http://www.dealeretraining.com
http://dealeretraining.tumblr.com

I am amazed at the lack of creativity out there. I wonder if automotive professionals do not think of ideas or maybe they are being lazy. I mean we all know how that goes without saying in the business. The idea here is to figure out more effective methods of reaching prospects, internet, phone, and previous walk in.

Follow up scenario:

An internet lead comes in. The internet or BDC representative and/or manager have made numerous phone calls and emails to the prospect only to get no response. They think they have done everything to engage the customer and start to blame the customer, the internet, the dealership, and everything else that comes to mind. They fail to take a look in the mirror and think of what went wrong. These people start making excuses and stop looking for other methods. Now, they did all of their follow up and they are done. They go on facebook, twitter, youtube, or any other popular social network site and look for a way to kill time. Meanwhile, the month is getting closer to an end and the dealership has no traffic coming in.

“Help!!! I am not making any money. The economy is horrible. The internet customer is wasting my time. I can’t pay my bills. I am better off going to work for a salary.”
This is an emergency. How do we stop the bleeding?

We stop focusing on the negativity. We stop blaming others for our own failures.

The customer is not responding to emails. The national email open rate is really somewhere around 11%. I got this information from a power CRM/ILM Company. Do you realize how many junk emails people get every hour? We delete so many emails or avoid them because the content in them does not inspire us to open them.
The customer is not returning phone calls or is not picking up the phone. Did you leave a powerful voice message? Did you entice the customer with your enthusiasm? Did you provide benefits for the customer to talk to you? Did you remind the customer of a unique value package for them to do business with you? Did you let the customer know about your strong online reputation? Did you just leave a message quoting invoice or below invoice? Did you do some investigation to find out more about your customer? Can you honestly build a rapport off of the information that you have in the internet lead? What have you done to engage your prospects?

These are questions that need to be considered.

Social Media Follow Up. This is a third way to respond to customers. This is simple and powerful.
Go to google. Search the customer. Find information on the customer and match it up to the information in the internet lead. Find out about what they do for a living. Find out their hobbies. Send them a message directly on facebook. Leave them a voice message and mention something that you know about them in a positive way (things they would not expect you to know about them). When they hear your message, they will wonder, “how did he know this about me?” They will call you back just for that reason alone. “BINGO”. You are in.

If all you are doing is making calls and sending emails, you are not doing your job to the fullest potential. Consider how people communicate these days and learn to adapt. I believe in moving with the times. You cannot change your success until you change your thinking and improve the way that you conduct business.

http://www.dealeretraining.com
http://dealeretraining.tumblr.com

I am amazed at the lack of creativity out there. I wonder if automotive professionals do not think of ideas or maybe they are being lazy. I mean we all know how that goes without saying in the business. The idea here is to figure out more effective methods of reaching prospects, internet, phone, and previous walk in.

Follow up scenario:

An internet lead comes in. The internet or BDC representative and/or manager have made numerous phone calls and emails to the prospect only to get no response. They think they have done everything to engage the customer and start to blame the customer, the internet, the dealership, and everything else that comes to mind. They fail to take a look in the mirror and think of what went wrong. These people start making excuses and stop looking for other methods. Now, they did all of their follow up and they are done. They go on facebook, twitter, youtube, or any other popular social network site and look for a way to kill time. Meanwhile, the month is getting closer to an end and the dealership has no traffic coming in.

“Help!!! I am not making any money. The economy is horrible. The internet customer is wasting my time. I can’t pay my bills. I am better off going to work for a salary.”
This is an emergency. How do we stop the bleeding?

We stop focusing on the negativity. We stop blaming others for our own failures.

