There are many schools of thought as to how an internet sales department or even a BDC should be setup.  In fact, similar ways of thinking apply to managing the success of a whole dealership.  After years of attending conferences, seminars, working in dealerships and consulting dealerships I have learned something that is still being misunderstood.  What is being misunderstood?

The fact that managing a process or even a department is a science.  It is true that we cannot learn in school about how to build and manage a car dealership.  In fact, after working with some high level executive managers I learned the difference between what it takes to be an average performer versus an above average performer (superstar).  The difference is all about who is willing to push the boundary further.  Dealers, General Managers, Sales Managers, Service/Parts, and Internet/BDC Managers need to ask themselves the following questions:

1. Are you working hands on with your people?  
2. Are you providing on the job training to mentor your people through best practices?  If you are, is it becoming a natural habit?
3. Are you leading by example?  Do you expect your people to do everything that you are willing to do?
4. Do you micro manage your CRM?
5. Do you give your vendors a difficult time in order to achieve the success that you need from them?

These are five very important questions.  It is important to strategize for the future success that is currently being built.  There are many obstacles that come everyday that range from lack of traffic, lack of training, technology glitches, team members state of mind not being in the game, etc...

Once these things are understood, get prepared to tackle everything that gets in the way.  Learn from the best dealers in the country on best practices even if they are not in the your market.  There is a reason why some stores are selling 500 units per month and the average dealer is only doing 80-100.  Mystery shop your competition especially if they are outperforming your dealership.  Always, always, always be prepared to make adequate strategy changes because what has worked 30 years ago will not work completely the same way today.

Who is Jason Becker you might ask?  Before I tell you I want to let you know that the reason for this post is because I am tired of hearing people tell me that they cannot do something or that things are impossible.  I hear it from sales professionals at dealerships.  I hear it from people that I meet in social environments that tell me they are looking for a job after I mention the possibility of car sales.  I even hear it from people in my family who sometimes make excuses instead of working to find a solution.  Enough already!

As some of you may know I have a huge hobby involving music and guitars.  In fact you might have seen my videos on YouTube.  Recently, I changed my company (Dealer eTraining) logo to involve a guitar with a the proper theme involving automotive dealerships.  Yes, I am that infatuated with music.

Since I am heavily into music and playing guitar I am a huge fan of some of the greatest guitar players to ever live (Hendrix, Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Vai, Satriani, etc...).  As a student of guitar and a person that likes to be inspired I discovered Jason Becker a little bit later (3 years ago) because it is unfortunate that he no longer plays guitar.  I discovered Jason Becker by hearing other musicians perform his music in tribute, listening to a David Lee Roth album, and seeing videos on YouTube.  I learned that Jason has suffered from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis after being diagnosed at age 20.  The man was a child prodigy and can play anything.  I mean a real wizard.  He found fame as a young up and coming guitar player at 16 and around 20 was recording an album as the guitar player for the David Lee Roth band. He had to cancel plans to tour because of his disease and within a few short years would love feeling in his whole body.

Please watch this video (http://youtu.be/tYIZP1hrfZI)

He eventually would become paralyzed completely and could not talk.  However, his mind worked and with the use of creating computerized devices he was able to compose brilliant masterpiece compositions that he would utilize other musicians to record in order for him to release an album.  His parents created a way to read his eye signals to spell out the words that he needs to communicate.  This is how he functions yet still creates his own success without having a second thought to complain about anything.

Why am I writing about this?  I believe that you can do anything that you want if you put your mind to it.  Stop crying about how bad it is.  If you are alive and well, healthy and in control of the situation then step up your game and maximize your opportunity.  If a man who cannot function one bit can do it then I am sure that a fully capable human can do it.  My advise is to study your profession and become great at it.  The automotive industry is a lucrative profession and can be a positive experience.  I know that it taught me a lot about life and being able to go out and get what I want.

The video you just watched is a news clip.  For more inspiration regarding Jason I suggest that everyone watch the movie "Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet" (http://www.jasonbeckermovie.com). Grab a box of tissues and prepare to get inspired.  The bottom line is that you can do anything that you set your mind on and this is living proof.  If Jason is not dead yet then you should not be either.

