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CONNECT THE DOTS TO INCREASED REVENUE. WE’RE THE ANSWER. In a business world filled with distractions and chaos, there is one thing that is critical, and that is to connect. When you connect with your customers, you do more than talk, you create a positive customer relationship that leads to continued business and repeat revenue. When you connect open slots in your shop to customers needing repair, you’ve created a great customer experience, and more revenue. And when dealerships connect to the most relevant information on a customer’s vehicle captured through our process, business intelligence has now connected you to even more revenue. Begin connecting today by engaging Traver Connect’s robust Automotive Service BDC. Now, every service call will be answered, OEM recommended services will be presented, and an increase in service appointments will be made. This Service BDC helps absorption, increases your average repair ticket, and enhances your overall customer experience.
To connect is to succeed, and we will help you do it. Afterall, ‘connect’ is our last name.
For a free phone survey, contact us today: 855.891.0010 • TraverConnect.com
See what’s new with VinSolutions At VinSolutions, we’re always looking for ways to help you get more key insights with less effort. So we’ve added new campaign and data management tools to Connect CRM, letting you manage your marketing like never before. And, as always, our Performance Managers are committed to helping you get the most from Connect.
Schedule your demo at vinsolutions.com/connect or call 877.786.4578
2300 Hurstbourne Village Dr, Suite 1200 Louisville, KY 40299 / p 877.818.6620 / f 502.588.3170 / AutoSuccessOnline.com/AutoSuccessPodcast.com / info@autosuccessonline.com
AdamRobinson 18
HOW TO CREATE A SUCCESSFUL ONBOARDING PROGRAM THAT CAN LOWER TURNOVER
22 MarkTewart LET’S PLAY 20 QUESTIONS: Hard Questions for the Leader 30 JoeyLittle TAP INTO YOUR COMMUNICATION SUPERPOWERS DennisMcGinn NEED FOR SPEED IS DRIVING CENTRALIZED RECON MANAGEMENT: 34 A Prime Opportunity to Drive More Gross Profit for Groups as Few as Two Rooftops, PART TWO
sales & training solutions
14 VincentButler WHY DIGITAL MARKETING AND FLOOR SALES NEED TO BE IN THE SAME LANE 20 DealerPanel SALES AND SERVICE: Building Bridges Between Departments, PART THREE JackGarrity USING RETENTION TO BUILD YOUR DEALERSHIP: 24 Apple Ford’s Ability to Keep Customers Sets Them Apart From the Competition
Hannah Philpott, Media Director hannah@autosuccessonline.com
Surveys, Social Media, CSI and Missing the Mark
MARKETING 3.0:
JulieJamison
FIVE CRITICAL TIPPING POINTS IN LIVE CHAT INTERACTIONS LisandraRamos
marketing solutions
Brian Ankney, Account Manager brian@autosuccessonline.com
36 DalePollak DO YOUR NUMBERS REALLY ADD UP FOR AUCTION PURCHASES? 48 AdamWeiss OWN THE PHONE LIKE A NINJA
26 MattBrown CLIMBING TO THE TOP OF FACEBOOK’S NEWS FEED 28 JordanBentley FISHING FOR CUSTOMERS? FOLLOW THESE MARKETING STEPS TO IMPROVE YOUR CATCH 40 LatifQadri IS DIRECT MAIL DEAD IN THE DIGITAL AGE? 46 JaySkowron ARE YOU TAKING ADVANTAGE OF GOOGLE MY BUSINESS? IT’S FREE ADVERTISING
Dave Davis, Editor & Creative Strategist ddavis@autosuccessonline.com
BillWittenmyer
AWARDING MEDALS BEFORE THEY’VE GONE INTO BATTLE
Susie Horne, Account Manager John Warner, Sales-Improvement Strategist shorne@autosuccessonline.com jwarner@autosuccessonline.com
SILENCE IS GOLDEN
38 DavidLewis
Thomas Williams, Creative Director design@autosuccessonline.com
08 SusanGivens
KEEPING TRACK OF GOALS, KEEPING TRACK OF TIME
AutoSuccess Magazine is published monthly at 2300 Hurstbourne Village Dr, Suite 1200 Louisville, KY 40299; 502.588.3155, fax 502.588.3170. Direct all subscription and customer service inquiries to 877.818.6620 or info@autosuccessonline.com. Subscription rate is $69 per year. AutoSuccess welcomes unsolicited editorials and graphics (not responsible for their return). All submitted editorials and graphics are subject to editing for grammar, content and page length. AutoSuccess provides its contributing writers latitude in expressing advice and solutions; views expressed are not necessarily those of AutoSuccess and by no means reflect any guarantees. AutoSuccess accepts no liability in respect of the content of any third party material appearing in this magazine or in respect of the content of any other magazine to which this magazine may be linked from time to time. Always confer with legal counsel before implementing changes in procedures.© All contents copyrighted by AutoSuccess Magazine, a Division of Systems Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited without express written consent from AutoSuccess. AutoSuccess may occasionally make readers’ names available to other companies whose products and/or services may be of interest; readers may request that names be removed by calling 877.818.6620. Printed in the USA. Postmaster: Send address changes to AutoSuccess Magazine, 2300 Hurstbourne Village Dr, Suite 1200 Louisville, KY 40299.
Susan Givens, Publisher sgivens1@autosuccessonline.com
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SusanGivens
publisher of AutoSuccess \ sgivens1@autosuccessonline.com \
@SGivens02
KEEPING TRACK OF GOALS, KEEPING TRACK OF TIME
“Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.” - John Lennon We’ve passed the midpoint of the year, which makes it a good time to stop and take stock of where you are. It’s a good time to mark your progress in achieving the goals you set for yourself and your dealership at the beginning of the year. Or, rather, it would be a good time, but you’ve got three people out on vacation this week, trying to get that trip in before the kids go back to school. And then, it’s time for your own vacation, which you’ve put off until you have a full staff back to cover you. Pretty soon, summer is gone, and the new model-year cars are coming into the dealership inventory. Time to sell some old new cars to make room for next year’s model. Next thing you know, the fall is gone, and it’s the holiday season. And then it’s time for the year-end push to meet 2016’s sales goals. Also, birthdays, anniversaries and other happy distractions have been strewn along the way, along with challenges that came out of nowhere. And then, before you know it, it’s time to set the goals for 2017. It’s easy to lose a year to the day-to-day routine, but in order to achieve goals, you must make an effort to keep track of where you are, what you’re doing, what’s working and what’s not. It’s not difficult to organize your life to achieve what you’ve set out to accomplish, but it doesn’t happen simply because you want it to. You’ve got to put your finite energy to good use. Set goals, and write them down — An unwritten goal is a dream. It’s a hope. It’s a “wouldn’t it be nice if…” statement. It’s ephemeral. It evaporates as soon as something concrete has to be done. It’s a custom-made notion to be put on the back burner, to go
where ideas go to die. A written goal, on the other hand, is real. It doesn’t exist in memory or in imagination. It stares you in the face at times when it’s tempting to take the easier path, challenging you to live up to what you yourself set out to do. It seems like a simple thing, almost silly at times, but don’t underestimate the power of the real over the imaginary. Don’t put things off; get them done — The human mind has the ability to hold a great many things in storage, waiting for the opportunity to complete tasks once other, more important jobs are finished. The problem, however, is that in today’s fast-paced culture, something is always jockeying for position at the top of our minds. Unfinished tasks are taking up storage, taking up energy, in our minds, and it becomes increasingly difficult to concentrate on the task at hand. As much as we’d like to think we can multitask, science tells us that the human mind just isn’t designed for it. What we’re really doing is jumping from track to track so quickly that it seems like we’re doing two or more things at once. The reality is that none of those tasks are getting done as quickly, or as well, as they would if we would finish one task before starting another. If something takes a couple of minutes to do, do it. Get it off your plate, and off your mind, and move on. Don’t wait for the time, save the time — Despite what some might say, you can’t make
time for activities. We all get 24 hours in a day, and it ticks on one second at a time. It’s relentless. The trick is not to make time, but to save the time. Scheduling is key for this. The time is going to pass anyway, no matter what you are doing or not doing. By reserving periods of time for certain activities (say, managing your goals and examining how you’re doing), that activity will get done, and will then be off your mind, allowing you to tackle the next activity free and clear. You might be surprised how much time you’ll “create” if you start to name your time. It works differently for different people — some may want to schedule their time in 10- or 15-minute increments, while others are more comfortable with less-defined blocks of time set aside for groups of activities. Whatever works best for you, own your day. Save time for yourself — One of the benefits of saving your time is that, when it’s time to take some for yourself, you’ll have it, and it won’t be overshadowed by all the unfinished tasks lurking in your subconscious, chipping away at your attention span. You’ll be able to be present on family vacations, get-togethers or simple down time. Your best self is not the stressed-out manager who’s barely keeping it together; instead, it’s the calm, on-topof-it leader who is confident because goals are being met, progress is being tracked and time is being managed. You owe that to your employees, your co-workers, your family and, most important, to yourself.
“An unwritten goal is a dream. It’s a hope. It’s a ‘wouldn’t it be nice if…’ statement. It’s ephemeral. It evaporates as soon as something concrete has to be done. It’s a custom-made notion to be put on the back burner, to go where ideas go to die. A written goal, on the other hand, is real.”
GROW USED VOLUME 20 –30% “We have been selling 80 used cars for years. In May, we signed up with Lotpop and what a difference it has made. We have averaged 111 units the last three months and broke our all-time record last month with 120 units with 131 in stock.” - Chad Vaught of Jimmy Michel Ford Learn how to Increase Your Used Volume Up to 30%. Visit LOTPOP.COM for a Free Inventory Evaluation. Jasen Rice,
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08 read, listen, watch, share, succeed.
