VOL. 7 | ISSUE 9 | SEPTEMBER 2014
A Division of IPD
FINDING, KEEPING& Motivating
Great People with Grant Cardone PG: 8
What Your Vendor
Won’t Tell YOU ABOUT SEO!
PG: 5
IS YOUR
DEALERSHIP INCONFLICT PG: 13
Inside Feature
Principal’s Office with
Randall Reed
PG: 15
Execute 4 Increase PG: 20
FISH or Cut bait with David Villa PG: 22
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Featured In This Issue... Articles 5. What Your Vendor Won’t Tell You About SEO By Tim Martell 8. Finding, Keeping and Motivating Great People By Grant Cardone 13. Is Your Dealership in Conflict? By Alan Ram 15. The Principal’s Office With Randall Reed 19. Everything is Awesome Part 2 By Cathy Nesbit 20. Executing For Increa$e By David Cribbs 22. Fist or Cut Bait By David Villa 25. Where’s Your Stick? By Marsh Buice 26. Revolutionize your Sales Process With David Gokhshtein 29. Benefits of Commitment By Laura Madison 30. Maybe It’s Just Time To Get Real By Don O’Neill
Editor David Villa Senior Assistant Editor Michael Oquendo Creative Director Austin Janowsky Marketing Director Jason Yamnitz
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Contributing Authors Laura Madison
Grant Cardone
Alan Ram
David Cribbs
Tim Martell
Cathy Nesbit
Marsh Buice David Villa Don o’Neill
Randall Reed Mark Tewart
Copyright ©2014 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 Senior Assistant Editor at moquendo@ipdmail.com Advertising Sales: Please call 813-630-5888 ext 523 or 561 or email moquendo@ipdmail.com
C O N T E N T S
What Your Vendor Won’t Tell You About SEO by Tim Martell CEO, Wikimotive
When I get calls from dealers who are facing dramatic declines in search traffic, I can usually guess the root cause: bad vendors and website providers. And, as a vendor, that makes me angry. While it means I have less quality competition, it is also means that more and more dealers are becoming skeptical and completely disinterested in outsourcing SEO and social media due to bad experiences with vendors.
Their Inbound Links Are Worthless
While there are some very innovative companies doing amazing things with content, most automotive SEO vendors simply hide behind the vale of buzzwords. “Content Marketing,” “Link Building,” and “Inbound Marketing” are routinely thrown around with little to no knowledge of how to actual perform the jobs behind those I want to tell you three important things words. that your vendor is not disclosing about SEO, so you can be ready for your next Now, I worked in dealerships for over meeting with a current or potential ser- 15 years, doing every position imaginable. I know that GMs balk at this type of vice provider. presentation. That’s why your vendor needs to be able to show you how their work is bringing in more ready-to-buy customers.
Optimization Only Does So Much
Fifteen years ago, site optimization was worth a lot more than it is today. While it is important for your site and content to be optimized for relevant keywords, it’s only one piece of the SEO puzzle. If all your SEO is offering for $500 a month is optimization, I think it’s time you told them to hit the road.
If your vendor’s SEO strategy relies on inbound links, ask them to show you each link they’ve built for your dealership. I’d be more than willing to bet that the sites linking to your dealership have little to no authority in Google’s eyes, and also happen to link to all of their other clients as well.
Your Website Has Duplicate Content
To rank in 2014, you can’t out-optimize your competition. You have to create better content that focuses on not only converting more customers, but Throughout this year, Wikimotive has providing the best information possible. worked to expose and reverse the effects of duplicate content spread by website vendors. This practice, which puts the same cookie-cutter content on each and
every website powered by a particular provider, is not disclosed to dealers upon receiving their completed site, and is often not removable.
The Solution: Hold Vendors and Website Providers Accountable I’m of the mindset that if you pay for a service, you should get what you paid for. I hold my company to that standard. It’s become clear, however, that not every vendor shares that fundamental philosophy. That’s why it’s important for dealers to treat their service providers the same way they treat their staff. If a salesman was ignoring customers or your internet team didn’t follow up on leads, you would be furious. Because that’s how vendors and website providers are treating dealers, and frankly I’m sick of it.
Tim Martell is the CEO of Wikimotive. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@TimothyMartell or by e-mail at tim@dealersolutions.info.
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FINDING, KEEPING&
Motivating Great People By Grant Cardone All businesses are faced with the challenge of finding great people, training them and then keeping them. The challenges for auto dealers are even more complex. Finding motivated people that have a strong work ethic and people skills has never been more challenging. Car dealers complain about a lot of things, likes shrinking margins, manufacturer pressure, building upgrade requirements, keeping up with technology, but there is none greater than, “where can I find great people?� Here are a few tips to finding great sales people: 1. Quit settling for average. Most dealers have given up on looking for great people believing there are none. Decide you are going to find great people, not average ones, and you will start seeing them.
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2. Have talent targets. Give managers a quota for bringing in talent. I am not talking about running an ad or hiring clinic, but simply making your mid management team responsible for finding talent. 3. Quit saying no to experienced people. I know dealers that will not hire experienced sales people, believing you can train people ‘your’ way. Everyone has bad habits and it’s ridiculous to exclude experienced sales people assuming they all have bad habits. Your first step should be to steal experienced motivated sales people that know how to professional sell automobiles.