Who is Jason Becker you might ask?  Before I tell you I want to let you know that the reason for this post is because I am tired of hearing people tell me that they cannot do something or that things are impossible.  I hear it from sales professionals at dealerships.  I hear it from people that I meet in social environments that tell me they are looking for a job after I mention the possibility of car sales.  I even hear it from people in my family who sometimes make excuses instead of working to find a solution.  Enough already!

As some of you may know I have a huge hobby involving music and guitars.  In fact you might have seen my videos on YouTube.  Recently, I changed my company (Dealer eTraining) logo to involve a guitar with a the proper theme involving automotive dealerships.  Yes, I am that infatuated with music.

Since I am heavily into music and playing guitar I am a huge fan of some of the greatest guitar players to ever live (Hendrix, Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Vai, Satriani, etc...).  As a student of guitar and a person that likes to be inspired I discovered Jason Becker a little bit later (3 years ago) because it is unfortunate that he no longer plays guitar.  I discovered Jason Becker by hearing other musicians perform his music in tribute, listening to a David Lee Roth album, and seeing videos on YouTube.  I learned that Jason has suffered from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis after being diagnosed at age 20.  The man was a child prodigy and can play anything.  I mean a real wizard.  He found fame as a young up and coming guitar player at 16 and around 20 was recording an album as the guitar player for the David Lee Roth band. He had to cancel plans to tour because of his disease and within a few short years would love feeling in his whole body.

Please watch this video (http://youtu.be/tYIZP1hrfZI)

He eventually would become paralyzed completely and could not talk.  However, his mind worked and with the use of creating computerized devices he was able to compose brilliant masterpiece compositions that he would utilize other musicians to record in order for him to release an album.  His parents created a way to read his eye signals to spell out the words that he needs to communicate.  This is how he functions yet still creates his own success without having a second thought to complain about anything.

Why am I writing about this?  I believe that you can do anything that you want if you put your mind to it.  Stop crying about how bad it is.  If you are alive and well, healthy and in control of the situation then step up your game and maximize your opportunity.  If a man who cannot function one bit can do it then I am sure that a fully capable human can do it.  My advise is to study your profession and become great at it.  The automotive industry is a lucrative profession and can be a positive experience.  I know that it taught me a lot about life and being able to go out and get what I want.

The video you just watched is a news clip.  For more inspiration regarding Jason I suggest that everyone watch the movie "Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet" (http://www.jasonbeckermovie.com). Grab a box of tissues and prepare to get inspired.  The bottom line is that you can do anything that you set your mind on and this is living proof.  If Jason is not dead yet then you should not be either.

It is no surprise that automotive dealers are being bombarded with vendors creating new products (solutions) all of the time.  In some ways automotive retailers are feeling like they are being hurt and their profits are being taken over.  I was at an Acura dealership the other day when the owner mentioned that cars.com sent a 30 day noticed explaining a price increase.  He was complaining about it and his words were "there is no reason to be a dealer anymore when all you have to do is start a software company".  Does this sound familiar?

The reality is that no one can stop an entrepreneur from taking a dream and turning it into reality.  The other reality is that even in the competitive market there needs to be a solution to fit different needs of automotive dealers.  I think that some vendors need to consider looking at creating quality inexpensive solutions for independent dealerships with low budgets as well.  It seems as all of these technology customers are chasing the same business and competition has become fierce.  While I believe that competition is a beautiful thing I often wonder what dealers reactions are when they get solicited more then five times in a single day.

The bottom line is that companies will be popping up and offering solutions.  There will be companies that dominate and others that fail.  There will also be mergers and acquisitions in the industry where companies will grow drastically.  However, the automotive retailing business does not need to lose profits.  The fact is that dealers need to set a budget and work that budget.  Some vendors will make price increases and if the price increase does not justify the ROI then there are solutions to cut tie and move to their competitor.  This happens with website and CRM companies sometimes.  My point is that dealers need to find ways to make the technology work so that they can maximize opportunity and create a better experience for the customer.  Also, stop looking for the silver bullet or the shiny object because in reality the shiny object is all in the performance of management and your people.

I welcome thoughts and comments.  Thank you.

It is no surprise that automotive dealers are being bombarded with vendors creating new products (solutions) all of the time.  In some ways automotive retailers are feeling like they are being hurt and their profits are being taken over.  I was at an Acura dealership the other day when the owner mentioned that cars.com sent a 30 day noticed explaining a price increase.  He was complaining about it and his words were "there is no reason to be a dealer anymore when all you have to do is start a software company".  Does this sound familiar?