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ls leadership solution
BillWittenmyer
partner of ELEAD1ONE \ bwittenmyer@autosuccessonline.com \
@BillyTheKidWitt
AWARDING MEDALS BEFORE THEY’VE GONE INTO BATTLE
Here are a few things to keep in mind with new I recently saw a post on a social network; it was a re-post of an alleged list that a new hires: employee found on their door the first day of work. It was a thoughtful list, containing • Be welcoming and informative. Providing such items as “Don’t worry about calling in sick,” “It’s OK to have an off day” and “It’s information will help your new employee OK to not know it all; [it’s] OK to be quiet.” I read the list, and although compelling and succeed, and making yourself accessible for compassionate, I wondered what kind of tone this sets for the company or managerial questions is the reward that keeps on giving expectations? Is it one that’s truly representative of the business’ culture — the ability for well beyond the “honeymoon” period. employees to show up when they want or if and when they feel like it? I have noticed a change in the last few years of the mindset established during the onboarding process with new employees. A sense of entitlement and accomplishment creeps in before the employee pencils their first deal or sets up their desk — if they are lucky enough to have a desk in the first place. I remember sharing a desk with a bunch of other new hires until I had earned the right to have my own workspace. And, please do not tell me it’s this generation or Millennials because I refuse to allow these fine people to be categorized that way, or in any way. Let’s assume that anyone hired is qualified; the assumptions, however, should stop there. Managers face enough challenges with new recruits and retaining employees; we shouldn’t make it more complicated by anointing people before they even know your culture, your specific skill sets and processes, the “go to” people in the organization or have produced a single thing. We are not paid as an industry on hope, promise or potential. We receive compensation based on our production. It makes no sense to give special treatment to anyone two minutes into their tenure, especially if you are not already rewarding your proven team members.
There is no such thing as “fair”; however, there is equitable. If you give someone the biggest office and desk on their first day as a new hire for any position other than the owner, then what does that employee have left to achieve? Furthermore, what message does that send to more-established employees? What do you offer the next hire? Build a bigger office for them upon employment? My grandfather always told me “the world needs ditch diggers, too.” He knew not everyone walking into his office would be a manager. He was aware that every role was important, as long as the role and goals were defined with expectations communicated clearly, along with the support to complete the work assigned, and to meet and exceed his/her expectations.
“We are not paid as an industry on hope, promise or potential. We receive compensation based on our production.”
We feel obligated to overcompensate new hires with the “welcome” because of a lack of leadership and frank discussion of expectations. In exchange, we feel the need to make other items look appealing to keep them. Other It’s vital to provide tools and support to your times, it’s because we overestimate the need whole team to succeed, whether they’ve been of the new employee versus underestimating on your team for three months or three years. the needs of the experienced team member. Creating a welcoming atmosphere in the Experienced team members have mastered beginning days is just part of a great work culture. Being welcoming and providing an open the culture, and help you exceed your expectations on a daily basis. We somehow environment shouldn’t include a “here are the overlook that healthy work environments keys to the store” approach. Any team looks to challenge their established employees to think its leader(s) to determine what actions, beliefs and goals are important. If you are skipping past about the next achievement, the next mountain to conquer; established employees desire — the goals and going straight to the reward, you and deserve — your continued guidance and are setting a tone of complacency — that low or help to move forward. no production reaps rewards and recognition.
10 autosuccessonline.com/news/blog
• Be supportive and provide tools and education that will lead to high production and, in turn, the success that leads to rewards. The best support we, as leaders, can provide not just our new employees but to our team is support. Support in knowledge. Support in the form of consistent feedback on the positive and opportunities for growth, and ongoing training to so your new hire can effectively do their job. • Provide clear roles and goals. One manager for whom I worked made it his mission that, during any new hire orientation week, he present the new employee with their job description, the team’s collective goals and his individual goals for that person, so from Day One they knew the expectations. They knew where they fit in the big picture, and that the manager wanted them to be successful out of the gate. • Expect and demand performance. At the end of the day, every employee has to produce. Top performers receive accolades for their production, not for merely showing up when they want. • Do not confuse “encouragement” and “entitlement.” “Encouragement” recognizes the actual effort made and production realized. “Entitlement” is the notion of rewarding a person for merely “showing up.” Remember the sergeants, corporals and field grunts that got you the victories in battle, and award them the medals they have earned. Don’t hand out medals to the recruit on their first day of boot camp, for they will never have the courage or motivation to produce for you and the team. Good selling.
s&ts sales & training solution
VincentButler
customer success supervisor for PureCars \ vbutler@autosuccessonline.com \
@PureCars
WHY DIGITAL MARKETING AND FLOOR SALES NEED TO BE IN THE SAME LANE
A record 17.5 million cars were sold in 2015. But these car buyers weren’t heading to the add-on options, financing and gross-margins to sweeten the deal and improve the quality of lot first: Approximately 75 percent of automotive consumers did the majority of their that sale. research on digital platforms last year. Once upon a time, the dealership experience was a major part of a car buyer’s purchase process. Now, 20 percent of car shoppers do as much research as they can online and only visit a dealership to confirm their decision or fill out paperwork. Furthermore, more than half of consumers are turning to mobile exclusively to research vehicles, especially while they’re already on the lot.
Sales teams should also be aware of market conditions and how they are changing consumers’ car purchases. Instead of singularly looking for the safest model of a vehicle, for example, they may want something that is also durable and cost-effective. Because economic conditions have shifted, the floor team needs to alter its approach, focusing on cost-effective or reasonable alternatives that will be a better fit for the consumer.
These digital changes alter the dealership experience significantly. Auto shoppers research more than before but decide quicker on site. As auto dealers switch to digital, they must take advantage of the short amount of time consumers spend in their dealerships. Here’s how they can do so:
For example, if a number of families arrive in the dealership, the easy option is to sell them on a basic minivan that can get them from point A to point B. However, focusing on selling a smaller number of mid-size SUVs with slidable second rows and a large trunk space for groceries may serve as the better option from a revenue perspective. This approach helps to synthesize the digital and sales relationship, which in turn builds customer trust and satisfaction as well as increase revenue and growth.
Keep the Floor Team Aware of Sales and Market Conditions
Because car shoppers use their mobile devices on the lot, facts and promotions can be checked and critiqued with a simple mobile search. To avoid confusion or miscommunication, the sales team must be aware of what’s being promoted on digital channels and how it impacts floor sales. For example, if a dealer is heavily promoting a great deal for a Toyota Camry across display and social, the sales team should be doing the same on the floor. Furthermore, they should be well-versed in
Breaking Down Barriers to Digital Car Sales
Use Clean, Clear Ad Copy
The miscommunication between digital marketing and sales is often a result of unclear, inconsistent ad copy. Imagine you have a digital ad that is supposed to be promoting a time-sensitive deal on a specific model and make of a vehicle. Now, imagine this ad did not clearly state when the deal begins or the conditions that have to be met to take advantage of the deal. As a result, consumers may arrive at the dealership confused about how to take advantage of the deal or they will not come to the dealership at all. In many cases, the ad is the source of consumer interest, so the ad copy should clarify what the promotions are, what each model offers and what to find in the dealership. Though consumers spend less time at the lot, there should still be an efficient and clear message in your advertising to make the in-dealership experience smoother and more efficient.
“The relationship between digital and internal sales fosters a complete and seamless customer experience. Today, digital advertisements are driving consumers to the lot, so setting the foundation with clear ad copy and then keeping the floor team in the loop with both digital promotions and market conditions is crucial. As the year progresses, dealers should implement these practices in order to see incremental growth for the remainder of 2016.”
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The relationship between digital and internal sales fosters a complete and seamless customer experience. Today, digital advertisements are driving consumers to the lot, so setting the foundation with clear ad copy and then keeping the floor team in the loop with both digital promotions and market conditions is crucial. As the year progresses, dealers should implement these practices in order to see incremental growth for the remainder of 2016.
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ms marketing solution
JulieJamison
product marketing manager for DealerSocket \ jjamison@autosuccessonline.com \
@julzjam
MARKETING 3.0: Surveys, Social Media, CSI and Missing the Mark
Social media has evolved quicker than we ever imagined, and your business depends on you understanding its impact. It is where consumers share information first, including how they feel about brands and products. Automotive dealers, on the other hand, typically measure CSI by relying heavily on surveys, a fact unlikely to change anytime soon. They must be cautious, however, not to upset customers with too many surveys. Consider, then, that long before surveys reach customers, they likely have communicated an opinion through social media. When used effectively, social media is an efficient tool to measure customer sentiment while marketing with a personal touch. Social 101
Think about social media as the giant window of your business. It’s about branding and creating a human connection with consumers who may not otherwise have a way of learning about and identifying with your brand. Automotive consumers want to know the culture of the dealership with which they will do business. Think about it like this: All things being equal (or near equal) with regard to price, inventory and location, would you choose the dealership with a large social media presence showcasing worthwhile content and interaction? Or, would you choose one that is socially invisible?
the same consumers,” Stanovich said. “It’s more important than ever to be personal, relevant and engaging. It’s also crucial to take advantage of targeting tools with paid advertising on Facebook because it’s not enough anymore to just cross your fingers and hope the algorithm gods get you on the right news feeds.”
In a 2014 study, 23 percent of car buyers said they used social media to discuss or communicate a recent car purchase and 38 percent of consumers said they will consult social media the next time they purchase a car. If you are not a relevant part of the social media landscape in your market, you are late to the party and missing out on important conversations that could help you strategize effectively to drive traffic and increase CSI.
To engage a social audience, write about their local community and events, and try to post items of interest that go beyond their business. While a viral video doesn’t make you think, “I want to buy a car from the dealership,” it keeps you in the news feed and reinforces the name.
Facebook, the Megalith, Has Surpassed 1.65 Billion Users
Facebook predicted to have one billion users by 2012. That prediction came true and growth has remained steady. So what’s changed? According to Social Media Strategist Kirk Stanovich, competition is the main differentiator between 2012 and today. “With more than 50 million businesses now using Facebook and new marketing tools within the platform being developed on a regular basis, chances are likely that competing dealers within a PMA and in neighboring PMAs are targeting
16 autosuccessonline.com
It’s been said that people develop positive feelings with a person, not a page. To properly use this medium, your challenge is to market without attempting to sell or not appear to be selling. Social media is a place to get to know your customers, not to directly sell to them.
Share the Love
Facebook is still the largest social media platform, but it’s not the most popular amongst all demographics. It’s becoming increasingly important to diversify your social media efforts as networks such as Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter continue to grow at a rapid pace, while Facebook growth has begun to plateau. A few things to consider: Millennials are beginning to leave Facebook and turn to Instagram. Could Instagram be a better place to share your brand’s story with this important demographic of car buyers? There are about 400,000 automotive-related tweets sent out every day. Have you considered keyword targeting to reach those in your market with the intent to buy?
