At the risk of being lambasted by my more distinguished and experienced colleagues, I'm posting one of my responses to an internet lead.  My goal is, first and foremost to get a response; and secondly, to see if the possibility exists to make a sale.  While it's unconventional, I feel that it stands out from the bland, scripted responses that consumers usually get from other salespeople.  Because I want to learn from others in this business, I welcome your comments and constructive criticism.

Dear XXXXX,

Thank you for your inquiry on the 2014 Fusion.  I sincerely appreciate your interest in our products and our dealership.

I believe God holds a special place in Heaven for those who show kindness and courtesy toward car salesmen.  Maybe it's just me.  I also believe God is a Ford guy, but I digress.

The bottom line is, if you've decided you want a Fusion, please let me know how you'd like to move forward.  I promise I'll make your experience fun, enjoyable and hassle- free.

If you're still looking/ shopping/ thinking about it, that's OK, too.  It really is.  However, I'd like to know that as well.  That way, I can keep the sweet but aggressive folks at the call center from interrupting your life with endless phone calls and e- mails. 

In either event, I wish you all the best, and look forward to hearing from you soon.  Feel free to respond by e- mail or just give me a call.

Sincerely,

Al

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Comment by steven chessin on August 20, 2014 at 8:15pm

Sharon. Yes. Defining leads. There should be a lead rating scale so we know what we mean when we say "lead". I hesitate to even call someone that won't respond to email a lead  - except  - that they also take time to process. Expensive HR time. Salesmen must delegate to reps - reps must delegate to robot. BECAUSE if an very expensive HR salesman is doing work that a very cheap I.T. robot can do   --- that's messed-up. Even more messed-up because the expensive man cannot do this job nearly as well as the machine - or - the inexperience lower HR cost rep. Its all about applying the right talent and tools and the right time. Man is better than machine -- at some things  -- machine better than man at others. This is why I am so completely opposed to the A-Z process. It forces highly qualified people to drop down to perform tasks that those with low qualifications - or even machines with no qualifications can do. And better ! 

Comment by Sharon Hill on August 20, 2014 at 4:49pm

I don't know but could the difference in thinking about leads volume be the difference in procedures? One is more traditional primarily on-the-lot sales while the other is initiated by chat, text, and other means? Then, too, there's the move to solely-online sales, like Carvana is doing. Even eBay Motors is selling something like 11,000 cars each month with no walk-in at all, all digital, and primarily mobile. in both cases, search straight through to financing, is all virtual. then the vehicle is shipped, driven to the buyer's location, or the buyer, if local picks it up. So as I said, I wonder about lead volume being determined by method of prospecting and converting. I don't know the answer. Just throwing that out there. 

Comment by William Phillips on August 20, 2014 at 4:37pm

sales staff can not handle more than 100 leads max, per person with out doing it wrong.  50 to 75 is optimal.   I will shop any store you claim can handle more than that per person, and show you they don't correctly.  They don't call enough or short a real sales process that works if they do make contact.  10 years of data to prove it. I will look in any CRM of any store you allow access to and prove the math.    

Comment by Sharon Hill on August 20, 2014 at 3:51pm

Good info indeed, Steven. I also found and article that had some helpful things: http://xcelmediagroup.com/automotive-direct-mail-letters-the-power-... . Some of it is pretty simplistic but one thing I found very interesting is that she recommended using a real stamp on any snail mail letter - not one that screams "bulk mail" to the recipient. Makes good sense. 

Comment by steven chessin on August 20, 2014 at 3:35pm

I am not selling any products or services to anyone. Just some free advice. Thought you might like to hear that dealers refused the opportunity to double their leads with the reason that they had more than they could handle.

50-75 leads per month is very low lead generation / lead management. Two very common problems with fixes. The most common cause is the A-Z process. A few simple adjustments can double sales.

Comment by William Phillips on August 20, 2014 at 3:07pm

Is this guy doing a commercial ?   

Comment by steven chessin on August 20, 2014 at 2:52pm

William   

A few years ago I needed a job and I'd meet with owners who would ask me what I could do for them. 

"I will double your leads."    They would say, "We already have more than we can handle".  Then I would say. "I will build the infrastructure to manage the leads also".

ANY store's leads - lead management - and sales can be doubled with my process. And from the salesman's perspective  --- the A-Z process is part of the problem because too much time is wasted doing work that requires 1/10 the skill level. You can't make 100k a year when you are doing jobs worth $ 10 an hour.

   

 

Each store has its own internet sales or bdc approach. The simplest is old-school A-to-Z process. I know this very well as our own stores' internet sales depts. use it. You are correct 50--75 is the number they get -- and that number never varies by much ---- and there is the problem. Even 75 a month is not enough to sell 20 cars in 20 days. Maybe 7 to 10. The real number needed is 200. But 200 are not available and there is no strategy to create 200 - and - no strategy to manage them if there were 200. All of these factors keep 50 from ever becoming 200.  ---- My process creates and manages 3-4 times the leads you now get along with a different lead processing structure that filters-out the weak ones so that you are left with only the best  -- because you cannot waste valuable sales time doing your own filtering.

The main problem with this type of process is that there is no lead filtering. You must kiss every frog hoping they will become a prince  --- that takes your time that is too valuable for "frog kissing". Another problem with this is that the time you must waste is not even "re-purposed" into lead generation - as it needs to be. So unless strategic changes are made the number can never be increased.

Comment by Al Stidham on August 19, 2014 at 6:56pm

Thank you, Elizabeth.

Comment by Elizabeth Ayala on August 19, 2014 at 6:05pm

I liked it. It made you sound fun and easy to deal with.  It also left me with the impression that you had the buyers best interest in mind.  I would respond to this email.

Comment by William Phillips on August 19, 2014 at 2:48pm

Agreed on the need for speed, but no one can handle 10 leads per day and do it correctly.  Max 50 to 75 per month

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