The customer will pay more for a great attitude from your staff than they will the automobile itself. The only thing that ultimately differentiates your dealership is the way your people talk on the phone, in person, and how they follow up. This is still the people business before it is the car business. Whether you are selling parts, service, or the car itself, whether you are a one price dealership or traditional negotiating store, people buy from people before they buy cars. Also consider that 90% of your customers are spending over 9 hours on the Internet but are still unable to make a decision until they connect with a human being.
4. Train People The number one reason managers don’t hire people is because they don’t train people. Managers that don’t have a Your customer is looking for more than just the right color training program refuse to hire new people, knowing that and the best price. They want to be treated professionally person will not last. You aren’t going to jump out of a plane by people with a great attitude. Best price matters, but it’s without a parachute. not the only thing that matters to most of your customers. And lets face it, if you don’t train them, then they will leave and the cycle continues. The nationwide cost to replace a $10 an hour employee is $3328. A study by Deloitte on the cost to replace an employee outlined the factors a business should consider when calculating the real cost of turn over: • The cost of hiring a new employee - advertising, interviewing, screening, and hiring. • Cost of on-boarding - new people have to be orientated before they are trained. • Lost productivity – you will lose any chance of repeats/referrals. • Lost engagement -other employees who see high turnover tend to disengage and lose productivity. • Cultural & Customer Effect – Who should your customers ask for?
Ask yourself these questions: 1) Are you looking for great people? 2) Do your managers seek out new people? 3) Do you motivate your people everyday to be the best they can be? 4) Do you train people to be the best in the market? When looking for great people you should look for attitude and willingness before anything else. Most everyone agrees that attitude has a significant influence on whether you customer will do business with your dealership. The first thing I look for when hiring someone is a willingness attitude – the willingness to do whatever is necessary with a smile on your face and in your voice. If you have even a hint of entitlement I am not hiring you no matter the talent. Willingness may be the one thing you can’t teach an individual.
Before you hire someone the FIRST thing to evaluate is atJD Power’s industry white paper done in 2013 suggests the titude. Are they willing? Are they hungry? Are they apprecost of turnover at $11,000 per employee in an industry ciative? Do they want to work everyday? Ask them, “how with a 200-220% turnover, including all departments. do you feel about work?” If they don’t know or they aren’t sure, you should know not to hire them. Ask them, “are With the advent of web-based training, I can now train you willing to pick up trash on the lot?” If they aren’t, then the average automobile dealership for less $80 per perdon’t hire them. Because whether you are a salesman, son. That includes service, sales, management and people. finance manager, mechanic or the dealer, you must be willWithout ever leaving the dealership or missing a customer, ing to pick up. we can deliver training to smart phones, tablets, and computers with full testing, reporting, and accountability on When testing for attitude, try this quick test. In the interevery topic from orientation to closing a deal, follow up, view, I am going to ask you to demonstrate a few things to and confronting your dealership. The average car dealer is me. Show me don’t tell me. spending 300-400 per car and then giving products away. 1) Show me a great attitude. 2) Show me your best smile. Your product and your dealership can only influence the 3) Show me how you would handle a disgruntled buyer. buyer so much. Either they hire great people and train 4) Show me how you respond to picking up the trash. them, or continue to let them give your products away.
Con’t on pg 10
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Part of hiring great people is not settling for average. There are more average people looking for work than there are great people, but that doesn’t mean there are not great people. Look for all the other obvious things. Are they reliable? Can they show up on time? Can they be held accountable? Can they be managed? Do they clean up behind themselves? In my world, 15 minutes early is on time, on time is late, and I always look at their car. If you can’t keep your own car clean, then you probably won’t keep my offices clean.
If you want to stop costly turnover, then you have to start training your people. The only organizations where training does not work are places where it is not done often enough. Look outside of automotive to see what kind of training works. Look to athletes and military for examples of training. Training includes instruction, physical skills, memory drills, reenactments, situational drills, testing, and reviewing video. The applicants are buried in training activities. When training doesn’t work in car dealerships, it’s usually either not done at all, or done as punishment for poor performance. Quit knee-jerking your training and quit teaching experienced people entry-level skills. I would spend more time and energy training your top people than those at the bottom. Technological advancements enable training to be delivered in many forms today. No matter how the sales training is delivered; onsite, offsite, online, or in classroom, the number one reason sales training fails is a lack of frequency. If you want ROI on your sales training, you must do it everyday, even multiple times per day. Use this one criterion for building your sales training solution. For 30 years I have been customizing training programs for sales training organizations, from automobile dealers to manufacturers, Fortune 500 financial companies, software companies, and even the United States Army. You think selling a car is tough? Imagine selling a 17 year old-kid and their parent on spending a couple of years in another country, carrying a gun. When I was working with the US Army a recruiter told me, “anything worth doing is worth doing everyday.” If your people don’t train everyday, they won’t get results that are significant enough to stay with it.
Finding great people means you have to believe they exist, and then have to set out to find them. Let the other car dealers throw in the towel and believe there aren’t any good people out there. Once you get them, push them to be great. Train them and create an environment where they can not only earn more than others, but have more esteem for what they do. When you find a great sales person, pay them so much they will be scared to leave. Great people don’t cost money, missing opportunities in fixed and variable sales costs money. I run companies the same way you do! Every department must make money, but if the people aren’t doing well then neither will the company.