Users by Network: Who Are You Reaching?
Facebook: 1.65 billion users Google+: 300 million users Instagram: 400 million users LinkedIn: 300 million users Periscope: 10 million users Pinterest: 100 million users Reddit: 36 million accounts Snapchat: 100 million users Twitter: 320 million users YouTube: More than 1 billion users Social Media, Consumer Surveys and Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI)
Can you keep a secret? Auto dealers want customer feedback to help calculate CSI scores. They want it bad, and OEMs demand it. The problem is that the majority of consumers do not understand how important the OEM CSI survey is. As a result, many fail to answer it or don’t take it seriously. How accurate are CSI scores, anyway? Let’s be honest — dealership staff can game the system and customers can leverage the survey to negotiate a better deal. It happens every day. OEM surveys are not going away any time soon, but to be effective, they must be used in a more targeted manner. Maybe it’s time for incentive structures to rely less on survey scores. It’s time to turn to social media for data. Today’s consumers are more empowered than ever to have their voices heard. Research shows that nearly half of all U.S. consumers use social media to ask questions to, complain about, or praise a company with which they have done business. Dealers need to be equipped to monitor and adequately respond to negative comments and reviews while building a strategy to harness the power of positive ones. Encourage your satisfied customers to share their great experiences across their social media networks, interact when appropriate, and always maintain a consistent strategy. Automotive dealers must be innovative as technology progresses and consumer media consumption evolves. Speak to your customers where they are already having conversations.
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AdamRobinson
chief hireologist for Hireology \ arobinson@autosuccessonline.com \
@Hireology
HOW TO CREATE A SUCCESSFUL ONBOARDING PROGRAM THAT CAN LOWER TURNOVER
Whether you’re talking about your employees or your customers, turnover is an ugly word for dealerships. When employee churn is high, a number of business operations feel the negative effects: time and money wasted on recruiting and training a replacement, decreased employee morale and reduced productivity, and interruptions in customer relationships. In many cases, it’s difficult for dealerships to identify the tipping point when an employee becomes disengaged to the point of leaving. Regardless, it’s important to be proactive in creating solutions that will reduce turnover. And one of the most important components of hiring and retention is developing a successful employee onboarding program. Is There Even a Problem with Turnover?
The National Auto Dealers Association’s annual report “NADA Data 2015” highlights the types of employee that make up the average dealership workforce: 20 percent of staff are salespeople; 20 percent are technicians; and roughly one-quarter are supervisors and others in a related role. It’s a well-known fact that the turnover rate for salespeople at dealerships is extraordinarily high — in fact, according to the NADA, it’s about 72 percent. Our research found that turnover has the greatest impact on store performance with respect to sales positions and service advisors. While the average dealership has 67 employees, the average dealership annual payroll is $3.78 million, meaning the cost to recruit and hire just a single employee can have a major impact on your dealership’s performance. An even more compelling argument for improving the onboarding process is the turnover rate in the first three months. According to the 2015 NADA Dealership Workforce Study, 28 percent of all terminations happened within the first 90 days of employment; for sales consultants, 41 percent of terminations happened within 90 days. Getting the Foundation Right
Facilitating a smooth onboarding process requires a clear strategy for getting new hires acclimated to their new surroundings. Here are eight keys to helping your employees start off on the right foot:
1. Go over the fine print — Even though it’s a
fairly mundane task, ensuring new members of your dealership’s team understand legal requirements and company policies will go a long way in making them feel comfortable and confident. Whether you use a printed policy handbook or an intranet with links to important documents, this approach will help alleviate any confusion and avoid future missteps.
2. Leave no room for doubt — In addition to
understanding your dealership’s concrete policies, it equally important to clarify a new hire’s job role and expectations. The first few days in a new workplace can be a blur for many people, so it’s a good idea to keep their specific position clearly in perspective.
3. Immerse new hires in your dealership’s
culture — If you’ve made the effort to convey a strong sense of your store’s culture through your career page and other recruiting platforms, make sure you walk the walk once you bring a new employee on board.
4. Build strong connections at all levels
— With an average payroll of nearly 70 employees, it’s easy for new hires at your dealership to lose track of who their key points of contact will be once they get settled into their role. Make sure you develop processes that help new employees to foster interpersonal relationships with a network of people. This effort not only helps keep lines of communication open but also creates a strong sense of community.
5. Encourage open communication pathways
— Throughout the first 90 days, it’s critical that new hires are given every opportunity to ask questions and get clear answers with respect to their role, organizational structures and best practices. The dialog should go both ways, with members at multiple levels
DealerElite and AutoSuccess Present:
providing regular feedback to a new employee to let them know how they’re doing. 6. Offer opportunities for future growth
— Even at the beginning of an employee’s tenure at your dealership, he or she wants to know there are pathways up the ladder. Either devise a clear flow chart that helps new team members understand the benchmarks for a promotion or be ready to explain and justify your reasons for moving employees up through the ranks. Remember, the more systemized your processes for promotions are, the better the response you’ll get from staff.
7. Provide easy access to resources — New
hires are in a tenuous position during the first three months of employment, meaning they’re being scrutinized to ensure they’ll provide a long-term benefit for your business. Ease this experience by providing access to any resources that would help them perform at a higher level. This could simply be links to especially helpful and relevant industry Websites that keep them in the loop about trends and best practices. Or, you may have an internal library of articles, videos and guides created by your own subject matter experts.
8. Build excitement around your brand —
Ideally, you want each of your employees to come to the office with energy and enthusiasm. However, it’s even more important to instill a sense of excitement and vitality around your brand with new hires during their onboarding process. Encourage them to participate in a dynamic environment and connect with your dealership on a more-personal level.
Create a Replicable System
As you develop a thorough, impactful onboarding process for your dealership, remember to consistently take account of the experiences of your first few new hires. You want to be able to identify what works and what doesn’t quite achieve your objective in lowering your turnover rates. From that point, you can develop a process that can be duplicated and help you build a stronger dealership.
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dp Chris Saraceno Andrew DiFeo
part
SALES AND SERVICE: Building Bridges Between Departments In dealerships where sales and service departments work hand in hand, each can build upon the work of the other to create a culture that keeps customers coming back. Removing the obstacles that prevent this dynamic is a must for dealership leaders. This month, we’ll finish up our discussion with our Dealer Panel and learn how they’re striving to build a unified dealership. AutoSuccess: What are ways the dealership’s structure (either physical or organizationally) prevents departments from working together? Andrew DiFeo, GM of Hyundai of St. Augustine: It starts with the leadership of the
Tom Hawkins Dan Moyer Mike Good
three
the DealerPanel
dealership, whether it be the dealer principal or the GM in terms of how do they hold their meetings. Is it with individual department managers, or is it with all the key managers from each of the departments? I think a lot of times, when it is the GM with just the sales department or just the service department, it can go back to creating those silos between them.
Chris Saraceno, VP and Partner of Kelly Automotive Group: At one of our dealerships,
we had service in a separate area from the showroom; we just recently moved the service lounge into the showroom area. This was done for two reasons: Our customers now have an opportunity to view our products, and this has naturally improved communication between service and sales team members Another strategy we implemented at this particular dealership (we’ve already implemented this at other dealerships) are monthly team meetings in which all team members attend. This is facilitated by the fixed operations director and the GM. They share dealership highlights — a quick 10-minute of accomplishments to celebrate. We believe if you have 70 or 80 team members experiencing the leaders there every month, communicating areas of celebration, areas of improvement, team member birthdays and anniversaries, team member of the month, etc., it demonstrates we’re one big team focused on the same vision and goals. Tom Hawkins, Owner of Hawkins Chevrolet: Physically,
separate facilities, such as a remote service center, can inhibit good communications. In our dealership, our parts department is on the opposite end of the tech bays from the service write-up. Having to communicate by phone or intercom creates issues compared to them being in the same general vicinity. Remote BDCs can also make it hard for communication with sales departments. Organizationally, there needs to be some cross-training for related departments, such as service and parts, sales and BDC and sales and F&I, so everyone understands the importance of each other’s roles.
Mike Good, GM of Street Toyota: Working together is essential. For example, when we began work at this dealership the new and used departments were separate, by management, staff, location and
philosophy. Each department was substantially underperforming, bitterly fighting over every opportunity. We combined the separate desking locations and sales staffs and began paying sales managers out of the same bucket and, within a year, sales jumped 50 percent; within two years, sales doubled. The power of synergy is amazing. Teamwork tends to breed when compensation structure represents both individual achievement and corporate accomplishment. Another “togetherness prevention technique” rears its ugly head when managers, in an atmosphere void of servant’s hearts, allow unchecked egos to prosper. These managers stand aside and seem to joyfully allow the “inmates to fight it out.” Weak leadership allows favoritism and unnecessary competitive tension with no commitment to the higher principles of leadership. AS: What are the first steps a dealership’s management can take to building bridges between the two departments? AD: It’s key to communicate to the sales department why the service
department is so important to us, in both the short-term and the longterm growth of the dealership with customer retention, and why. For instance, it’s important for sales consultants to introduce the customer to the service department as part of their value-building presentation of the dealership, and then, once the vehicle is sold, set up that first service appointment. Then, from the service end of it, obviously giving that consumer a great experience to make sure those customers are repeat customers for life, as well as referring their friends, family and neighbors when it’s time for them to buy or service a car to the dealership.
Dan Moyer, Fixed Op Director and Partner of Kelly Car and Truck Center: You don’t need a bridge; you need a culture change. You
need a goal and a plan. You need to create an environment of teamwork and set up each department for success. It starts at the top. You have to get everyone to understand truly that the very core of our business is not about selling or fixing vehicles. The core of our business is about building relationships. When you build relationships, you build trust. When you build trust, folks will buy from you. And it’s not only for our customers to feel that, but for our employees, as well.
