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Make Money Mondays With Sean V. Bradley - Dealerships Need To Staff Properly
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http://www.internetsales20group.com
What Are Your Most Important Assets?
Guest Post By Sean V. Bradley, CEO, Dealer Synergy
I have been immersed in automotive Internet sales, BDC, and digital marketing for almost 15 years. Needless to say, in this time there have been countless evolutions in social media, lead generation, mobile devices, and every other form of technology.
Through it all, one thing has always remained constant and important – PEOPLE. We have always needed, and continue to need, good quality people. No one has invented robots that sell cars, and no one has eliminated the need for automotive sales professionals, Internet directors, or appointment setters. Through all of the technology upheavals, social media fads and the Google ZMOT craze, the ONLY thing that has not been eliminated or genetically enhanced is the “People” aspect of the department.
People are the backbone of this industry. People sell cars, people conduct product presentations and demo drives. People qualify prospects, identify their wants, wishes and expectations, and then meet them and exceed them. No matter how much technology we have at our disposal, it is the “People” that make everything happen – before, during and AFTER the sale!
That being said, dealers must make sure they have the RIGHT people in their departments, and not settle for anything less than what is needed for success. Too many times dealers take “ANY” “body” that is available. They only recruit when they are desperate and need “bodies.” It is rare to see dealers proactively recruiting for the right candidates.
The scary truth is that this is true throughout the dealership – but it is becoming an epidemic in the Internet Sales Department, the BDC / Call Center, etc. In these departments, many dealers are not staffing correctly. Horrifyingly, they are either hiring the wrong people to run their multi-million dollar department, and / or they do not have the appropriate number of people in their department. It is common to see departments with way too many leads and only one or two BDC reps managing 500, 600, or more leads.
If you’re not staffing these departments properly, know that this practice is just plain badon many different levels. Here’s why:
- You are BURNING through Internet Ups, only capturing the “low hanging fruit.”
- You are NOT able to effectively communicate with your individual Internet Prospects because you are spread too thin to have the proper amount of e-mail / phone call follow-up protocol.
- You will have prospects slip through the cracks and potentially buy elsewhere.
- It’s NOT just the leads for the current month that are not being handled properly; there is also your Residual Flow Factor to consider. The average buying cycle is 45 – 90 days. So, if there are 500 leads (fresh for the month), there are an approximately 250+ carry over leads that you’re still working.
- Most painful: lost revenue.
Dealerships must have a consistent and proactive recruiting protocol. They must also know which sources are the best for recruiting top talent. Here are a few proven resources:
- www.indeed.com
- www.carjobsonline.com
- www.craigslist.com
- www.monster.com
- www.simplyhired.com
- www.careerbuilder.com
Here’s another, more creative way to attract qualified candidates for employment: Create a TV / Web Commercial. That’s right, a commercial for HR. Here’s an example of a commercial we created for one of our dealer clients, Bill Dube Hyundai (Scott Dube is the President of the Massachusetts State Auto Dealers Association):
Whether you create your commercial in-house or outsource the job is up to you. No matter how you do it, my strong advice is to produce one.
Once you have a Web / TV commercial created, I recommend you syndicate widely for maximum visibility through resources including the following:
- Facebook and Facebook ads, sponsored posts, etc.
- YouTube
- Google Ads and Video Pre-Roll ads
You can even create a “We are hiring” button on your website!
Remember: you are only as strong as your weakest link. And if your weakest link is your people, you need to – and CAN – do something about it immediately.
If you have any questions about this article, please email me at sean@dealersynergy.comor feel free to give me a call at (267) 319-6776.
Sean V. Bradley is the founder and CEO of Dealer Synergy, a nationally recognized training and consulting company in the automotive industry.
Ken Pollock Auto Group was tired of traditional and digital means to recruit. They NEEDED Good people and FAST, so they had Dealer Synergy create a TV commercial to use broadcast and cable to generate a lot of resumes.
If you are struggling to find the right people for your team, I suggest that you consider using broadcast television as a resource to drive lots and lots of resumes!
Automotive Recruiting - HR - Hiring - Staffing Your Dealership BEST Practices, Advice, Tips & Secrets
Automotive Internet Sales Coordinator / BDC Rep
/ Appointment Setter PAY PLAN!
*** This is a SALES POSITION!!! NOT Customer Service!!
They are SELLING THE APPOINTMENT!
- “Road to the Appointment” process… (Outbound / inbound phone call process)
- How Qualify a prospect
- Identify a prospect’s wants, wishes, needs and expectations!
- They will have 25-35 (Minimum) word tracks in their arsenal… “Objections & Rebuttals as well as “What Ifs…”
- A complete time management and organization strategy
- A complete FORECASTING strategy… “3 Minute Book”.
- They will NEED to have a thorough understanding of 3rd party providers, information sites like:
- Edmunds.com
- Kbb.com
- Autobytel.com
- Carsdirect.com
- Dealix.com
- They need to have THOROUGH knowledge of their products… they do not NEED to memorize everything, but they need to know where to access the information.
- Knowledge of the dealership’s website(s)
- EXTREME KNOWLEDGE of the Dealership’s CRM… this is one of the MOST important aspects to their job!!
$3,000
????
Simple J
$400 week salary X 4 weeks = $1,600 per month
What do I STILL need to earn in commissions to meet my $3,000 GOAL?
$1,400… The questions is HOW am I going to earn it???
Before you can really answer this… you need to know what your commission plan is…???
$1 for an appointment
$15 for an appointment that shows
$25 for a sold appointment
For a TOTAL possible commission earnings of $41…
100 – 50 – 25
$100 - $750 - $625 = $1,475
$1,475 + $1,600 = $3,075…
100 appointments = $3,000 per month
100 / 4 weeks = 25 appointments per week…
/ 5 working days = 5 appointments per day…
They NEED to make or take 120 calls per day…
Why…? B/C you will ONLY connect with about 11-14% on the phones.
So, 120 calls per day will result in 11-14% connections which = 4-6 appointments per day (5).
Internet Sales 20 Group - Chicago - Department Staff & Human Resource Management - Ralph Paglia from Dealer Synergy on Vimeo.
I received an email from this dealership and was very excited when I saw that this dealership was using Digital Marketing Initiatives to try to recruit for their dealership!!
I think this is AWESOME!! Dealers NEED to use:
* Facebook and other forms of Social Media
* Their website & micro sites
* Pay Per Click
* Permission Based Email Campaigns as well as newsletters
If a dealership wants to hire or needs to hire additional members to their team... they need to think out of the box.
I am always looking for ideas to help dealers be successful. If you have any additional ideas for HR / recruiting, please let us know!