The reality is that no one can stop an entrepreneur from taking a dream and turning it into reality.  The other reality is that even in the competitive market there needs to be a solution to fit different needs of automotive dealers.  I think that some vendors need to consider looking at creating quality inexpensive solutions for independent dealerships with low budgets as well.  It seems as all of these technology customers are chasing the same business and competition has become fierce.  While I believe that competition is a beautiful thing I often wonder what dealers reactions are when they get solicited more then five times in a single day.

The bottom line is that companies will be popping up and offering solutions.  There will be companies that dominate and others that fail.  There will also be mergers and acquisitions in the industry where companies will grow drastically.  However, the automotive retailing business does not need to lose profits.  The fact is that dealers need to set a budget and work that budget.  Some vendors will make price increases and if the price increase does not justify the ROI then there are solutions to cut tie and move to their competitor.  This happens with website and CRM companies sometimes.  My point is that dealers need to find ways to make the technology work so that they can maximize opportunity and create a better experience for the customer.  Also, stop looking for the silver bullet or the shiny object because in reality the shiny object is all in the performance of management and your people.

I welcome thoughts and comments.  Thank you.

As I watch new episodes of "Bar Rescue" on Spike I am amazed at some of the things that I have learned about the food and beverage industry.  I have been watching this show with a very open mind to understand what I can do to improve my business practices.  What I have found was that this show has business practices that even automotive professionals and managers need to consider taking a look at.  Let's take a look at what I am talking about.

1. "Drinks should always be 1 oz of liquor to 3 oz of mix.  The perfect oz is a 90 degree angle for 3.5 seconds."  This is one of the quotes that Jon has been using.  He talks about this in order to teach bar owners how to save money to increase ROI.  I find that when looking at the automotive sales process dealers have similar issues with untrained or unexperienced sales consultants letting the customer leave without giving management an opportunity to do a proper TO.  In fact I remember being a new sales person and this happened to me.  My manager had said to me, "congratulations, you just cost the dealership $600" with a hint that every missed opportunity costs the dealership $600.  Just like in the scenario of saving money and maximizing opportunities for a bar the proper process and training in the showroom will save the business money invested.

2. "When customers order drinks like vodka and cranberry, always suggest premium liquor with that.  About 25% of the time you will sell a more expensive brand and that's 25% more cash in your pocket".  This quote can apply to many parts of the sales process including selling add-on accessories, working with a trade in, or even selling products in the finance department.  As a sales professional it is simple to improve profits, get a customer more excited, and provide more value to them by just simply offering to take a look at some more options.  The service department does this be offering to take care of something on the current vehicle sooner then later.  This is a method of up selling.

3. "Redesigning the menu can immediately increase your profit.  Proven techniques by like boxing and shadowing your dishes can increase sales by 10% overnight and it encourages people to go for more expensive items which is the name of the game."  We have all been taught to offer our customers choices and that is a huge part of why finance managers design a menu to sell from.  While selling the most expensive package on the menu will improve the gross profit of a deal it will also offer the customer more added value.  The same added value that will keep them coming back to your dealership for service, future vehicles, and even offer you referrals.  This is the art of letting the customer up sell themselves.

4. In some episodes of the show, Jon Taffer says that "statistically guests will stay 52 minutes longer when they have a mean" when he stresses the importance of offering a food menu.  As a bar consultant and expert he teaches bar owners how to make profits using these technique to up sell guests.  The automotive business is constantly growing by up selling.  When it comes to sales think about that customer that purchased a vehicle to own for a long period of time but did not buy an extended warranty. Also, when offering to take a look at accessories and showing customers the nice things they can do to make their vehicle look and drive nicer we are up selling.  In service, advisors are always up selling when technicians notice that something will have to be replaced soon by offering the guest to get it done now instead of waiting.  Obviously, the business office is in charge of signing up guests and also offering them more value while up selling them in order to improve the gross profit of the deal.  What about vendors selling to dealers?  A dealer signs up with a vendor for a product and starts to use it successfully but to keep up with competition the company creates a new package to present to the dealership.  This is also an up sell.  

