and content online long before they come into contact with a live person, and it’s extremely difficult to maintain the continuity and consistency of their experience without guidance and structure. 

Deep, branching scripts written for your dealership by experienced automotive sales professionals can give your team a consistent on-brand message. They keep salespeople on track and eliminate random language that’s not moving a customer toward conversion (or actively hurting the chances of closing!).

And in difficult moments, these scripts help your agents effectively handle challenges with grace and kindness. After all, these moments are those rare opportunities to convert an angry person into a lifelong customer with great customer service. 

MYSTERY SHOPS WITH FOLLOW-UP SUPPORT

Without a real-world evaluation of your team’s skills, all the coaching in the world doesn’t mean a thing. It’s critical to test staff knowledge with an initial baseline survey and follow-up evaluations in the workplace. Traditionally this has been done with receipt surveys, email questionnaires, and customer comment cards, but these single-point methods of data collection often lack actionable data and limit the opportunity to ask meaningful follow-up questions.

Mystery shops, however, are extremely effective strategies for analyzing performance quickly and highlighting specific teaching points. By posing as a customer, a mystery shopper will experience exactly what your customers do, and then evaluate the success of the training and the overall customer experience. Multiple data vectors can be collected, and spontaneous follow-up questions on important areas of improvement can be engaged in as needed.

Of course, the very best mystery shopping companies don’t just leave the training at a single point of contact. These moments serve as the basis of ongoing training to solidify new techniques, and will repeatedly confirm performance in real-world situations. 

PICK THE RIGHT PARTNER

An auto dealer general manager must be a master delegator as well as an administrator. If you bring in the wrong coaching agency and strategies to your business you’re wasting time and money, and that will ultimately show up in dropping sales. 

Phone Ninjas is a highly experienced active coaching agency with a proven track record of improving an automotive dealership’s overall sales and customer service skills. Our customized scripts unify your team’s sales approach and ensure that all your employees are confidently and consistently driving your leads toward conversion. 

Our active coaching takes place over months of short, highly individual sessions that leave an auto dealer sales manager in a largely hands-off capacity, free to focus on your other responsibilities. Our coaches have extensive automotive industry experience, so they’ve seen and heard it all. We know the strategies and techniques that can help any auto dealership general manager develop their sales team, and we even offer two free mystery shops to lay the foundation for how we can help them improve. 

If you think Phone Ninjas can help your dealership team excel, call us today to schedule your free demo!

Cracking the sales code: it’s an enigma that keeps sales leaders, general managers, and dealership owners puzzling over tactics month after month. When sales numbers dip, you know it’s time to rethink your strategy. But the story of missed monthly targets is more than just the numbers.

Every dealership leader knows that training is the key to effective sales. For every missed target, there’s a diligent sales team member who can learn from it. If you’re grappling with how to help your team succeed, these car salesman training tips will equip you with proven strategies that can be put into practice in any sales department, any time. 

We’re breaking down two crucial training pillars: masterful communication and smart goal-setting. This duo not only teaches your sales team how to sell, but gives them valuable insight into the role they play in your overall sales strategy. 

MASTERING THE ART OF COMMUNICATION

Whether your team is talking with customers via phone, email, or in person, they must be communication experts. Great salespeople engage every customer at the same level with the right script for the occasion. They’re not winging it; they’re like stage actors who have learned their lines. And while any good script allows for some improvisation through an associate’s natural sales skill, they’re never left without an effective answer for a customer’s needs. 

However, even the best scripts require solid coaching to land. Here are some of the nuances that make the difference when you’re training salespeople for communication success:

• Active Listening: As any good salesperson knows, a script can be helpful but you can’t simply recite your lines and expect results. Encourage your team to listen more and talk less, and focus on what the customer says and how the script aligns with it. As the old saying goes, humans have two ears and one mouth for a reason.
• Personalize, Don’t Ad Lib: Each customer has unique needs and preferences, but you’ll rarely find someone whose objections are brand new. Even so, it’s vital to ensure prospects feel like the salesman is speaking to them, and responding to their concerns in the moment. Highlight key opportunities to personalize content, and provide guidance for crafting an individual experience. 
• Effective Questioning: A strong script will include plenty of open-ended questions encouraging customers to share their interests, preferences, and needs. The answers give your sales team plenty of information to understand what they want—but it also builds stronger rapport.
• Intelligent Scripts for Sales: At Phone Ninjas, we advocate using tailored scripts because they ensure clarity, consistency, and structure. Well-crafted scripts always keep the conversation moving toward a sale. By encouraging fewer awkward pauses and a more professional tone, scripts make your sales team sound and feel confident.

