The Other Blind Side

Posted on June 10,…

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When it comes to training and the development of dealership professionals, what continues to bear true is that the ambiguous expectations of the results that the dealerships are trying to achieve is the primary reason for dissatisfaction and buyer’s remorse. For this reason, I have reinforced to my clients when I consult or train that “what you cannot define, you…

There are probably a thousand reasons or more that customer service and retention is a valuable automotive sales training topic, but here are just nine that affect all industries that should get your attention.

1 .   86% of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience. But only 1% of customers feel that vendors consistently meet their expectations. (CEI…

by Steve Conner

Responding to your customer’s interest in your vehicles consistently and with the right persistence is a very difficult task for sales managers at most dealerships. According to recent research published at the Harvard Business Review, over 30% of leads are never called at all. There are four parts of the published research to digest and learn from to apply solid policies to your dealership’s lead management program.

The following parts of the study include best…

A few weeks ago, I was training a ten-store team while facilitating some very ground-breaking and paradigm-shifting conversations about the phone. The Director of Operations preached to a team of new hires—some thoughts most dealers have become all too familiar with:

“We’ve been flying by the seat of our pants too long,” said the director to the newbies. 

“Pick up the phone, find out what they want and…

Rejection is part of the sales professional experience, but selling is a personal experience for both the salesperson and the buyer.

Long sales cycles, endless follow ups via email and phone and no-after-no cannot only be brutal on the morale of a salesperson; it is often not much fun for the buyer either.  Now when a salesperson is able to bring to the table a human…

From today forward we have 7 total selling days left. Push hard all the way through till the end. Revisit customers that came in and didn't buy. Relook at their trades. Check all other possibilities. What if they were on another vehicle? What about longer term? Used? Certified? New? Lease? One Pay Lease? More Down? Co-Signer? Turn up the heat! T.O everybody. Stay focused. Be happy. 

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There are a lot of new ideas out there about how to connect with consumers, everything from using Twitter and Facebook to closed circuit TV channels for your waiting room. Many of these are good ideas, and in a world where everyone is searching for the latest thing to help them market to consumers, sales events might seem boring and old-fashioned. Sometimes, however, boring and old-fashioned means tried, tested and…

Even if you don’t believe, as I do, that high sales staff turnover is the number one issue facing the auto industry today; we certainly can agree it is right at the top of the list. There is not one positive thing that happens at our dealerships as a result of high turnover, and the benefits of low sales turnover are so obvious that I don’t need to list them.

High sales turnover has completely undermined training efforts. It creates the mental attitude amongst many managers…