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When any training doesn’t stick, it becomes another failed initiative, not to mention a waste of time and money. It damages management’s credibility to implement future programs. Start your sales training criteria daily and it will guide you to the perfect solution. When daily training is set as the single criteria for a successful sales training program, it will make you think in terms of how to develop it. If it’s going to be used everyday then it must be 1) easily available, 2) individualized to different needs and personalities, 3) quick so as not to take too much time, 4) engaging to the audience, and a bonus would be 5) that it could solve problems in real time. Grant Cardone is a Best Selling Author & CEO of Grant Cardone Enterprises. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@grantcardone or by e-mail at grant@dealersolutions.info.
IS YOUR
DEALERSHIP IN CONFLICT? By: Alan Ram
Here’s the problem at many dealerships; in our heads, we know what we want our people to be doing on a daily basis, but our actions and processes (or lack thereof) contradict what our heads are thinking and we end up sending our staff conflicting messages. What do many of you see as you walk through your showroom? You might see five salespeople standing out on the point for three hours waiting for one customer while discussing their upcoming fantasy football draft. As a dealer, that should make you crazy. What do you want to see? You want to see your people working the phones EFFECTIVELY and driving better quality traffic to the dealership. Here are a couple issues I see at play at many dealerships. First and foremost is your open floor. There is absolutely no benefit to you as a dealer in having an open floor. NONE!! All an open floor does is encourage your people to stand around and do nothing while they wait around for a floor-up that was coming in anyway. I see this happen all the time; a dealership has my training and their people are excited to work the phones. A couple salespeople that don’t necessarily think it’s part of their job to actually follow up or generate anything continue to stand out on the lot… and wait. Luckily for them, they don’t have to compete anymore for floor traffic with all the salespeople that are doing what you want them to do on the phones. Let’s just say that one of these salespeople that are standing around happens to bump into a customer that buys a car. Pretty soon the salespeople that are on the telephone, doing what you want them to, start realizing that they’re not having a chance to even get
an up. Now human nature takes over and they start the migration back to the front door. They indirectly feel that they are being punished by doing what you asked them to do. Your open floor is hurting productivity and needs to go. Have you ever had to bribe your kids to get them to eat their candy and ice cream? “Now Billy, if you don’t eat your ice cream, you’re not going to get any candy.” I doubt that’s a conversation that happens at anyone’s house. It’s more like “if you don’t eat your Brussel sprouts, you don’t get dessert”. You don’t need to convince them to eat their candy and ice cream. They were going to eat that any way. To me, spiffing your salespeople for selling your floor-ups is the same thing. They’re going to take your floor-ups whether you spiff them or not! If a salesperson that sold 25 cars off strictly floor-ups was to leave tomorrow, how many deals would you lose? Probably none. Why? Because those customers would still come in. They would just be distributed differently. What about that salesperson that sells 20 cars a month off primarily their own efforts to repeat and referral clients? If that salesperson was to leave, how many deals would you lose? I would say all of them. Therefore, a salesperson that sells repeat and referral customers is far more valuable to you than one that sells floor-ups. If you’re going to have a spiff program, let’s spiff them for what you want them to do versus what they were going to do anyway! A referral spiff for example. If it really is really a referral your salesperson generated through their efforts, wouldn’t it make sense to spiff them for that?
We also all want our sales staff doing a better job at working (mining) their sold customer base. What if we spiff them for selling customers, that are their repeat customers or for turning service customers back into sales clients. Now you have your salespeople thinking “I make more money by selling a repeat or referral clients than I do a floor-ups.” That’s when they’ll start focusing on those things you want them to focus on. That’s when you’re using your spiff money to change their behavior and ultimately change the culture. You will not sell one less car by eliminating a unit bonus, but you’ll sell a lot more cars by instituting a repeat and referral spiff. The key to all of this coming together and getting the results you want is obviously training. Your people need to be trained on how to get results on the phone. When they’re trained it gives them confidence. When they have confidence they’re much more likely to be successful and they gain momentum. It all starts with training and having processes in place that are consistent with, and not in conflict with, what you want to see happening on your showroom floor.
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
Randall
Principal's Office
Rowners of ReedHasIt.com and the World Class Automotive Group. Mr. Reed is the CEO and founder of the World Class Automotive Group, Starbase Aviation and andall and Sherry Reed the owners Reed Enterprises. The are family, which and infounders of World Class Automotive Group, cludes the Reed’s three children: Steven, Starbase Aviation Reed toEnterprises. Shelby and Austin;and is proud own one The family, which includes the Reed’s three children: of the largest, privately held, award-winning dealer Steven, Austin;with is proud to own in onegreater of the largest, groups Shelby in the and country locations Housprivately held, award-winning dealer groups in the country ton, Spring, Humble, Dallas, Garland, Park Cites, McKwith in Spring,TX, Humble, Dallas, Garland, Park inneylocations and Huntsville, as well as Oklahoma City,Cites, OK. McKinney and Huntsville, TX, as well as Oklahoma City, OK.