These car salesman training tips can boost the communication skills of your team, laying a firm foundation for hitting monthly targets. By focusing training on key content and messaging, providing guidance for a conversational and personalized approach, and making interactions more consistent, scripts empower sales associates with the tools they need to deliver consistent results. 

GOAL-SETTING TO MOTIVATE SUCCESS

Sales goals are often the driving force behind a team member’s motivation. They make a sale to earn commission and salary. But while earning money is an incentive, it doesn’t necessarily instill pride in your team. Clear, actionable goals are a guiding light for your salespeople, giving them concrete milestones to tackle and tangible achievements they can feel good about.

Here’s how thoughtfully structuring your crew’s goals can keep everyone engaged and confident they can meet expectations:

• Regular Milestones: Daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly milestones tell you and your employees how they’re doing. Did you hit that waypoint this week, and if not, what can we change to get you there? Milestones help your team envision their progress incrementally rather than as a never-ending loop.
• Audits & Mystery Shops: Nothing beats an outside view of your business. At Phone Ninjas, we offer free mystery shops to gauge performance and help you set achievable goals. Instead of basing extreme milestones on the ideal scenario, an external reviewer will show you the path to continuous improvement.
• Regular Reviews: Coaching your staff toward improvement is a constant process, and giving them bite-sized reviews each week will urge them toward the next goalpost. It’s about fostering a culture of accountability and a growth mindset.
• Personalized Goals: Seasoned sales leaders know that goals should fit the individual. This way, salespeople at all levels can focus on skilling up just a little more each time you raise the bar. If you set targets too high, it can make your team feel inadequate or frustrated.
• Reward Achievements: Recognize and reward accomplishments by offering incentives, like Phone Ninjas’ Perfect Score Contest. When salespeople earn a perfect score, we enter them into a drawing to win a six-day vacation (plus $1,000 spending money) to Hawaii! But the incentive isn’t just about the grand prize; it also showcases individual salespeople who’ve worked hard to earn their spot.

COACHING TO HIT MONTHLY SALES TARGETS

These car salesman training tips will launch your team toward success, but only regular coaching can affirm their goals and urge them toward communication mastery. Phone Ninjas provides a tailored coaching program to help your team perfect their phone sales game. 

From bespoke scripts to regular reviews, our comprehensive approach to sales training boosts revenue and maximizes consistency. Phone Ninjas’ unique Active Coaching system isn’t a fire-and-forget affair. Instead, we use weekly, bite-sized coaching sessions that keep your sales team’s heads in the game. Schedule a demo now to learn how we can drive better monthly sales for your dealership! 

Outbound calls are a frequent activity at any dealership, but your teams are often met with a voicemail greeting rather than a customer. This can happen for many reasons and during any part of the sales cycle, but leaving a confusing or enthusiastic message is a surefire way to lose business. Like they would with other phone interactions, your sales team needs to come prepared using tight scripts that tell them what to say and how to say it.

We want to help your associates tackle tricky voicemail scenarios, so we’re sharing 3 of the best voicemails to leave for sales success. You can tailor these templates to suit your unique branding and style, using them as inspiration for your own messages.

Before we dive in, let’s talk about what these voicemails have in common. These traits are essential for ensuring any script is built to sell, but they’re especially crucial to consider in a voicemail.

5 ELEMENTS EVERY SALES VOICEMAIL SHOULD HAVE

Countless variables affect the quality of your team’s phone communication—their cadence, tone, and sense of urgency, for example—but these aren’t the stars of your voicemail. The following five factors separate “meh” messages from those that get quick callbacks:

1. Concision: When leaving a voicemail, sales agents should respect the listener’s time. They should also be mindful that customers are more likely to hang up on a recording than a human—unless the message grabs their attention right away. Your team should know what they will say before they say it. Rule of thumb: the best messages can be consistently delivered in just a few breaths.
2. Urgency: This doesn’t mean sounding like you’re running up a flight of stairs. It’s demonstrating time-bound value that requires the prospect to take action. “Please call me back” is a polite and useful closer, but a CTA like “Lock in your price now” before your signoff drives action.
3. Relevance: Your team is not calling for their own benefit. The customer showed interest or made an inquiry, and you’re here to help them simplify their experience. As sales guides, they are reaching out to respond to a customer’s needs. This makes the customer feel like they’re valued rather than being pressured into a sale.
4. Details: Sales agents should communicate who they are, who they work for, why they’re calling, and what they want the customer to do next. Every voicemail should contain this information. If you leave out any of these details, you’re giving the prospect reasons to not continue because they didn’t write your number down, or they’re unsure what the next step is.
5. Confidence: Confidence isn’t just how you sound on the phone, although a steady and relaxed voice doesn’t hurt. Showing your confidence through word choice is equally important, which is why scripts can help eliminate inconsistencies in vocal presentation.

