CarZeus Car Tips

by Gilbert Chavez, Automotive Consultant

Everyone knows that Google can help people find your website, but did you know it can also help them find your actual location? By submitting your business to the Google Local Business Center, your dealership shows up on Google Maps, one of the most popular ways potential customers search for directions. Submitting your information is easy and takes just a few minutes, but it does require you to do it yourself for verification purposes.

 

Why submit your business to Google?

• Your dealership appears in the “Local Business Results” section at the top of search results pages when a user searches for a term that includes regional words or phrases.
• You get increased exposure in Google, which drives more search engine traffic to your site.
• Example: Search for "New York Italian Restaurant". At the top of the search results (just below the "Sponsored Links") you’ll see a map along with business listings (like Lombardi’s, John’s Pizzeria and Adrianne’s). These listings are from the Google Local Business Center.

How to submit your business to Google.

• Start here: http://www.google.com/local/add/lookup?hl=en-US&gl=US
• You’ll be asked for your address, phone number, hours of operation, types of payment you accept, and a description of products and services.
• Select your business category. You can start with “Automobiles” and receive recommendations or select “Browse All Categories and refine your selection, selecting up to 5 categories.
• Add additional optional information such as costs, specialties, images, etc, which may help your results.
• Once you finish, you can preview and edit your listing, verify that you represent your company, then choose to have a postcard sent with a verification PIN, or receive a phone call.

Once Google has verified your business you’re done. After that, it’s as simple as waiting for potential customers to find you.

Technorati Tags: google, listings, search

An Associate of mine, Alvin Newton, wrote a great little article about Micro Sites that I wanted to dove tail off of.

Micro sites are a powerful marketing tool. It allows a dealer to have a ‘Niche” market so to speak. For example, Kenn Patton, of Phil Long Hyundai of Chapel Hills has done an excellent job with his Military Auto Connection Web Site. Furthermore, Freeway and Longmont Ford have combined their efforts to do an excellent job in marketing http://itsmycarnow.com/

Their placement of ads on KOA radio and KHOW radio on the radio live feed link have had a great impact.

Wrapped Around the Axle:

Some dealers are very guarded of the price of a Micro Site. The elements of a Micro Site are simple. It’s the branding message, links to inventory, and a dynamic Credit Application. Of course, you can get into greater detail like Kenn Patton did for your specific program. Over the years I have utilized one page Micro Sites with only a contact form on them and achieved great results; however, I do recommend more detail that that. The cost of a Micro Site is pennies compared to a Newspaper ad, any old school advertisement, or even a full blown web site. For example, if you want to do it in-house, Godaddy.com will run you anywhere from $3.99 a month to $10.39 a month.

Great web companies like Dealer.com and TK Carsites will work with you to develop and market these, or their version of a Micro Site. There is a great way blending multiple URL’s……web site addresses into one site.

Yes, it is true, as Alvin Newton points out that, “It sometimes takes up to 3-8 months before you will see substantial SEO results with your Micro Sites.”

However, you can make up time and effort with an effective snail mail campaign, radio spots, bill board placement and most importantly a SEM (Paid Search Campaign, AKA, Pay Per Click)

Moreover, as Alvin Newton points out, “The first place you should go is to your ISM, CRM data base and send out email blast to all of your prospects,
owners, service customers, and orphan owners. Let them know about your new Micro Sites, and make sure you have links in your email template to the Micro Sites. Ask them to send this email to a friend or family member who might be interested in a new car. In your previous emails your links more than likely pointed back to your main site. Consumers
like to see fresh, new looks that will perk their interest once again.” If you utilize One Command, On Station, or CIMA Systems this would also be an excellent way of marketing your Micro Site.

DOES THIS TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR MAIN DEALER SITE? NO!

I have clients that are initially concerned that this micro site branding will take away from your main site. Actually, it compliments it. Essentially, Micro Sites act as another door for your customers to walk through.

Alvin Newton created MPGSaveGas.com for his current dealership, “We get on average 4-5 leads a week from that Micro Site via email leads. I just recently sent out an email blast about the high gas prices, and let the prospects and owners know that we are giving lots for their trades and blow-out pricing on our new 30 plus MPG HWY vehicles. The email went out to over 5,000 people in our data base. We have received many new revived inquiries and sold a Malibu Hybrid and Cobalt from this one blast that took 20 minutes of my time. Was it worth it? Absolutely! Two new car deals, new revived prospects and all by using what I have in my digital marketing inventory. Don’t wait for your Micro Sites to work for you, use your Micro Sites to drive the results to you with creative, no extra cost tactics.” Alvin is a great example of really thinking out of the box and presenting a “new angle” to your customer.

