VOL. 7 | ISSUE 11 | NOVEMBER 2014
WHO IS
FAILING WHO PG: 14
Breaking Through AT YOUR
BREAKING POINT! PG: 24
Inside Feature
Principal’s Office with
Matt Lasco
PG: 28
A Division of IPD
A Conversation with
THE WOLF, OF WALL STREET - Jordan Belfort
PG: 10
“No matter what happened to you in your past, you are not your past, you are the resources and the capabilities you glean from it. And that is the basis for all change.” – Jordan Belfort
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Featured In This Issue... Articles 6. The Proper Way To Set Up A Turn For A Sales Manager By Charles Cannon 9. Stop Playing Broken Telephone and Make More Sales By Andrew Price 10. A Coversation With The Wolf of Wall Street - Jordan Belfort By Michael Oquendo 14. Who’s Failing Who? By Jeff Cowan 17. Training That Wasn’t By Alan Ram 18. The Principal’s Office with Matt Lasco By Michael Oquendo 20. People, Process, Product...An Automotive Lesson from “The Profit” By Don O’Neill 22. 5 Reasons Why Over 90 Percent of BDCs Underperform Pt. 2 By Tom Stuker 24. Breaking Through At Your Breaking Point By David Villa 26. Factors Preventing Your Site From Ranking in Google By Tim Martell 28. Do You Have “Loyal” Non-Performers? By Dave Anderson
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C O N T E N T S
Holiday Gift Certificates
OK, We are ready..I got the Turkeys!
Editor-In-Chief Michael Oquendo
SIGH! No...I said get TURKEY Certificates!
Authors Dave Contributing Anderson Jeff Cowan Tim Martell
Andrew Price
Editor David Villa
David Villa
Charles Cannon Michael Oquendo
Creative Director Austin Janowsky
Tom Stuker Don O’Neill
Alan Ram
Marketing Director Jason Yamnitz
Copyright Š2014 all rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited unless expressly authorized by editor or publisher. The views expressed in the articles or advertisements are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the magazine or its staff. Editorial inquiries, questions or comments can be made to the Editor-In-Chief at moquendo@ipdmail.com Advertising Sales: Please call 813-630-5888 ext 523 or 561 or email moquendo@ipdmail.com
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The PROPER WAY to set up A TURN for a sales manager by Charles Cannon
If you have sold cars for any amount of time, you know that there are times when you need a manager to help you close a deal. Even if you have done all the proper steps in the deal (i.e. needs assessment, proper demo, etc.) sometimes a different voice needs to come in to help the client rationalize the decision to purchase the vehicle. I humbly consider myself a seasoned pro and even I need help occasionally to make sure that the deal gets done. When I was a green pea in this business, I was never taught the “proper way” to set up a turn; I had to learn the through trial and error. The wrong way to set up a turn is saying to the client, “Let me go get my manager.” For a majority of the customers, this immediately brings tension and they figure they are in for a “fight.” When the manager does introduce themselves, the customer will put up their defenses and it becomes harder for even the most experienced manager to close the deal. Even when/if the deal is completed, there can be animosity with the client. There is a BETTER way to set up a proper turn (T.O.) so that there is less resistance from the client AND your manager has a better chance at closing the deal!
Introduce a manager to the client early in the process. You can do this as you are first greeting the client or even when you are going to have them follow you on the lot to show them the perfect car. This is a vital step because if a turn is needed, then the client already “knows” who they are going to be speaking to. This can help the manager close the deal easier and at higher gross!
NEVER tell the client that you are going to get your “manager.” A better alternative is to say “You know, I JUST thought of something!” and you quickly get up and walk away. By you doing this, you are building curiosity in their mind and they will want to know what you are doing to save the car deal.
You then go tell your manager where you are in the deal. When your manager comes in to talk to the customer, the most important step comes up next:
SHUT UP! I personally can’t tell you how many times I have heard a manager take a turn for a client and the salesperson does all the speaking! This is very frustrating from the manager’s point of view because they already know what you said; they want to hear it from the client themselves. Also, there are times when I have said EXACTLY the same thing as my manager and the customer decides to do the deal. Finally, the manager may be saying certain things to set up where they ultimately want the car deal to go.
Stand/Sit on the same side as your client. This helps because you are subconsciously telling the client, “I am on your side.”
I can personally attest to the fact that these steps work. It has helped me immensely. In fact, I have had clients tell me, “I appreciated the fact that the manager greeted me when I first arrived vs. at the end of the deal.” Follow these steps and I KNOW that you will hear the same thing, plus it will also lead to higher grosses! Charles Cannon is a BMW Client Advisor for Advantage BMW Midtown. For specific questions contact him via twitter:@CharlesLCannon or by e-mail at charles@dealersolutions.info.
