Robert Hildreth's Posts - DealerELITE.net2024-03-28T13:24:28ZRobert Hildrethhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/RobertHildrethhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2535849280?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://www.dealerelite.net/profiles/blog/feed?user=21raxdkywoqfo&xn_auth=noRunning and Internet Department todaytag:www.dealerelite.net,2015-09-14:5283893:BlogPost:4626662015-09-14T15:00:00.000ZRobert Hildrethhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/RobertHildreth
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<p>I get asked a lot what makes a successful internet department and I realize I am only being asked my opinion since there are more ways then one to do it.</p>
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<p>I do have a preference but for those looking to set one up here are some choices you have.</p>
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<p>The Business Development Center - (B.D.C.)</p>
<p>You can have different types of…</p>
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<p>I get asked a lot what makes a successful internet department and I realize I am only being asked my opinion since there are more ways then one to do it.</p>
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<p>I do have a preference but for those looking to set one up here are some choices you have.</p>
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<p>The Business Development Center - (B.D.C.)</p>
<p>You can have different types of B.D.C.'s but because of time and space I am going to cover 2 that I have run in the past and how it works for those who might consider this method a good fit for your company.</p>
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<p>1. Find a BDC Manager who will manage and run the BDC. The BDC is made up of usually of group of people who spend all day on the phone handing inbound sales calls and making appointments. They will also be doing the follow up for the sales staff setting those appointments and lastly, handling internet leads. While this may sound attractive they are not salespeople. They are appointment setters. Theory is they set the appointment and then once the customer is in the dealership it is the job of the staff to sell them the car. The BDC is compensated by a bonus for appointments that show and in some cases another bonus if they buy. The Manager should be handling calls as well but there main position is to monitor and maintain a high phone call count daily with a minimum expectation of appointments.</p>
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<p>2. Find and hire a B.D.C. manager who does not supervise anyone else. While this title makes little sense internally it matters more for customers. Customers wish to speak to managers about making decisions or feel the person they are speaking to has some authority. Obviously, when it comes to talking about a price, APR, and trade in value they would rather talk to someone who can give them some guarantees or idea of what that looks like. You can have in this format 1 or 2 people doing this but this works much better if you are in a smaller store. (Less then 250 cars a month). The BDC manager does not handle internet leads and works more directly with the staff. They still set appointments working through the stores Customer Relation Management tool or CRM. They are to call and set appointments with previous walk in customers as well as internet traffic that the internet manager has not called. (My rule was any customer not called for 2 days and there ares no notes why we would not call, then the BDC manager will call that day.) Compensation is based on Appointments that show with an hourly salary. I also used this position to assist with Customer Satisfaction Index or CSI. There was a bonus involved as long as we were in Green CSI.</p>
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<p>Which B.D.C. would work best at your store? First, the question is do you even need one, because I will follow up with what I believe we should be doing today and it means the B.D.C. could be obsolete.</p>
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<p>Thanks for reading.</p>
<p>Robert Hildreth</p>
<p><span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/hildrethrobert">https://www.linkedin.com/in/hildrethrobert</a></span></p>Once again a Non Car Guy telling the public how to buy a car.tag:www.dealerelite.net,2013-03-24:5283893:BlogPost:3612972013-03-24T10:59:23.000ZRobert Hildrethhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/RobertHildreth
<p>I am working late once again and while doing some research I ran into this start-up company.</p>
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<p>I found them while doing some searching on Youtube. I was doing searches on Craigslist postings and something caught my eye where the ads are on the right. It read carcopia.com Buy the same place where dealerships buy from.</p>
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<p>Obviously, I could not help but do a complete background on what this company is about.</p>
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<p>Of course the consumer would be…</p>
<p>I am working late once again and while doing some research I ran into this start-up company.</p>
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<p>I found them while doing some searching on Youtube. I was doing searches on Craigslist postings and something caught my eye where the ads are on the right. It read carcopia.com Buy the same place where dealerships buy from.</p>
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<p>Obviously, I could not help but do a complete background on what this company is about.</p>
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<p>Of course the consumer would be interested.....another company who is telling the consumer they can get around dealer prices.</p>
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<p>Here is how it looks when you do a search on Google</p>
<div class="s"><div class="f kv"><cite>www.<b>carcopia</b>.com/</cite></div>
<span class="st">In majority of the cases, the consumer has less information when buying from a dealership, compared to a credible online source like <em>CarCopia</em>. Most of our cars...</span></div>
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<div class="s"><span class="st">Am I being sensitive about that statement. That statement I am reading states that Carcopia is a credible source and because I work at a dealership anything I say is not credible? Before I wrote this I did more research to see if I am overreacting to yet another start-up company.</span></div>
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<div class="s"><span class="st">The owner started the company in Dec of 2012. He graduated with a MBA in 2012 from the Wharton School of business. Before that he worked in public relations for a fortune 500 company and from 1999-2004 he lists he was a Manager for computer software company. I left the companies out of it...but easily it can be found for those who wish to see.</span></div>