As the saying goes in boxing, “It is all about them, “Angle’s”, that you present to your opponent. It is a strategy of defense and offense. How can you best put yourself into a position of not getting hit and at the same time be able to knock the stuffing out of your opponent? Well, a Micro Site is that “new and or different angle” that you as a dealer can present. It is a laser approach to fine tuning your web presence to a specific web audience. Over the years, I have made thousands of Micro Sites to reach a vast array of audiences. One was to market the city of Trinidad, CO. This site focused purely on the Historic Preservation Foundation and it reached a special philanthropic audience. Now, we did this as part of a sponsorship with a car dealer. In essence, we hit multiple customers with a residual effect on linking back to our inventory. Whether if it was for a specific military purchase program, special finance site, our goal is to garner more leads and attract more phone calls off of our sites. Yesterday, my lawyer showed me his new site. I took him through the SEO fundamentals and made him change his site so his phone number was dominate on his site and that it had the “run of site”, meaning it was displayed in good order every where a potential client surfed through his pages. For the most part, people are more apt to pick up that phone and call then to generate a lead. I know I do.

What’s import is the Mixology in dealers repertoire of e-Marketing strategies. This campaign science of having the major sites, mixed with Micro Sites, e-mail campaigns, banner placements, SEM, SEO, etc… presents the dealer at the most advantageous ANGLE to make the knockout punch!

Technorati Tags: advertising automotive blogging automotive internet sal

The Difference Between Full Service and Lip Service by Gilbert Chavez, Automotive Consultant The Internet marketing business is a highly dynamic environment, with new technologies continually emerging and new players entering the game almost monthly. But just like your business, one thing has remained constant: the value of the relationship. Maintaining a client relationship is much easier and less expensive than creating one. So it stands to reason that those relationships are considered among an Internet marketer’s most valuable commodities, even more valuable than technological expertise. On the other hand, even though these relationships are so valuable, the desire to continually boost the bottom line among service providers creates the temptation to reduce the costs that come with servicing clients. Full service or empty promises? As you search for an Internet marketing provider, you’re going to hear a lot of promises about customer service. Because as the rising level of competition forces prices to fall, this is one of the big areas where providers can truly differentiate themselves. But before you make any commitments or fall for any sales pitches, there are a few questions you should be asking. Questions you should be asking. 1. Who will own my relationship? Many providers will expend considerable time and effort getting you to commit to a long-term contract, but they aren’t set up to keep those relationships going. So the maintenance of your account is outsourced to a third party, which also has a bottom line to maintain. Do you think you’re going to continue to get the same level of attention you were promised? 2. Who’s answering my phone call? In an effort to boost profitability, providers do everything they can to cut costs, and call centers are no exception. It’s far less expensive to have your call routed to a call center in India or the Philippines, where entire industries have been created around the outsourcing of phone-based tech support and customer service. Unfortunately, with little control over the quality of service, the experience can sometimes be lacking. 3. Where’s the human touch? Some providers figure that once they shut down for the night, you should too. But when you want to make some changes to your site or it’s crashed at 11:30pm, do you really want to be talking to a machine and leaving a voicemail message? Having access to 24/7 tech support and even "live" online chat capabilities should be a must. 4. Who’s in charge here? While you’re being sold on the benefits of entering into a relationship with a provider, you may spend a lot of time speaking to an experienced sales rep. But once you sign a contract, that smooth-talking rep mysteriously disappears, very often replaced by a harried account manager trying to juggle the demands of dozens of accounts. It’s a matter of simple math — the more accounts a rep has, the less attention each one gets. Before signing a contract, find out how many accounts your account rep is going to be handling. That’s a good indication of the kind of customer service you can expect. 5. Which "specialist" do I call? Your potential new provider is promising to create a site for you, help you with search engine optimization, and lots of other things designed to boost lead generation. But with so many "specialists," who do you call if you have a question about something? The importance of having a single points of contact — someone you can call to answer ALL of your questions — cannot be overstated. 6. Am I really talking to experts? Some companies claim to offer all kinds of expertise and experience. But look beyond the surface — does your account rep really understand both the technology and your business model? 7. Can my provider fit me? In this business, one size definitely does not fit all. Make sure you’re working with a provider whose services are scalable enough to create the perfect fit no matter what size your business. Get the service you deserve. Servicing the customer always sounds good, but when the rubber meets the road, it’s the most important part of any business relationship. Before you sign a contract with any Internet marketing provider, make sure you ask all the tough questions. Otherwise, you may be in for some rough sledding. About the author - Gilbert Chavez - a.k.a. CarZeus One of the original automotive Internet pioneers, Gilbert A. Chavez, a.k.a. CarZeus, grew up in the automotive industry. Chavez has been recognized as one of the leading experts in retailing automobiles. He is a true innovator and renowned for his success in team building. Once called the Vince Lombardi of car guys, Gilbert has been chosen as one of Dealix Corporation’s Top 25 Marketers, and has had an ongoing advice column in the Dealix Newsletter called "Ask Gilbert." Gilbert has also written numerous articles for a variety of other publications. A true Car Guy, Gilbert has worked in all departments and in a variety of capacities in dealerships. He consults single point to multi-car franchises on how to improve their e-initiatives.

