I have repeatedly been told by sales personal that they do not need to mark there deals sold because the system automatically does it. I have also heard this is why some customers are not logged.

This is on premise a horrible idea that you are relying on technology alone to give you one of your best contacts you will have.

I want you to consider something. This person liked you, the dealership, and the deal so much that they invested thousands of dollars with you. Would you not want to maintain contact with them for future sales? If you treated them right would they not help you get more business? After all they liked you enough to give you there business and if worked right they will give you more.

Here is the catch though....Lets say it is 2 years from today and that same customer comes back to the dealership. What have you done in that 2 years to warrant them doing business with you again? Have you called every 6 months because the system told you to...and in most cases you just left a message. Do you check with them how there vehicle is running and if they are coming in for there maintenance? Do you offer them coupons that you know we have in our service department to encourage them you are looking our for there best interests?

How about this....the reason for the email.....2 years later do you remember what they were going through in there lives that helped you relate to them? As simple as there kid was in school at a function and they had to go in a hurry to sign paperwork because they had something to go to? Maybe if you put in detailed notes not only would you have put that in the sale notes but you would have added the kids name....birthday....when they will be able to drive....spouses occupation there anniversary and there birthdays....do you have all that information?

Do you plan on working hard forever or do you want to make life easy for you in a short amount of time? You can literally put in a couple of years of hard work and be done taking fresh ups....I personally had 4 to 5 sales a month from referrals in 60 days. What can you do?

I do not know about you...but I found it much easier to work with people who referred me to business then to talk to a complete stranger....and the toughest stranger to sell is the one I already sold but I did not take the time to makes notes. So the customer realized I forgot about them.....Those customers are the sames ones who forget about us when it comes to our commission and usually just start with a new salesperson.

Work smarter not harder in 2013

Robert Hildreth