Simple 10 step guide specifically designed for modern selling.

These steps are guaranteed to make a positive difference, It's not rocket science, it does take guts.

We are in a market better auto sales market than any since 2005, are you making a load of money? If not give these 10 steps a try before you are forced to implement them to survive.

10 little steps that make giant leaps!

Daily routines are what must change in order to create consistent and measurable increases. Often forecast, monthly or weekly goal setting, or a even a sales process is confused for daily structure. 

Habits are hard to form and even harder to change, but without changing daily habits the sustainable increases and high performance you desire will elude you.

A myriad of short term fixes are available to boost sales for the day or week. Traveling teams, advertising splurges on mailers and email blast, big spiffs, etc. These spikes are like an energy drinkers' caffeine high, each time the effects of the come down drag you lower than before you took energy boost. Therefore you need another energy drink and another and another. Soon you need a bigger one, a more potent one. Energy drinks loaded with caffeine are not healthy for your heart. There is no need to live this life nor to run your dealership in such a reckless and harmful manner. Why run your dealership like a junkie when you wouldn't run your life as such?

In your personal life daily exercise, daily goals, and proper nutrition will provide a much more energized day for you. Would it be so shocking that the exact same formula is the key that fuels a dealership to consistent heights? 

Here's the big secret-the dead sea scroll-the hidden map to gold-the magic formula (drum roll please) -Today's buyers are different in subtle ways that demand you must change your daily discipline, and daily activities to keep pace. I'll say it again because it seems too simple to be true- Perpetual improvement and optimum production are achieved through your daily disciplines and activities.

One of the measures of insanity is to do the same thing again and again and expect a different result. How long is it going to take you to make the necessary changes in the status quo in order to succeed in changing times with changing buyers? The basics will never change, and all too often those are so neglected it's a travesty, but that's for another time, the best methods for capturing the buyer of the twenty teens is right here.

1) START EACH DAY THE NIGHT BEFORE insuring all the necessary ingredients for the days business are in place. While closing the previous night be sure and open the store for business, insuring all the paper treys, printing cartridges, and necessary tools for a seamless car deal are in place. No units beached in customer parking, no half complete or unfinished business left for the new day. All dealer trade packets completed, cars are ready to go, drivers are lined up. All CRM notes, task and functions up to date. Appointment boards updated. The next days opening shift walks in to nothing but a rock and roll ready machine. Proper preparation prevents poor performance.

2) GET IN THE HUDDLE! Each day a plan is put in place and shared with all managers and associates. Upon arrival the opening manager/managers, F/I manager, BDC rep, gather and review the previous days business, and make a plan for todays business! Make a plan, work your plan. This is what is discussed-How many appointments did we have yesterday? How many showed? How many sold? How many no showed? Assign a manager to call no shows and unsold showroom traffic. Discuss each contact the dealership had and assign who is responsible for contacting them. How many appointments for today? Who is confirming them? CIT, save a deal, current ads, CRM review, broken down to each associate. Discuss any other pertinent dealership news or information. Prioritize all management and sales associate activities, enter all information into CRM.

3) GET MANAGERS ON THE SALES FLOOR. Managed floors yield higher closing percentages, more gross, and more sales than unmanaged floors. Managing the sales tower is not as important as the sales floor. Never allow more than one manager in the sales tower unless they are swamped. Assign all other managers to the floor, face to face, nose to nose and belly to belly with each customer. Having managers in charge of the sales process and the CRM from the floor will miraculously increase your "up count" and often double or triple it. We all know the importance of logging each opportunity in CRM but we leave it to the salesman to do it for us. And we all know our managers are keenly aware of each up from the sales tower don't we? Yeah right! Assign managers to the floor today with hand held devices (phones or tablets) with your CRM downloaded for instant access. It's not 1990 and 1990's style management is the road to poverty. Each associate is manager assisted in the sales process from meet and greet to follow up.

*In every instance your sales associates and managers scripts, word tracks, and salesmanship will perpetually improve as these task are performed daily. Having several strong active managers is key. The old school way of associates going to the desk over and over then finally a manager getting up out of the tower or office to "take a T.O." is fading quicker than LeBron James' hairline. If your sales managers can not sell, train, and work the phones, you have the wrong managers, it's time to rely more on managers and less on sales associates. Most dealerships do not even comprehend the idea of training managers and having them be involved all aspects of the deal. The comfort of the sales tower and avoiding customers is gone with the wind, and isn't coming back again.

4) NEVER EVER SEND CUSTOMERS TO SHOP or refuse to negotiate with a an uncommitted buyer. Having a "road to the sale" step process for sales associates is important, but remember we do not use it as an excuse to miss business. Even if the process is broken and the customer will not commit, we MUST push, pull, or drag the deal through as many of the steps as possible.  Using a practiced, drilled, and rehearsed negotiation technique will result in "shopper stopping" on a good percentage of these buyers. You're ultimate job is to deliver vehicles which supercedes creating shoppers by over enforcing process. The rule of thumb is, we will use our processes 100% of the time the customer will allow us, but if the play breaks down we will scramble and take each deal as far as we can. We don't miss deals for process, yet we do not break process unless absolutely forced to. Let me clarify in explaining a decent sales associate combined with manager involvement will get nearly 100% of people to test drive, and yield high end results. Speaking to the manager is more important now than ever before. Today's buyers are more time conscious and more informed so treat them accordingly. 