with
Reed
For over 20 20 years, years, Mr. Mr. Reed Reed has has been been recognized recognized as as one one For over of the Top-100 Mega Dealers in the United States by of the Top-100 Mega Dealers in the United States by Wards Dealer Business. Business. Mr. Mr. Reed, Reed, along along with with his his wife, wife Wards Dealer have built a highly successful, Texas and Oklahoma Sherry have built a highly successful, Texas and Oklabased automotive dealership group ongroup the foundation of homa based automotive dealership on the founmanaging the ground up with 35 years of automotive dation offrom managing from the over ground up with over 35 experience. He began as a diesel engine mechanic in years of automotive experience. He began as a diethe late 1970s and progressed through sales, finance and sel engine mechanic in the late 1970s and progressed management. Mr.finance Reed leveraged his hands-on Mr. training, through sales, and management. Reedalong levwith his many incredible business partners, into creating eraged his handson training, along with his many the incurrent billion dollar organization. credibleaward-winning, business partners, into sales creating the current Con’t on page 16 15
Award-Winning Dealerships World Class Automotive Group’s dealerships hold many top honors including multiple highly coveted Triple Crown Awards, which is awarded to only the most elite Ford dealers in the nation. In order to be recognized, a dealership must receive all of Ford’s top awards, which include: the President’s Award for customer service; the Ford One Hundred Club, an honor based on vehicle sales; and the Ford Customer Service Premiere Club. Mr. Reed owns and operates the No. 1 selling Ford dealership in the Greater-Houston area and had held the prestigious title for more than 13 years. The group is also the recipient of more than 30 top honor sales and service awards over the past 25-plus years.
Autotainment Along with famed designer F. Michael Graves, Mr. Reed set out to create one of the most one of the most unique automotive sales and service experience themed dealership. One that would eliminate the negative connotation of “it’s us against them” when purchasing or servicing a
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vehicle. Many processes and environmental zones were eliminated or enhanced to substantially improve the overall experience. Many customers said they didn’t like, too little parking for what they wanted, including play areas for kids and restaurant quality refreshments. The group hired the top specialists in the world to design and build their very distinct and successful autotainment mall dealerships.
Giving Back to the Community Growing up in an economically challenged home, Mr. Reed knows how important it is for local businesses to extend opportunities to families and youths in order to preserve and strengthen communities. Each company sponsors and participates in events, various school fundraisers, supports a variety of programs for children and families, and much more. “When we all give a little, we can help a lot for both the future of our kids and our community,” said Mr. Reed.
Keys to Success Mr. Reed has a simple equation for success: hard work, honesty and treating people fairly. Every day, the
family-owned business works hard to instill solid philosophies, beliefs, and morals throughout all facets of its operations. Mr. Reed started working at the young age of 12. It was then that he laid the foundation for his strong work ethic and appreciation for every hard dollar earned. Once in the automotive business, he had to work his way up the ranks, from service technician and salesman all the way through managing partner and subsequently, an automotive dealer. “The diversity of my experiences have allowed me to have a real understanding of every facet of a business and how to create a better customer experience,” said Mr. Reed. “At the end of the day, that’s what it is about -- how well we help our customers.”
business,” he said. “God has blessed us. We’ve been married and successful in business for well over 25 years, have three wonderful children and get to work with amazing people everyday. I am very thankful.”
Randall Reed is the CEO and founder of the World Class Automotive Group, Starbase Aviation and Reed Enterprises. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@TheRandallReed or by e-mail at randall@dealersolutions.info.
The Reeds and their partners transformed the automotive experience with their concept of “autotainment.” This has been their evolution of the automotive purchasing process from goods and services into a distinctive, experience centered environment, revolutionizing the sales and service process for the new millennium.
Gratitude Ultimately, Mr. and Mrs. Reed attribute all of their success to all of the loyal consumers. “There are thousands of customers to whom Sherry and I owe everything in
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By Cathy Nesbit
As we started talking about in last month’s article, the word awesome, or being “awesome”, is what elevates you above the others! One sure way to be overlooked is to be average. Average is boring! Getting noticed requires awesome. Awesome Website. When people find you, they are most likely looking for a vehicle. When they get to your website, it needs to have all the information they need to make a decision about which vehicle is best for their needs. If you think your internet shoppers, arguably over 90% of them, aren’t going to skip right over your inventory if your website doesn’t provide every bit of information they need, you are wrong. You need pictures, chat, detailed information about each vehicle, price, calls to action, links to social media, etc. In order to make your website work to it’s fullest, awesome potential, you will also need an awesome internet/in-house BDC department. Awesome Social Content. Social is one of those things you either do awesome or not at all. I encourage you to do it. I’d say social is one of the most awesome tools you have for getting the word out about your awesomeness. You have a passion. You must have a strategy. If you have time to do your own social, do it! If you don’t have time, find someone awesome to do it for you. Our awesome social strategy here is twofold. We focus on our employees & community service. In order to use this strategy, you must be committed to your employees and your
community. I can guarantee you, if it’s BS someone’s gonna call you on it. People are big, big fans of real. You can’t fake your way to awesome. The secret golden rule of awesome is to be real. When you are truly interested in something, it qualifies you to inspire others to the same interests. Awesome Reviews. People do not forget to leave you a bad review. People need to be asked nicely after being treated like a rock star by awesome people, to leave a positive review. Your customers trust reviews. They really, really trust the reviews of their friends which is a great reason why social is so important. A facebook review written by a friend is pure gold. There are other excellent sites where people can leave reviews too. It’s best to spread them out. Our sales staff uses a template with several links and we leave it up to the customer to choose which site they would like to leave a review. Must I mention the importance of the quality of service you provide for your customers? Those you hire are out there representing you, your name, with every sale, with every greeting, with every opportunity missed or gained to go above and beyond for your customer...your staff represents you and all your awesomeness. Awesome Results. ROI. No one can argue its importance. If you have the leadership, the people, the strategy to do awesome things your ROI is destined for awesome. If you don’t have someone in-house with awesome measuring talent and your best interests in mind, I strongly suggest you find someone right away. When you start doing awesome things, measuring your results and using those results to make adjustments, you begin to see awesome in your ROI. Be patient and be prepared to have your socks knocked off. You will sell more cars, service more vehicles, hire more people, require more space...you see, awesome isn’t for the faint of heart! Awesome Expectations. Never settle. Never get complacent. Always expect better. Grow yourself every day. Expect more awesome. Never ever stop being awesome. Cathy Nesbit is the Social Media Specialist of Harry Robinson Buick GMC. For specific questions contact her via - twitter:@ArkansasTrucks or by e-mail at cathy@dealersolutions.info.