The customer is not responding to emails. The national email open rate is really somewhere around 11%. I got this information from a power CRM/ILM Company. Do you realize how many junk emails people get every hour? We delete so many emails or avoid them because the content in them does not inspire us to open them.
The customer is not returning phone calls or is not picking up the phone. Did you leave a powerful voice message? Did you entice the customer with your enthusiasm? Did you provide benefits for the customer to talk to you? Did you remind the customer of a unique value package for them to do business with you? Did you let the customer know about your strong online reputation? Did you just leave a message quoting invoice or below invoice? Did you do some investigation to find out more about your customer? Can you honestly build a rapport off of the information that you have in the internet lead? What have you done to engage your prospects?

These are questions that need to be considered.

Social Media Follow Up. This is a third way to respond to customers. This is simple and powerful.
Go to google. Search the customer. Find information on the customer and match it up to the information in the internet lead. Find out about what they do for a living. Find out their hobbies. Send them a message directly on facebook. Leave them a voice message and mention something that you know about them in a positive way (things they would not expect you to know about them). When they hear your message, they will wonder, “how did he know this about me?” They will call you back just for that reason alone. “BINGO”. You are in.

If all you are doing is making calls and sending emails, you are not doing your job to the fullest potential. Consider how people communicate these days and learn to adapt. I believe in moving with the times. You cannot change your success until you change your thinking and improve the way that you conduct business.

http;//www.dealeretraining.com

http://dealeretraining.tumblr.com

As I mystery shop automotive dealers on a weekly basis, I am amazed at the lack of follow up phone skills that are still out there.  Even more, I am amazed at the lack of follow up attempts that most Internet and BDC departments have.  This is either lack of training, lack of motivation, or simply way too many leads coming in to effectively handle the proper procedure.  After all of that we wonder why we are not getting the ROI that we are looking for.

I submitted a lead to a Toyota dealership (name will not be disclosed).  This dealership is huge selling around 500 units per month.  I was very impressed with the follow up process when using the phone.  I did not answer calls on purpose just so I can listen to the voice mails and see how many times they will call.  I was impressed because they called me between 2 and 3 times per day every day. The calls came from sales professionals in the internet department as well as a manager.  If that is not powerful, I do not know what is.  This is the only other dealership that I have heard that has a manager get involved in a follow up process.  The other situation is when I work in a dealership as a director for the department because I like to get heavily involved with my leads and prospects and add a second face.  This always helped drive more traffic to the showroom and eventually put more deals out there.

This is way more then the average internet department would do.  Some dealerships have a process where a call is made every other day while others call for the first 5 days and stop.  There are dealerships that are trained to call once and stop.  I can argue that some processes out there are just very poor while others are great.  At the same time, different situations call for different follow up methods.

If the dealership is staffed appropriately and is able to handle a solid process, heavy follow up is a beautiful thing.  I remember having coordinators complain, "what if the customer tells me to stop and is annoyed with me calling so much?".  I would tell them, "Good, that means you are doing your job.  If that happens, I will give you $20 bucks cash out of my pocket.  Do your job.  The customer called you or emailed you because they are serious about getting into a vehicle.  Help them get what they want.".  As a dealer or manager it is important to appreciate that the Internet/BDC/Retention departments do everything to keep traffic coming in.  Gone are the days where these departments need to be treated like a redheaded stepchild.  We need to start focusing on effective follow up processes.

If I had to change a few things about the follow up process that this dealership used, I would change the quality of the voice mails that they left me.  Let's face it.  It gets pretty annoying when every voice mail has the same message.  It is important to leave a powerful message when a call is made.  A powerful message will get more call backs.  For example, I used to call prospects and leave a message like this "Good Afternoon Mr. Customer, this is Stan Sher calling from XYZ Motors.  I received your internet purchase request for a Honda Accord.  I see here that you are affiliated with Microsoft (or any company their email address represents).  I wanted to let you know that you qualify for our preferred benefits package which includes special pricing along with many other specials that are not available to the general public.  It is important that I speak with you because I want to personally make sure that I give you the right information and make sure that your needs are taken care of.  Please give me a call back at your earliest convenience so that we can ensure that your shopping and purchase experience is not only pleasant but also worry free".