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<div class="s"><span class="st">So obviously he has bought a few cars in his 37 years on this planet. So does that make him the expert? Does this make him more credible and a dealer apparently not credible? Lets look more into this person.</span></div>
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<div class="s"><span class="st">This is a couple of quotes from the Youtube video. "Millions of buyers like you dread buying a used car.....then the pesky salesman....we then work with corporate partners to bring the car to a dealership near you....we cut the overheard of flashy dealerships and grueling sales."</span></div>
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<div class="s"><span class="st">I really suggest you see the video yourself at carcopia.com</span></div>
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<div class="s"><span class="st">Does this sound familiar. Yet another Non-Car person who started a company and is telling the public how to buy a car. Why salespeople are so bad and why you should use there service. Who do you think is funding this company. The customers buying the car or the dealerships that are not really called dealerships. They are called </span></div>
<div class="s"><span class="st">corporate partners. Does this sound a lot nicer and polite?</span></div>
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<div class="s"><span class="st">I did my best to go through the FAQ page and about us page to see a list of "Corporate partners" but could not find it nor find it in my searches. But I would bet it is dealerships who are stupid enough to sign up and fund an anti-dealership company.</span></div>
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<div class="s"><span class="st">As a Dealer I fully support companies that support me back. I have enjoyed many relationships with Autotrader, Cars, KBB, Autobytel, and Edmunds just to name a few. If I left others out it was not on purpose there are many fine companies to choose from. The difference with any of the companies I have listed they do not sell there service by demonizing a car dealership.</span></div>
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<div class="s"><span class="st">It is one thing to give a consumer an option to buy a vehicle. I actually have no problem with that. I have to assume this auction is like many auctions consumers can buy from. It is the stuff a dealer does not want. But they are being mislead to the quality and quantity at the auction. At this time I have no idea where the vehicles are coming from. But that is another debate and not my point at all.</span></div>
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<div class="s"><span class="st">My point is why does these people who have never worked 1 day at a dealership think they know about how the auto industry really works. Work a day at a dealership and see how hard good sales people work. I respect the salespeople who work at my dealership. They work long hours and help customers who may not even have purchased a car from them. Sometimes consumers come in and just have questions about a car they purchased on the past. Do we turn them away or do we help them. The answer is of course we spend as much time as they need and give them great service. We hope that the consumer shares what happened and it pays off. But even if they did not we do it because that is what you do when people need help. It is a thankless job for the most part as we only see and hear the negatives. I know there are a few bad people in our industry but there are thousands of hard working good people in here too.</span></div>
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<div class="s">To label us and put us on the internet as "pesky, grueling" and "flashy".</div>
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<div class="s"><span class="st">If he hates dealerships and salespeople so bad. He </span>can open his own dealership and go deliver the cars himself !</div>Why notes are so criticaltag:www.dealerelite.net,2012-12-30:5283893:BlogPost:3440032012-12-30T21:39:29.000ZRobert Hildrethhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/RobertHildreth
<p>I have repeatedly been told by sales personal that they do not need to mark there deals sold because the system automatically does it. I have also heard this is why some customers are not logged.<br></br></p>
<p>This is on premise a horrible idea that you are relying on technology alone to give you one of your best contacts you will have.<br></br> <br></br> I want you to consider something. This person liked you, the dealership, and the deal so much that they invested thousands of dollars with you.…</p>
<p>I have repeatedly been told by sales personal that they do not need to mark there deals sold because the system automatically does it. I have also heard this is why some customers are not logged.<br/></p>
<p>This is on premise a horrible idea that you are relying on technology alone to give you one of your best contacts you will have.<br/> <br/> I want you to consider something. This person liked you, the dealership, and the deal so much that they invested thousands of dollars with you. Would you not want to maintain contact with them for future sales? If you treated them right would they not help you get more business? After all they liked you enough to give you there business and if worked right they will give you more.<br/> <br/> Here is the catch though....Lets say it is 2 years from today and that same customer comes back to the dealership. What have you done in that 2 years to warrant them doing business with you again? Have you called every 6 months because the system told you to...and in most cases you just left a message. Do you check with them how there vehicle is running and if they are coming in for there maintenance? Do you offer them coupons that you know we have in our service department to encourage them you are looking our for there best interests?<br/> <br/> How about this....the reason for the email.....2 years later do you remember what they were going through in there lives that helped you relate to them? As simple as there kid was in school at a function and they had to go in a hurry to sign paperwork because they had something to go to? Maybe if you put in detailed notes not only would you have put that in the sale notes but you would have added the kids name....birthday....when they will be able to drive....spouses occupation there anniversary and there birthdays....do you have all that information?<br/> <br/> Do you plan on working hard forever or do you want to make life easy for you in a short amount of time? You can literally put in a couple of years of hard work and be done taking fresh ups....I personally had 4 to 5 sales a month from referrals in 60 days. What can you do?<br/> <br/> I do not know about you...but I found it much easier to work with people who referred me to business then to talk to a complete stranger....and the toughest stranger to sell is the one I already sold but I did not take the time to makes notes. So the customer realized I forgot about them.....Those customers are the sames ones who forget about us when it comes to our commission and usually just start with a new salesperson.<br/> <br/> Work smarter not harder in 2013<br/></p>