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Today’s car shoppers lead busy lives, with less time than ever for visiting dealerships. The Internet makes it easy to do pre-purchase research, but 85% of people ready to buy cars still pick up the phone and call dealerships. Historically, data showed that car shoppers who called a dealership typically purchased a car in 7-10 days. Our recent research (conducted with an OEM) indicates that this critical window of opportunity has shrunk to just 3-5 days. That tight window makes phone handlers a crucial link in the sales process, yet for too many dealers it is the weakest link. High turnover impacts call handling performance making it impossible to maximize every prospect call. Sadly, this fact is built into the business model in many dealerships today. Our data shows that the industry’s average call to appointment ratio hovers around 7 percent. Highly skilled phone handlers convert callers to appointments at nearly 30 percent. Imagine the impact of a 20 percent increase in phone conversions at your enterprise. In analyzing the outcomes of more than 2,000,000 inbound prospect calls, the most common call handling mistakes are: • Not listening attentively to callers or asking about callers’ vehicle needs • Not keeping the caller engaged for at least five minutes • Not suggesting alternative vehicle choices • Not asking for an appointment at least twice during the call A systematic approach to improve call handlers’ performance should include call tracking, DMS, CRM and other proven tools to create a comprehensive system. Uniting all these measurements into one process allows dealerships to: • Generate more leads per marketing dollar • Get more appointments per phone leads • Improve sales management and performance • Measure the real time telephone skills of your phone handlers • Provide ongoing training matched to each employee’s needs
Sales performance management is the evolution of call tracking. A good system starts with measurement, collecting and analyzing such important metrics as marketing cost per prospect, lead conversion rate and profit leakage. This transparency gives managers the information they need to make intelligent decisions, from marketing and lead generation to employee performance, call to appointment ratios and final sales. Objective reports quantify areas of potential improvement and motivate staff to own their performance and continually strive to improve it. The resulting increased accountability leads to better organizational performance. A sales performance management system dramatically impacts training efforts. Custom sales training that meets the dealership’s needs analyzes individual phone handlers’ performance. Once individual employees’ training needs are identified, just in time online coaching and training technology help training transfer and improve call handlers’ call to appointment and appointment to sales ratios. New employees are onboarded immediately without waiting for expensive 3-day onsite training. Our research indicates that the average rate at which phone handlers set dealership appointments is 7.8 percent. With a sales performance management system, it’s possible to improve the skills and efficiency of your phone handlers by 20% or more, which can raise the appointment setting ratio to nearly 15 percent. With the average dealer profit at $2,200 per vehicle, it’s easy to see that setting even a few more appointments each week can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to your annual profits. Andrew Price is the President of CallSource Automotive. For specific questions contact him via twitter - @callsourceauto or by e-mail at andrew@dealersolutions.info.
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A CONVERSATION WITH...
JORDAN BELFORT By Michael Oquendo
I sat down with Jordan Belfort, the Wolf of Wall Street, to discuss all things automotive. We began addressing the myth of car salesperson. Although modern car dealers have drastically changed in look ,feel, and overall strategic approach for dealing with customers, most people STILL dread setting foot on a dealership lot. I think that this is well exemplified in the numbers. A DMEautomotive study finds that 68% of car buyers visit two dealerships or less — and only 15% visit four or more — before buying. On average, car buyers test-
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drive only 1.9 cars pre-purchase. Conventional wisdom might say that used-car buyers at dealerships take significantly more test-drives, but, in fact, 30% of used buyers test-drove only one vehicle (vs. 35% of new buyers). Women, who influence 85% of all car purchases, were bigger test-drive avoiders: 19% skipped it altogether, vs. 12% of men. To sum that up you, the car dealer, must face that, as it stands, 68% of car buyers may never even visit your dealership in person. If they do make it, there is a very
good chance that they will not test drive, especially for women, regardless of their interest in new or used vehicles. Why? Well, let’s look at car salesperson trust. In this study “Car buyers rated dealer salespeople on a ‘trust scale,’ and a dealer image problem persists: a significant majority (56%) rated car salespeople untrustworthy — another 22% reported they ‘neither trusted/distrusted them’ — and only 1 in 5 placed them in the trustworthy column.” That’s pathetic. It’s also confusing because, as previously mentioned, car dealers have dramatically improved their approach for dealing with customers. They are more transparent (more than 7,000 dealers have partnered with TrueCar), and have even transformed their showrooms to be more friendly and receptive for a quality customer experience. Yet, the distrust remains. Can this lack of trust ever be dispelled, or at least reduced? If so, how?
