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Permalink Reply by Skip Shakely on May 11, 2011 at 8:44pm

50 APPOINTMENTS

37 SHOWS

24 SALES

MANAGEMENT CONFIRMATIONS WOULD INCRESE THE SHOW PERCENTAGE

SINCE THE MANAGER CONFIRMED HE SHOULD HAVE HAD THE CUSTOMER ASK FOR HIM AND THEN HAND OFF TO SALESPERSON. SINCE HE HAS MET THE CUSTOMER ON THE SHOW HE WOULD ALREADY BE SET UP TO TAKE A TURN IF NEEDED AND HELP IN THE CLOSE SO MORE SALES. MORE SALES WITH BETTER CSI NORMALLY

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Permalink Reply by Terry A Powell on May 11, 2011 at 8:48pm

Providing "Internet Leads" are e-mail and not including incoming calls......with a mix of sources for incoming leads.

How many should become appointments? 20
How many set appointments should show? 15
How many shown appoinments should become a delivery? 10
What positive impact would a manager confirming the appointment have? Always a positive move. Should be part of the process.

This is based on my experience in a very competitive market in D/FW. These numbers might be expected to be higher relative to demographics.

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Permalink Reply by SCOTT TYNER on May 11, 2011 at 9:25pm

Well, it has been awhile since I have seen stats on these but here is my 2 cents from current personal experience.

 

This month I started focusing on what it will take for me to sell 25 units. We have virtually NO traffic...everything we do is internet lead based (we live in a small town of about 7000 population, and are 30 minutes from a couple bigger cities).

 

So I started with last months results to get an idea what I have been doing (you should really use 90 days for this).

 

Okay, so in April I had 149 leads (give or take a few due to duplicates), so lets just say 140 leads.

57 were phone ups

13 and 1/2 were sold (of the 13 - 1 was a repeat customer and one was an email lead - the rest of my sales were phone ups that led to an appointment).

 

So out of 140 leads I closed 1 email lead. The rest were phone leads. My CRM showed something like 16 showroom visits which I am assuming was not correct, because my closing ratio is nowhere near 95+%. So this month, in case the CRM is not correct, I am marking each day on my calender with how many people I get in the door.

 

I am showing that my closing rate, when I get them to the store is between 40-50%. I know that sounds good, but I am ONLY talking about the ones I actually get to show up. I personally think you should be able to close 60% of the leads you get into the store, provided they can buy.

 

So for the month of May, My goals are these. I have to contact 15 people per day (not call - but contact) from all my leads past and present. I also have a goal of catching at least 5 incoming phone ups per day. I have yet to figure out how many outgoing phone calls I have to make to get in contact with 15 people. I'm tracking that now so I can have an idea next month.

 

So far this month I have gotten 12 people in the door and have 5 and 1/2 units out. So my close rate is almost 50% of those I get in the door.

 

Now I have to focus on getting more in the door, which means, I gotta do all those things I have mentioned.

 

Keep this in mind. The answers to your questions have to take into consideration what your particular store is doing to get leads. We focus on used cars mainly, so naturally we get more appointments to show than if we were equally focused on new cars.

 

If I remember correctly (if you focus on new and used equally), your oppointment show rate should be 50% and you should close 50% of those. So a good goal for a salesperson individually would be to set 4 appts per day, with 2 showing and 1 sale from that - per day. This changes if you focus on either new or used. In my experience, used will always show up at a higher rate and close at a higher rate.

 

I can see I am rambling so I will stop there. If anyone cares to discuss particulars, I'm game.

 

And to answer the manager appointment confirmation call question. I think that would be fantastic and add a special touch to the customers experience, while also solidifying the appointment.

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Permalink Reply by Tom Gorham on May 11, 2011 at 9:31pm

Wow, interesting question.  Skip's numbers are really strong and Terry's number might seem a little low.  But I think Terry is right about demographics and density of competition. 

We're in a very competitive market in Chicagoland.  Our best staff can get 24%-30% of their email leads into the store consistently and end up with an overall closing ratio of 15% -20% (from the total amount of leads received).  I consider that a good job for our store and our area.

Manager confirmation of appointments is helpful but I don't think the customer should be told to ask for the manager.  We try to keep the customer with one person all the way through the process.  We believe the customer wants to continue with the person he/she has built a rapport with.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Dubis on May 11, 2011 at 9:37pm

Here is some feedback from Robert Tasca III at Tasca Automotive Group in an interview a few years back. I feel that his numbers still are pretty dead on.

 

He said:  " We have a very specific process. Our Internet department is comprised of four people at our Ford store. Their number one priority is to set an appointment. They also confirm an appointment with the sales manager. The manager ultimately meets and greets the customer. The vehicle is pre-selected and pulled up front, so it’s waiting for the customer upon their arrival. There’s a salesperson who has been briefed on the customer and the manager turns the customer over to the salesperson. Ultimately the salesperson isn’t starting at the beginning of a typical sales process, but they’ll know exactly where the customer is and we’ll turn it over to the salespeople who are most capable of handling that lead.

We have statistics that we live by. Fifty percent of the people that we talk to will set an appointment. With a proper follow-up call, approximately 60 percent actually come into the dealership, and then from these folks who actually come in, we have a 60 percent closing ratio." 

