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Make Money Mondays with Sean V. Bradley - "Price" - Automotive Sales - Car Sales

http://www.internetsales20group.com 856-546-2440 

Dealer Profit Summit Tip - "The Top 3 Highest converting Lead Forms"

The Top 3 Lead Converting Forms are: 

1. e Price (Internet Selling Price) 

2. Confirm availability 

3. Virtual Finance Lead Form

So, are you taking advantage of this information for your website and dealership? If not call me and find out how you can! 

http://www.automotivedigitaltraining.com 856-546-2440

http://www.internetsales20group.com

Make Money Mondays With Sean V. Bradley - Automotive Sales / Car Sales Objections & Rebuttals

In the automotive industry, there is a lot of emphasis put on price. In society, we often hear the word value. These two words seem to be interchangeable. Are they really? I don't think so. Most of us have paid a price for something that had a value higher or lower than what we paid. Some of the things in our lives that we value the most didn't have a price and we wouldn't sell for any price...such as our families, our memories, and our time. When speaking to customers who are focusing on price, try to build the value of the vehicles instead of giving a price. The value of a vehicle is about more than the money. If you investigate correctly and actually listen to the customer's responses, you should be able to find the perfect vehicle for their needs. The value is in how they will use it, how it will make their life better, and how much enjoyment they will receive from it. The price is just dollars and cents. Don't get me wrong...money has a big impact on people. There aren't many people who have money to burn. But if you can show them how the value is more than the price, it seems that they are getting a better deal. Let's face it. Only about 20% of customers are truly price motivated. Building value for them is much more effective than focusing on price.

There were several takeaways from Nielsen's recent mobile studysurrounding restaurants, travel, and the automotive industry, but the one that surprised me the most was that 43% of automotive searches on mobile devices were done to do price comparisons. The rise of mobile in our daily lives means that many of the activities that once tethered us to our desks at home or at work can now be done on the go, so I knew instinctively that the number of people comparing prices while out on the lot was probably high. I simply had no idea it was THAT high.

What does this mean for dealers? With around 20% of website traffic coming from mobile devices, the need to simplify the experience and increase the engagement is higher than ever. They aren't just using their mobile devices to get directions and a phone number. They're doing live research. It could be while they're watching television and using their mobile device as the second screen of interaction. It could be while they're chit-chatting with their spouse about that weird noise they heard in their engine on the way to the restaurant. Then, of course, it could be while they're at a dealership looking at vehicles, in which case the need for a dealership's mobile presence to offer price and vehicle details on inventory is paramount.

Mobile sites are not just a "checkbox" to be covered anymore. The times are behind us when the questions surrounding mobile being asked to a website vendor was, "do you have mobile sites included?" Today's savvy dealer (and business in general) must explore more deeply in order to make certain that the mobile sites are perfect. They should be responsive, have simple methods of communication with the dealership on every page, and present details about the vehicles including big pictures (that don't slow down the site) and further information.

The second most important statistic from the study:

Overall the study found that half of the mobile automotive search audience were doing longer term research but roughly half (49 percent) were “looking to make a purchase within the day.” However 36 percent of this group converted “within the hour.”

Here's an infographic from the study. The full study is available by registering.

https://www.youtube.com/seanvbradleytv

http://www.dealersynergy.com 

http://www.dealersynergy.com 

http://www.seanvbradley.com 

It is often said by the learned in the marketing field, that customers are not solely price motivated.  This can be proven every day of the year, when people all around the world go to something we call “Convenience stores.”  Think about it, when you're driving in your car, and that yellow light appears in your dash next to the red E, what do you find attached to nearly any gas station? ...Not a penny candy store.  Furthermore, 7-Eleven…doesn’t have the best priced anything, but people still continue to flock to the establishment 24-7.  I only say these things to help you understand the point…that (to 80% of people) price isn’t everything.  I hope you are following me. 

I don’t know about you, but I like to make money.  Most business owners feel the same way as I.  We can’t make money on a consistent basis if we constantly give our products away below market value.  In our industry, we have one of two choices.  We can either discount the vehicle, or build value in our 4Ps.  (More on the 4Ps later.)  I will admit that it is much easier to just go ahead and discount stuff, but to BUILD?  Oh No! …That takes work!  However, look at it this way; discount = less, value = more…are we motivated to benefit from the ease of less or the value of more? 

Let's continue by discussing the term motivation.  It is a process that elicits, controls, and sustains certain behaviors.  Let’s begin with the end in mind…What is the behavior I’d like to elicit and sustain?  Why... the purchasing of vehicles by potential customers of course.  Wouldn’t it make sense to put a controlled process in place to create this behavior?  Retail Businesses do it all the time.  I got a coupon from Sears the other day for 10-50% off…I MIGHT use it IF it’s CONVENIENT for me…IF I need something from them in the time allotted.  It is safe to say, that I am slightly motivated to shop at Sears when they want me to shop there.  They have something in place to motivate/control my behavior.