Surely you’re familiar with the movie The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, especially if you happen to be a sales professional. It gives a ridiculous, vulgar take on the common car salesperson stereotype. Everything from the cheesy inflatable gorilla, to the ubiquitous cheap polyester shirt worn by the salespeople in a somewhat disheveled fashion, is present in the film. The ragtag sales team at the failing car dealership recruits none other than Don Ready, who is a mercenary of sorts, to save their dealership. In some ways, Don represents to epitome of the sleazy, smooth talking, exaggerated salesmen that will do ANYTHING to move a car off the lot. I’m looking at you, person who’s sweating while reading this. Stop. You’re the problem. Bad perceptions can be changed, and here is how it’s done:
Con’t on page 12
There is no SINGULAR sales tactic, if that’s what you were hoping to see. There’s no secret script or list of responses to objections. It will take more than a press of the easy button to get out of this one. However, the Wolf does offer a few tips. 1. Be Passionate The sale begins the moment a customer lays eyes on you. How are you perceived in the first few seconds of a conversation? Be enthusiastic! Tonality and body language set the tone for the entire experience. If you’re having trouble finding your passion, perhaps it’s time to realize that anyone that has passion doesn’t necessarily have to be passionate about their tools or product. After all, a plumber may not be excited about plumbing supplies, but a good plumber does need to fervently believe in helping solve people’s problems by fixing their plumbing. It would certainly be helpful if you liked cars, but if not, learn to be passionate about helping people get what they want. In this case, it’s a new car! Even if you love cars, try changing perspective to be excited about helping people get what they want. You’ll find yourself able understand what your customer wants. 2. Be an expert Look the part. A huge part of someone’s perception of an expert is associated with appearance. Experts tend to look clean, sharp, and well put together. Don’t expect people to value your expertise if their first impression of you screams amateur. Regardless of your years of experience, you must establish yourself as an expert. Doing so allows you take have control of the conversation. When people are in the presence of an expert they tend to defer control to the expert. However, that does not mean you should become a talking head. Use this as an opportunity to ask great questions! Gather intelligence in such a way that you develop a very tight rapport with the customer. Ultimately, you need to become an expert at asking questions. 3. Be Prepared Plan and write down your questions ahead of time! An expert will ask a certain number of questions in a certain order. More importantly, after asking each question they will know how to listen when they person responds. Learn to truly understand what your customer’s beliefs, values, and needs are, and from there a transition to the sale can be made. Now a tailor made solution can be presented 100% based on what the customer actually wants! 4. Be Genuine Let me be clear, enthusiasm does NOT call for acting. If you aren’t really passionate, this isn’t a suggestion to “fake it to make it,” but rather a call to find your passion! It’s a soft spoken enthusiasm that is under the surface. It’s a certain tone of voice that has confidence and certainty in knowing that you have exactly what they need. Moreover if the customer refuses to open up about their needs after you’ve asked your pertinent questions, don’t just linger awkwardly and lose the sale! After all, YOU’RE the expert, so YOU need to take control by opening up about yourself. People love to hear about what belief causes you to have passion, what values you hold, etc… Once you’ve established a foundation of trust, the conversation, and therefore the road to the sale, can become a friendly conversation.
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The point of each of these tips is to shatter the distrust the customer arrives with, which begins the straight line to the sale. Jordan personally uses this strategy (along with many more in depth strategies), which is what led him to codify it as the Straight Line Persuasion system that anyone could learn to use. It is crucial to understand that to be passionate, to be an expert, and to be genuine involves what Jordan calls your Inner World. The Inner World being your emotional state, belief system, personal standards, and vision for the future. All of these things either set you up for success or failure in the Outer World. The Outer World is the actual strategy or plan of action to implement in your world. It’s how to be prepared. Adopt the visage of success so you can generate the right emotional state to succeed. Negativity allows the fear of failure to lead a stagnant, “safe” life. The positive route involves being committed to becoming an expert, to doing the work, studying, and eventually making yourself an expert. But make yourself sound like an expert from the beginning. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt while being committed to doing the work. You’re walking your talk. Expertise is all about confidence. To learn more about Jordan Belfort’s Straight Line Persuasion Training, please visit http://jordanbelfort.com. Jordan’s comprehensive training sessions can be structured to meet each of your specific needs. His engagements have ranged from introductory 3-hour talks, to 3-day, in-depth training programs, to ongoing consultation on how to actively and massively grow the marketing and sales results of your organization.
Jordan Belfort is the CEO of Jordan Belfort Global. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@wolfofwallst or by e-mail at jordan@dealersolutions.info.
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Who’s Failing Who? BY JEFF COWAN
So I have a friend who called me up in late June and asked me for some help. His daughter, who had graduated college the year before, was having trouble finding a job. He knew I’m in the automotive industry and wanted to know if there might be an opportunity for his daughter. Knowing Tammy, I was thrilled to think that this bright young woman would have an interest in an industry that I love so much. Although her college had been paid for, Tammy, not one to be idle, worked a part time job as she went to school. She worked at Starbucks for a while, but worked the bulk of her college years at an electronics and appliance store. She started out in customer service, but quickly moved to the sales floor as the managers saw that she had a work ethic and personality more suited for sales. After making that move, Tammy earned more than her share of spiffs and small awards for her ability to work
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with and sell to customers. This did not surprise me, as I had always known Tammy to be a happy outgoing type of person; the type that could one day be a great salesperson if that is where her heart led her. Eager to help, I recommended she give writing service a try. I told her how she could earn an income of $50K plus annually, and over a short period of time, 50% more than that. I explained to Tammy all the benefits to the job, explaining that although it might be tough, it could be a very rewarding career choice for her. Being the motivated hard working person she is, she immediately started applying at dealerships in her area. She was hired within one week of looking. Tammy started at a GM dealership in July. This particular dealership has about 50 vehicles visit its service department every
day. The pay plan she showed me was one that would allow her to make the $50k plus annually, just as I had told her, with a decent benefit package. She was stoked to say the least. With this job, she could accomplish her dream of being totally independent and on her own. As I write this it has been just over three months since she started. It has been nothing short of a disaster. She is averaging about $1,700 a month in gross income with no big upswing visible in the near future. Everything I had portrayed the job to be has not panned out. What went wrong? 1. In three months’ time, she has received one hour of training. That training came from the factory rep. He happened to stop by the dealership 35 days after she started. He was kind enough to spend an hour with her to show her some “tricks” on her computer. 2. With it being July and right in the heat of the summer, the Advisors she shares her day with were supposed to help her learn the job. They did not. My assumption is that either they did not have the time, simply did not want to, or most likely, did not know how to do the job themselves, since their numbers are ridiculously low as well. 3. Her Manager, who seems to be always missing or putting out fires, has spent zero time with her beyond normal chit chat and monthly team meetings where he talks about the importance of better numbers — ‘talks about’, yet gives no instruction on how to get these better numbers. The General Manager, however, taking a liking to Tammy and seeing her struggle, bought her a copy of the book “Gung Ho!” He felt by her reading it, it would help improve her survey scores. 4. Morale is understandably low since no one is making an thing close to the money they were told they could make, and would make with some training. What is even more d moralizing for the service staff and Tammy, is that they witness every week how the vehicle sales staff gets en less training, endless spiffs, and has regular Saturday auto sales contests with hundreds of dollars in cash being handed out. I have Advisors write and call me all the time with similar stories, and although I have always felt for these advisors, it never quite resonated with me until I saw it happen first hand. I know that not all dealerships are like that, but by my best guesstimate, I believe that somewhere between 30 to 50% share these issues. That’s just based on the communication we have daily with dealerships who are seeking us out to improve their service profits.