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Execute
4
Increa$e
by David Cribbs
Each day that passes dealers are more inundated with what seems like an endless road of options directing us toward the common goal. More sales are what we are promised by today’s technology, technology, internet internetdevelopment, developmentand and abundance abundance of of vendors vendors and and programs. programs. It seems It seems we willwe inevitably will inevitably be “beambe “beaming” ing” customers customers into ourinto showrooms our showrooms as this technological as this technorace logical raceHowever, continues. continues. regardless However, of our regardless success of when ouritsuccess comes when to driving it comes traffic into to driving our showrooms, traffic into theour question showrooms, looms. Are the question we executing looms. at Are a level we executing that matches at a level our that advertising matchesbudour advertising get? We continue budget?toWe spend continue countless to spend dollars countless at the dollars drop ofat a the to hat drop obtain of amore hat prospects to obtain
more our while prospects sales staff while struggles our tosales play catch staff up with their struggles to play skill catch set. Asupourwith concerns their for skillaccommodating set. As our concerns our customer’s for accommodating desires increase, our customer’s our closing desires ratiosincrease, have plumour closing when meted ratiosit have comesplummeted to first stopwhen shoppers. it comes As anto industry first stop we shoppers. seem to have As abandoned an industrythe weability seem to tocreate have abandoned that all elusive the abilityoftourgency sense create with thatour all customers. illusive sense Thisoftypically urgencyleads withusour to customers. spend more This dollars typically for more leads prospects us to spend that we more continue dollars to for be moreeffective less prospects with. that In our we zealousness continue to to beprovide less effective the “ultimate with. In our CSI experience,” zealousness wetocontinue provideto the emasculate “ultimateour CSIsales experience” force at we continue the expense of to our emasculate dealership, our our sales personnel, force at the and expense ultimately of our dealership, the customer. our personnel and ultimately the customer. Successful dealers recognize trends in the industry and position themselves accordingly. accordingly. Thankfully, Thankfully, this this one one is not going unnoticed. Training Training and and execution execution isis what what is truly beginning to toseparate separatedealers dealers in today’s in today’s market. market. Dealers Dealers that that focused are are focused on building on building professional professional sales teams sales teams are cashare cashing ing in onin sales on sales andand CSICSI as as aa result resultofofhaving havingaa highly highly trained effective sales staffs. This creates new and more pleasant
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problems like, looking for people to hire in order to handle increases in in sales sales volume. volume. Dealers Dealersthat thatjustify justify thethe absence absence of ofdisciplined a a disciplined training training plan in plan order in to order create to acreate better a shopping better shopping experience, experience and are held and hostage are by held thehostage CSI expectations, by the are CSI expectations subscribing toare a subscribing counterproductive to a counterproductive theory. The result theory. is that The result they are is that forced theytoare spend forced more to spend moneymore to be money less effective, to be less effective while competitors while competitors continue tocontinue distanceto themselves distance themselves with highly with trained highly salestrained teams.sales Whenteams. a salesWhen professional a sales can professional execute can properly, execute he or properly, she canhelead or she the can customer lead the to acustomer decision to that a decision they feel that greatthey about feel ongreat the first about visit. onCSI thescores first visit will follow. and CSI scores will follow. The challenge for most dealers today is where to begin when it comes The challenge to training.for The most truth isdealers that it has today never is been where easier to begin to implement when itprofessional comes to training. training within The truth the dealership. is that it The has never irony is been that, easier once to again, implement technology professional (the training very thing within thatthe in dealership. part is responsible The irony for usisstraying) that once can again be ourtechnology greatest ally (the in very selecting thingand thatimplementing in part is responsible professional for training. us straying) With cansuch be our things greatest as webinars, ally in podcasts, selecting youtube, and implementing websites, and professional trainers training. at our techWith savvysuch fingertips. things as Wewebinars, can also go podcasts, the old fashioned youtube, websites route consisting and trainers of daily attraining our techno led by savvy our management fingertips. We team. can also Whenever go theinold doubt fashioned as to route what to consisting train onofremember, daily training yesterled by day’s ourdeals management are today’s team. training. Whenever The key in doubt is ACTION. as to what Dealers to train that develop on remember, a professional yesterday’s sales dealsforce are today’s positiontraining. themselves The key to sell is ACTION. from a position Dealers of that strength. develop True a professional selling begins sales when force position people meet themselves people..toPeople sell from will aalways position be of your strength. best ROI.True selling begins when people meet people.. People will always be Areyour yourbest people ROI.prepared to “Execute for Increa$e”? Are your people prepared to “Execute for Increa$e”? David Cribbs is Lead Trainer at IPD. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@DeskingDeals or by e-mail at davidc@dealersolutions.info.