Technorati Tags: internet marketing, internet marketing provider, maintaining client relationships, relationship value

The reasons for using an Internet Lead Management Tool / Customer Relation Management Tool (ILM/CRM) are abounding, almost limitless. Astonishingly, in this day and age, there are dealers out there still not utilizing any ILM/CRM! Comparably, not using an ILM/CRM in today’s e-world is like using a bar of soap and a wash board to do your laundry. An ILM/CRM is paramount in managing your classic and e-business. Furthermore, e-business is morphing into day to day dealership classical business and is more or less one in the same. Essentially, not utilizing an ILM/CRM is business suicide and utilizing a poor ILM/CRM is like smoking unfiltered cigarettes, it is only a matter of time before it takes you down. In the ancient world of 1995, when corporate e-mails did not exist, I used AOL to receive and work my leads. This was way before I even knew what Outlook was or for that matter, Microsoft. AOL served its purpose, but it was really a less than desirable tool in truly connecting with my e-customers. In the ensuing years, as technology developed and the need for the functions of an ILM evolved, e-savvy dealers recognized that simply receiving e-mail requests and replying to them was not enough to sell cars online. In the late 1990’s, I attended one of the country’s premier automotive sales trainer’s seminars. I asked him for Internet sales tips. He replied, "What’s the Internet?" Today, that gentleman’s interactive presence is impressively upfront and personal. The analogies are never ending in the utilization of Internet Lead Management / Customer Relation Management. It further illustrates its importance. Selling cars online without an ILM/CRM is the equivalent of walking barefoot in a Wal-Mart parking lot, at noon, in August, in Phoenix. You can do it, but it is going to hurt like hell! More pointedly, the same can be said for not utilizing a powerful and complete CRM. An ILM does much more than receive leads from dealership web sites, third party lead providers and OEM sites. The truly outstanding ILM/CRM has actually evolved into a strategic selling weapon. The euphonic blessings of a great ILMT/CRMT not only assist in selling vehicles online, but can sincerely move that prophetic sales needle that all dealers are straining their selling muscle to move. Furthermore, today’s truly effective ILM/CRM maintain the ability to track customers from every angle and provides dealers the necessary tools to create and maintain lasting relationships with their customers. Utilizing automated e-mail follow-up, integrated email, video email, HTML Library’s, and interactive media messaging are only a few of the new directional lasers used to effectively reach today’s sophisticated car buyer. More succinctly, the ILM has morphed more congruently into a true one stop shop CRM tool. In essence, it takes the car selling process from the lot, to floor, to the tower, to the box, to delivery and then to follow up. Moreover, the telephony hybrids / e-mail innovation is surfacing as an e-mail and phone broadcast marketing system, all incorporated into one tool! The resounding affect of this one piece solution will go on to further the e-revolution that began in the mid 1990’s. Gaining and maintaining contact with prospective customers is the back bone of what every ILM/CRM must do. Moreover, it also acts as the main battle planning apparatus in attacking e-sales and prospecting to a dealer’s owner base. Their processes are constructed and formatted by and with an ILM/CRM and it can nail their processes down. Consequently, unlike the floor processes, they are in force and in place, even if the sales manager blows out. The ILM fundamentals like taking your leads from all sources, parsing them correctly, tying them to the lead source, automated e-mail functionality, ROI calculating functionality, bulk e-mail capability, response time calculation, and a wide variety of reporting functions cannot be taken for granted. The dealership’s entire e-selling process is determined by your ILM and its capability. I have said this before in print, but a dealer’s success and or failure is based on how well their ILM/CRM functions and of course who utilizes it. Additionally, dealership personnel have to grasp the tools functionality immediately. Getting dealership management focused on this incredible selling tool is difficult. Dealership management focus on getting rides out today because that is how they get paid and that is how they keep their jobs. They don’t have time to mess with high tech gadgetry; they have to sell cars now! However, it is the cut your nose off to spite your face comparison. Instead of reinforcing failure they will enlighten themselves into a new realm of success by moving into a more modern sales theatre. The correlation between measured contacts and sales is a reality and not the hypothesized numbers that they get from their newspaper print rep or their advertising company. That is why this technology scares the stuffing out of classic media companies. Preaching to the choir is easy when professing the gloried uses of Internet Lead Management / Customer Relation Management. As a kid I could only see Star Trek’s communicator as a fantasized appliance. Today that communicator is an extension of my hand; they call it a "Crack Berry." The GPS device that I used to maneuver my company as a U.S. Army Infantry Company Commander, through the desert, fit into a large rucksack. Today, the same device, actually even better, would fit into the breast pocket of my BDU shirt. The reality is that with ever increasing fervor the car business is going interactive and even just using the term "Internet Sales" is becoming outmoded. The progression of cable technology will bring our Internet, our phone, our TV, all into one box in our living rooms. Palm sized and smaller remotes will go with us everywhere that have multiple times the technology they currently possess. In reality, that is today, tomorrow’s destiny can only be imagined.