Personally, I don’t get it. Why would someone go to the trouble of finding the land, building the facility, inventorying it with millions of dollars of inventory, spend thousands to get people to walk in the door, only to stop short by a few thousand dollars to train their employees to be prepared for their customers? We in the auto industry cry and scream for people to come and join our employment ranks. We are stunned that more would not want to, with all the industry has to offer. Yet it is easy to see why they do not. Just as an untrained salesperson will run your customers off, any business who does not train their employees will run those employees off. As far as Tammy goes, she is now talking about leaving the car industry, not because she wants to, as she sees great potential in it. She is leaving it because her whole reason for going to school and working is not being met; the need to be independent and live without a handout, or the aid of others. What a shame. I thought young, educated people were what we wanted and needed in our industry! If it truly is, we will never attract and keep them with our current approach. I did give Tammy access to my training, but as I was not able to be with her on the drive every day (living 2000 miles away), I could not show her how it worked and coach her the way she and the rest of the staff needed to be coached. All this to say – If you’re wondering why your advisors or service department are not meeting your goals, here are a couple of things to think about or address: Do you actually have a solid and ongoing training process for each advisor hired at your store — veterans and rookies alike? Does your service manager hold daily and weekly meetings where they coach, critique and role play? Do you have clear, concise goals for your staff to meet? Do your managers themselves understand the profession of selling? Do you as a Dealer, General Manager, or Fixed Operations Director fully understand the opportunity missed by not having a fully trained staff, prepared to meet and handle any situation in a proactive way? Jeff Cowan is founder and president of Jeff Cowan’s PRO TALK, Inc. Jeff is recognized as the creator of the modern day walk around and training processes for automotive service departments. Jeff Cowan’s PRO TALK, Inc. is famous for delivering North America’s number one training for service departments everywhere. Check out Jeff’s website at www.automotiveservicetraining.com and sign up for free weekly training.
Jeff Cowan is the CEO of Jeff Cowan’s Pro Talk. For specific questions contact him via twitter - @JCowansProTalk or by e-mail at jeff@dealersolutions.info.
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THAT WASN’T By Alan Ram
Have you ever really trained your people? I don’t mean some of this stuff that is out on the market that is purported to be training; I mean really training. Every third call to my office is a dealer calling and telling me “we’ve tried training our salespeople, but it didn’t stick,” or reporting that it is impossible to train salespeople.
Then I’m held accountable on a scorecard. While baseball players need to be educated in baseball and know the rules, they also go to spring training every single year. In season, they take batting and fielding practice every day. And then, in how many statistical categories are they held accountable? All of them.
If you don’t think salespeople can be trained, you may as well extend that to all humans. When I ask these same dealers what they’ve done, many times they’ve simply sent some of their people to a seminar or workshop or something along those lines. Seminars and workshops definitely have a place and that place is normally education or creating momentum for a training initiative. For training to be effective, three elements need to be present. Education, Simulation and Accountability. If you don’t have a strategy for accomplishing all three of those things, you don’t have training.