Stop “Keeping an aquarium” and start “Reelin’ em in” Fisherman: A person who catches fish for a living or for sport. An Angler. I grew up in the greater Tampa Bay area in the beautiful state of Florida and spent my entire childhood fishing with my grandfather. He was a true “fisherman”. He seemed to always know where the fish were biting and always knew exactly how to catch them. Rarely did he ever set out for a day of fishing and come back empty handed. I have on many occasions equated the “art of fishing” and catching fish with the “art of selling” and closing deals. If you think about it they have several similarities. Let’s look at the two and compare side by side to see if we can use the steps necessary to catch fish to help us increase our sales closing ratios. Let’s start with the obvious: We must pick the right spot. The old adage “fish where the fish are biting,” comes to mind. Once we have the right spot, it’s time we look at the equipment we use. This isn’t “Mayberry,” and a cane pole isn’t going to cut it! We are going after the “Big Ones,” so we need “tackle” that is up to the task. The proper rod and reel will make you a better fisherman. Many anglers are unaware that the fishing rod is one of the most important tools for catching and landing fish. How many times have you gone out and only landed half of the fish that bite?
Its’ All About The Bait! Bait - lure - decoy - enticement So we’re in the right spot and we have the right equipment, now it’s all about the “bait.” Choosing the right kind of fishing bait is very important and it could mean the difference between you catching a fish and you not catching anything at all. It’s the same in sales. If you want the potential customer to “bite” then you must use the right “bait.”
“set the hook.” It is at this point I have personally watched too many fish wriggle off the hook, or swallow the bait and take off. Once they bite we must take the additional step to quickly set the hook. Ask a qualifying question to insure they are engaged. Ok…now we’re ready to start reeling them in, but remember this is an “art,” and if we just yank the rod (like I did as a kid starting out) then we risk breaking the line. As I watch a lot of people who are reeling in a sale, it becomes evident that the actual process of reeling a sale in – that is “fighting” for a sale – is new to most of them. The tendency is for them to simply start winding the reel handle regardless of what the prospect is doing or saying. Or perhaps they make the mistake of allowing the line to go slack when fighting for that sale which takes all the pressure off the potential customer. Once that happens, it usually means a lost catch. One or two shakes of the “fish’s head” on a slack line will dislodge almost any hook. You MUST keep a tight line to the “fish” at all times during the fight. Keeping pressure on the fish will force it to fight and tire more quickly. Let’s wrap this up…I think you are getting the picture. The two processes are very similar and are easily compared. So we get the bite, set the hook, reel the fish in…now what? The fish isn’t in the boat…we haven’t caught anything yet. The last step is to get some help. That’s right…call in the back up. The T.O. (turn over)…a lost art in many cases, but a sure way to land the fish. I see it…it is right at the edge of the boat…bring the net and help me scoop this fish into the boat! So there you go…how to land the sale. No excuses…no matter the lure (product) you sell - spinner type lures, plugs, jigs, soft plastics, spoons, or flies. “Now cast out your line” David Villa, CEO
David Villa is the President & CEO of IPD. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@ipdmail or by e-mail at davidv@dealersolutions.info.
They BIT! They’re on the hook. That’s it…we are home free… right? Wrong! Now comes the Artistic part. First you must
Fish or cut bait. 22
By David Villa, CEO
“Hope keeps you going, you hope you’ll make a difference, or you wouldn’t even get out of bed every morning.” ~ David Villa
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24
Where’s Your Stick?
Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, had a saying painted on the side of her airplane; “Always think with your stick forward,” which means do all the thinking you want as long as you’re moving forward. My offensive line football coach in college had a theory very similar to Ms. Earhart’s. When the ball was snapped, Coach Fremin had 2 simple rules:
#1) If you forget the play, don’t just stand around; go hit somebody-anybody from the other team. #2) Play until the whistle blows because you’re more likely to get hurt when you’re standing around the pile.
are tenacious enough to keep digging, scratching, clawing, and scraping their way to success. As long as they’re making new vehicles, you’ll never be perfect in your product knowledge or negotiating skills, nor will you ever find the perfect customer, inventory, or management staff. Perfection is another word for procrastination; we procrastinate because we fear failure. Whatever you fear, run towards it. You want to get better on the phone? You want to close more deals? You want to be able to control your sale better? Then take action-you’ll never be perfect, but where others become bitter with each failure, you’ll become better.
Here are a few ways to keep your stick moving forward.
No more chalk talk: No team wins a championship simply by the plays that they design-every play put on paper is designed to be a win. But what is designed in practice is refined in play. It’s learning from the setbacks and unforeseen circumstances that allows you to win. Like children, we pout when things don’t go our way; when a customer doesn’t buy, hangs up on us, or buys elsewhere, we sit down and poutall because the play we designed was supposed to work but didn’t. Pick up your lip, and get back in the game. When will you win again is not the question; the better question to ask is how long will you sit in your loss?
Stop Looking For Perfection : Stop waiting for the perfect opportunity. Opportunities aren’t luck, they’re revelations that are discovered only by those who
They’re not your problem : You’re the problem not anyone or anything else. The best place to look when things aren’t going your way is the mirror.