TH: There needs to be an understanding of how everyone’s job impacts the whole dealership. Many salespeople see the chaos of a service writer without understanding that is the most intense job in the store. Everyone needs to be aware of how each department contributes because knowledge creates understanding. MG: I recommend a first step we call “eyeballs and oxygen.” In our store, department heads and myself have a “huddle” each morning at 8 a.m. in my office. It lasts from 15 to 30 minutes, sometimes less and seldom more. We share interdepartmental challenges, opportunities, victories and any other pertinent issues. We are eye to eye and breathing the same air. We make sure we do any potentially contentious business for the day in this environment. For the most part, it eliminates back biting, gossip and grudges. We’ve even become friends of sort. Additionally, we believe you grow a dealership by growing people. To that end, we meet weekly spending more than an hour on updates, community impact and a book study. The leadership team — department heads and managers — has done continuous book studies for the last 12 years. Each manager takes turns facilitating weekly discussions, challenging participants with thought-provoking questions. Both reading and facilitating has grown our managers together. Our current book is Elements of Mentoring by Brad Johnson and I highly recommend it. When skilled department heads work together, respect one another and work within a transparent values and belief-centered culture, great things can happen.
If you have questions or are a dealer who would like to be considered for the panel, please contact us at thepanel@autosuccessonline.com.
THE
DEALER PANEL
ls leadership solution
MarkTewart
president of Tewart Enterprises \ mtewart@autosuccessonline.com \
@MarkTewart
LET’S PLAY 20 QUESTIONS: Hard Questions for the Leader
As a leader, I want to ask you 20 tough questions. For some, the questions will make you 16: What is your go-to excuse? (“Hard to get good people here,” location, brands, size, proud. For others, it will create hopefully a moment of honesty and change. 1: What was the last training you went through? 2: What did you apply at the dealership from
something you gained at the training?
3: Do you have ongoing recruiting strategies
that are in place to find new team members?
4: Do you have interviewing, testing or profiling
strategies to add science to the art of hiring?
5: Do you have written procedures for each job and clearly communicated expectations? 6: Do you train and coach people every day in both formal and informal approaches?
10: When was the last time you demonstrated
owner, etc.)
you care about the well being of your team as a whole and individually with team members?
17: Do you have someone you should have fired a long time ago?
11: What is the last thing you did that communicated to your team in an unspoken manner that you will do whatever it takes for the dealership’s success?
18: Do you know and state clearly and concisely in a manner that truly makes a difference what your SDP is? (Specific Defining Proposition: What make your dealership a better choice?)
12: Can you name a time in the last six months that you personally “fell on the sword” and took ownership of a challenge and problem, even if it truly was not your doing?
19: If I asked you 10 questions from your doc or financial statement that would indicate your dealership’s performance, are you able to answer without looking?
7: Do you set the tone for a positive and
13: Do you and your team follow the necessary processes religiously, some of the time or hardly ever?
8: Do you hold people accountable or do you
14: How many initiatives have you started and stopped in the last year?
questions regarding key performance indicators, could you answer me without thinking or blinking?
15: How do your numbers stack up locally, regionally, nationally or against a 20 Group? No excuses or modifications — where do you rank?
For a free test drive of Mark Tewart’s 24/7 Online Training Channel, email or tweet me with the information above.
growing culture and environment of winning? tolerate less-than-acceptable performance? 9: Do you expect things from your team
members that you don’t do yourself?
22 autosuccessonline.com/podcasts
Question No. 20: If I asked you 10
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JackGarrity
partner at Dealership for Life \ jgarrity@autosuccessonline.com \
@Dealership4Life
USING RETENTION TO BUILD YOUR DEALERSHIP: Apple Ford’s Ability to Keep Customers Sets Them Apart From the Competition
Apple Ford in Columbia, Maryland decided in 2004 that their focus would be on providing a customer experience that would lead to maximum customer retention. Today, this decision is impacting every department in the dealership and has changed everything from new and used car marketing to the quick lane. “Not only do we sell more cars, retention has helped us to grow service, parts and body shop,” said Apple Ford President Chip Doetsch. “We are in the process of expanding our second quick lane to accommodate the volume we have and set an all-time record in parts and service last month. Our retention initiative has had a major impact and has become an engine that drives subsequent business to every department.” Let’s begin with how Apple Ford got its retention initiative started. The dealership knew that to really excel at customer retention across all departments, they needed it to be a part of the company’s collective soul. Every employee during every customer interaction would need to embrace this new dealership direction. This is apparent in the first two sentences of the “About Us” section on Apple Ford’s Website. “At Apple Ford Lincoln, we want every customer that walks through our door to be a customer for life,” Doetsch said. “We know from experience that nothing beats a courteous and respectful experience when it comes to buying cars, and we strive for the best for every driver who enters our showroom.” With a mission in hand, Apple Ford sought out the technology and a partner to help them complete this dealership transformation. The leadership knew that they needed more than just technology to really make a difference in their business. They needed someone with experience that had already seen the mistakes made and solved the issues that would arise.
24 success-driven solutions
They found an experienced partner that could help them hands on at the dealership to train every employee on how improve the customer experience and maximize retention. They relied on this partner for not only for technology and marketing but to help every employee at every level feel confident in their role to deliver the best customer experience and build retention. The benefits of retention at Apple Ford are seen everywhere. “Our more than 100 percent absorption allows us to be as price effective and aggressive as we want to be,” Doetsch said. “We are often willing to go further than other dealers just to get a new customer into our retention machine. We know the future value of that customer will far exceed a little extra money on a trade or a little larger discount. Our OEM volume-based incentive program helps, too. Retained or repeat customers cost less to sell, so our average advertising cost has declined dramatically.” Apple Ford enjoys a 42 percent share of the parts and service dollars available in their market for the brands, where most dealers in the area average 25 percent.
This means that Apple Ford is getting way more than their share of the parts and service revenue in their area. “Our whole brand is built off of the relationship program,” said Apple Ford GSM James Koser. “We added lifetime powertrain in 2012 and this really differentiates us from the competition both near and far. About 40 percent of our sales come from out of state. Our OEM can change the incentives three times a month. We like to be first to let our customers know and can have custom creative the same day. We use our retention system to pull the list, have creative produced, send an email to relevant customers and track performance for continuous improvement. For the customers who don’t act right away, the system will let us know if they visit our site later and notify us so we can contact them, answer any questions and invite them in for a test drive. Both our past customers and new prospects benefit and the dealership sells more cars and grows our customer base.” In a nutshell, over the last 12 years Apple Ford has enjoyed tremendous growth by implementing a comprehensive retention system and working with the right partner that has helped and mentored them along the way. It has truly become the value differentiator for them versus their competition. They have grown every department in the dealership and now have reinsurance on every vehicle. If this sounds like a story you would like to tell about your dealership a few years down the road, you should look into starting a retention program at your dealership.
ms marketing solution
MattBrown
president and CEO of LotVantage \ mbrown@autosuccessonline.com \
@LotVantage
CLIMBING TO THE TOP OF FACEBOOK’S NEWS FEED
Facebook recently announced that it is changing how it delivers posts from businesses. The goal of News Feed is to show you stories that are most relevant. Facebook likes to make improvements to News Feed in order to keep people on Facebook, not leaving in frustration. According to Facebook, “To help make sure you don’t miss the friends and family posts you are likely to care about, we put those posts toward the top of your News Feed.” This means that business pages will likely see a lower reach. Facebook examines user feedback to determine what stories appear in your News Feed, so if your business page posts aren’t getting any likes, comments or shares, the less likely they are to appear in your customers’ News Feeds. What Can Dealerships Do?
Facebook Ad Campaigns — To get your dealership posts in front of the eyes of your customers, you may want to consider boosting your posts or running a Facebook Likes campaign. If you are not an expert, find a partner that can run these social media campaigns for you.
26 autosuccessonline.com
Engaging Content — Your business page will need to post engaging and relevant content that your Facebook audience will enjoy. Ask your fans questions and run contests to build that engagement. Also, make sure you respond to every comment, so they don’t feel ignored. You wouldn’t ignore someone who physically came to your dealership, would you? “See First” Option — Another option is to ask your fans to select the “See First” option. This will put your posts at the top of their News Feed. You can find the “See First” option by clicking the Like button on your business page. If you’re going to suggest this, you have to make sure your posts are engaging enough in order to not alienate your true fans. Facebook for your dealership shouldn’t be considered as a direct sales tool. You should
“Facebook for your dealership shouldn’t be considered as a direct sales tool. You should think of it as a communication tool. You can use it to communicate with your customers, provide customer service, inform them of specials and events and build relationships.” think of it as a communication tool. You can use it to communicate with your customers, provide customer service, inform them of specials and events and build relationships. If you do all those things, sales will be a product of that. In the customer’s research phase, there is no doubt they are looking at your Facebook page. The question is, what’s on it? Social media is hard and can be time consuming. Find a person or partner that will help you do it right and start engaging your current customers, generating buzz and getting new ones.
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JordanBentley
national sales manager for Callbright \ jbentley@autosuccessonline.com \
@855Callbright
FISHING FOR CUSTOMERS? FOLLOW THESE MARKETING STEPS TO IMPROVE YOUR CATCH
Fishing is almost inescapable in Houston, even for this complete non-angler. Whether you’re seeing big boats on trailers on the freeway or hearing stories about big fish (some real, some not) around the office after a holiday weekend, fishing is simply part of the culture when you live so close to the Gulf of Mexico. Though you won’t find me on a dock or boat casting for fish anytime soon, I’ve picked up some basic fishing strategies from the (tall?) tales I’ve heard around the break room. The most surprising thing I’ve learned is how reeling in fish has a lot in common with reeling in dealership customers through marketing. For example, throwing random lures and baits into the water might hook the occasional fish, but making optimized, data-backed decisions would give you a better chance at reeling in more and bigger fish. In marketing, launching campaigns without the right information will give you the same result as fishing without guidance — you’ll probably bring in a few customers, but you’ll never make a big catch. Want to make sure your marketing campaigns are optimized for bringing in the best catches? Follow these steps to turn your campaigns into the perfect bait for customers. Know Where to Look
Any serious angler will tell you that they have a secret spot for fishing; just don’t expect them to divulge the location of that spot. They’ve usually found these secret spots through years of trial and error, while some spots have been handed down through generations. Just like how you have to go to the right places to get the best fish, you have to use the right method for bringing in the best leads from marketing campaigns — and I’m going to let you in on the secret: Focusing your efforts on enticing phone leads will drastically improve the amount and quality of incoming leads. According to a recent study by BIA/Kelsey, 66.4 percent of businesses considered phone calls to be their highest-quality lead source. The key is something you might not want to take fishing just in case it falls in the water: the smartphone. More than 73 percent of all Internet users in the U.S. use smartphones to access the
28 read, listen, watch, share, succeed.
