Tag Archives

Posts with ilm tag.
Manipulation: Not the greatest form of flattery (Stop It!)

Nobody looking from the left, not a soul peering in from
the right; so it’s done. Manipulation. The to do, the call, the email, the
touch…you know, the BS-logged activity. The stuff that’s done just to get the
heat off, clean up the CRM and get back to going the same pace of “lead
management” and selling (the same amount you always do).

So why do we do it? Why is it allowed? Are we that far
removed, today still, from accountability in the Internet departments of the
automotive world? Sure. Nobody really
knows how to monitor, let alone want to, so the scheming goes on. And the
units? They go somewhere else…

To quote Scott Straten: Stop It! Stop It! Stop It! Get real
about managing your leads and quit killing your dealership. Not only are you
not flattering your management and owner, you’re making the investment in the
software to assist in the process and closing your sales heavily irrelevant.
Want to make your ratios? Then do the work! Too many leads, stop begging for
more!!

Manipulating your tasks or your leads has an impact on your
dealership akin to giving your child an empty box for their birthday. Nothing
good can come out of it and they’ll eventually look somewhere else…

Not to mention, manipulating your CRM simply makes you look
bad. Period. Create processes and systems to ensure that the leads are touched,
every day, with rare exception. It’s a lose-lose that is unacceptable.

Management, take the time to completely understand your CRM.
In addition you must audit regularly, conduct one-one-ones and manage your
store’s Internet hand-raisers no differently than your walk-ins, referrals and
service customers.  Just because you
can’t “see” your customers doesn’t mean you treat them any differently.

What does all this mean? Manipulation in sales tracking just costs too much. So get
real, change/add processes, counsel with management, spend money on an
assistant…do anything other than fudge it.

 

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

November 16, 2012 by Gary May 0
I fought the law and the law won…? Bullshizzle!

From time to time, it’s good to get a strong dose of
perspective or reality, depending who is describing reality. It’s easy to see
why business owners, and especially car dealers, are so confused when it comes
to doing anything, let alone well, in the digital/online space. Diluted
solutions that favor data over results and backed more by marketing genius than
true muscle are more common than wannabe starlets at Hugh Heffner’s gigs at the
mansion.

Our reality comes in doses while checking out new markets, our
client’s competitors, vendors’ pitch materials or the information the factory
eCommerce rep brings around to dealers, from time to time.

The information age is lacking in one large area for
businesses; in correct information! In a day where so called experts are giving
misleading or incorrect directions, ad agencies are still F-bombing (oops,
errant posts to) client social media accounts, SEO companies are still using
offshore link/content farms and studies show, for some reason, that 2009 data
still needs to be shared on stage as new, not enough people are calling folks
out. No, those companies are still getting hired and you’re still using them!

Reality check is you have to consume large amounts of
correct information at breakneck speed today to keep up. Mind you, we’re not
talking about leading, just keeping up. And most dealers aren’t doing
that.

Sure, everyone knows how to eat an elephant. Right? one bite
at a time. But trying to take a sip of the digital waters, for most, has been
like drinking from a fire hose or the bottom of a waterfall. A little
overbearing! Car dealers…get out of your comfort zone and take a big gulp!!

As you prepare to start 2013, here are a few things to think
about and maybe, just maybe, put to action:

  • Your website should not be the same as your
    closest in-brand competitor. This is not a vendor thing; it’s a content thing.
  • Your emails should not be the same as any local
    competitor. This is not a vendor thing; it’s a people thing.
  • Your social network content should not be the
    same as any local competitor. This is not a vendor thing; it’s a smart thing.

In 2013, the manufacturers clearly want their stores to be
as uniform as possible: experience, showroom, content, website/mobile, email
and more. Fight it tooth and nail.  The
majority of endorsed vendors are not there for you, they are there for
them.  The norm sucks…so don’t settle for
it.

The more consumers expect a unique experience, the more our
industry fights it. Why? Because it’s not easy to do things that way; even
though more of you are just giving in.

The smallest portion of the budgets in our industry, still,
happens to be the digital ones. This is a top-down mentality, starting with the
manufacturers. Oh, and don’t let the desire to govern response times and having
your wrists slapped over a vehicle image with the wrong lug nuts stop you from
having a kick ass digital presence and drive more customers to your front door.
Do things right the first time and get wet. Get really, really, really, really
wet from the digital hose. It’s the only way to lead.

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

 

November 10, 2012 by Gary May 0
On Your Mark, Get Set, Think, Plan, Then Go! And Then Review.

You hear it all the time: "this isn't rocket science", "a monkey can do this" and "you're kidding me, that's easier than chewing gum".  Yet process seems to be as rare as a walk-up customer these days when it comes to the Internet side of the business. Not necessarily the sales process, although there are still many that struggle with that, but the part that deals with planning, accountability, results and reviewing.