This is a people business.  As a consumer we want to be respected and treated right.  If we let our customers know that in a positive way we will improve the chances of doing business with more people.  This voice message has led to more call backs and more car deals (with potential referral business).

I always talk about using methods that build rapport.  I always like to feel the customer out before I pull any unique methods.  I listen to their tone on the answering machine.  I also see how they react when initially speaking to me on the phone.  I even go as far as search for them on the internet to find out more about them (hobbies and work information).  I find out their personalities and their sense of humor.  At that point, I leave voice messages like this, "Hello Mr. Customer, this is Stan The Man Sher calling from XYZ Motors.  It is a lovely day here and I hope that your day is wonderful as well.  I just wanted to call and let you know that we just received Honda Pilot Touring that you inquired about.  The good news is that this vehicle is white (your exact color choice) and also has the navigation system that you are interested in for those long trips with the family.  Please give me a call at your earliest convenience at (555)555-5555.  Thank you.".

What did I do?  I pulled a funny in some cases when I said, "this is Stan The Man calling".  It used to get people to smile and react in a positive way.  As a matter of fact, it worked like a charm for me.  I also went into detail realizing that this consumer is looking for a specific vehicle and has specific needs.  This most likely came from viewing their facebook profile.  These practices work.  I want to know know who I am dealing with and how to deal with them.
Stop going on facebook just to play games.  Start using it to help build rapport with your prospects.  We have google for a reason.

What else would I change in this Toyota dealership.  I would get involved in sending out more emails and more social media engagement.  I guarantee anyone reading this, that if they turned around and sent me a message on facebook I would be way more likely to respond.  Why?  Well they have tried every other way to contact me and at this point I can't avoid them any longer.  In my mind, the dealership was so creative that at this point I am just curious to see what is next.

Stan Sher

President
Dealer eTraining

www.dealeretraining.com

(732)925-8362

http;//www.dealeretraining.com

http://dealeretraining.tumblr.com

As I mystery shop automotive dealers on a weekly basis, I am amazed at the lack of follow up phone skills that are still out there.  Even more, I am amazed at the lack of follow up attempts that most Internet and BDC departments have.  This is either lack of training, lack of motivation, or simply way too many leads coming in to effectively handle the proper procedure.  After all of that we wonder why we are not getting the ROI that we are looking for.

I submitted a lead to a Toyota dealership (name will not be disclosed).  This dealership is huge selling around 500 units per month.  I was very impressed with the follow up process when using the phone.  I did not answer calls on purpose just so I can listen to the voice mails and see how many times they will call.  I was impressed because they called me between 2 and 3 times per day every day. The calls came from sales professionals in the internet department as well as a manager.  If that is not powerful, I do not know what is.  This is the only other dealership that I have heard that has a manager get involved in a follow up process.  The other situation is when I work in a dealership as a director for the department because I like to get heavily involved with my leads and prospects and add a second face.  This always helped drive more traffic to the showroom and eventually put more deals out there.

This is way more then the average internet department would do.  Some dealerships have a process where a call is made every other day while others call for the first 5 days and stop.  There are dealerships that are trained to call once and stop.  I can argue that some processes out there are just very poor while others are great.  At the same time, different situations call for different follow up methods.

If the dealership is staffed appropriately and is able to handle a solid process, heavy follow up is a beautiful thing.  I remember having coordinators complain, "what if the customer tells me to stop and is annoyed with me calling so much?".  I would tell them, "Good, that means you are doing your job.  If that happens, I will give you $20 bucks cash out of my pocket.  Do your job.  The customer called you or emailed you because they are serious about getting into a vehicle.  Help them get what they want.".  As a dealer or manager it is important to appreciate that the Internet/BDC/Retention departments do everything to keep traffic coming in.  Gone are the days where these departments need to be treated like a redheaded stepchild.  We need to start focusing on effective follow up processes.

