Phone Up Dialogue

Phone Up Dialogue

Most car Salespeople are unaware of the value that phone ups bring to their business. The phone up is the most reliable source for Customers who will end up buying a car. Because of this it is critical that as a part of your car sales training you master the art of the phone up if you want to distinguish yourself from your competition and get the full benefit of your call-in customers. In our training curriculum

we teach that the most important part of the Phone Up is to create effective Dialogue with your Customer. That is what will bring them to the Dealership for an appointment. These 4 steps are for that purpose:

Step 1 - The Meet and Greet

1. Give your name

2. Get the Customers full name

3. Use their name with Mr./Ms.

By doing this you establish that you are professional and friendly. This unique verbiage which you will learn from our automotive sales training courses will set you apart from other Salespeople.

Step 2 - The Reply

Ask questions that create dialogue, but not a defensive posture. Questions that will let them know that you care about their wants and needs.

Step 3 -The Appointment

Inspire the Customer to make an appointment by using unique verbiage they haven’t heard from any other Salesperson. Your goal is to reduce their fear of coming in and lower their defensiveness, in essence, remover the fear of having to buy now. Verbiage like ‘Informational Gathering” and “I will give you all the prices you need to take home to shop and compare with.” Will we still try to sell them a car when they arrive? Of course we will, but first we need to get them to the Dealership.

Step 4 – Confirm the Appointment–

Solidify the appointment that you have set with the Customer and create an obligation for them to keep the appointment. Get their contact email address and phone number and let them know you will call them again to confirm.

Do you agree with these steps? What would you do differently?

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Comment by steven chessin on February 12, 2015 at 4:54pm: David - I look at this business as before 'Cash For Clunkers' and after. During the crash we could not afford any loses. "Zero Tolerance". The first thing i did was no automated answering. The receptionist took every call. Sales calls went to bdc. So prior to your 'Step 1' comes proper call routing and immediate human contact.

Step - 2 : When I interviewed reps I looked for reps that were "chatty" to ignite conversation. I taught my reps to get the customer talking on their own to answer questions before they were even asked. And to take good notes.Salesmen are generally "all business" and do not understand the relationship building phase that involves slowing the caller down. And they can't call other stores if they are talking to you.

My reps would ask. "Are you already one of our customers ?" I'd like to look-up your file". If the answer is "No" the rep asked "Do you know where we are and how to get here ?" 'Yes' is loyalty and scheduling a time. 'No' is directions and time. A perfect trial-close because it works with either answer. Reps SELL appointments with great finesse. They are pros. I am completely against salesmen taking appointment calls. If the call changes into a sales call ... then .. a salesman can be brought-in if absolutely necessary ... but not unless and until. I do not want to lose an appointment due to clumsy responses.

David let me make one more point :

Despite the skills and intentions of reps or salesmen to CONVERT CONTACT TO APPOINTMENT - only 1/2 will show. It was during that dark "Cash For Clunkers" period that I "saw the light". I turned my attention to SOLVING PROBLEMS by establishing the steps for when - not if - the best possible strategies fail.

"I solve problems"

Comment by Michael Del Priore on February 12, 2015 at 11:53am: Excellent Post

Comment by David Lewis on February 12, 2015 at 7:30am: Thank you all for your comments.

Brian: I do agree that having a mirror in front of you when you speak will definitely change your posture and personality during a phone conversation. As a matter of fact, our Director of Sales has one on the wall next to her computer and she says it makes a world of difference for her.

Michael: Nothing beats training and preparation

Steven: I love the term Appointment Calls. It truly sets the tone for what the call actually is.

Comment by Brian Bennington on February 12, 2015 at 4:51am: Who could ever disagree with your 4-step format? Your six-paragraph tutorial is about as far as you can go in that length of space, and you've kept it to a simple outline of the fundamentals. But, reading your bio and website, I'm sure this is just a "taste" of what David Lewis and Associates Inc. know about, what's universally recognized as the formost selling tool, the telephone.

Unfortunately for the reps "cutting their teeth" now, the growing impatience of today's consumer, promoted by new marketing tools like the Internet, answering nearly every question without ever talking to anyone, adds a new level of complexity to effective telephone marketing. But, keeping to the simplicity of your post, I'll only suggest one thing. If you want to add a new level of professionalism to your phone communication, watch yourself in a (low tech) mirror, at least a foot square, or use (high tech) video on your display in real time whenever you're on the phone, talking to anyone. (Yes, even your friends and family.) Doing it faithfully, you won't believe how much control you can gain, and how much more "alive" your telephone communication will become.

But, hey, what do I know? I'm just an old man who writes relationship centered marketing. (However David, noticing you're just a "President," I may "out rank" you now as my business just recently promoted me to "Emperor"!)

Comment by Michael Baker on February 11, 2015 at 7:29pm: Yes indeed David and when continually trained/developed daily gain significantly more showroom 'shows' than 99% of floors with 'sales' consultants taking incoming departmental calls.

Comment by steven chessin on February 11, 2015 at 3:57pm: David - As a BDC dealer group director my reps had nearly twice the kept appointment stats as salesmen. Training is fine except that I have far great confidence in reps that do not even call them "Sales Calls" .. their mindset is that these are "Appointment Calls".