Alright, so 3/4 of the Jon Taffer quotes that I related to that automotive industry involve up selling and improving profits while the first statement involve process management.  The bottom line is that every industry practices up selling and there is nothing wrong with it.  A business will grow and maintain success through proper process, marketing, and sales techniques no matter what industry it serves. 

I would like to welcome comments and opinions to this discussion.

As I watch new episodes of "Bar Rescue" on Spike I am amazed at some of the things that I have learned about the food and beverage industry.  I have been watching this show with a very open mind to understand what I can do to improve my business practices.  What I have found was that this show has business practices that even automotive professionals and managers need to consider taking a look at.  Let's take a look at what I am talking about.

1. "Drinks should always be 1 oz of liquor to 3 oz of mix.  The perfect oz is a 90 degree angle for 3.5 seconds."  This is one of the quotes that Jon has been using.  He talks about this in order to teach bar owners how to save money to increase ROI.  I find that when looking at the automotive sales process dealers have similar issues with untrained or unexperienced sales consultants letting the customer leave without giving management an opportunity to do a proper TO.  In fact I remember being a new sales person and this happened to me.  My manager had said to me, "congratulations, you just cost the dealership $600" with a hint that every missed opportunity costs the dealership $600.  Just like in the scenario of saving money and maximizing opportunities for a bar the proper process and training in the showroom will save the business money invested.

2. "When customers order drinks like vodka and cranberry, always suggest premium liquor with that.  About 25% of the time you will sell a more expensive brand and that's 25% more cash in your pocket".  This quote can apply to many parts of the sales process including selling add-on accessories, working with a trade in, or even selling products in the finance department.  As a sales professional it is simple to improve profits, get a customer more excited, and provide more value to them by just simply offering to take a look at some more options.  The service department does this be offering to take care of something on the current vehicle sooner then later.  This is a method of up selling.

3. "Redesigning the menu can immediately increase your profit.  Proven techniques by like boxing and shadowing your dishes can increase sales by 10% overnight and it encourages people to go for more expensive items which is the name of the game."  We have all been taught to offer our customers choices and that is a huge part of why finance managers design a menu to sell from.  While selling the most expensive package on the menu will improve the gross profit of a deal it will also offer the customer more added value.  The same added value that will keep them coming back to your dealership for service, future vehicles, and even offer you referrals.  This is the art of letting the customer up sell themselves.

4. In some episodes of the show, Jon Taffer says that "statistically guests will stay 52 minutes longer when they have a mean" when he stresses the importance of offering a food menu.  As a bar consultant and expert he teaches bar owners how to make profits using these technique to up sell guests.  The automotive business is constantly growing by up selling.  When it comes to sales think about that customer that purchased a vehicle to own for a long period of time but did not buy an extended warranty. Also, when offering to take a look at accessories and showing customers the nice things they can do to make their vehicle look and drive nicer we are up selling.  In service, advisors are always up selling when technicians notice that something will have to be replaced soon by offering the guest to get it done now instead of waiting.  Obviously, the business office is in charge of signing up guests and also offering them more value while up selling them in order to improve the gross profit of the deal.  What about vendors selling to dealers?  A dealer signs up with a vendor for a product and starts to use it successfully but to keep up with competition the company creates a new package to present to the dealership.  This is also an up sell.  

Alright, so 3/4 of the Jon Taffer quotes that I related to that automotive industry involve up selling and improving profits while the first statement involve process management.  The bottom line is that every industry practices up selling and there is nothing wrong with it.  A business will grow and maintain success through proper process, marketing, and sales techniques no matter what industry it serves. 

I would like to welcome comments and opinions to this discussion.

It is Monday evening and you are back from the 2013 NADA convention.  You have travelled across the country to attend workshops and meet with vendors to review the latest and greatest products in an effort to improve your own business.  At this point, you are happy to be back because you feel like you lost a few important days of being productive and running the dealership.  Tomorrow you will be back at the dealership playing catch up and putting out fires.  This process will take you through the end of the week.

In all this time, have you reflected back on what you have learned?  At this point, have you retained any of the information that you sat through or did it go through one ear and out the other?  That's right the NADA Convention is now over, so now what are you going to do next?  Will you continue to go one more year facing the same challenges or are you going to make a difference?