Technorati Tags: CRM Tool, customer relationship manager, ILM tool, internet lead manager

Call centers using existing customer databases and customer relationship management (CRM) systems can bring in lots of extra business at a small cost if done correctly. A most important element of this process is finding a call center manager who can lead and train and who knows the CRM system inside and out. Fortunately, our dealership group had a receptionist who knew the system almost as well as the CRM company programmers. She became our call center manager and is a true leader. The system we currently use is on an all-in-one platform that allows dealers to drill into their dealership management systems (DMS) and pull out customer information in a logical report format. It allows the dealer to use imaginative marketing approaches. CRM is taking control of your own data and marketing to your most important assets, your customers. In Roswell, NM, we started a call center in a rented trailer with five personal computers, five phones, one full-time manager and five part-time employees who were students from the local high school business program. The standard calls are all common sense: sold customer surveys, unsold shopper surveys, service surveys, service recalls, appointment confirmations (sales, service, and parts), appointment no-shows, complaint resolution calls and special-event calls. Initially, we thought that 3,000 calls and 50 appointments would be a good start for our first month. Remarkably, we made 10,000 calls and 299 appointments in our first month. We revolutionized our service appointment process using our customer database. We quadrupled our service volume in a short time. Our parts orders are timely, and customers are coming in to get their parts installed on a timely basis. We love our sales personnel, but traditionally they fail to follow up. Now we do not depend on sales personnel for that. For the first time we are confident that our customer follow-ups are done consistently and with high standards. Customers in our database have enormous value. We have already sold to them, they have a relationship with us and we have their contact information. What more could a dealer want? CRM systems help leverage that great situation. Soon, we will be at more than 50,000 calls and 1,000 appointments a month. Our call center has become our own marketing arm doing our own mailers and generating our own letters. The letters cover all bases for sales, service and parts. For a small group like ours, these are significant numbers. The numbers for a multi-franchised metro dealer using this simple process would be huge. The data mining is only limited to your imagination. For example, we went back six months to see who had not been in our service department. We generated a "we-miss-you" letter and followed that up with a "we-miss-you" call scripted for the call center personnel to get customers into the service drive. Soon, our bays were full and our service writers were challenged to keep up with the volume. We also market to customers not in our database, but in someone else’s. For example, when new families move into a small town, they contact the water department to get their water turned on. We obtained this list and sent "Hello neighbor" letters with discount coupons for sales, service and parts. Five sales and 10 appointments were generated in our initial 100 mailings. Our return on a $100 investment was nearly $150 for every dollar spent. It wouldn’t have happened without a sharp service manager with a great idea and a way to make it work.