Web, according to eMarketer. While many smartphone users might claim to have the fastest thumbs in the West when it comes to texting, it’s still much easier to tap on a clickable phone number in a search result or a unique toll-free number (TFN) on a Website or mobile ad than it is to fill out a lead form on a small smartphone screen. That’s why focusing your efforts on enticing calls — especially by being mobile-friendly in all your Web marketing — is the best way to attract high-quality leads. Learn From Past Results
From what I understand, knowing where to fish isn’t the end-all of reeling in the big ones. You also need to know how to attract the fish you’re after. As you learn what kind of baits and lures attract different fish, you can optimize your fishing strategy and improve your chance of success. Optimizing a fishing strategy and planning your marketing campaigns take a similar amount of research. Anglers spend years learning what type of bait or lure particular fish will bite on, and marketers have to do plenty of their own research to figure out what campaigns bring in the most customers. Remember those TFNs I mentioned before? They’re the best lead source, and they’re the best way to measure marketing campaign effectiveness. Since you’re enticing customers to give your dealership a call from the start, tracking incoming calls can actually show you which campaigns are providing you with the most catches — I mean leads. Using call tracking software and integrating the information with your CRM software will give you a complete picture of how you’re bringing in the best customers, tying sales all the way back to the advertisement or marketing campaign that got them on the hook.
Improve Your Bait Choice
Once you have all the information you need to be a great angler — the location of a premium fishing spot and the knowledge of what baits and lures to use — you have to actually use what you’ve learned to be successful on your fishing trip. If you continue to use random baits and lures and think you can outsmart the fish by moving to different locations, you have nobody to blame but yourself when you don’t reel in the big fish. Just as being a successful fisher requires you to take advantage of the knowledge you’ve learned about which baits and lures to use and where to fish, you’ll need to implement the things you’ve learned about your marketing campaigns from your own research if you want to improve them in the future and bring in more and better leads. Using the wrong kind of bait can be costly to dealerships facing increasing costs and stagnant profits. According to NADA, total dealership expenses — from rent to employee wages to marketing spend — have steadily increased in the past six years. Although advertising cost per new unit sold decreased from 2009 through 2014, it increased last year to $617 per car. With dealer profit margins sticking to 2.2 percent for five straight years, optimizing your marketing spend is more important than ever. What qualifies as a weak or strong campaign will depend entirely on your dealership — after all, you might not catch that many fish in a small stream. Over time, you’ll be able to use past results to establish benchmarks for the number of calls you expect a particular marketing campaign to generate. Once you know what campaigns are and aren’t reaching call targets, you can apply what you learn from strong campaigns to improve weak campaigns. Basically, you’re picking the right lure to catch more customers. If you’re interested in more tips on improving the number of customers your marketing brings in, send me an email or tweet me at the information provided. Just don’t ask me for any detailed fishing advice.
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JoeyLittle
director of digital & social engagement for AutoAlert \ jlittle@autosuccessonline.com \
@SocialLittleMan
TAP INTO YOUR COMMUNICATION SUPERPOWERS
Your dealership has communication superpowers. It may not feel like it when you’re running around trying to find exactly the person you need to talk to or when customers are anxiously tapping their feet waiting for answers, but you have the ability to answer questions efficiently, deliver seamless work processes and leap tall buildings in a single bound. Well, maybe not that last part, but definitely everything else — and all those things come in handy when it comes to creating exceptional shopper experiences. Today’s busy consumers demand quite a bit from the businesses they trust, but that also means they give you many opportunities to stand out. The car buying experience is complicated, and shoppers will be impressed when you are able to choreograph and communicate internally — down to the last detail — everything it takes to execute their transactions and ensure they leave your dealership satisfied. Running in Circles?
Does it sometimes feel like you’re scrambling to gather details to help customers or complete transactions? Much of the post-transaction feedback dealerships receive revolves around the disjointed way information is gathered or shared between employees, resulting in slow processes and, in turn, frustrated customers. Between multiple desk trips, convoluted financing processes, lengthy appraisals and even waiting for a salesperson to become available on busy days, customers can be left feeling like the entire car buying process is a waiting game — all the while, behind the scenes, your team is running in circles to get things done. There’s a way to more efficiently run your processes, ensuring your sales team is in
30 autosuccessonline.com/about-us
the know and your customers leave your dealership feeling happy with the service they’ve received. Great communication is at the center of dealerships that have mastered the customer experience, and most of them will tell you it takes practice to reach a point of mastery. Another secret is this: They’re staying up to date with technology and allowing it to guide them as they lay the foundations of communication excellence. Gather and Streamline Information
With shoppers relying on data for nearly every aspect of their brand interactions, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that data plays an integral role in your dealership’s day-to-day success as well. In fact, in order to best communicate with shoppers, businesses rely on key information to guide them. While data itself may not sound very personal, it’s the key to getting to know your customers, having the right conversations and gaining insights that will help you offer exactly the right vehicles at the right time to make more sales. Data can be overwhelming, so breakdown and analysis is essential. It’s important to know exactly what’s helpful to you and which insights can be turned into actionable items at your
dealership. By focusing on essential information and zeroing in on improved communication, you’ll not only end up with happier shoppers, but also a healthier bottom line.
“Great communication is at the center of dealerships that have mastered the customer experience, and most of them will tell you it takes practice to reach a point of mastery.” Know Your Customers
In addition to knowing the basics about your demographic, it’s smart to stay on top of what shoppers are buying, researching and talking about online. Work on improving your online social presence, as well as taking stock of the things that matter to consumers, and you’ll not only learn what shoppers are looking for, but you’ll develop valuable relationships in the process. Ultimately, communication plays a critical role in the success of your dealership. Excellent communication will help you improve the overall customer experience, effectively share product information and create more opportunities for your team. When you strike a rich balance between great communication skills and leveraging technology to help you deliver the most insightful information, you’ll end up gaining loyal customers who seek you out in the marketplace.
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LisandraRamos
marketing specialist for ActivEngage \ lramos@autosuccessonline.com \
@Lisandrar07
FIVE CRITICAL TIPPING POINTS IN LIVE CHAT INTERACTIONS
Transport yourself to that blissful moment when you slipped between the sheets of a heavenly bed at a luxury hotel, or that “Ah-ha!” moment when you were about to cancel your cable service and the representative assisting you magically found a promotional offer you just couldn’t refuse. These often-overlooked customer experience moments are called tipping points. What Exactly is a Tipping Point?
Author Malcolm Gladwell proposed the concept of the tipping point back in the year 2000. According to Gladwell, ideas, products, messages and behaviors have the ability to spread just like viruses do. As with viruses, small causes can have significant effects; also, change is often dramatic, not gradual. If you get tipping point moments right, they’re powerful enough to provide a halo effect for other aspects of your dealership. But if you get them wrong, you’ll find yourself climbing out of an eternal hole of negative customer perceptions. In his book The Tipping Point, Gladwell develops three essential rules of tipping points: • Law of the Few — Some people have a greater ability to initiate change than others. In other words, the messenger matters. • Stickiness — The actual message being pushed to motivate change needs to be memorable and compelling enough to spark and support the action. • Power of Context — Finally, both the messenger and the message have to suit the circumstances. In short: right person, right message, right time. Key Tipping Points in Live Chat
Live chat has significant potential to tip customer experience on dealership Websites. In fact, there are five key tipping points during a live chat interaction that can directly impact your bottom line. 1. The First Impression In chat, the first tipping point happens even before a prospective customer interacts with
the chat representative. When a shopper is on your Website and wants immediate answers to their questions, how accessible are your live chat buttons? Is your provider flooding your Website with chat? Do you have a live chat popup on your mobile site? Remember that design is the rendering of intent. If you want shoppers to engage via chat, don’t make them work for it. Chances are, they won’t; they’ll simply take their business elsewhere.
“If you want shoppers to engage via chat, don’t make them work for it. Chances are, they won’t; they’ll simply take their business elsewhere.”
instead spends a few extra seconds proactively addressing the client’s current and potential future questions? Chat is no different. Whether you outsource or manage live chat in-house, your online staff should have the knowledge and skills to answer questions and give shoppers an incentive to buy from you. Relationships are a give and take; if your team has nothing to offer shoppers, they’ll get nothing in return — and neither will you. 4. The Transition Consumers want and expect to move seamlessly from one channel to another. If you outsource live chat to a vendor, you need to ensure the chat team expertly helps transition shoppers from your digital showroom to your physical store.
Does your live chat provider send you vital information along with shopper contact information, such as whether the car buyer has a trade in and if so, the make and model 2. The Greeting of that vehicle? Are you notified immediately The second potential tipping point occurs during initial contact with a chat representative. when a shopper might stop by the dealership? The next interaction should pick up where Modern consumers have abysmally short the previous one left off, or you risk tipping attention spans, and if someone isn’t readily the interaction the wrong way and putting off available to pick up chat requests immediately, prospective buyers. you’re going to miss out on quality sales opportunities. 5. The Resolution While the final tipping technically occurs Once the interaction has begun, your during live chat follow-up, it’s a crucial representatives need to know their stuff. It moment that will make or break the previous takes just a few responses for a savvy shopper chat conversation. If a customer has a question to know whether the chat agent has the about the current special on a vehicle or a proper knowledge to assist them or not. If the service they already received at the dealership, representative takes too long to respond or demonstrates little to no insight, the interaction you have a chance to deliver on an unspoken promise: to give them the answers they were has already tipped in a negative direction. looking for when they chatted in. 3. The Added Value The third, and arguably most crucial, tipping If you make empty promises, then your efforts point in a live chat interaction is the value in chat will go to waste, and the final tipping added during the conversation. Think about point will leave a lasting impression for all a car buyer’s reaction when your sales rep the wrong reasons. Remember: These tipping recommended the ideal car based on that points in live chat interactions serve as a person’s unique needs. Or what about the tremendous opportunity to build value and goodwill your staff generates when they don’t ensure the potential or existing customer’s rush service customers off the phone, but positive feelings spread like wildfire.