Training salespeople requires the same strategy. First, you have to educate. With today’s technology, that can be accomplished online in 15 to 20 minutes per day without a manager having to take salespeople hostage in a conference room for hours on end, reciting what they think they heard someone say at the Marriott in 2004. Then you have to simulate. This can realistically be done in 5 to 7 minutes per day with a manager focusing on one or two areas during each session. So, for example, if you want to train your people on properly handling a preowned ad call on a specific vehicle, you as the manager will play the role of the customer. You would then start the call using a vehicle out of inventory. After making sure the salesperson knows how to properly answer the call, you might say something to the effect of “I’m on your website right now and you have a 2012 Honda Pilot advertised. It’s says to call for price”. You would then want the salesperson to respond exactly the way they had been taught. Maybe today we would
Let me give you some sports analogies that make this easier to understand. I can watch golf all day long on TV. I can understand what it looks like when somebody plays well. I understand golf; hence I’m educated in golf. That doesn’t make me a good golfer. If I want to become a good golfer, I have to hit bucket after bucket after bucket of balls for the rest of my life to get good and stay good. That’s simulation.
just practice the beginning of the call a few times or until they got it right. Tomorrow you might go a little further or focus on something else. That is simulation. It doesn’t take much to notice a big improvement. Momentum and excitement build as results are seen and cars are sold. After that, we need to hold our staff accountable. If we are specifically talking about how they handle the telephone, for example, you need to be listening to call monitoring all day every day. That’s accountability. Think about it this way; if it wouldn’t work on a sports team, it won’t work on your sales team. Listening to someone talk for any period of time, calling that training and expecting a change in behavior would be the equivalent of popping in a workout DVD, plopping down on the couch and wondering why you’re not getting in shape. You absolutely can and need to train your people. There are sustainable solutions out there that can help you get it done effectively as well as cost-effectively. Just make sure that next time, what you’re buying is really training.
Alan Ram is the President & Founder of Proactive Training Solutions Inc. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@TheAlanRam or by e-mail at alan@dealersolutions.info.
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The Principal’s Office with Matt Lasco
Are You a Leader or a Boss? I spoke with Matt Lasco, Vice President of Lasco Auto Group, to talk about what’s most important to a successful Dealer Principal in 2014. One of the key areas he emphasized was the type of leadership that inspires people to take action. It can be very easy, he said, to find yourself behind the lines, telling people what to do from afar without being truly involved. However, people thrive on an involved leader. Your people are your strength, but as a leader your actions can inspire them to experience either stagnation or growth. The sense of urgency in a Lasco Dealership, for instance, is present because Matt acts with a sense of urgency to get things done himself. His motto is “do it right, do it now, do it right now.” All the daily variables that exist for a Dealer Principal has led Matt to understand that every single task that can be done quickly cannot be procrastinated! Without urgency there are a litany of CSI problems. He sets that
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tone every day. Ultimately, all of the things that make Matt’s employees successful stem from values, ideas, or structures that were put into place because of his level of involvement with the entire business. Now that does not mean that, as a Dealer Principal, you should be micro-managing everything that happens at your dealership. That sort of activity is counterproductive. Matt believes 100% in empowering your leadership to take full responsibility of themselves and their department. But in order to empower someone you must first inspire them to perform to their fullest. Here’s how:
1. Leaders Do Not Rule, They Lead
Don’t be a boss. Bosses are desk jockeys. They sit behind a desk in a cozy room isolated from their team, shouting about where everyone needs to be going, and
where they need to be moving the business. A true leader will take the team forward, be there right along side his or her team as they advance. A leader not only shares their vision with their team, but they spearhead the charge that brings that vision to culmination. Notice the difference?
2. Leaders Speak and Listen
Contrary to what some might believe, a business leader’s job does not entail commanding people to do things. If you have to command people, that tends to imply that nothing would get done without your issued commands. If that’s truly the case, then perhaps you’ve failed to inspire your team to action. Desk jockeys fail to inspire. It reflects poorly on the leader if their team consistently fails to take action towards a goal. Your job is to speak, then listen, and not always in that order. You make the decisions, but why not include you team in the discussion, get their feedback, perhaps even find a new idea!
3. Leaders Motivate
Bosses like to intimidate people into taking action. Some of you might be thinking, “but it works!” Remember to consider the long term effects of such activity. Sure you might get something done because of some scare tactic, but you’ve now frustrated your employee with your refusal to acknowledge your initial lack of guidance in setting consistent goals. You’ve also made yourself unapproachable, which means you cannot be a leader. Consider motivating people by telling them how crucially important their task is to your dealership’s success. Urgency is necessary! Show your team that every day with your own activities. If you procrastinate, why would you not expect your entire dealership to do the same?
4. Leaders Teach
One of the things that Matt stressed was training his team. “It’s very hard to get fired at a Lasco dealership,” he said. When given all the right tools and information (training) to succeed coupled with a substantial amount of daily motivation from the exemplary leadership, people are able to work much more efficiently. However, it’s not fair to expect what has not been set as a clearly defined goal for which training has been provided. If a lack of performance lingers, consider finding the root of the problem. Perhaps their skills are better suited for another position, for which training can be provided.
5. Leaders Promote Equal Relationships
Some bosses use the line “I’m not here to be your friend,” as an excuse for ridiculous treatment of their staff. Yes, you may be able to avoid being personal friends, however there is a vast difference between just establishing ground rules and purposefully disengaging with people. There’s no need to pit yourself against your staff as if you’re enemies. Leaders know how to promote a team effort and, not surprisingly, having a motivated team that can be trusted to do good work often requires a bit of good will that’s held for one another. Care about your staff. When one of Matt’s team members takes time off, he says, he asks them what they’ll be doing on their day off. If the answer is, “oh, nothing really,” then he encourages them to do something fun! He shares that his personal hobby is motocross, which he enjoys regularly. He genuinely cares about what his staff does, even on their time off, to be sure they fully recharge, take time with family, and learn to live life to its fullest. Part of being a true leader is having the capability to acknowledge a need for constant growth. Everyone can (and needs to) learn, so take a few moments to consider if you’ve been a boss or a leader lately. Set goals for yourself to become a better presence in your dealership, and watch your staff respond. Matt Lasco is the Dealer Principal for Lasco Ford. For specific questions contact him via twitter - @carguy915 or by e-mail at matt@dealersolutions.info.