These traits are shared by all the voicemails we’ll be reviewing, so look for them in the following section. The first voicemail we’ll examine should be a familiar one: The Introduction Voicemail.

THE INTRODUCTION VOICEMAIL

No matter what your product or service is, the first touch with a new customer is crucial. You’re setting the stage for every interaction you’ll have. In this scenario, we’re responding to an inbound lead, but we might not have all the customer details. Focus on what you do know, like the action the customer took to initiate your call, and stay consistent even when you don’t. Here’s a simple yet strong introduction voicemail that exudes professionalism and helpfulness:

Hello, [Customer Name], this is [Your First Name] from ABC Motors. I’m calling in response to your [contact form/phone call that expressed interest in a product], and I would love to schedule a convenient time for a visit so I can hear more about what you’re looking for. Please [Call/Text] me back at [Phone Number]. 

This is a tight voicemail that achieves three specific goals. First, we acknowledge the customer’s interest or connection with the brand: “I’m calling in response…” tells someone that you’re not just “calling for the fun of it.” Next, we immediately bring up scheduling an appointment. We keep it simple here; all we want to do is learn about the customer’s preferences, so it’s not a commitment to buy. Finally, we remind the customer of our contact information and let them know we’re here when they’re ready. 

THE LIMITED-TIME OFFER VOICEMAIL

The best voicemails to leave for sales often specialize in one of our five principles. This one aims to create a sense of urgency that goes beyond responding to a customer’s previous interest. It’s honest but time-bound, and it shows a genuine desire to help the customer out:

Hello, [Customer Name], this is [Your First Name] at ABC Motors. I have some exciting news about [the product the customer was interested in]. There’s currently a promotional discount, but it’s only available until [the end date of the offer]. I would love to schedule a visit to provide more details and lock in this offer before it’s gone. Please call me back at [Phone Number].

Just like the last voicemail, we’re tackling three key objectives: we say why we’re calling, why they should move fast, and what to do next. You don’t need to spill all the offer details; that might overwhelm them (and make for a long voicemail). Instead, you keep things vague so they’re curious about what’s in it for them.

THE CHECK-IN VOICEMAIL

The Check-In is your team’s chance to re-engage with customers who have interacted with your dealership in the past whether they made a purchase or not. These could even be customers who shopped for parts at your business but didn’t purchase a vehicle. Here’s a simple yet super-effective check-in voicemail script:

Hello, [Customer Name], this is [Your First Name] from ABC Motors. I’m reaching out to hear how the [part/vehicle/search for a vehicle] is treating you. We recently [launched promotional discounts/got a new model in stock/began a new maintenance program], so I’d love to schedule a convenient visit to [check up on your vehicle/part/learn about your search]. Feel free to call me back anytime at [Phone Number].

Once again, we’re cultivating urgency, providing clear next steps, and stating the reason for our call. All five features we discussed are here, ensuring customers feel cared for but not pressured into calling us back.

PHONE COACHING FOR VOICEMAILS

Even equipped with three of the best voicemails to leave for sales success, your team will consistently run into situations they don’t feel prepared for. That’s why Phone Ninjas’ active coaching methodology combines engaging, focused scripts with real-world scenarios. We don’t constrain learning to classrooms or conferences; instead, we tailor individual growth plans for each of your sales agents in bite-sized sessions week after week.

Don’t drive business away with inconsistent messages. Start leaving voicemails that sell with Phone Ninjas. Reach out now to learn how to receive two free mystery shops for your online and phone sales channels.

Anyone who’s spent time at a dealership knows the usual suspects. There’s the finance team, the managers, and of course, the service guys, and they all have their areas. But without fail, every time you look up, you wonder, “What is a sales consultant at a car dealership doing?” It seems like everything at once, and they can be staring into an engine block in the bay one minute and selling a hybrid on the other end of the lot the next. 