If I had to change a few things about the follow up process that this dealership used, I would change the quality of the voice mails that they left me.  Let's face it.  It gets pretty annoying when every voice mail has the same message.  It is important to leave a powerful message when a call is made.  A powerful message will get more call backs.  For example, I used to call prospects and leave a message like this "Good Afternoon Mr. Customer, this is Stan Sher calling from XYZ Motors.  I received your internet purchase request for a Honda Accord.  I see here that you are affiliated with Microsoft (or any company their email address represents).  I wanted to let you know that you qualify for our preferred benefits package which includes special pricing along with many other specials that are not available to the general public.  It is important that I speak with you because I want to personally make sure that I give you the right information and make sure that your needs are taken care of.  Please give me a call back at your earliest convenience so that we can ensure that your shopping and purchase experience is not only pleasant but also worry free".

This is a people business.  As a consumer we want to be respected and treated right.  If we let our customers know that in a positive way we will improve the chances of doing business with more people.  This voice message has led to more call backs and more car deals (with potential referral business).

I always talk about using methods that build rapport.  I always like to feel the customer out before I pull any unique methods.  I listen to their tone on the answering machine.  I also see how they react when initially speaking to me on the phone.  I even go as far as search for them on the internet to find out more about them (hobbies and work information).  I find out their personalities and their sense of humor.  At that point, I leave voice messages like this, "Hello Mr. Customer, this is Stan The Man Sher calling from XYZ Motors.  It is a lovely day here and I hope that your day is wonderful as well.  I just wanted to call and let you know that we just received Honda Pilot Touring that you inquired about.  The good news is that this vehicle is white (your exact color choice) and also has the navigation system that you are interested in for those long trips with the family.  Please give me a call at your earliest convenience at (555)555-5555.  Thank you.".

What did I do?  I pulled a funny in some cases when I said, "this is Stan The Man calling".  It used to get people to smile and react in a positive way.  As a matter of fact, it worked like a charm for me.  I also went into detail realizing that this consumer is looking for a specific vehicle and has specific needs.  This most likely came from viewing their facebook profile.  These practices work.  I want to know know who I am dealing with and how to deal with them.
Stop going on facebook just to play games.  Start using it to help build rapport with your prospects.  We have google for a reason.

What else would I change in this Toyota dealership.  I would get involved in sending out more emails and more social media engagement.  I guarantee anyone reading this, that if they turned around and sent me a message on facebook I would be way more likely to respond.  Why?  Well they have tried every other way to contact me and at this point I can't avoid them any longer.  In my mind, the dealership was so creative that at this point I am just curious to see what is next.

Stan Sher

President
Dealer eTraining

www.dealeretraining.com

(732)925-8362

http://www.dealeretraining.com

http://dealeretraining.tumblr.com/

I have been working in the automotive industry for over 8 years as of this month.  The one thing that I felt I could always do better was build value in my presentations.  When I say presentations, I am not just talking about performing a powerful walk around.  I am talking about the things that a professional says to a customer when they are on the phone trying to give them a reason to come in.  I am also talking about what a professional does with the customer when they go to discuss numbers with management.  As a huge advocate of building a "digital rapport" I wrote a successful article about this in the past but would like to take this further.

Some value building techniques:

- The BDC/Internet Department remembers to make customers aware of the dealership's strong online reputation.

-The BDC/Internet Department informs the consumer of the convenient aspect of considering this dealership over others (Some of us like to call it a Value Package Proposition).

-If the customer claims to have a busy schedule, it is a great idea to offer to bring them the vehicle to look at.

-Finding out why they are looking at a particular vehicle will allow to demonstrate the benefits of the vehicle when working with customers in person.

-When going to discuss numbers with management, it is always a great practice to leave the customer with something to read such as a product information book.  This will keep them interesting in the benefits of the vehicle.  It is also a great idea to have a book of positive reviews and letters of recommendation from previous customers.  Better yet, if there is a computer on the table, save a few positive video testimonials and have the customers watch it.  Too often, sales people leave customers waiting for minutes and minutes which allows them to think about reasons why they should not buy the vehicle.  A lot of customers always think that sales people and managers are in the backroom wasting time.  We need to maintain a professional and positive image of ourselves and our dealerships.  If it takes a longtime to create a book or two books of these tools, so be it.  These tools will help close more deals, build more customer trust, build more customer retention, and allow the opportunity to make more money.