Technorati Tags: call centers, CRM, customer realtionship management

Do you want to make gross and sell cars online? You have 13 days to do it. Last spring I had the privilege of attending a summit with the best automotive CRM and online retailing experts in the country. One of the first questions asked was, What is the true buying cycle of an Internet lead? This is a very controversial topic and can cause heated debate. There are several schools of thought on what the true buying cycle of an Internet purchase request is. In the car business, we work the Buy or Die technique. However, there is a time when a lead is really hot and the target of opportunity rests in the cross hairs for only a certain amount of time. I have always held the opinion that a lead is never dead, and I continue to market to the customer until they tell me to stop calling and emailing them. But hitting the lead fast and furious the second it comes into your inbox is a no-brainer. A lead that is not responded to immediately cannot be saved by even the best follow up procedures. Over a 15-month period, I conducted an exhaustive analysis of leads - from the top third party lead generators, from a multi-franchised dealer website, and from four OEM/factory sites. Statistics from my research show that the average person who buys a car after submitting a purchase request does so within 13 days of the submission. Having a fast response time and knowing that the average Internet lead is hot for 13 days will help you sell more cars. Buying Cycles Vary by Month While the overall average lead buying cycle is 13 days, there are variations depending on the time of year. One thing in my research that I found surprising is that the typical months considered to be the height of the buying season - June, July, and August - did not have shorter average buying cycles than I originally hypothesized. Looking at lead buying cycles from dealer websites, which historically have higher closing ratios, the average time it took for a customer to buy after submitting a lead was 10.9 days. December leads had the longest closing period of 22 days; and October had the shortest with 7.7 days. Further analysis could determine why there is such a huge disparity from month to month. October had the shortest buying cycle at 7.7 days - so this is your month! Here is the break down for buying cycle times in days, for each month: January - 11.2 February - 11.1 March - 14.5 April -10.9 May -13.4 June - 10.2 July - 8.5 August -14.3 September -11.7 October - 7.7 November - 13.8 December - 22 Never Forget - It’s Always a Matter of Return on Investment I have also found that leads from different lead sources and providers will yield different buying cycle times. Does this mean you should simply disqualify a lead source because it has a longer buying cycle on average? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Why? Because it’s your ROI that matters with a lead source, not necessarily the buying cycle time. Getting a good return on your investment from that lead source is what you should count on. Some colleagues and I developed a 5-to-1 ROI Analysis, which means that we want to earn five dollars back for every dollar we spend with a lead source. I take my total gross generated in sales from each lead source and divide that by what I spent for leads with that source that month. And, I break it down per store if there are multiple franchises. The 5-to-1 ROI Analysis For example, in one month at one dealership we spent $576 on Dealix leads. We earned $11,079 dollars in total gross for that month, achieving a gross ROI score of 19.2. Thus, we made back $19.20 for every $1 we spent on a Dealix lead. Furthermore, it is a more effective analysis to calculate the ROI than it is to calculate your closing ratio. It is important to do both; however, knowing what you put in the bank is more important than knowing a closing ratio. It is more effective to calculate ROI than it is to calculate your closing ratio. While it is important to do both, knowing what you actually put in the bank is the most important. Don’t Fall into Analysis Paralysis - Measure the Right Numbers Some dealers are infamous for crunching numbers. However, they can get into analysis paralysis or get overzealous in crunching all the wrong numbers. Moreover, dealers tend to under analyze their Internet department numbers. Consequently, they do not know if their Internet department is under performing or shooting the lights out. Internet sales should be scrutinized as closely as any department in the dealership or dealer group. In a monthly analysis, measure:

• Number of sales for new and used
• Front and back end gross
• Return on investment for all third party lead vendors
• Buying cycle times for all lead sources
• Monitor all ISMs’ emails with their customers through your lead management tool. (Get one if you do not have one.)
• Also, measure what email leads were sold by the sales floor to see what your penetration is with those leads.
• Furthermore, count those sales in your ROI analysis. If people who sent leads in are buying on the floor, most likely your ISM got them to come in. The majority of those sales are made because of the initial quotes made by the ISM.
• Numbers to Track in Your Internet Sales Report

Develop a comprehensive Internet sales report that covers all aspects of monthly Internet sales. This report must include, but should not be limited to:

• Departmental totals
• Sold comparisons
• Total gross comparisons
• All third party lead services and their gross totals
• Year to date ROI
• Buying cycle times
• A break down of store total sales, including year-over-year comparisons
• A break down of individual ISM’s numbers, including: sales; response times in minutes; CSI averages; gross analysis for front gross; back gross and total gross average; commission analysis; and a graphs comparison page

Hold monthly Internet sales meetings to cover team topics only. This meeting should cover team goals, incentives, bonuses, etc. On a daily basis, either speak with or Instant Message each team member. Review their sales numbers with them at that time. At the monthly meeting, review team performance, sales numbers and other metrics, lead management tool questions, deal problems, vehicle specials to be placed, and any other issues or problems. Always remember to keep the Internet lead in the cross hairs and fire away!