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People, Process, Product:
An Automotive Lesson from “The Profit” by Don O’Neill
I will start by admitting that I am a “Profit” junkie. If it’s 11:30 on any given night, and I am hammering away at the computer, you can guarantee that my TEVO is replaying some episode of “The Profit.” I’m always interested in taking a peek at the roadmap that was used by a successful entrepreneur. In most cases, success can be duplicated. So, in the competitive environment that is Automotive Retail today, what are you doing to evaluate your people, process, and product? No, product in this case is not the brand you represent, it is the final version or “experience” you provide the consumer that encompasses your product. You as a dealer have zero control over the models or trim levels that get manufactured, but you do have control under your rooftop. I will say this to every reader out there; as good as you are, you’re nowhere close to where you need to be. Remember that. Because if you always have the mindset that improvement is constant, you can never get complacent. That being said, let’s focus on this month’s catch phrase in our industry; “The Consumer Experience.” What type of experience does your center provide? More importantly, where can you improve it? What would the “Profit” say? I have an idea…. Let’s pretend that every person that has challenged credit didn’t gravitate towards the most expensive car on the lot. Let’s also pretend that each of your customers knew their true credit score, and willingly shared it with you. Now that would make for a pretty good sub-prime transaction. Well, process, process, process, gentlemen I have news for you, this process can be implemented today. How? Two words, Soft Bureau. Yes, I mean that pre-qualification tool you’ve put off from looking at. Here’s the
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simple change that this powerful tool effects. When your salesperson enters the consumer’s data, you immediately pre-qualify that consumer. Why? It’s simple. You now can direct the salesperson to a specific price range, or even further specific inventory models that fit that consumer’s profile. Yes, this consumer can buy a car, just not any car. So why not show them the vehicles that they qualify for first? Why wait until after they fall in love with a unit that has a zero percent chance of getting funded by any ban? Better yet, let’s have a set of specific units waiting for that internet appointment. Have the cars where deals are made ready right when they walk in the door. It really is that simple. Small tweaks in the process, will always mean large results in gross profit. More importantly, you have separated your process from that of every other dealer in town. That is what makes the difference between that 300 new unit store, and the 75 new unit store. Constant evaluation, constant process revision, and constant improvement. See, we all can be our own “Profit.” Don O’Neill is the V.P. of Sales and Marketing of CreditMiner. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@CreditMiner or by e-mail at don@dealersolutions.info.
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5 Reasons Why Over 90 Percent of BDCs Underperform
by Tom Stuker
PART 2
Last month I covered the top 5 of 10 reasons why over 90% of BDCs underperform, which include: not being BDC ready, having the wrong BDC manager in place, not having 100% management buy-in, the need to boost outbound call volumes, and BDC reps lacking great phone skills. Hopefully you were able to work out any related BDC kinks since then; however, for those still seeking to perfect BDC intelligence, here are the remaining five reasons for underperformance:
Improper staffing Staffing your BDC is a delicate balance. Overstaffing is accompanied by heavy expenses. In addition, it creates higher turnover because of lower sales opportunities per person. By overstaffing you will struggle to justify having a BDC altogether. On the contrary, understaffing a BDC could create bad work habits such as cherry picking low hanging opportunities. Understaffing doesn’t maximize all the sales opportunities which is the main reason for building a BDC. As a starting point for staffing, consider the following shared guidelines. BDC reps should NEVER handle more than 150 internet leads or phone-ups a month unless they have a sold ratio exceeding 15%. As far as calling back unsold showroom traffic, have 1 rep for no more than 300 sold opportunities. When calling database to mine for repeat and referrals, less than 3% of all BDC reps can effectively manage 1800 customers. BDC Reps managing 1200 customers should bring in a minimum of 24 sales a month. A rep man-
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aging 1800 customers should bring in a minimum of 36 sales a month.
No specialization It’s a good idea to train BDC reps on how to take all the calls, but it’s a terrible idea to have them try and take all the calls. For maximum results, specialize. Without specialization, everyone on your team will focus on targeting inbound phone-ups or internet leads. In fact, they will even wait for the next one rather than devoting time to following up with other leads. To prevent this from happening, implement a model that has the strongest people handling internet and phone-ups. The next level of talent should follow-up on unsold showroom traffic. The remaining individuals should be handling owner base follow-up. To capitalize on specialization, assign a minimum of 2 people to provide 24/7 coverage towards handling phone-ups and internet leads. Both reps should work together as one cohesive unit, with overlapping coverage, in order to team up for immediate assistance to prevent stalling a sale. The purpose is to complete the sale rather than lose the sale.