If you’ve spent any amount of time in the sales profession, you’ve seen variations of sales careers that have either never gotten off of the ground or were once soaring careers that stalled in mid-flight and crashed in a fiery demise. Regardless of which extreme- unhappy endings come when you are not thinking with your stick forward.
BY MARSH BUICE
You’re not a tree. If you don’t like where you are, then get off of your ass and make a move. You couldn’t help where you came from, but you can help where you’re going. If you’re overweight, an alcoholic, have bad credit or sell 5 cars per month, you have to own it and take the necessary steps to be slightly better than you were yesterday.
Bonus: I know I said a few, but there is a 4 th You’re worth it: Enough said. Most people live in the 8th day of the week: Someday. Someday I’ll get my big break; someday my plans will come into fruition; someday someone will see that I’m being cheated. You’ve got 24 hours to make the most of this day-you don’t know how many more minutes, days, weeks, or years that you have left to play this game called LIFE, but one thing is certain. You have now and it’s called “present” for a reason. Think with your stick forward. I’ll see you next time on the Blacktop.
March Buice is the General Sales Manager at Mark Chrysler Dodge Jeep. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@marshbuice or by e-mail at marsh@dealersolutions.info.
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With David Gokhshtein
access to Dealerchecker’s many valuable tools.
A few years ago Scott Painter, CEO of Truecar, came up with an extremely controversial idea to revolutionize the auto industry. Initially, the company sought to attract car buyers with the lowest prices. To do so, the dealers were led to essentially bid against one another for the lowest price. Such a business model was simply not sustainable, which led dealerships to abandon the platform in droves. Although Truecar has experienced a drastic turnaround by refreshing their business model, there are other innovators looking to revolutionize car buying process as well.
His diverse positions have given him a well rounded perspective on what the consumer and dealer both need to design a better way to close a deal. He created Dealerchecker by leading several other experienced dealership managers, each of whom contributed to a program that properly integrated with the existing functions of a dealership. The mission was always clear: make a fair, balanced program for both customers and dealers to use in facilitation of a more efficient sales process.
As a car dealer, it is important to consider any options that might increase the bottom line. Plus, any dealer would leap at the opportunity to dispel the obvious distrust that customers often feel towards them.
Unlike Truecar, Dealerchecker has never needed to revisit their business model. It has always been, and will continue to be balanced with the leadership’s background. They understand dealers, not just customers, and have worked hard to bring the two together in a pleasant experience.
Well here’s your chance: David Gokhshtein, Founder and CEO of Dealerchecker, has sought to change the car buying process since 2008. David has 14 years of experience in the industry himself, having been both an F & I Manager and Internet Sales Manager at Bay Ridge Volkswagen.
It all begins with strong principles. David’s principles have led him to seek no investment contribution for Dealerchecker to maintain creative control and freedom. Furthermore, David is selective with what dealerships that are not honest. Those lacking integrity removed, or initially denied
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In an interview with David Gokhshtein, he said that signing up for Dealerchecker can save up to $1500, even with lackluster employees. Moreover, if you do have lackluster employees, then David will bring in a Dealerchecker specialist to train your team. The specialist will show you and your team how to use all the product’s features, including Dealer Reviews, Bidding Plus, Cars for Sale, sales Pro Rater, Car Chat, and Car Price Analysis. The site, according to David, is also the only social media platform of its kind. Yes, there are dealership and department reviews, but’s it’s more than customer-to-dealer communication. It’s communication with a purpose. It’s genuine reputation management that provides an opportunity to share nearly anything with your existing customers. If you want to energize your dealership with fresh, qualified leads, and revolutionize your sales process, then you’re looking in the right place.
David Gokhshtein is the CEO of DealerChecker. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@davidgokhshtein or by e-mail at davidg@dealersolutions.info.
www.lotlinx.com
Transform that incredibly slow 3rd-party process by linking inventory searches directly to your VDPs.
Deeplinking The average dealership using LotLinx today is getting 458 unique shoppers to their website each month, 95% of whom are new to their site. (800) 625-5469 sales@lotlinx.com 27 Source: LotLinx Business Intelligence, May 2014. Sales results are estimates and will vary by dealership.
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n io t ic v n o c is s e c What convin By Laura Madison
It has been said before that enthusiasm sells. Where though, does one find enthusiasm? How can we encourage it within a dealership? The answer to these questions can be found in a word often used as a synonym for enthusiasm. A word, which encompasses a more concrete, less whimsical concept: commitment. Commitment is a tangible quality that can be both learned and taught.
Benefits of Commitment
Commitment sells. Enthusiasm driven from genuine commitment to a product is, perhaps, an idea more important than ever. As manufacturers make increasingly better cars and each segment becomes more competitive, authentic enthusiasm is key. When a buyer may not otherwise be able tell a difference between two pieces of metal, a salesperson’s clear, unwavering commitment to his brand may make enough difference to convince the buyer and close a deal. Commitment is contagious. Joe Girard became the top salesman in the world by something he refers to as “spark.” In his words, “sparks create fires.” Without commitment and enthusiasm for what he did, Joe Girard may have been just another Detroit salesman. Instead he spread his “spark,” and in return sold more cars than anyone else in history. Girard is proof: the benefits of true commitment are enormous. Genuine enthusiasm for a brand is something others can, and want to, get behind.