Technorati Tags: buying cycle, internet leads, sell cars online

This forum is reserved for Internet Sales processes. However, we at any given time will have to take an "UP" or "run" into a customer crossing the show floor. These principles apply whenever we have an opportunity to go face to face with a customer. Moreover, the sale process is the same when we get belly to belly with our Internet customer. U.S. Army Field Manual (FM) 25-101 defines a battle drill as "a collective action rapidly executed without applying a deliberate decision-making process". Dealers get retail sales by taking "UP’s." Taking an "UP" is the way we still sell cars. Even with all the high tech tools, the Internet and using CRM programs, having sales people work the lot is how we make it happen. For the most part, this is where we as dealership managers fail to excel in making our sales people do it right. Taking an "UP" is more than going out and shaking somebody’s hand that walks on the lot. It should be a well-trained skill that is practiced over and over again. Taking an "UP" correctly is a drill that should be practiced on an almost a daily basis. For retail and Internet sales, it is the most important skill that a sales person possesses. How many times have you looked on the lot and seen an interaction between a sales person and a customer and shook your head in appalled at what you just witnessed? In the Army, we called them, "Battle Drills." Essentially, we drilled over and over on situations that we potentially would face on the battlefield. For example, we drilled relentlessly on knocking out an enemy bunker. It got to the point that we reacted automatically instead of having to think about what we had to do when we encountered an enemy bunker. The process of taking an "UP" is no different. It has to be drilled over and over so that when the customer walks on the lot or shows up for an appointment off of an Internet lead, the sales person is ready for action regardless of the customer’s state of mind, objections, and negotiating tactics. However, the manager must examine closely who you are going to have conduct the training. In many cases, dealers and their management teams pick their best sales person or their "best manager" to do the training. Whomever you choose make sure you have them conduct their class to the entire management team to ensure that it is done to a high standard and that no steps are left out. The greeting, the first impression is the most important step in the "UP" process. Role-playing, acting out the "UP" is part of the drilling. When drilling the sales person video record the training session. Play the video back to give feed back on the good and bad points of the sales person’s interaction with their customer. The majority of car people who have been around for a while have been instructed on the steps to a sale. Depending on the source there is, 5, 10, 15, etc… steps to the sale. Moreover, they may have had professional sales trainers come in and give a series of classes of how to sell and overcome objections. After the sales class ends so does the training and sales people go back to their old ways and use a few nuggets that they learned in the sales training. Regardless of the source of the training curriculum, the most important aspect is the rehearsal. In a combat drill, we went through a "talk, crawl, walk, and run process in our rehearsals. Drilling / training your "UP" process should be performed in the same manner. Talk about what needs to occur, crawl through the process, walk through the process, and run it at full speed. Vince Lombardi said the football games were won and lost in practice. The same can be said about car sales. To many times we are caught up in the everyday cycle of the store. Meetings, product knowledge training, and other daily activities are important, but they seem to take precedence over a good old sales rehearsal. Call it practice, a drill, or a rehearsal, but it is the act of encountering the customer in the best way possible so your sales people have a head start in making the sale. My car mentor told me when I first started that selling cars is actually really easy. He said, "People buy cars from people they like." Treat them as you would your best friend; make them your best friend for the five minutes or the five hours that you are working with them. Follow up with them after the sale and you will have a customer for life. This was great advice and it has ringed true repeatedly. A sales force ability to accomplish the sale depends on the sales person and managers to execute key actions quickly. All sales personnel and their managers must know their immediate reaction to customer contact as well as follow-up actions. Drills are limited to situations requiring instantaneous response; therefore, sales personnel must execute drills instinctively. This results from continual practice. Drills provide a sales force with standard procedures essential for building strength, confidence, and the ability to sell more cars. They identify key actions that managers and sales personnel must perform quickly. They provide for a smooth transition from one activity to another. For example, adapting quickly to customer situations, questions, and objections. They provide standardized actions that link sales personnel to the dealerships selling process. They require the full understanding of each individual sales person and manager, and continual practice.* *Ref: Adapted from FM 7-8 Chapter 4 Battle Drills <!–[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]–> <!–[endif]–>

Technorati Tags: internet sales process, sales process, taking an UP

At the NADA conference this year, I ran into a dealer friend of mine whom I had not seen in a long time. The first thing he said was, "How did you sell all those used cars online?" There was no - "Hello". No - "How ya doing?" Just boom "How did you sell all those used cars online?" The fact is, the majority of dealers I talk to have

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Technorati Tags: selling used cars, used car hook, used cars online