Lost Sales and Declined Services Customers are in many Dealerships, the largest untapped source of additional revenue. And in most cases, the Sales has been lost because of a few words and not a few dollars.

Advisors who have been trained and coached are the best people to contact those customers, Advisors who are trained, coached and who care are better.

Take John Q. here. He is an excellent example. He has been working at ABC Motors for 7 years. He has an average close ratio at 28%. So, 3 times out of ten, he is able to make the sale on additional recommendations from the Technicians. 7 of his customers have decided to "wait" or "I'll get it next time" or "I have to talk to my ______" or another of the many excuses we hear every day.

John Q. sometimes calls them back in a day or two or sometimes sends them an email. Most of the time he relies on the CDR/CDM and the DMS system to follow-up with the customer and send them a reminder card or offer them a discount to come back in.

John Q. has been doing this for 7 years. That is around 5000 or so Lost Sales.

What if John was able to convert just 2 more customers per day from a Lost Sale into a RO? His sales would increase nearly 30%. Every Service Manager on the planet would like a 30% increase in sales.

John needs a couple of things. He needs a script to learn and follow until he gets good at following up with the customer and making a case for why his dealership would be a great place for Mr./Ms. Customer to have the repair work completed. He needs a process whereby he identifies and tracks all of his Lost Sales and CDR/CDM recommendations. He needs Training and Coaching on his results. And he needs to be monitored.

Now take the above example and add in the newest software/CRM system that facilitates John's communications with the customer while explaining the reason they should have that work completed with graphics and video and BOOM goes the Sales Increase!

By Leonard Buchholz