As you read this and think, "what's with all the questions", think about the reality of what you deal with at your dealership every day.  You have at least seven departments to worry about with a number of employees to take care of.  Each department has their strong points while at the same time they have their flaws.  As a dealer or general manager you need to be organized and prepare to address everything while continuing to operate a profitable business to ensure that production does not stop.  You have managers under you who need to be capable of managing their people, processes, and internal issues.   These managers need to be made aware of what new ideas or products you want to bring to the table.  

This is where effective communication needs to take place amongst management every single day.  Do not be that dealer principle or GM that just keeps to them and demand to see results.  Today's successful dealerships need to have upper management involvement and ideas need to be expressed. It is important that everyone in the dealership operates with an open mind or at least gets trained to be open minded.  The industry continues to transform ways that business is done.  I look at companies like "IntellaCar" and I am amazed at how simple they made their tool in order to create a better, more efficient sales process for the modern sales professional.

Ok...you get the point but how do you get started?  How do you put into place what you learned and experienced in one solid action packed three day weekend?  In the 10 years that I have been working in the automotive industry I have come to learn that building success is no different than building a science project.  It involves the will to improve, a solid action plan, a systematic process, and an open mind.

Here are some simple steps to help automotive dealership executives get started on building their future success:

1. Examine the problem that you are looking to fix

2. Refer back to your notes and discussions from the NADA convention

3. Consider how the things that you learned will benefit your operation (your people, your market, your expenses, etc...)

4. Address this with your management team and get input

5. Create a process utilizing what you are currently doing and adding some new ideas that you feel can make a difference

6. Implement this plan in the dealership

7. Measure your results for 1 month

8. Modify your process as needed for more efficiency

9. Work your plan without deviating from it.

10. Enjoy your success and move on

If this sounds crazy or does not make sense to you then think about how your sales team operates every day.  The sales department follows a process driven road to the sales which have become systematic.  Your plan of improvement needs to be systematic in the same way.  

If you organize yourself and your priorities and put a focus on this for just 30 minutes per day for one whole 5 day work week that equates to 2.5 hours of solution building and laying out the foundation for success.  These 2.5 hours will show you instant ROI for your trip to the NADA convention.  Please do not get me wrong and think that this is easy.  If it was easy then everyone in the world would be aiming to be more successful and profitable. 

At this point, it is time to get started.  Start with addressing your problems and concerns.  Invest the time to review what you learned.  Get with your management team and start building your success.  Find what works for you and embrace it.

It is Monday evening and you are back from the 2013 NADA convention.  You have travelled across the country to attend workshops and meet with vendors to review the latest and greatest products in an effort to improve your own business.  At this point, you are happy to be back because you feel like you lost a few important days of being productive and running the dealership.  Tomorrow you will be back at the dealership playing catch up and putting out fires.  This process will take you through the end of the week.

In all this time, have you reflected back on what you have learned?  At this point, have you retained any of the information that you sat through or did it go through one ear and out the other?  That's right the NADA Convention is now over, so now what are you going to do next?  Will you continue to go one more year facing the same challenges or are you going to make a difference?

As you read this and think, "what's with all the questions", think about the reality of what you deal with at your dealership every day.  You have at least seven departments to worry about with a number of employees to take care of.  Each department has their strong points while at the same time they have their flaws.  As a dealer or general manager you need to be organized and prepare to address everything while continuing to operate a profitable business to ensure that production does not stop.  You have managers under you who need to be capable of managing their people, processes, and internal issues.   These managers need to be made aware of what new ideas or products you want to bring to the table.  

This is where effective communication needs to take place amongst management every single day.  Do not be that dealer principle or GM that just keeps to them and demand to see results.  Today's successful dealerships need to have upper management involvement and ideas need to be expressed. It is important that everyone in the dealership operates with an open mind or at least gets trained to be open minded.  The industry continues to transform ways that business is done.  I look at companies like "IntellaCar" and I am amazed at how simple they made their tool in order to create a better, more efficient sales process for the modern sales professional.

Ok...you get the point but how do you get started?  How do you put into place what you learned and experienced in one solid action packed three day weekend?  In the 10 years that I have been working in the automotive industry I have come to learn that building success is no different than building a science project.  It involves the will to improve, a solid action plan, a systematic process, and an open mind.