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ls leadership solution
DennisMcGinn
founder & CEO of Rapid Recon \ dmcginn@autosuccessonline.com \
two
@DennisMcGinnrr
part
NEED FOR SPEED IS DRIVING CENTRALIZED RECON MANAGEMENT: A Prime Opportunity to Drive More Gross Profit for Groups as Few as Two Rooftops
A centralized reconditioning model is focused on improved communications, scheduling and decision-making, and grounded in a productivity model driven by the clock or Timeto-Market (TTM) standards. Now, with automated recon workflow software, these key performance indicators can be precisely measured. Hard data coming from recon centers managed this way show they contribute tens of thousands of dollars a month in reduced costs and greater gross. These recon centers get inventory frontline ready for most of the magical 30-day retail window because they’re not languishing half of those days in recon. Margin squeeze isn’t new. NADA reports net margins for its memberships at 2.2 percent on average. You’ve watched used car margins slip — and, as off-lease and rental fleets flow into the market, margins will be compressed even more. Operators must sharpen their tools and pencils throughout most every department in the dealership. Recon workflow software and the structure, processes and accountability it brings throughout each step of the reconditioning department can get cars to retail ready in three to five days. If you haven’t put a stopwatch on your current reconditioning output, do so, and you will be surprised. First, ask your fixed ops, recon and used car managers how long it is taking to get cars through recon. Most dealers who ask this will hear a response of three to seven days. After the stopwatch test, most learn their recon cycle is often a margin-killing 10 to 12 days or more. Recall management isn’t often considered a role and solution for the recon department, but a recon department able to identify and address vehicles having open safety recalls before they hit the sales line is paramount. Recall software able to identify open recalls from a VIN scan with high-accuracy alerts the staff of vehicles requiring attention. Decisions can be made to pull it out of the recon line for special attention or wait for parts availability. That’s not necessarily a new idea, but software
updated in near real-time can find vehicles not on the national recall watch list when the car entered recon but are on the day the car gets to final detail or the day it hits the sales lot. No dealer wants to inventory and not sell vehicles with open safety recalls. Recall automation software having integrated recall management capabilities makes recon even more accountable for putting out safe, reliable vehicles with integrity. One of the most frustrating and costly problems with traditional recon models is how much they lose track of where cars are, who’s working on what and whatever happened to the car that was pulled out of line last week to wait for special order parts. Use of spreadsheets, whiteboards or notes may have been useful at one time — but this, too, is doubtful — to track progress, hold individuals accountable for being on the job doing the job, but no longer. With centralized recon driven by productivity and clock times, guesswork is eliminated. The software will inform everyone with access where each vehicle is in the process and who handles that process at that time. When approvals are requested, text, email or phone conversations will establish fast contact so repairs and sublet work can get going fast. The centralized recon model will require a cost. Foremost may be the acquisition of a facility, a new build or remodeling on or near one of a
group’s stores (a 40-mile radius is acceptable). Given the many empty dealerships showrooms and service facilities sitting unoccupied since the Recession, acquiring the property of interest may, in some markets, be straightforward. All this to say, cost is associated with moving recon into centralized facilities for two or more related stores. New lifts, alignment machines, tools, equipment supplies and staff will also likely be needed. Give the conservative holding cost savings discussed earlier, one can calculate an acceptable ROI. This new short-term burden aside, not centralizing recon can be a disfavor for the dealership. Reconditioning that “borrows” space and technicians from retail service struggles from: • Disputes about whose vehicles get first attention — retail or recon. By far, a dealership’s priority customer regarding volume and profits is not consumers but the recon department. • In the jousting for mechanical service attention, used car reconditioning can be shorted to get lifts free for customers, meaning vehicles can go to retail not as reconditioned as the used car manager wants, with some perhaps obvious attention to detail overlooked in the rush, costing sales and even reputation. • Reconditioning that delays getting cars frontline ready in five days or less eats up gross and attributes to cumulative inventory depreciation and slower turns. The centralized recon center is a bold idea with tremendous upside. For dealers operating at least two stores within a 40-mile radius, running the numbers will prove illuminating. Contact me if you want help.
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"By transforming the customer experience in Fixed-Ops, our service profits increased by 25%." John Ingram
President/Managing Partner John Eagle Honda
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DalePollak
founder of vAuto \ dpollak@autosuccessonline.com \
@vAuto
DO YOUR NUMBERS REALLY ADD UP FOR AUCTION PURCHASES?
Most dealers would agree that properly buying inventory at auctions is really a numbers game. As an independent dealer in Texas recently shared, “Buying cars at auctions is really a form of legalized gambling, and the dealers who are the best at working the numbers will always win.” With that in mind, let’s take a look at all the numbers involved in sourcing and buying auction vehicles, and how some dealers work the numbers more astutely and effectively than others. • The number of cars you need. For some dealers, this number is a pretty simple calculation. You have 10 holes in your inventory, so you need 10 auction units to fill them. For other dealers, the calculation is more complex and precise. Yes, they need 10 cars, but knowing exactly which 10 cars to pursue becomes the chief calculus. Color, condition, equipment, make, mileage, model, vehicle type (e.g., compact, mid-sized sedan, SUV, etc.) and year are all key factors these dealers consider as they create their buy lists. It’s also not uncommon for the dealers’ buy lists to reflect a mix of the same/similar units they’ve recently retailed, as well as others the dealers identified as retail opportunities. • The number of cars you evaluate. For some dealers, this number exactly matches the vehicles slated to run on auction day. That is, the dealers evaluate the cars they see when they show up at auction. By contrast, other dealers do more due diligence. They’ll use technology and tools to evaluate available vehicles at multiple auctions. The tools help
them efficiently scan through dozens of available vehicles, and focus their evaluations on the subset of available inventory that most closely matches their inventory needs and profit/purchase parameters. • The numbers behind your bids and purchase decisions. For some dealers and their buyers, these numbers reflect their instincts, past experience and occasional references to wholesale valuations. Their numbers are also often influenced by a sense of urgency to come home with at least some vehicles — a reality that can result in over-paying. For other dealers, the bid and purchase numbers are more calculated and concrete. Behind every bid or purchase, there’s a calculation that reflects their costs to acquire and bring home a vehicle, as well as its likely retail front-end margin and days-tosale potential. It’s not uncommon for these dealers to know the exact, maximum bid they can make before a vehicle stops making sense from a retail perspective. This knowledge gives them the confidence to walk away when they should, or press ahead on a purchase, even if it exceeds a maximum bid threshold. Such decisions typically follow an assessment that the vehicle’s smaller front-end gross represents an informed, manageable trade-off for the opportunity to retail the unit.
• The numbers your auction purchases produce after you acquire them. For some dealers, these numbers are a bit of a black hole. They aren’t aware of, or don’t even track, the average Cost to Market, Market Days Supply, Days in Inventory or front-end grosses across their auction units, compared to other inventory. If these dealers were aware of these numbers, they’d likely see things they don’t like — too many instances of overpaying, a significant percentage of auctionpurchased units as aged inventory and consistently less-than-acceptable returns on their auction investments. By contrast, other dealers mind these numbers every day. They devote a greater degree of attention and care to managing auction purchases compared to other inventory. The reason? By their nature, auction vehicles carry a higher level of risk than units acquired from trade-ins and other sources, and consequently deserve more circumspect post-purchase management. To be sure, these dealers would welcome better returns for the effort and energy they invest to properly merchandise, price and retail auction purchases. But, the dealers also know that they’d be worse off if they paid less attention to this higher-risk inventory. Industry analysts suggest that dealers will become more reliant on auction vehicles in the coming months due to fewer trade-ins, rising new/used vehicle lease volumes and longer ownership cycles. With this backdrop, it’s worth asking the question: Do your auction numbers add up to success at your dealership?
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DavidLewis
president of David Lewis & Associates \ dlewis@autosuccessonline.com \
@DavidLewis_DLA
SILENCE IS GOLDEN
There are many things in the retail automotive business that have become central to the car buying experience. Probably nothing has stood the test of time more than the demonstration drive. It is one reason why customers still prefer buying from a dealership rather than just purchasing a vehicle online. They want to drive it, feel it and smell that new-car smell. After 35 years in the business, I can testify to the power of a dynamic demonstration drive to help the customer take mental ownership of a vehicle. At the same time, I realize today’s customers are more prepared than ever and they want to have more say in their purchase decisions. Though salespeople have traditionally thought that controlling the customer was critical to our process, in reality we have seen how that approach has turned the public off to our methods. In public surveys, car salespeople still rank at or near the bottom of the list of unsavory characters not to trust. There are several mistakes salespeople continue to make with customers, some of which take place during the demonstration drive. The typical demonstration drive is too short, too sterile and there is too much talking being done by the salesperson. At the point the customer has the best opportunity to take mental ownership of the car, we are selling and telling and trying to close them on the deal. When they should be focused on driving, feeling and experiencing the vehicle, they are instead busy answering the salesperson’s questions. Rather than letting the vehicle sell itself, most salespeople have been trained to start applying pressure with closing questions, driving the customer back into a defensive posture. First, let me say you’re not at fault if you do things this way. It’s the way it has been taught for a long time and is usually built into any training a new salesperson receives from the dealership. That doesn’t mean you should keep doing it. I cannot think of any worse reason for doing something than because “that’s the way it has always been done.” In the old-style sales training, it was generally taught that, during a demonstration drive, the salesperson is to ask the customer questions about their experience: How does it feel? How does the car handle? Can you see this car sitting in your driveway? These questions only make the customer nervous and defensive, working against what you should be doing — giving the customer an opportunity to take mental ownership of the vehicle. The customer already knows what you are trying to do and will usually shut off their emotions and respond in a way that puts cold water on your enthusiasm. They do this so you
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will stop trying to pressure them to buy. They recognize you are trying to box them in and get them to make positive statements about the car. The more questions you ask, the more likely they will withdraw and hide their emotions from you.
the vehicle sell itself to the customers, and letting them sell it to each other. They have the opportunity to experience all the vehicle has to offer their senses, including the touch, sound, smell and feeling they get as they drive down the road. You let them express what they are feeling with each other and stay out of the way, simply observing. It won’t be long before they notice you are not saying anything; they may even apologize for ignoring you. Someone will decide to break the
“We all know buying any big-ticket item is an emotional decision. People buy what makes them feel good. So why would we want to do anything that shuts down their emotions? We want every emotion they are experiencing to be in full bloom so we can read their buying signals and understand what’s important to them in their time of decision making.” We all know buying any big-ticket item is an emotional decision. People buy what makes them feel good. So why would we want to do anything that shuts down their emotions? We want every emotion they are experiencing to be in full bloom so we can read their buying signals and understand what’s important to them in their time of decision making. When we fail to do this, we repeat the same mistake most other salespeople do and we sound just like everyone else. Avoid this blunder. Let them ask the questions and show them you are unique from other salespeople.
silence at some point — just make sure it isn’t you. Usually, it will be the passenger who will start asking the driver how the car drives. Do they like the way it feels? Is it comfortable and roomy enough? They are both starting to realize that this is just what they are looking for and more.