How do you encourage commitment?
Research the brand and industry. Begin at the beginning. History has an amazing way of creating excitement. So many manufacturers have incredible stories; whether it is the dedication to create a motor with all 8 cylinders cast on one block, or the unlikely success of a gasoline-electric vehicle. There’s enough excitement in the history of automobiles to ignite a fire in almost anyone. Embrace the innovation. There are many innovative things automobile manufacturers utilize that we now take for granted. Seemingly common innovations are what the greats, those truly committed to their brand, still refuse to ignore.
Vehicle stability control’s ability to save lives, special keys preventing vehicle theft, and the soon-to-be-standard backup camera increasing visibility; these are just some things the enthusiasts continue to show excitement over, but the others no longer even notice.
ion. Believe in “What convinces is convict ing. If you don’t the argument you’re advanc other person will you’re as good as dead. The , and no chain re the ’t isn g in eth m so t tha e sens logical or elegant of reasoning, no matter how for you.” or brilliant, will win your case Lyndon B. Johnson Maintain the commitment. Like all serious relationships, commitment to a brand requires continuous effort. To maintain and grow excitement: 1) Search often for news relating to the industry and products. 2) Get prospective by reading third-party drives and customer reviews. 3) Follow fan conversations on social media. 4) Hold new owner events to explain innovative technologies in their vehicles. As a leader you could share one innovation or piece of automobile history in morning sales meetings. Encourage commitment and dedication by rewarding the people in a dealership that exemplify it. Whatever you do to create excitement, make sure salespeople sell themselves on their product first, that they embody commitment, and watch your sales grow.
Laura Madison is a Sales Consultant for Toyota of Bozeman. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@lauratoyota or by e-mail at laura@dealersolutions.info.
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Maybe
It’s Time To
Get Real! By Don O’Neill
As we enter into the next phase of summits, trade shows, conferences, coffee hours, or whatever you have planned to scope out the new and next best gadgets, it is important to stay true to the core focus of your dealership. But maybe it is also time to get real. I don’t just mean that as a euphemism, catch phrase, or rally cry. I mean GET REAL! This goes out to vendors, GM’s, Finance Directors, Owners, and sales people alike. Let’s start with the dealers and their employees. Not all shiny objects need to be chased. Not every application that comes out will help you sell a car. There are some basic questions I always asked myself when these decisions were mine to make at the dealership level. First, does it enhance an existing system or process I already utilize? Second, does it require me to change my process, and if so what were the Beta, and ongoing results of the product in question? Third, and most importantly, does it sell cars? Not convert into click through, not images on a screen, not notional web traffic. Does it flat out assist my staff to sell more cars each and every month? Lastly, can I amortize this product, and assess a true cost of acquisition and ROI that makes sense on a per unit basis? To be clear, I don’t care if an app or widget only costs you 199.00. If it doesn’t convert to sale, you just lost an internal 500 mail piece campaign, or that oil change policy to close the deal, or (insert whatever you want here). It is all in the conversion to sale. When speaking to the vendors at these functions, I always used a single phrase to weed them out. “Show Me.” Not just show me your case study of one successful dealer. Show Me the conversion to sale. Show Me what your application
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has that nobody else does. Show Me how once I turn this over to my staff, that it seamlessly integrates into my process, and my current technology. I am already selling 400 cars a month without you, tell me how your product can get me to 430, 450 or 500. Now on to us, the vendors. The truth is that in the vendor game, we can all basically say whatever we want to, and usually go unchecked. It is an unfortunate truth to the automotive vendor space. Most, shoot straight to the point while others say whatever they have to, to get under your rooftop. I think Jim Ziegler, the Alpha Dawg, said it best; “87.63% of vendor statistics are made up on the spot 95.45 % of the time.” Two words. Get Real. I use this term now, when it comes to data. This mantra applies to every facet of the dealership. The game we play every day happens in Real Time. There is no substitute for Real-Time. Would you ever trade stocks on a ticker that had a 15 minute delay? Do you check yesterday’s weather report before heading out today? Hopefully, you get the picture. Now, the emerging technology vertical that we operate in, is Pre-Screen solutions. wwPre-Screening has been around for decades. Static, dated lists, sold mostly by direct mail houses, that provided nothing more than a name to the dealer but a tremendous amount of profit to the vendors. Last year, real time, direct to the second scoring became available to the automotive market space. No different than your hard pull application, the bureau provides real time to the second scoring, and data sets of permissible purpose data. As you can imagine, this comes with a price. No different than your hard pull charge, the bureau charges for these pre-screens. Remember this point of the conversation, THE BUREAU CHARGES FOR ACCESS TO THAT DATA ON A PER CONSUMER BASIS. I am not writing this to single out any vendor/vendors. I am writing this to wake the staff of each dealership up to realize that it is YOUR responsibility to ask the hard questions of your current and potential vendors. So I offer a challenge to each of the vendors in the automotive retail space: Show Them. Show them the data. Sign up for ROI Bot. Be transparent. But most of all be real. In this time of excitement with all of the shows ahead of us, we have so much opportunity ahead. Lose the smoke, the mirrors, and the games. For the sake of our industry, GET REAL.
Don O’Neill is the V.P. of Sales and Marketing of CreditMiner. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@DealerLegion or by e-mail at don@dealersolutions.info.
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