5) Mandatory daily 20 minute sales training meeting upon the arrival of the 2nd shift. No brow beating, no "what you sales people are doing wrong" or "How great I was when I sold cars." These meetings are planned, are NO LONGER than 20 minutes and each day is training on subjects to improve the selling skills of the sales associates. Negotiation techniques, phone skills, better words, objection over coming, fixing the sales person, passing out materials to read, body language, etc. too many training meeting to list. Perpetual improvement is paramount. Roll Playing is highly recommended. Daily. Just like showering if you don't train everyday you stink. Managers must perform or attend training unless working a deal with a live customer. 

6) Respecting the customer's time. It is the number one complaint by our customers. Not price. Not untrained sales associates and sales managers. Time. The customers want us to value their time more and we should, it's our time too! Restaurants allow you to swipe your own card at your own table without ever standing at a register or waiting for the waiter/waitress to for swipe your card and bring to back. Stores have self check outs for quick exits.

No one wants to wait to give you money. No more having customers wait hours for one F/I manager or worse, having to be sent home to come back tomorrow to finish up. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It's time to redefine and reevaluate each of the traditional  "managers functions." The time of having one person contract for F/I, one office for contracting, one person who submits, one person who closes, one person who desks deals is the soon to be extinct the way of the dinosaur. Having managers well versed in submitting deals, paper contracting, e-contracting, selling product, maximizing back end, and helping people "check out" more quickly will separate you from the dinosaurs. A busy buyer program where we pick up the trade, deliver the unit to the customer and contract off site. I know you are thinking OH GOSH!  Roger is CRAZY- This means CHANGING the way we do business, CHANGING pay structures. But but, change is scary! Listen, CHANGING the way we think to improve old methods that stink is the only thing that makes any sense at all. Perpetual improvement. Don't be so stuck in the past or afraid of change because the the cost of doing nothing will soon exceed the cost of change.

7) Manage the BDC, BRIDGE THE BDC-SALES MANAGEMENT GAP! The days of managers parking at the sales tower, polishing a chair with butts and telling the BDC "Just get them in" are out like high top football shoes. Having sales managers strategically price the units, assist in appointment setting, follow up with leads, send emails, etc. Leaving the leads in the hands of BDC personnel and the sales staff is not nearly as productive as managed BDCs. Managed BDCs have daily sales manager interaction, emails, calls, and over all involvement. Every incoming call and email must be scrutinized by a "quality control" manager, typically a GM or GSM. If your GM or GSM isn't listening to the incoming phone calls and reviewing the emails in live and daily time WHY AREN'T THEY? A high percentage of ur customer are contacting us via email and phone BEFORE stepping foot in our dealership, common sense say our TOP LEVEL MANAGERS SHOULD BE INVOLVED WITH BOTH HANDS! A pricing strategy must be implemented where all prices are uniform in all areas, this provides credibility. No matter if your a one price dealer, a "starting point" dealer or a using any other form of pricing strategy, make sure its uniform and management driven.

8) Manage the time vamp known as the internet. Facebook, Youtube, ESPN, news sites, porn, etc. are stealing man hours from too many dealerships- Another advantage of getting managers out of the sales tower.  

What is easier to distract: A) a cat with a red laser light  or B) a sales manager or sales associate with Facebook, Youtube, or ESPN etc.? It's close but I'm going with B!

Managing and monitoring every associates time. Implementing DAR (Daily activity reports) is a good idea. These reports should have every activity the associates performed each minute of each day. This is a function of many CRMs and should be printed out on paper if not in CRM. Having one manager assigned to the sales desk (unless he or she is over whelmed) and the remaining managers assigned to the floor and the lot will assist in alleviating the surfing. Blocking the aforementioned sites are another good idea. In conclusion planning each associates and managers day, prioritizing activities, training, lot parties, merchandising, CRM management, BDC management, follow up, and face to face customer interaction is the best way to elude the time vamp.

9) Mandatory training for sales managers and BDC representatives. After all this change I've asked you to implement, I emplore you to NEVER ever get away from mastering the art of salesmanship. VERY FEW INVEST IN MANAGER TRAINING INSTEAD OVER SPENDING  ON MANAGER TURNOVER AND ADVERTISING TO OFF SET POOR PERFORMANCE. Daily BDC rep training is currently ONLY PERFORMED BY TRUE CURVE SETTERS. I double dog dare you to listen to todays sales calls, and then be blind copied on every email. IT WILL WAKE YOU UP TO THE NEW WORLD- reality twenty teens style. Becoming better at the art of selling is incredibly ignored and is the gift that keeps on giving. Sales tips, techniques, and verbiage that are time tested and proven to be effective are to be PRACTICED, STUDIED, and PERFECTED. There is so much to learn about the intricacies of selling, body language, non verbal communications, when to ask, when to shut up, tone and inflection, attitude, time management, coaching, finding the objections, opening a deal, closing a deal, etc. there is so much to learn EVERYONE needs to be in perpetual training. When people improve, results improve. NO ONE IS TOO GOOD TO LEARN. What if professional sports teams didn't insist coaches and/or team captains attend seminars and study film?

10) Coaching, you must have coaches employed in management roles.-Everyone who knows me knows how important I believe coaching is to team building. I won't elaborate but here is a link to the coaching blog I posted here on DE. http://www.dealerelite.net/m/blogpost?id=5283893%3ABlogPost%3A442469 Coaching is the difference between growing your people and business and NOT growing your people and your business.

The reality; It's time to run your business or risk getting run out of business. The choice is yours.

Roger Williams 

The AutomotiveCoach

Live Event Training Coach  

The Synergy Group AutomotiveCoach.net