Absence of opportunity management An overwhelmingly high percentage of BDCs do not manage the sales opportunities close enough on a daily basis. They lack accountability and standards of per-
formance. Accountability is paramount to the performance of a BDC. Closing rates need to be monitored daily. BDC reps selling 4 or 5 cars from a pool of 60 phone-up or internet leads a month should be stopped from getting additional leads until they has sold at least sold 9 (or 15%). Work the 55 unsold opportunities before taking on more leads. Poorly designed working space. Yes, I am referring to room layout and design! There should be partitions and/ or clearly defined work spaces for reps. Partitions not only serve as a sound barrier, but they also make it more inconvenient for reps to visit with each other between calls. All reps need a focused environment to concentrate in. A poorly thought out space is a major reason for the lack of productivity.
Bad pay plans Keep pay plans simple and based on results rather than activity. Salespeople and sales managers get paid on results and so should the BDC. Sales are easy to measure whereas appointments are more challenging. Consider this scenario, a rep schedules a first appointment that shows up, but does not buy. Do you pay for the 2nd or 3rd appointment? Finally, to reward committed employees, salaries should raise slightly based on tenure. Tom Stuker is the owner & CEO of Stuker Training. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@TomStuker or by e-mail at tom@dealersolutions.info.
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Breaking
THROUGH at your
Breaking
Point
by David Villa
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It is something we’ve all faced in life and will face again…a “Strategic Inflection Point.” Whether personally, or in your career or business this is something anyone who strives for excellence or who desires to grow as an individual will face. This is the time of transition of a person’s or companies’ competitive position that requires them to change their current path and adapt to new situations or risks in order to continue growing and profiting. A lot of the time this comes at a “Breaking Point” in that person or companies process.
situation becomes critical, or the point at which something loses force or validity. I want to point out that this is none other than a POINT…this is not a negative or a positive…but rather just a point in which we have a decision to make.
A Breaking Point is — the point at which a person gives way under stress, or the point at which a
I want to encourage you that it’s at these very times that we are to PUSH just a little harder. You have
Too many times at this point we give up…or we give in and quit. The circumstances are difficult and the momentum seems to be sparse and we are at our “Breaking Point” and it’s time to throw in the towel. Or is it?
“Success gravitates to those who are moving. Regardless of how you feel within, you must move if you want to be a success.” - David Villa
heard the quote “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”…that’s right! It’s not time to “throw in the towel,” it’s time to not just “toe the line,” or to even to “think outside of the box,” but rather GET RID OF THE BOX! It will take the bold to make it past the breaking point!
You got this!! Philippians 4:13 says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” So when you are standing at the locked door with seemingly nothing left exhausted and discouraged, remember that it is not time to lay down and die but rather it’s time for your BREAKTHROUGH!
It’s at this point where you will get your Breakthrough! This is an offensive thrust that penetrates and carries one beyond the defensive line into a sudden advance, especially in knowledge or technique. This is when you don’t give in but rather BUST IN!
”To be a success in business, be daring, be first, be different…and don’t ever give up”. David Villa is the President & CEO of IPD. For specific questions contact him via twitter:@ipdmail or by e-mail at davidv@dealersolutions.info.
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Factors Preventing Your Site from Ranking in Google
by Tim Martell CEO, Wikimotive
from your dealership. You can be the most Lack of Fresh Content and successful dealership in your area by sim- Inbound Links ply making it easy for people to find a great In order to build search engine authorYour website is one of the most important car and contact you. ity, your site needs to act like an authoraspects of your dealership’s overall marketing strategy. People use it to research Duplicate Content or Other ity within its niche. For dealerships, this means becoming a portal for information cars, decide whether or not you have the Google Penalty about the vehicles you sell and services right car for them, contact you, and find Who’s keeping track of your website’s ana- you provide. out where you’re located. lytics? Do you have a Google Webmaster But if car buyers can’t actually find your account? How many people are coming to To supplement fresh content, you also need dealership when searching for dealerships your site from Google and other search en- links from authoritative websites. Both content and links take expertise and time in your area, how much business are you gines each month? to produce, as these tasks are not meant to losing? The following factors could be preventing your dealership from growing, and If you can’t answer these questions, you be casually approached by employees with need to know who can and ensure they other dedicated roles. you might not even realize it. know what they’re doing. Google issues, as manual action penalties, could be As an experienced SEO company, WikimoWebsite Design and Overall such why your site has dipped in rankings or is tive understands the ins and outs of dealPresentation simply not showing up at all. ership websites and what it takes to grow With your website, you have an opportunity One of the biggest reasons Google places or reclaim search engine rankings. Contact to present car buyers with everything they a penalty on your site could be duplicate us for a free website audit and complete need to know about their vehicle before or thin content. Oftentimes, this content is demo of our services. they even step foot on your lot. Thanks created automatically by your website proto specs, pictures, and vehicle history re- vider, and the same exact content is likely Tim Martell is the CEO of Wikimotive. For specific questions contact him ports, a test drive is all someone needs be- on hundreds of other dealership sites with via - twitter:@TimothyMartell or fore they’re sold. Your salespeople really minor differences, if any. by e-mail at tim@dealersolutions.info. just need to be a friendly, guiding part of this process if your website is doing its job. Without a great design and overall presentation, however, people will be less likely to trust your dealership, and roadblocks will prevent them from moving the car buying process forward. Little things like a lack of fresh inventory photos or vehicle history reports could cause a customer to move on to a different dealership. Make sure your website is 100% functional and ensure that it doesn’t get in the way of the user finding the information they need