Here are some simple steps to help automotive dealership executives get started on building their future success:

1. Examine the problem that you are looking to fix

2. Refer back to your notes and discussions from the NADA convention

3. Consider how the things that you learned will benefit your operation (your people, your market, your expenses, etc...)

4. Address this with your management team and get input

5. Create a process utilizing what you are currently doing and adding some new ideas that you feel can make a difference

6. Implement this plan in the dealership

7. Measure your results for 1 month

8. Modify your process as needed for more efficiency

9. Work your plan without deviating from it.

10. Enjoy your success and move on

If this sounds crazy or does not make sense to you then think about how your sales team operates every day.  The sales department follows a process driven road to the sales which have become systematic.  Your plan of improvement needs to be systematic in the same way.  

If you organize yourself and your priorities and put a focus on this for just 30 minutes per day for one whole 5 day work week that equates to 2.5 hours of solution building and laying out the foundation for success.  These 2.5 hours will show you instant ROI for your trip to the NADA convention.  Please do not get me wrong and think that this is easy.  If it was easy then everyone in the world would be aiming to be more successful and profitable. 

At this point, it is time to get started.  Start with addressing your problems and concerns.  Invest the time to review what you learned.  Get with your management team and start building your success.  Find what works for you and embrace it.

Welcome to Part 3 of a live dealership case study in which I am working on.  It has been two weeks since Part 2 was published.  I was away in Chicago consulting another client and also handling the Internet Sales 20 Group.  I came home to a major hurricane which slowed things down considerably.  But here is what we were able to accomplish.

CRM:

We have been working on pre-installation processes with eLead by installing email headers, templates, and other important parts of the CRM.  It has been a simple process as the CRM company is accommodating.  eLead will be spending the week at the dealership training and installing the CRM at the dealership which means we will be live in a few days.

Website:

Once again, the major challenge is that it is OEM mandated and certain things are not able to be done while others are being developed as we speak.  As much as I respect what OEMs are doing to make all dealers in the same brand unified I feel that they make it difficult for a dealership to create a unique image to stand out from the competition.

We are in the process of updating employee pictures.  This is a tough task because the owner wants all pictures to be the same exact size.  The challenge is getting the pictures to show up on the website in the same size.  I am still trying to figure out with the vendor what is going on and this is the one time where I feel they are not helping me as they should.

We drastically improved the way the specials pages look with come great content and even more specials.  We started to add video testimonials to the website which was a challenge also because the videos did not want to upload from my end.  In addition, we made proper changes for the new month and any news pertaining to changes.

Social Media:

I have begun to focus on Facebook this past week.  I have been posting engaging content and getting people responding it.  In terms of twitter, I know we have followers but for some reason I am looking for the login which no one can seem to find.  I might have to setup a new account but I will give it a week before I do it.

I have continued to blog and syndicate content.  The content has been getting some views which tell me that people are reading it.  We had an announcement from the OEM that there is a hurricane relief discount available to people in certain areas that lost their vehicles to flood and hurricane damage.  I was quick to post it and promote it on facebook before any competing dealer can think of doing the same, if they normally do it.

Videos/Pictures:

It was disappointing to me that when I left for a whole week and asked sales people to start getting their own videos and pictures that not a single person took an action.  They got all excited about the fact that they can brand themselves but they took no action at all.  I addressed that with management because the process takes all of one minute and I am even here to get the content up.  All they need is to have a form filled out, snap a picture or capture a 30 second video and have me handle the rest.  I hope that they fix the situation and get to it.  However, one person did get a picture for me that is now posted.

I added more content to the Flickr account.

Traditional Advertising:

I have not had to be involved with this.

Online Reputation Management:

I discovered a challenge that I have never had before.  In all of my years doing this I was always able to grow a dealership’s online reputation without problem.  I sat in and listened to reasons why the service department has a hard time getting reviews and I am noticing from the sales department why they are not doing.

The sales department is not pushing for it at all.  The service department explains that whenever they ask for a review to get posted that customers do not want to post it.  The understanding that I am getting is that a lot of the customers here are generally in aged in the mid 40s and range as high as 70+.  They do not want to leave an email address and they prefer to leave a survey in pen and paper.  This raises a challenge to me, a social and digital warrior that believes that everyone and everything should be online.  I am thinking that we need an iPad in service and sales with a 4G connection and we should work closely with the customer to get what we need by guiding them or assisting them.  It is obvious that post cards with links to review sites do not work well for the customers as they do not pay attention to them.