At auto dealerships, the term “sales consultant” is usually synonymous with “sales representative.” Most of what they do is well understood: dealing directly with customers, explaining the features of different products, and serving as the front line of the dealership. But in reality, they have to be a jack-of-all-trades as well as a master of many, and it takes a talented person to put it all together and get those numbers soaring. 

Fortunately, a winning sales consultant doesn’t have to be born. With an excellent training program to develop their business savvy and phone skills, an associate with a little talent can become a world-champion salesperson. So let’s look at what makes a great automotive sales consultant—and find out if a coaching program can help your team excel.

AN EXPLANATION OF BENEFITS

So, what is a sales consultant at a car dealership? Simply put, they’re the in-person face, voice, and gentle hand that guides customers to a satisfying purchase after making contact. That means they’re responsible for both the bottom line and the top-down strategy for representing your brand with consistency, empathy, and professional charm. 

However, a sales consultant’s role goes beyond simple transactions. They’re your diplomats out in the field building strong relationships and cementing customer loyalty. They’re psychologists and financial consultants prepared to offer solutions that cater to individual needs while closing profitable deals. While customers might initially think of them as an opponent who wants to squeeze as much money out of them as possible, they’ll quickly discover a great sales consultant is a valuable ally who can guide them to a better outcome with respect and expertise.

The game is also in a constant state of evolution, so sales consultants always have to be updating their skills. The reality of the modern industry is that customers often arrive with an idea of what they want based on online research. That said, they’re often open to professional guidance from an informed expert, and knowing how and when to deviate from a sales script can be an art form.

By proving their proficiency through disciplined brand messaging and nuanced interactions, a salesperson can nurture the customer along with answers to common objections and concerns, considerate financing and product options, and do so while making them feel cared for and respected. 

SALES CONSULTANTS ARE IN THE PIPELINE, NOT THE FUNNEL

In past decades, a sales consultant was the first point of contact with a dealership’s brand. However, in the internet age, that’s simply not the case. Most customers have been interacting with a dealer’s website long before they walk on the lot, and that means they’ve already forged a few digital relationships and expectations with your business.  

That might seem minor, but it’s actually crucial to understanding how to train a sales consultant. They are no longer the initial point of contact making a first impression for your company. They are a continuation of a customer’s experience with your brand that started long before anyone picked up a phone. 

It has its romance, but the days of the slick-talking sales maverick are over. Like the dating and social media experiences of Millennials and Gen Zers, the transition from online to face-to-face is a carefully choreographed dance. The 21st-century salesperson needs to be prepared to take over where their company’s digital avatar left off, and it’s not an experience you can fake with raw talent alone. 

This is where scripts are revolutionizing modern sales. The best of the best on the floor tend to think sales scripts are for improving lesser associates—and with the right agency they absolutely will give your team and your sales a boost. But a truly great script and coaching strategy helps your people create a seamless and comfortable transition for the customer from the first online interaction to the in-person meetup. 

It’s one of the most important dynamics in modern sales, and navigating the transition from online to in-person can be the difference between falling flat and falling in love with the sales consultant on the other end of the line. 

COACHING PHONE SKILLS TO BOOST SALES CONSULTANT PERFORMANCE

So, what is a sales consultant at a car dealership? They’re some of your most valuable and dynamic employees who might need a little guidance with sales, and can always use new techniques and strategies to make the most of their leads. That’s where a great phone sales coach can help.

With so much of the sales process shifting to remote interaction, most customer communication happens over the phone. That means your phone strategy has to be rock solid from the get-go, and aligned with the messaging they’ve been interacting with online. 

So, ask yourself this question instead: “How are my sales consultants doing on the phone?” If you’re not sure, it might be time to consider a free mystery shop from Phone Ninjas, which will give you an unbiased picture of the phone and online customer experience.

Because we recognize the pivotal role phone sales play in modern auto dealerships, Phone Ninjas designed an active coaching program tailored to each sales consultant. After initial certification, our non-disruptive and bite-sized coaching sessions drill down into each salesperson’s individual strengths and growth areas.

Instead of a “shock and awe” approach with big conferences and endless classroom roleplay, we focus on real-world calls and practical results. At Phone Ninjas, our results speak for themselves: the most engaged dealerships with our program see appointment set rates at 80% or higher. 

Give your sales consultants a boost on phone sales with our expert coaching team, and connect with Phone Ninjas today!