Now…we could structure a deal with our customers for 10-50% off of vehicles, and still only experience a 20% increase in business.  Another option is to sponsor a “BuildACar” campaign, or a “Onsite delivery to anywhere in the continental United States” promotion…and savor an altogether different business increase.  What is the draw of a Car Show?  Your dealership could host one once a quarter to boost sales another 20% because of the tactical information available to your customers.

All these are motivators:

1. Build a car = Availability.
2. Onsite Delivery = Convenience.
3. A Car Show = Research.

And if your internet customers hate car salesman, then I suggest you change the way you do business…you can find three very easily executable proposals to do just such above.

 This article actually was stimulated by a whole’nother thought/idea, nevertheless; creative thought bloomed.  I sincerely hope that the words here are exercising your right brain as well…motivating you to sell more cars, more profitably, more often.

(Was that a stretch?) ☺

Rules and Regulations for the BDC:

I have established rules and regulations for the BDC Center so it s understood what qualifies them as credit to the internet department and the sales floor has a clear understanding where and how this customer came into the showroom. This also gives trust and understanding to each internet representative and the sales team. The rules help with the double dipping on leads.

Example:

Prior 72 hours when a BDC Rep. receives contact through email or a phone it is the BDC representatives leads

After 72 hours if the customer responds in either a mass email or decides to call in the new BDC does all the work, then the new BDC gets the credit

If a phone up comes in and the BDC has had a response from the customer then it’s the original BDC Rep gets the credit.  Need to develop a team environment.

If there is no contact through phone or email for 30 days then the record is open for any BDC

There must be a complete explanation in the notes of the CRM higher gear on what is going on with the customer.  If there is not an accurate notation the manager has the right to decide what BDC rep deserves credit of lead, if any.

If customer comes in and does not make an appointment, but you have had contact with that customer the appointment will be the original BDC rep.

On the daily log, if there is an appointment made be the salesperson it is the salesperson appointment.  NO BDC Rep is to take a salesperson appointment and make it theirs.

Cannot make an appointment when car is already sold or has a deposit taken

Etc…Each representative signs and understands these rules and regulations so there are no questions of what is being paid on or gets credit for.  Each Rep is responsible for handing there leads on the week bonus and commissions.

I use the method of SMART goals (retrieved from: www.projectsmart.co.uk/smart-goals.html) to help me establish my goals and objectives for my BDC team.

Specific:
*Well defined
*Clear to anyone that has a basic knowledge of the project

Measurable
*Know if the goal is obtainable and how far away completion is
*know when it has been achieved

Agreed upon
*Agreement with all the stakeholders what the goals should be

Realistic
*Within the availability of resources, knowledge and time

Time Based
*Enough time to achieve the goal
*Not too much time, which can affect project performance

Advertising:

Get everyone to your website!  All advertising should bring customers directly to the dealer website.  Use as little 3^rd party vendors as possible.  Less is more. The more contact and rapport you create with a customer the more loyal and trust worthy we become as a dealer. I work with six franchises and I found that the more you can control where you send your customers for information the closing percentage is much higher since you are guiding them to where you want them to go.

We have learned to use SEO/SEM on our website to our advantage. We have a very strong closing percentage from our SEO leads.  We are now tapping into Adwords marketing which I feel will be a strong push for our internet leads this quarter.

Current lead providers:
Website
Manufacture
Edmunds
Auto trader
ZAG/TrueCar

Since I have started with this organization and implemented my process and procedures for the BDC this organizations numbers from the internet department 2010 to 2011 have shown a 41% increase.  The stores are not highway stores and have now relied on our department for 40-45% of monthly sales, not added units.

• Year 2010 internet deals  425 
  year 2011 internet deals  601

41% increase

Jenna Dellanno
Business Development Manager
Ray Price Auto Group
raypricecars.com

One of my biggest secrets to bringing customers back into our showroom is my Customer Relations person.  They are part of my BDC crew but her title is Customer Relations Representative.  This is our way as a dealership to separate ourselves from the salesmanship mentality, giving a customer to trust that they are speaking with someone who wants to know how their visit went.  Many dealers have their salespeople or sales manager make the next day thank you for visiting call but we have our Customer Relations Representative contact our unsold showroom traffic.  I found in my experiences that when a sales manager and or a salesperson made those  follow up next day calls customers do simple one liners such as “still looking”,  “not in the market”, or “I will call you”.  With my customer relations person they take out the threat of a sales tactic.  The customer truly gets the feeling our dealership wants to know how their visit went and if they had any additional questions.  Many times it opens the flood gates as to how poor our salesman were or how they did not like the sales managers attitude.  More often though, many express on how they did not receive enough for their trade and we were not able to get to the payments they wanted.  With those statements from our customer triggers my Customer relations person to ask appropriate questions such as:  I’m sorry to hear that we were not able to get to where you wanted to be, but if we could re visit your deal with my sales manager and get to your number or close to it will you come back into our dealership?   Majority say yes of course, then I the BDC Manager receives the deal, takes a look at what and how the customer was treated and find out why our sales floor did not sell the customer when they had been in the showroom.  I then negotiate with my sales manager to either push the trade or take off on the sales price that was presented to the customer.  The Customer Relations person is to handle all unsold traffic floor ups and internet ups.