 

Here is how his numbers shake out:

 

So if you talk to 280 prospects

50% will set an appointment = 140 prospects

60% will actually show up at the store - 84 prospects

60% closing ratio =  50 vehicle sales

 

for the full interview:   http://bit.ly/lx1f4q

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Permalink Reply by Allan R Mullins on May 11, 2011 at 9:51pm

Hello Chris, long time no talk. After being in 100's of BDC's, our goals were also consistent and we tracked Phone leads and Internet leads separately.  Level one BDC's initial goals were 50/50/50 for Phone which equal a 12-13% closing ratio and 40/50/50 for Internet which equal a 10% closing ratio. The mature and better performing BDC's should strive to hit 60/60/50 on phone for an 18% closing ratio for phone and a 50/60/50 for Internet which equals a 15% closing ratio. Anything North of these numbers/ratios should be considered 'stratespheric' and above and beyond perfection. These numbers achieved month in and month out designate a truly strong performance for a BDC in today's world. These ratios are for Inbound leads only as there are too many variables for Outbound campaigns and I would need more specifics to get those numbers. As far as a Manager confirming appts., I'm not a big fan. The BDC rep scheduled the appt. and should have enough rapport to confirm it if the customer is set up properly. I've seen too many customers want more info when Managers call and in many cases show rates are lower! How does this opinion compare to the two sides of your coin?

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Permalink Reply by SCOTT TYNER on May 11, 2011 at 10:04pm

Allan,

You guys are obviously doing/suggesting something specific for the email leads, to get those types of numbers, which I think are pretty good (I'm talking about email leads only to you as I seem to be closing more phone leads than you suggest). I want to get better at getting my email leads in the door. Can you share a good process with me personally to help me achieve my goals? Or is there a charge for that...lol...?

 

If it helps you understand the type of setup we have at our store, we have 4 salespeople in the store and one Internet Manager. The manager sells a few but focuses on keeping things running smoothly. The rest of us handle internet (phone/email) leads equally. Basically we are an internet store, without enough local traffic to even track. Our leads come from Cars.com, Autotrader, Craigslist and our website with the focus on used (see previous reply thread above).

 

Did I mention I am a bit rusty since being out of the car business almost 2 years and just coming back about 9 months ago?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Allan R Mullins said:

Hello Chris, long time no talk. After being in 100's of BDC's, our goals were also consistent and we tracked Phone leads and Internet leads separately.  Level one BDC's initial goals were 50/50/50 for Phone which equal a 12-13% closing ratio and 40/50/50 for Internet which equal a 10% closing ratio. The mature and better performing BDC's should strive to hit 60/60/50 on phone for an 18% closing ratio for phone and a 50/60/50 for Internet which equals a 15% closing ratio. Anything North of these numbers/ratios should be considered 'stratespheric' and above and beyond perfection. These numbers achieved month in and month out designate a truly strong performance for a BDC in today's world. These ratios are for Inbound leads only as there are too many variables for Outbound campaigns and I would need more specifics to get those numbers. As far as a Manager confirming appts., I'm not a big fan. The BDC rep scheduled the appt. and should have enough rapport to confirm it if the customer is set up properly. I've seen too many customers want more info when Managers call and in many cases show rates are lower! How does this opinion compare to the two sides of your coin?

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Permalink Reply by Lizelle Landino on May 11, 2011 at 10:06pm

Cant answer :-) If you are just looking for a job i assume that seems normal. Job to me means nothing but if you ask me career - then you are talking!! I do not like using that word , simply because every to most hungry and driven and successful individuals are striving for a career. Makes sense? You may yell at me for it if you wish :-)

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Permalink Reply by Lizelle Landino on May 11, 2011 at 10:25pm

@Chris Ferris I totally love your answer! Nice read thx

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Permalink Reply by Chris Saraceno on May 11, 2011 at 10:36pm

Great Information! Our Management team  at (Kelly Automotive Group) will meet this Friday to review all this valuable information provided by the dE community. Please continue to add your professional insight.

Thank You

Chris  

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Permalink Reply by Bobby Compton on May 12, 2011 at 12:47am

Awesome questions, a loaded pistol to say the least. 

I think the statistics have already been touched on by some very reliable sources in this thread, so I don't have much to share in regards to them. 

What stands out to me is the Manager who confirms the appointments. I believe that the incoming calls, and internet leads should be handled by a well trained Manager from the start.

I've found that it's good to enable a BDC department with the tools necessary to assist customers on the spot. The authority to do a trade appraisal, pull credit, and last but not least the ability to desk a deal. To many times a customer will inquire and be stuck dealing with an unauthorized consultant, and will then have to be followed up with - fish off the hook. 

Either a Manager can follow up to confirm the appointment, or the customer can deal with the Manager from the start.

In the event that your best is on the front line of incoming calls, response, and follow up, - the statistics will fall better than average!~

Outstanding insight from all in this thread....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Bryan K. Eden on May 12, 2011 at 1:29pm

This question struck me as what is a good job, one you would enjoy. I know results are a part of any consideration. If we are talking about career I like a challenge, reaching for the top and being rewarded. Keep the plaque show me the money and how I can make a difference.
Kip

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