-During delivery, a sales professional should keep building value and go over any last minute information that they have not presented before.

-After the customer leaves the lot, call them at home leaving them a great message expressing your gratitude for their business.  After all, they just helped you feed your family.  In some cases, remind them of when their license plates will arrive and if they pick them up, they will be installed on the vehicle for them.

Some of these tips might sound old school or basic.  However, we forget about them.  I know after selling cars for three years I started to slack off, get comfortable and arrogant.  I realized that real quick when my income was $15,000 lighter that year.  I want to be successful and I want to make more money not less.  Stop taking shortcuts, create a strong process of how you do business and keep doing it with every single customer.  Never be satisfied, always seek to improve.  I once met a sales professional who is the number one Audi sales professional in the country.  The man sells more units in one month then most Audi dealerships in the nation sell as a whole.  He makes more money then his GM.  He is consistent the same way.  He never takes ups or relies on internet leads.  He was consistent for many years and it pays off.

www.linkedin.com/in/stansher83

www.naymz.com/stan_sher_2372084

http://www.dealeretraining.com

http://dealeretraining.tumblr.com/

I have been working in the automotive industry for over 8 years as of this month.  The one thing that I felt I could always do better was build value in my presentations.  When I say presentations, I am not just talking about performing a powerful walk around.  I am talking about the things that a professional says to a customer when they are on the phone trying to give them a reason to come in.  I am also talking about what a professional does with the customer when they go to discuss numbers with management.  As a huge advocate of building a "digital rapport" I wrote a successful article about this in the past but would like to take this further.

Some value building techniques:

- The BDC/Internet Department remembers to make customers aware of the dealership's strong online reputation.

-The BDC/Internet Department informs the consumer of the convenient aspect of considering this dealership over others (Some of us like to call it a Value Package Proposition).

-If the customer claims to have a busy schedule, it is a great idea to offer to bring them the vehicle to look at.

-Finding out why they are looking at a particular vehicle will allow to demonstrate the benefits of the vehicle when working with customers in person.

-When going to discuss numbers with management, it is always a great practice to leave the customer with something to read such as a product information book.  This will keep them interesting in the benefits of the vehicle.  It is also a great idea to have a book of positive reviews and letters of recommendation from previous customers.  Better yet, if there is a computer on the table, save a few positive video testimonials and have the customers watch it.  Too often, sales people leave customers waiting for minutes and minutes which allows them to think about reasons why they should not buy the vehicle.  A lot of customers always think that sales people and managers are in the backroom wasting time.  We need to maintain a professional and positive image of ourselves and our dealerships.  If it takes a longtime to create a book or two books of these tools, so be it.  These tools will help close more deals, build more customer trust, build more customer retention, and allow the opportunity to make more money.

-During delivery, a sales professional should keep building value and go over any last minute information that they have not presented before.

-After the customer leaves the lot, call them at home leaving them a great message expressing your gratitude for their business.  After all, they just helped you feed your family.  In some cases, remind them of when their license plates will arrive and if they pick them up, they will be installed on the vehicle for them.

Some of these tips might sound old school or basic.  However, we forget about them.  I know after selling cars for three years I started to slack off, get comfortable and arrogant.  I realized that real quick when my income was $15,000 lighter that year.  I want to be successful and I want to make more money not less.  Stop taking shortcuts, create a strong process of how you do business and keep doing it with every single customer.  Never be satisfied, always seek to improve.  I once met a sales professional who is the number one Audi sales professional in the country.  The man sells more units in one month then most Audi dealerships in the nation sell as a whole.  He makes more money then his GM.  He is consistent the same way.  He never takes ups or relies on internet leads.  He was consistent for many years and it pays off.

www.linkedin.com/in/stansher83

www.naymz.com/stan_sher_2372084