Comment

Comment by Jason Mickelson on April 11, 2013 at 2:31am

The job of training is never done. 

Comment by Doug Davis on April 10, 2013 at 8:42pm

Jason, your see the same terrible statistics concerning dealerships over and over.  In the internet department, it is response time, lack of transparency, etc.  It all comes down to training.  An organization is only as good as the people ...we need to invest in them.

Comment by Jason Mickelson on April 10, 2013 at 7:59pm

Very interesting facts.  You won't do too well on the phone like that. 

Comment by Doug Davis on April 10, 2013 at 3:26pm

The key is what you said: "non-trained salespeople".  When you have trained salespeople, you can say "you can't sell the car over the phone" to get them back on track.  Here are some phone statistics that you might find interesting:

Less than 25% of sales people will ask for the name of the caller.
Less than 15% will ask for a phone number.
Less than 15% will ask for a solid appointment.
Less than 25% of all salespeople will ask any qualifying questions.
Less than 5% of all salespeople ever attempted identify themselves by having the customer write their name down.
Over 50% of all salespeople will provide customers with too much information.
Over 30% of all salespeople will unknowingly de-motivate the customer from visiting the dealership.
Most salespeople average less than a 5% closing ratios on phone-ups.

 

Comment by Jason Mickelson on April 10, 2013 at 2:37pm

Doug, I have heard that you can't sell over the phone.  To a veteran car guy this makes sense.  However, do you think it might be a bit of an over-simplification based on the wide audience who may be reading? 

Today's buyer is educated online and often will not respond to appointment pressures unless we do our selling first.  Especially when they are more than 90 miles away from the dealership they contacted.  In our office, we identify what the customer is looking for, find options and then ask for the appointment.  Non-trained people will ask for the appointment too early and the reflex action from the prospect is always defensiveness.  We set more appointments when we give first before we attempt to get a commitment from the customer.  I think the words give and get are weak, but we often reference the quote, "you have to give to get." 

I agree with Doug, don't volunteer to much information, but the key word is volunteer.  Selling is not telling.  Find out what they need to be comfortable and set the appointment.  This may take five minutes or 30 minutes on the phone.  Occassionally our calls last over an hour. 

Comment by Doug Davis on April 9, 2013 at 9:26pm

Jason, I have heard "You can't sell a car over the phone" my entire career which spans four decades.  I am surprised that you are not familiar with it. 

By this, salespeople are reminded that the focus is on the appointment.  Not only do we want them to make appointments, we don't want them to volunteer too much information.

Comment by Jason Mickelson on April 9, 2013 at 8:36pm

Doug, is "You can't sell a car over the phone" a personal quote?  :)

The real question is why would you want to sell a car over the phone when your prospect can't use all their senses to fall in love?  Unless you like to work too hard (Send 20-65 emails back and forth plus multiple calls), don't sell the car, sell the appointment.  Appointments are low dollar investments on the part of the customer and a much easier "yes" to secure.  If you are setting your appointment more than 24 hours from the time when you obtain the commitment, be sure to follow up and confirm your appointment.  People fall out of love quickly these days.  Only thing worse than an appointment not showing is when they forget to let you know your appointment is canceled.

Comment by Doug Davis on April 8, 2013 at 11:55pm

"You can't sell a car over the phone" ...you damn sure can't with an email.

Comment by Stan Sher on April 3, 2013 at 11:15am

/the email needs to be engaging and get the prospect communicating with you.  The email needs to take them from the email to the phone.  Get them on the phone, get them in, sell them a car.

Comment by Jason Mickelson on March 27, 2013 at 9:04pm

Sorry Frank, haven't found the magic email that does it all.  "Hard work and dedication" as Dolvett says is a great place to start.  Haven't sold too many cars in one email myself.