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Do You Have “Loyal” Non-Performers? by Dave Anderson
“I know I should probably get rid of the guy, but he’s been with me twenty-five years; he’s loyal.” If you’ve ever managed to whine out a lame version of this “he’s loyal” rationalization to justify your defense of mediocrity roll this publication up, hand it to the nearest person and ask them to smack you in the head with it. Frankly, if you dare fathom the perpetual cost and misery that accompanies keeping a “loyal” non-performer you’d agree a simple whack on the head is getting off lightly. For any of us who have had access to a dictionary during the course of our lifetimes, there is no excuse for confusing a word like loyal with concepts like “seniority,” or “tenure.” The following three definitions may help you discover that people you’ve labeled “loyal” do indeed have seniority and tenure, but are far from being loyal employees: Seniority: status obtained as the result of a person’s length of service. Tenure: the length of time in a position or office. Loyal: faithfulness to one’s duties and obligations. The truth about loyalty is found in its definition: “faithfulness to one’s duties and obligations.” This indicates that not only does the person show up to work, but he or she steps up while there and performs well. Based on this definition, you could also say that one of the most disloyal things someone can inflict on an organization providing their paychecks is to stop getting results. At the end of the day, to maintain a healthy organization loyalty must be assessed as thus: not solely by the amount of time someone puts in, but by what
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someone puts into the time; continued performance worthy of your organization. When I discuss this topic in my Up Your Business 2.0 Super Leadership Workshop the discomfort amongst attendees is palpable; especially from tenured employees representing their organization. Thus, I should also clarify something very important: if you have long-time employees, and they continue to perform well, they are your “A” players. You need to take good care of them, because you can’t really ask for more than performing consistently well over a long period of time. But, if you have to choose between performance and tradition; performance and sentimentalism; performance and old-time’s sake, you need to do what’s right for the entire team, your culture, standards, momentum, morale, personal credibility, and the customer experience to either get the “loyal” person better, or get a better person. If you’re still hung up on the “but he’s been with me X years” excuse, consider this: if a couple is married for forty years, an outsider might comment that the gentleman must be a loyal husband to have stayed married for so long to the same woman. But, if in the course of those forty years he was detached, indifferent, selfish, and had multiple affairs you’d probably change your assessment that he was loyal. The time he put in would be subordinate to the fact that the behaviors he put into the time were unacceptable, and sometimes egregious. As much as we may appreciate long-time service, the sad truth is that tenure can become a license for laziness. This is not a certainty, but is a real possibility and is in evidence in positions where seniority rules: college campuses, certain government jobs, and the like. Whenever one takes
something for granted he is likely to become lazy in that area: take your health, kids or marriage for granted and you may be compelled to abandon sound disciplines that you once paid attention to in those arenas. A job is no different. When one starts to take it for granted, which is common amongst those employed there for many years, they are prone to let up, believe rules or standards others must meet don’t apply to them, and start to expect that their tenure, experience or credentials should somehow substitute for results. Incidentally, if this happens, shame on YOU, for perhaps also taking your tenured employee for granted and failing to continue to invest in his development, stretch her with new challenges, or allow performance and behavioral expectations to become vague over time. Another point to consider is that if you’re going to use the time someone puts into a job as your primary criteria to crown one as loyal, that would also mean the new star employee who has only been with you six months but is outperforming everyone in his department couldn’t be considered as loyal because he hasn’t been with you very long. That’d be a ridiculous way to look at things, wouldn’t it? But it’s actually no sillier than claiming loyalty from an employee simply because he or she has cashed your paychecks longer than anyone else. My short-list of traits that helps determine loyal employees is simple:
They perform in a manner that meets, and often exceeds your expectations for the position.
They add value to others in the workplace.
They create exceptional customer experiences that build your brand and increase customer loyalty.
They represent the organization well away from the job, through their behaviors and by speaking well of it.
They share and live the company core values.
If you have a “loyal” non-performer, don’t get trigger-happy after reading this piece and overact by firing him; at least not yet. Chances are that you’ve got a lot invested in that person and should do all you can to turn their performance around before letting him go. I suggest you do the following if you desire to keep him in the position he’s in: Have a frank and specific conversation with him concerning his performance. Take responsibility for allowing him to veer so far off track on your watch, but pledge to do your part to define expectations immediately. Redefine what you expect and by when. Put it in writing. Affirm that you’ll do what you can to help him get there and that you’re pulling for him to make it. Pre-establish an appropriate consequence for him not reaching the desired performance level. Know that if you must remove him because he didn’t perform adequately, that you will not have caught him by surprise, and take solace in the fact that you gave him an opportunity to right his course. While you were firm with him, you were also fair. Move on. Now, look reality dead in the eye and deal with it. Closing Note: I’ll cover many of these points live at Best Training Day Ever, January 22nd in San Francisco. www.thebesttrainingdayever.com David Anderson is the President of Learn to Lead. For specific questions contact him via twitter:@daveanderson100 or by e-mail at davida@dealersolutions.info.
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