<p>Robert Hildreth</p>When you approach a customer and say to you right away they are just looking what are they really saying?tag:www.dealerelite.net,2011-09-22:5283893:BlogPost:2239392011-09-22T19:17:40.000ZRobert Hildrethhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/RobertHildreth
<p>When I hear in a retail environment those magic words I am so fond of, "I am just looking" I have learned to get excited. I believe that so many fear it and/or ignore the customer after hearing it....to me this is an opportunity to do business.</p>
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<p>If we are going to be sucessful we have to learn to listen to customers objections. Then respond pleasantly, professionally and in a fashion that allows us to move to the next step.</p>
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<p>Customers first off would not come…</p>
<p>When I hear in a retail environment those magic words I am so fond of, "I am just looking" I have learned to get excited. I believe that so many fear it and/or ignore the customer after hearing it....to me this is an opportunity to do business.</p>
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<p>If we are going to be sucessful we have to learn to listen to customers objections. Then respond pleasantly, professionally and in a fashion that allows us to move to the next step.</p>
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<p>Customers first off would not come into your store if they were not interested in the product at some level. That does not mean they will buy...it just means that they have an interest in what you have to offer. I have found first off is to have the right mindset before you even start your day.</p>
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<p>When gettting ready for work I set my mind up for the day I am about to have...For me I think about what must be followed up...what my inventory looks like, and what needs to be adjusted. However, a big part of my preparation is thinking of responses to what I may encounter through the day. I want to have the conversations in my mind before they happen. That way I am better prepared mentally to have that conversation. I run through several scenarios of what I will say, what they may say in return, and how I will respond to that.</p>
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<p>My goal with every conversation is that the person I am speaking to feels respected, listened to and even if they disagree feel we were doing all we can to provide great service through that communication.</p>
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<p>Something like this would be what I would consider a normal introduction.</p>
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<p>Me: Hello, welcome to ABC motors, my name is Robert, are you looking for service sales or parts today? (I hate to say how can I help you by the way. We can talk about why in another discussion.)</p>
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<p>Customer: I am just looking.</p>
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<p>Now what happened here? The customer drove all the way into our business and just wants to look? If they just wanted to look would it not be easier to do this before we opened or after we closed?</p>
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<p>Lets explore the customers thought's on why they give this response.</p>
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<p>They do not want to be sold, or what they consider being sold. They do not want to pay too much. They may not know at this point what is a fair deal. More and more customers are turning to the internet but still are not sure what to say when they go into the dealer. They don't trust a lot of people in the business and every article on the internet tells them how we are not to be trusted. They are simply fearful of being taken advantage of.</p>
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<p>My goal and what I have trained on for years is to bring this wall down. To acknowledge what they say but realize it is not a go away message...what they are saying actually maybe more like, "I am not sure I want to do business with you yet".</p>
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<p>Here is a few responses to help you begin to pull that wall down.</p>
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<p>Me: Great I am glad you are looking at our store today. I wanted you to know we are running a special on small Suv's. I see you are driving a small Suv right now...Would you be interested in hearing more about our specials?</p>
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<p>Hopefully the customer will give you the opportunity to share...but have something truely special to offer...Factory incentives every store like you is offering...so don't be surprised if you start offering 0% or $2500 rebate's as your specials ....that you get a negative response and the customer shuts down on you.</p>
<p><br/>Here is an alternative response:</p>
<p><br/>Many of my customers are coming in because of the big sale we have been advertising....Did you happen to see one of our ads before coming in?</p>
<p><br/>This should open up the door to get the source as well as hopefully the customer gives you just a little opening to begin a conversation.</p>
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<p>There are so many I personally use....I switch it based on what the customer is driving, age and even gender.</p>
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<p>So you know it is okay to profile your customers as to how to better communicate with them as long as you are not profiling negatively.</p>
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<p>I remember selling a lady once who was dressed poorly, holes in her clothing both pants and the shirt, she was barefoot and walked into our store. Everyone ignored her on the lot...I still remember her and I remember she actually said to me...I am just looking. That sale was one of my highest commissions ever paid.</p>
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<p>Practice yourself how can you say hello and have more good introductions to your customers.</p>
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<p>Hope you enjoyed reading and Happy Selling.</p>