How do you accomplish this feat? By being silent during the demonstration drive and not asking any questions at all. I guarantee it will not only be unique, but totally unexpected and a welcome surprise. If they are a couple, they may even forget you are in the car and start sharing their emotions with each other and, in turn, reveal things to help you make the sale.
Can you see how this is a much more logical and inspiring approach to the demo drive? If you’ve done a good job up to this point and are sure this vehicle fits your customer’s needs, why reverse your good work by using pressure and trial closes? It’s unnecessary and is contrary to the goal of true customer service: to meet and exceed your customer’s expectations.
Imagine this scenario: A couple is looking for a car that will primarily be hers. The wife is in the driver’s seat and the husband is in the passenger’s seat. You, the salesperson, are in the back sitting quietly as they pull away from the dealership. You’ve already surprised them by telling them they can drive wherever they want on their demo drive, and can take as much time as they’d like. That alone has caught them pleasantly off guard and they are now talking openly about where they would like to go.
Silence truly is golden and can be the salesperson’s best friend during the demo drive. Not only does it give your customers a chance to fully enjoy the vehicle and all it has to offer, but it gives you a chance to see what’s most important to them. This will prepare you for doing your inspiring external walk around after you come back to the lot.
What are you doing at this point? Sitting absolutely silent in the back seat, enjoying the ride and letting them have a driving experience free of questions or input about the car. You are not selling or telling. You are there letting
You still sit silently in the back seat witnessing your customer taking mental ownership of the car. Unless for some reason they do not like the vehicle, you have just greatly increased your chances for a successful sale.
By now, they have been sold on the vehicle and on you as their salesperson. Now it is just a matter of showing them all the rest the dealership has to offer those who choose to buy their car from you. Once that is done, just make sure you don’t forget to ask those seven powerful words: “Would you like to buy the car?”
ms marketing solution
LatifQadri
owner & president of The Best Direct Group \ lqadri@autosuccessonline.com \
@LatifQadri
IS DIRECT MAIL DEAD IN THE DIGITAL AGE?
This was a question I was asked often at the most recent NADA convention. The answer is a resounding “no.” The digital marketers have done a superb job of marketing the effectiveness of their products while downplaying traditional direct mail. However, according to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), direct mail is still an excellent point of customer contact, and using both digital and direct as part of an “omni-channel” marketing plan enhances the effectiveness of each.
“In lay terms, direct mail works. Not only on its own, but as a part of an overall strategy. Here are some stats to consider the next time you consider direct mail....” In lay terms, direct mail works. Not only on its own, but as a part of an overall strategy. Here are some stats to consider the next time you consider direct mail:
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• Direct mail is by far one of the easiest and most reliable mediums to track for ROI and analytics purposes. • Being personal is still important — a staggering 70 percent of Americans still consider traditional mail more personal than messages coming through the Internet, according to the DMA. • Not everyone opens their mail over the garbage can — according to DMA research, 56 percent of Americans say receiving real mail is a pleasure. • Direct mail is an effective way to woo new customers — DMA has found that 39 percent of consumers try a new company as a result of direct mail. • Emails are easily ignored, while people are compelled to open mail. Approximately 70 to 80 percent of consumers polled by the DMA say that most open most of their mail,
including what they label “junk.” • According to the DMA, 80 percent of all Americans have made a purchase as a result of direct mail. • A USPS study reveals that direct mail recipients purchased 28 percent more items and spent 28 percent more than non-direct mail recipients. • Take nothing for granted. Just because young people dominate the digital sphere doesn’t mean they have no interest in good ol’ snail mail. A study found that 92 percent of young shoppers say they prefer direct mail for making purchase decisions. These are just a few points to consider the next time you’re planning your ad spend. Direct mail won’t be the cure all, but it’s still a reliable tool to get that shot in the arm during the end of the month or a fiscal year close when you’re chasing that factory stair-step number — as long as you’re using a well-crafted direct mail piece with a powerful message and strong tools to enhance the engagement and ROI.
SUCCESS STORY AUGUST 2016 · NO 8
BREAKING BARRIERS WHILE ACHIEVING RECORD-BREAKING SALES
Å CONTINUED INSIDE
Ä CONTINUED FROM THE COVER
The automotive industry has entered a time when staying comfortable and maintaining the status quo can lead to a dealership’s downfall. Today’s customer is evolving — they are more knowledgeable about what’s available than any customers in history and have a much better understanding about what things truly cost. The key to survival and success is to adapt to their thought processes and provide what they are demanding; otherwise, dealerships will lose out to those that do.
Today’s customer does not want to take hours to negotiate a deal. While a vehicle is still one of the biggest purchases they will make in their lifetime, they’ve already done their research online and want to make the purchase in the most time-efficient way possible. This type of customer is shocking dealerships out of their traditional comfort zones. While it’s a challenge, it’s also an opportunity to stand out from the crowd and thrive. To thrive, though, dealerships must be willing to change and adapt to their customers. This requires not only next-level thinking, but a willingness to take action. “Apple, Tesla and Google have targets on our backs — they see our industry from a completely different perspective. This is when major business disruptions occur: think about Uber,” said Brian Benstock, General Manager and Vice President of Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura. “What happened when Apple aimed their sights on the camera industry? The music industry? Or the phone industry? Kodak, Tower Records, Motorola were all robust, strong, incredibly profitable companies that became irrelevant overnight because of their failure to adapt. At the end of the day, consumers dictate demand. Kodak said that people will want the quality of a printed photo over the convenience of a camera in a phone, and Motorola stood by their strategy while Apple eviscerated their business. These giants are no longer relevant. Google, Apple and Tesla are all hiring automotive retail experts in preparation for their move into the automotive retail space. The dealership model
is not customer-friendly, and consumers are demanding change. We, as dealers, need to own that responsibility and fix it. Who wants to wait for four hours to buy a car? Apple, Google and Facebook will change the way automobiles are manufactured and retailed. Are we prepared?” “Seismic shifts in the industry have already begun, and many dealers are still very consumed with their Facebook page fans. Paragon has already started preparing for this shift. Move fast and break things by moving at the speed of the customer.” An avid runner, Benstock got a first-hand view of the “Apple experience” when his earbuds broke during an early morning run. With traditional thinking and business practices, he would have been out of luck. Because Apple has regularly stretched the bounds of “normal,” however, he was able to go straight to the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York, which is open 24 hours a day, and purchase a new pair. Apple knows their customers and seeks to meet them where they are. This experience got the Paragon team thinking. They wanted to take what Benstock learned from his scenario and apply it to the stores, to become the “Apple Store of Honda.” Paragon put this thinking into action and implemented a 24-hour service facility. By doing this — by meeting their customers where they are — they opened the doors to accommodate a new type of customer. This service has become widely popular to Uber and taxi drivers, police officers, EMS drivers, doctors and nurses, city workers and others whose schedule only allows them nighttime hours. This “thinking like the customer” mindset has put their dealership ahead of the competition with this element, and gives them an advantage when it comes to servicing or selling to this demographic. This is only one idea that the leadership team has put into action to stay ahead of the curve. In a time where disruptive technology — online pricing, social media reviews and increased information is available to the public — is causing some dealerships to panic and try to keep their heads above
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Success Story
“In our drive to go from good to great, we have to be relentless. The market is constantly changing. We have an excellent team and we’ve broken multiple records across all three stores for several consecutive months but we know there’s more there.”
Brian Benstock General Manager and Vice President Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura
water, Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura are committed to riding the wave to larger market share and customer satisfaction. For instance, Paragon is aggressively shifting focus to carry out more online transactions, including using a tool, “Make My Deal,” with their website that allows a customer to move through a transaction almost 100 percent online. They can submit their trade information, any rebates or incentives they qualify for, e-sign documents online, select their vehicle and submit a deposit. While this type of transaction might not be in the comfort zone of the average customer just yet, the segment who does appreciate it is growing, and will only grow larger as time moves on, putting Paragon at the forefront of dealerships willing to meet the needs of current and future auto buyers. “In our drive to go from good to great, we have to be relentless,” said Benstock. “The market is constantly changing. We have an excellent team and we’ve broken multiple records across all three stores for several consecutive months but we know there’s more there.” Paragon is in a constant state of evaluation and re-evaluation. They don’t believe in having vendors, but rather having strategic partners that are as committed to the mission as they are. Their partners have to
PARAGON HONDA AND PARAGON ACURA bring their “A” game every day. “They push us, and we push them,” said Benstock. “Fail fast, learn fast, adapt and move on.”
explore uncharted territory with Paragon. We are relentless. Being relentless means you’re never satisfied.”
Team Velocity Marketing is one of the strategic partners Paragon relies on to connect with their customers. “We’re thrilled to have a partner that holds us accountable every day in our quest to make each other better,” said David Boice, founder of Team Velocity Marketing. “He never lets us rest on past accomplishments, never says ‘we’re there.’ Paragon is always pushing us to do something better tomorrow, regardless of what we did today.”
Benstock said, “We are truly fortunate to work with some of the best and brightest people in the industry, from the executives at American Honda to the various coaches, trainers and associates we work with. We are certainly are going to need all of these resources as the economic, political, and business climates change. Let’s face it, interest rates have been at an historic low, demand at an historic high, and all business is cyclical.”