Based on the non-scientific data at the recent round of automotive industry events, many are surprised that the majority of leads from dealer (and OEM) websites still are not responded to well, timely, with engagement or even at all.  Most people from the consulting and coaching side of the business are not surprised.  While there is definitely more attention and dollars flowing toward the online part of retail, more opportunities are slipping away as software and solutions are expected to run the business.

CRMs, as great as some are today, websites, as well as they take visitors 'through the process',even social media, as poorly as most dealerships handle it, are not stand-alone solutions that take your store from zero to hero.  Your customers won't rank your vendors, they'll rank you.

Planning, visualization, tracking and accountability (yes, to someone else that can call 'bullshit') are all tools of the sales trade.  Not printing your queue every day or starting off with a priority list when you first sit down?  You will not experience success at the level you should.  Fact is your database, no matter how clean, can't sell cars.  It may be a goldmine, but it's covered up until you have a work plan that actually takes prospects and changes them into completely satisfied clients.

While it may seem that the top producrs always have things 'go their way', it's due to working smart, prioritization (that doesn't mean you chose which customers to respond to effectively), visualizing positive results ahead of time (not just saying 'yup, this one's mine and they're taking chromes! and window etching') and being consistent in what you do.

The 'best' location, dynamic website with strong SEO, a bulletproof CRM, well-written templates, intriguing videos and a mission statement that is generations-old with a mediocre staff to back it up will be out-gunned by a competitor with less-than-perfect technology but an eager, process-oriented, customer-connecting, motivated and excited group of individuals working as a team.

Not to take anything away from some great companies in our business, including many that IM@CS recommends, but we must remember that we're in the people business and the badge on the sheet metal is not more important than the person buying it, nor is the voucher more more important than the techniques to achieve it.  Think about that the next time you skip asking the next guest how you can improve their experience , what would excceed their expectations or simply how they see things happening to earn their recommendation.  Yes, asking and truly listening are on the path to perfection!

Ready, shoot, aim does work…as long as you understand how to improve every time and have had the chance to review where you are at and why.  Go get 'em tiger!

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

November 12, 2009 by Gary May 0
“That’s What She Said!”…and other lies since you’re just not listening

You were the class clown, your friends' center of attention, captain of the sport team, oldest in your family, standout of sorts in various jobs and now you lead the sales ranks…and you're flat out lucky! Considering the last time you listened actively was to get an extra scoop of ice cream in eighth grade, it is hard to understand what, outside of ambition, fortune and favor, has you topping the charts. As a passive listener, you can remember that your first customer ever made a nice comment about your tie…

OK, that was a little over the top, but hopefully the message hit home.  How do you know what he said, she said, they said, if you're not listening!?!? Consider the amount of leads that are not sufficiently handled, floor ups that aren't greeted correctly (let alone qualified), prospects that aren't followed up with in a timely, contextually relevant way (sending a pre-populated eNewsletter DOESN'T qualify) and you can start to understand how broken things are for consumers.

Most dealers pay for a CRM, typically in addition to their (substandard but used for 'oversight') factory lead management system, and don't even use it. Store by store, a visit can reveal that most of the notes in a customer's file (if there are any) are easily described as archaic. Ask a salesperson to explain the notes, you'll typically hear "I don't have time to put in more detail" and "I've spoken with them so I'll know what's going on when they come in to buy the dang car". You might even hear "it's my customer, not the store's" from a more honest staffer.

Task the same salesperson with fundamental questions about the customer, family, kids, how long they've researched/shopped for the car they're buying,what their third color choice or second option package preference is and you might get a more educated look from a deer looking at the front of your car in the middle of North Dakota on a desolate highway that you're driving 95 miles per hour on at 2:38 in the morning. You know that look…

"What she said" is so dang darn important that, gosh forbid the person actually felt you cared about them, they might recommend more customers for you in the next three months than you had from all your past customers in the last 12 months. People, it starts with really listening. No, REALLY listening. Look at it this way: you were so lucky to have it the way you do. Two ears, one mouth. Like mom said, use them in the same ratio.

Try listening for a week. You'll get some interesting changes in your business., Do it for a month, you'll actually create a trend. Make it happen for six months and you'll likely never be held back like you were in the past. Take notes. Document how your business has shown you new opportunities. That might happen when you listen to your customer talk about something that they're passionate about. You'll actually pick up on it, share it with your boss before they leave in their new car…next thing you know your dealership is involved with an amazing event in your market that helps sell another 25 cars. All because you listened.

Listen, confirm, validate, document, review, share, store, leverage…and then listen again. It's the greatest tool you'll ever have, besides that whosimawhatsie you have our your desk that you've not taken the time to use once since the seminar you received it at 11 years ago!

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

July 22, 2009 by Gary May 0