Some Customer examples:

Example 1:

A customer had come into our showroom and was greeted by a salesperson just as they always do.  Customer wanted to be at a certain price on one of our used cars and the sales manager would not agree to sell the car at that point to the customer for the price they wanted.  My customer relations person called to find out how their visit went.  The customer expressed that the dealer was not willing to negotiate and that she wanted to be at a particular price out the door. They had been waiting for a call back from the salesperson which they had still not received.  My customer relations person asked what car they were working on and the number they needed to be at, the customer expressed concern as how are you going to help me if I was already at your dealership and they were not willing to do anything then.  The customer relations person response was my sales manager re visits the deal and that if we can get you to the price on that car you will come back in?  Since a relationship was developed with the customer relations person they found out the problem as to why she need to be at a certain price it was because she was approved through her credit union and wanted to purchase that car with them but we had been able to get her a better interest rate and to put the difference of our price of $265 dollars on her credit card we could make the deal happen. We didn’t do anymore on the price, but since the relationship was built and found out more details as a non salesperson we had been able to convince her of purchasing the vehicle with us and not changing the sales price.

Example2:

A customer had little and not much credit pretty much a ghost is how they described them.  The sales manager did not waste too much time with them and expressed that we were not able to get them financed. Once my customer relations person had followed up and discussed what happen during their visit my representative was able to discover that a family member could provide $10,000 towards a purchase of a car and was able to come back down and bought one of our pre -owned car. 

Example 3:

A customer’s vehicle choice of trim and model had to be located from another dealer.  The particular salesperson they had in the showroom avoided locates at all costs.  Once my customer relations person was able to talk with the customer so much information was collected they were able to find out that we need another salesperson to work this deal so we could find the car for this customer and sell it. 

Below are some word tracks, scripts, and follow up process ideas:

Unsold Showroom Follow up Contact

1 day after visit                        Phone- BDC Thank you for visiting

2 day after visit            Phone/email- BDC if did not contact 1^st day after visit attempt another call- then unsold email

3 day after visit            Phone- BDC Thank you for visiting

7 day after visit            Phone- BDC Thank you for visiting- depending on previous contact

21 day after visit          Phone- Are you still interested in make or model? Depending on previous contact-

Schedule appropriate phone/email based off the follow contact above- you are responsible for assigning your phone calls where you see appropriate

1 Day after visit (phone)

BDC Rep:  Hi, may I please speak with (customer name)

Customer:  This is (customer name)

BDC Rep:  Hi, (customer name), this is (BDC Rep name) from the customer relations department at Ray Price (make) the reason for my call is to thank you for visiting our showroom and to make sure your questions have been answered and  to see how your visit had went with (salesperson).

If yes: Great, do you have an idea of when you would be visiting or seeing (salesperson) again?  Is there a message I can relay to him to help assist in your buying process?

Voicemail message:

If no: (This is where you may find out if the customer liked or disliked the sales representative, bring to  appropriate managers attention for this customer service situation to be handled)
              If customer does not want to work with Salesperson, offer alternative solutions such as:
            Working with another salesperson
            Working directly with a sales manager
If resistance: explain that we are looking for any feedback that could help us improve how they were treated in the sales department. It’s important to our dealership that we know how to improve.

More options for a process:

Unsold Traffic:

Guidelines to Succeed in Unsold Showroom traffic

1. Reconcile daily to make sure the up count matches the number logged. It’s important to make sure all customers had been logged the previous day by the sales representatives or sales managers.

1. BDC handles the call as customer relations call, BDC has a strong sense of confidence and belief towards the customer so customer show that we care here to assist on any situation

1. BDC handles all objection and issues regarding the customers visit in the showroom, and brings the issues good/bad to the BDC/General Manager

Process for Unsold

Next day follow up call is to ask customer how visit went, if a message is left assign again later that day- Do not leave message on 2^nd attempt. If cannot reach by phone send unsold email

Day 3: make an attempt for call but do not leave a message, only one message should be left with in a 72 hour period especially if the salesperson has called the customer.

Day 5: Watch the salespersons follow up; make sure that salesperson has not yet already talked with customer

Depending on what happened after day 1-3 will determine follow up for next steps

If customer is not sure of when they are ready to purchase:
Follow up calls every 5 days up to 30 days
After 31 days call once a month
If left message during this process use to your best knowledge of appropriate follow up

If customer bought elsewhere, transfer to BDC manager so it can be kept track of

IF customer has email address:
Next day: Unsold email
3 Day: KIT email
5 Day: (email) Incentive?
7 Day: Unsold Email
12 Day: KIT email BDC
Once a month, KIT email

Jenna Dellanno
Business Development Manager
Ray Price Auto Group
raypricecars.com

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INSIDE a LIVE Training WORKSHOP on Objections, Expectations & Rebuttals... Automotive Internet Sales Ninjas in TRAINING!

VERY POWERFUL!!! Notice... They are NOT using ANY Scripts or Books!!! All on the FIRST DAY! Go Team GO!