“Paragon forces us to push our boundaries every day,” said Scott Fletcher, co-founder of Tier 10, “with everything from our creative, to our data, to our strategies — we consistently
These are warning signs that the good times might not last forever. Now is the time to prepare for the demands of tomorrow’s customer using strategies, customer service, and technologies that support the customer across all platforms
and dealership departments. As Google, Tesla, and Apple enter into the business and disrupt the existing business model, new opportunities will be created. “Peter Drucker had it right,” said Benstock. “The important challenge in society, economics, politics, is to exploit the changes that have already occurred and to use them as opportunities.” It’s truly an exciting time to be an automobile dealer. For more information, please visit Paragon’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. You can also visit BrianBenstock.com for additional resources. To learn more about Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura and the strategies outlined in this article email:
successstories@autosuccessonline.com
Online Display Ads
Email Hang Tags
Point of Sale
Direct Mail Apollo Technology Platform
Mobile Responsive Offer Site
All of Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura’s targeted marketing is managed from a single platform. This allows them to deliver consistent branding and offers across all of their media channels and monitor the results from all of their campaigns from a single, web-based dashboard.
Success Story
Success Story
PARAGON HONDA AND PARAGON ACURA
RECORD - BREAKING SALES
915
798 912 254 244 291 MAY
JUNE ACURA
JULY HONDA
IN A NUTSHELL Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura embrace next-level thinking and strive to become the ‘Apple Store of Honda’ through innovative company culture and process. INGENUITY - Paragon’s “thinking like the customer” mindset has put their dealerships ahead of the competition and gives them an advantage when it comes to servicing or selling to each particular demographic in their market. CUSTOMER TRENDS - Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura are constantly implementing faster, streamlined processes that are appealing to the customer. The new customer wants instant gratification and often values speed over price and Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura have become exceptional by embracing this mindset. UNDENIABLE RESULTS - Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura have both posted consecutive record-breaking months in 2016 during months that are typically not very strong. The constant next-level thinking that Paragon implements in their business continues to prove successful in an ever-changing industry. Å READ FULL STORY
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JaySkowron
founder & principal for DealerDefender \ jskowron@autosuccessonline.com \
@DealerDefender
ARE YOU TAKING ADVANTAGE OF GOOGLE MY BUSINESS? IT’S FREE ADVERTISING
The best free advertising you can take advantage of is your free Google My Business listing. But many businesses aren’t aware of this great tool available to them. You may have heard of Google Places or the Google+ Pages dashboard — they’re all the same thing; Google My Business is just the latest iteration. What Are the Benefits?
There are many. Here are just a few. Your dealership’s listing shows up in search results, on both desktop and mobile, with valuable info to your potential customers. It also shows up in Google Maps on mobile. You can control the photos, your phone number and Website, hours of operation, and even tells the customer when the busiest times are. It shows your Google reviews, directions and click to call. It can even show a virtual 360-degree tour of your dealership if you request that service (and you should). Additionally, the back-end dashboard is a one-stop shop for to show you how your listing is doing. It reveals the clicks to your Website, clicks on your phone number to call your dealership, clicks on the directions and overall views of your listing via the Insights panel. You can use these to measure your listing effectiveness and judge what your conversion rate is and see what is going well and what can be improved on. You can also connect your dashboard to your Google Analytics account and YouTube channel, and even run simple ads using AdWords Express. There’s even a mobile app so you can do all this from your smartphone or tablet.
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Claim and Verify Your Business Listing
You’ll need a Google account. It’s generally best to use one for the dealership and not a personal one, in case that person leaves the dealership. If someone else has already claimed your business, there are steps you can take to regain control of it. After heading over to business.google.com, search for your dealership name. If it doesn’t exist yet, you can add it and submit it. You’ll then need to verify that you are a representative of the business. Some businesses are able to verify by phone, or take advantage of “instant” verification if your Website is
The listing will be viewable by the public before you verify, but it’s important to get verified for several reasons — chief among them, you can’t edit the listing name until you verify, and you won’t be able to monitor and respond to your reviews — which, as you know if you read my June article, is really important to me, and should be to you, too. What If Someone Else Verified my Dealership Already?
First, check if someone at your dealership verified it. You can request a transfer of ownership or have them add you as a listing manager. You can also use the “Report a Problem” link under the “Request Ownership” area if you don’t know who claimed your listing or they don’t work there anymore. This will send them an alert and prompt them to transfer ownership for you. If that doesn’t work, Google support can help you out.
“With Google being the No. 1 search engine in the world, there’s no reason not to take advantage of these free tools to ensure your dealership’s listing is published, correct, up to date and using the best photos and descriptions possible.” verified in Google Search Console, but most will have to use the postcard method. Just click on it and have it sent to your dealership. It generally takes a week or two. Let people know the postcard is coming — some people tend to mistake it for junk mail and toss it out before the right person sees it. It’ll have a code on it; just enter that into your new business listing and you’re ready to go.
With Google being the No. 1 search engine in the world, there’s no reason not to take advantage of these free tools to ensure your dealership’s listing is published, correct, up to date and using the best photos and descriptions possible. Need help with yours? Reach out and I’ll be happy to lend a hand.
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AdamWeiss
executive sales manager for Phone Ninjas \ aweiss@autosuccessonline.com \
@phoneninjaadam
OWN THE PHONE LIKE A NINJA
It’s simply not enough to just own the showroom floor. You must own the phone, as well. With the world we live in today, if you are not being intentional and deliberate with your prospects on both the showroom floor and the phone, then you have already shot yourself in the foot. Should we treat phone customers any differently? Absolutely not. An opportunity is an opportunity, no matter how someone chooses to communicate with your dealership. If you want to start selling to more phone customers, have a phone process that’s right for your dealership. The process needs to be measurable and your staff must be held accountable, with you managing that accountability appropriately. What’s the end goal? To sell more cars by a process that drives customers to the lot. So often it is forgotten how that’s done. If salespeople are the face of the dealership, the ones interacting with customers, and the ones expected to move the iron, then why do we send them out into battle without being properly equipped? Would a coach purposefully send a batter up to hit without a bat? Of course not. So why do we send our sale team out into the trenches with giving them the proper weapons to master their craft? Let’s start out by briefly talking about practices that typically don’t work. The first is what we call the “Direct Call to Salesperson’s Cell” method. The reason some dealerships have resorted to this is to minimize hold time. Even so, most of these calls go to voicemail and the prospect usually doesn’t leave a message. Worse, the salesperson will answer while in the middle of a test drive or delivering a vehicle. We even heard one eager salesperson take a phone call while in the bathroom, and he went so far as to inform the customer he was taking notes on toilet paper. That is definitely not painting the picture of a successful, professional dealership. A second inefficient practice is sending sales calls to sales managers. Managers have a full plate as it is, and the last thing that they need to be worried about is taking phone-ups their salespeople aren’t properly handling. The responsibility of a sales manager is to be on the floor, assisting with deals or managing salespeople. With that said, all sales managers are not qualified to handle a phone customer. Plenty of managers slaughter phone-ups right along with the sales team. The third scenario — and one of the most common — is when the operator is in charge of handing out the phone-ups. With this practice, the caller is parked on hold, and the first salesperson to dial an extension gets the phoneup. The problem with this strategy? There is no way to hold your sales team accountable. Many dealers are clueless as to how many phone-ups come in each month. Looking at a call tracking
48 read, listen, watch, share, succeed.
service will only provide inflated numbers since many inbound calls are directed to parts or service. And what about people who call your local number? Something to note about BDCs: You don’t have a BDC because you don’t trust your sales team. A BDC should be developing business via outbound sales calls and following up on past leads. Don’t use a BDC to answer sales calls and set appointments; your sales team needs to be qualified to do this and start building rapport right away. So what’s the best way to manage your incoming sales calls? I believe in a system that starts with the operator and ends with managers holding salespeople accountable for the calls they’ve taken. Here’s a simple six-step process to get your dealership headed in the right direction: Step 1: Operator — The operator identifies the caller as a phone-up and inquires if he/she is looking for a new or pre-owned vehicle. A page is sent asking for sales to call the operator and the first salesperson to call the operator is then given the phone-up. The operator then notes the time of the call and to whom it was given. A new or used car manager is notified with this information via phone call or e-mail. Step 2: Sales — Salespeople use an efficient, proven script that enables them to uncover the caller’s needs, obtain contact information, ask for an appointment, sell their information to the caller and provide directions to the dealership. Step 3: Manager Briefing — Upon completion, the salesperson is required to brief the new or used car manager on the outcome of said phone-up. Step 4: Manager Action — Today’s managers are busy. It’s important that someone is dedicated to training and development and the dealership. Third-parties are OK for doing this, too; it allows you to know that your salespeople are having their calls reviewed and feedback
is being provided. Your managers have the freedom to continue to work deals. The person coaching the salesperson should: • Applaud the salesperson for setting a solid appointment and then call the customer to confirm the appointment, better known as the “management confirmation” call. • Look to see if the call was recorded within call tracking and review the call for training opportunities. Salespeople can be given onthe-spot training for how to better handle tougher callers. • Call the customer back and try to set an appointment.
Step 5: Reporting — Track the weekly and monthly progress of your sales staff. You will need to know the following: • How many calls did each salesperson receive?
• What percentage of names and numbers did they get? • What was the percentage of customers who were appointed? • What was the percentage of customers who showed for their appointments? • What was the percentage of customers who were sold? Step 6: Manage Accountability — When reviewing reports, carefully identify those not meeting dealership requirements and consider removing ineffective personnel from receiving phone-ups. Taking a phone-up is not a right, it’s a privilege, and it’s one that needs to be earned. By directing more of your phone-ups to qualified salespeople, you’ll surely notice closing ratios improve.
Finally, make sure you provide your staff with the most effective training possible that will help them become more effective on the phone. The average dealer can add a significant amount of revenue to the bottom line when improving their phone processes due to mishandling of leads or lack of guidance. Consider the average dealer gets 300 phone-ups per month. If your closing ratio is 10 percent percent, you are closing 30 sales per month from phone-ups. At 20 percent, you are closing 60 sales per month. If your average gross profit is $1,500, that’s an additional $45,000 each month and over $500K yearly with just 30 additional closed sales. Isn’t it time you developed a process for handling phone-ups at your dealership?
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