Over the past few years, managers have been working to turn every stone in the dealership regarding opportunities. One phenomenal idea created is called an “upgrade” or “exchange” program. If you’re not up to speed, a sales associate spends time in the service lane, and their job is to speak to potential service customers and work to convert that customer to a new vehicle sale AND retain a trade from the…

As a customer, there’s nothing worse than being ignored or getting a response to your inquiry that doesn’t answer any of your questions. Before the world of Covid, many dealers heavily focused on answering leads in a timely fashion. Heck, even most, if not all, of the OEMs had standards in place to ensure that all leads were answered within a certain time frame. Yet during the height of Covid, when…

Appointment setting is one of the best ways that a dealership can get people into the showroom to buy a car. But if your agents don’t see success on the phones, it can feel like a waste of time. Luckily, proven training methods increase your agents' efficiency in getting people into your dealership and closing sales.

Hold Regular and Ongoing Training…

When breaking down the job of a service advisor in terms of selling work, a question that can get asked sometimes needs a bit more explanation. What is that question, you may ask?



Well, here it is:

To sell a job to a customer in the most effective manner possible… is it better in person or over the phone? A service department is a BUSY place. There’s always something going on…

The department-to-department handoff at a dealership is something that can be overlooked during the sales process. However, it’s a crucial step to creating a stronger bond between the dealership and the customer as a whole. Hearing, “I’ll buy a car from you, but I’ll never service my car here,” is something that should not be coming out of a customer’s mouth during the sales process. While that statement is…

With the constantly shifting car market, it is more important than ever to focus on the things that will make your dealership successful and allow you to continue business as normal. While there are plenty of things that you can do to keep your inventory up to date, it is just as important to invest time and energy into making sure that your employees stay up to date as well. Ensure they’re getting the…

With the holidays in full swing and plenty of shopping happening, it’s important for your dealership to get in on the action to close out the year with a bang. Cars are a fairly popular Christmas gift, so it is up to your dealership to find a way to get the maximum value out of this time of year.

Get Involved in Charity

Nothing…

The telephone is your most reliable source of leads. Inbound phone calls allow dealerships to gather more detailed information about a customer's needs, resulting in higher conversion rates. Since six out of every ten inbound calls to the sales department have…

Generally, when someone thinks of customer service for a company functioning out of one singular building, they assume it should be the same across the board. When it comes to a dealership, however, customer service can vary based on the job and its purpose. Not saying that it shouldn’t be excellent no matter the department; however, each department functions differently. Some interaction is B2B, other interactions are front facing to the public, and a large portion of interactions are…

Using video to engage sales prospects is an effective way to provide information and enhance the customer experience. By creating engaging and informative videos, car dealerships can showcase their inventory, highlight features and benefits of specific vehicles, and even offer virtual test drives. This can help car dealerships position themselves as a trusted source of information and a go-to destination for car buyers.

Let's explore some of the reasons why your dealership…

At a dealership, we are responsible for doing everything we can for our customers. Sales and Service are set up to make a profit in their respective departments; however, sometimes their paths cross when it comes to assisting a customer to the fullest extent in an all-too-common situation… When to keep servicing and when to upgrade. 

The sales…

What Does the Future of the Automotive Industry Look Like?

The automotive industry may feel like it is in constant flux, but there is actually a lot more stability than you might otherwise think based on the news reports. That doesn’t mean that the industry isn’t experiencing some major developments. Technology is constantly changing how the world operates, and car dealerships…

Nowadays, finding a way to retain your customers is an important part of the business. Car prices are rising through the roof, and not building the loyalty of your customers can be a quick route to losing them. Building loyalty for your dealership can be difficult since people aren’t buying cars as regularly as they buy other products, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t possible to do. Using the right tools…

It’s a check and balance, something that we do on a regular and ongoing basis with our athletes, whether they’re just starting out in T-ball or all the way up to our professionals. A coach is there to lead players through drills and game-time scenarios. Athletes practice regularly to maintain their already honed skills and work on improving skills that may need some work. With that being said, why wouldn’t we…

When you work in customer service for a dealership, one of the goals you may have is to set appointments for people to come and test drive new cars. If you are new to the dealership, this may seem like a waste of time, especially if there are people walking in to buy a car regularly without an appointment. However, appointment setting is one of the most valuable ways you can contribute to the dealership’s…

At first glance, phone scripts may seem like something that isn’t necessary for your calls. Many people feel like they can be more successful if they are allowed to handle calls their own way. However, phone scripts are actually one of the most valuable tools you can use to not only have successful phone calls but also to improve the overall…

Anyone can have work-related goals, but not everyone will achieve them. To achieve goals, we have to better ourselves. And to better ourselves, it takes practice and training.

So, while we often try to motivate our Sales Consultants and BD Agents by asking about their goals, we aren't always assisting them,…

Have you ever pulled one of your Sales Consultants or BD Agents into your office because a lead didn’t get answered? And that lead just so happened to be a mystery shop? And instead of your Sales Consultant or BD Agent saying, “we did miss this one, and I will get with the team to review our process,” they said, “we didn’t get that lead”? 

If you don’t think this happens, then you’re losing…

The most important thing a sales associate can do for a customer right now is listening to their needs. Customers have been shuffled through the proverbial cattle shoot recently; with the current market availability and the automotive industry needs to remember that this is just a period were moving through, not an industry standard. There have been insane markups and a “take it or leave it” mentality that will cripple the dealerships that have adopted this mindset as permanent. …

If the current economy is worrying anyone else, welcome to the madhouse. This isn’t the first-time interest rates have traveled north and buying power and disposable income are low, however when things like this happen businesses struggle to stay afloat. The only thing that’s different this time around is we are also navigating the tail end of a global pandemic that has turned many industries on end and shuttered businesses in its wake.…