I have never been a fan of spiffing customers for reviews.  However, cars.com has a really neat format of how to generate reviews.  Cars.com offers to place customers into a contest where the customer has a potential of getting $100 for leaving a review.  There is an email template for it.  I am thinking of also creating a process strictly for cars.com to let customers know about the offer not just as delivery but also after delivery where they can be guided through.  I mean, “Who wouldn’t want a chance to get $100?”  It is also my goal to learn from cars.com if the review can somehow be syndicated just like the way DealerRater does it with google.

If anyone has suggestions of how to get reviews from customers that are more mature and not as computer savvy, I am open to some responses on here.

Dealership Process and Operations:

While walking around the dealership looking for things that needed improvement I noticed a binder with parts specials that looked sloppy.  I took it upon myself to let management know about this and created a new professional looking binder with better specials and more transparency.

I have been spending time watching how the sales department functions from how sales managers are managing their people to how they work deals.  I have to say that when it comes to working deals and selling cars they do a great job and they have decent grosses.  The managers get involved in deals and are aggressive to sell cars.  This dealership is generally number one in its district.  The other things that I have been observing are how the one internet coordinator functions throughout the day.  The GSM complains about the coordinator because he finds him playing on his cell phone a lot.  The fix to the problem was that I monitored CRM activities in the old CRM and read comments along with emails that were being sent to the customers.

I noticed something interesting and disturbing.  When an internet appointment comes in the internet coordinator sits with them and talks with them sometimes as long as 20-30 minutes.  When I approached management they agreed and said that it needs to be fixed.  I had the perfect fix for that.  At the Internet Sales 20 Group, Ralph Paglia introduced the “Showroom Appointment Reception Agenda”.  This form is a professional way for the coordinator to meet the customer that they communicated with.  What is amazing about this form is that it explains in a quick and transparent fashion what the customer will accomplish on this visit which is a 4-5 step process.  The coordinator turns over the customer to a sales consultant and moves on with their job.  This takes 1-2 minutes.  We are implementing this as of this week as the new CRM is installed.  There were major changes made to the document that Ralph provided which I will describe in the next section.

Call monitoring is not very strong in the dealership.  The dealership relies on cars.com and their website provider to have toll free numbers.  It is amazing that the newspaper always had a local number.  No one really ever listened to phone calls.  In fact, all sales calls are being handled by sales consultants and not the internet coordinator.  This is a whole other issue that I will be tackling soon if I get the chance to.  The way I monitor the calls is I stand in the showroom and listen to the sales consultants talk to phone ups.  I then log into to my limited tools and listen to the conversation.  My plans are to do the same with service and parts soon.  While taking many notes, I have discovered flaws in phone skills and will be planning on phone training sessions at this dealership after the CRM is installed. 

Ownership Challenges:

The only real challenges in the improvement and transformation of the dealership are dealing with ownership in this case.  The dealer principle is not hands on yet has very interesting opinions to how things should run.  As far as sales and service is concerned, she lets the managers do their thing and make money for the store.  But when a highly paid expert that has built numerous success stories is brought in a challenge is created.  Now, I am not saying that challenges are not fun.  This is a unique challenge where I am working with a personality that involves me trying to figure out how they think. 

Every best practice email installed needs to be edited because the writing does not work for them.  This stalled the processes of installing emails into the CRM by two weeks.  Take website content, wording of some serious best practices just never work and they need to be changed.  My challenge is that I need to change content and write it as if I was this other person.  Again, it is an interesting challenge.

The best practice implemented by Ralph Paglia was another example where 60% of the content was rewritten and another 20% was omitted just to satisfy their feelings.  Now I am not saying the document became a bad document but it had changed the TO process from internet coordinator to sales person in a way that I personally would have done differently.

I respect the challenge and although at some point it is frustrating it is what makes me better at my job and what ultimately brings more success to the dealership.

That is all for Part 3.  If anyone has questions, always feel free to contact me. 

http://dealeretraining.com/

https://www.facebook.com/dealeretraining

http://www.drivingsales.com/ratings/companies/dealer-etraining