Phone Scripts Work

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There’s more to a quality phone script than just words written down for your dealership to follow. A quality phone script aims to help coach your dealership’s Sales Managers, Sales Consultants, and BDC Agents on how to handle the phones effectively. If your dealership’s phone skills improve, it can turn those inbound phone calls, and Internet leads into sales. But before that can happen, you have to outline the expectations and the role your Sales Managers and GM will play in the overall process. Otherwise, you’ll continue to have the same inconsistent results. 

Consistency is Key in Sustaining Results. Phone Training is Not a One Time Thing. 

If your Sales Consultants or BDC Agents are handling the inbound phone calls and the Internet leads inconsistently (and most are), the lack of results will show. Do you ever wonder why some months – perhaps after a training session – their set-rate, show-rate, and sold-rates are higher? It’s no secret that the phone scripts and quality training make all the difference, which has a direct impact on your sales. 

The idea that the more familiar your Sales Consultants and BDC Agents are with the script, the more second-nature it becomes in how they handle the phones and Internet leads, it becomes muscle memory. Think about it for a minute. If you’re unsure of yourself when answering an Internet Lead or an Inbound call, the customer can easily wind up leading the conversation but they’re the one calling with questions. However, if your team is well trained, and the script is second nature, they’re handling the inbound calls and leads with confidence. Having confidence on the phones is what can set your dealership apart from the competition. In which case, you’ll see an increase in your set, show, and more importantly, your sold rate. And, your customers will hang up feeling satisfied with the outcome, refreshed with the experience and looking forward to doing business with you.

So How Do I Get My Sales Consultants & BDC Agents to Follow A Script If I Cannot Get My Sales Managers to Do the Same? 

This is easier said than done. Training your Sales Consultants, BDC Agents and Sales Managers should be a top priority. After all, your dealership is likely spending hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to drive traffic to your dealer’s website. If those leads are not handled properly, you could be losing more sales than you realize. Not to mention, if there isn’t a clear-cut policy on how the phones and internet leads are to be handled, you’ll wind up having inconsistent results. Another issue many dealers face is a lack of accountability from their management teams. Namely, sales managers do not believe they need help or a refresher on their phone skills. If your dealership’s sales managers have this feeling, it will be difficult to change the culture. One of the best ways to combat this issue is having your Sales Managers go through the phone training process first. After all, how can they coach or mentor their Sales Consultants or BDC Agents if they do not have a refined process in managing inbound calls and internet leads? Once you’ve outlined the expectations for your Sales Managers (how they will be involved), and they have completed the training, it’s now time to train your sales consultants and BDC Agents. 

Keep in mind, training your Sales Consultants and BDC Agents is by no means a one-time event. In fact, to keep their results on par with your expectations, it should be an ongoing occurrence. The idea that once your Sales Consultant and BDC Agents are better equipped in handling inbound calls and Internet leads, you can work towards refining their objection handling techniques. To get this process started (as mentioned above), you have to outline your employees’ expectations, giving them a purpose for why they are to complete the phone training. And more importantly, making sure that you – the dealer owner – have your Sales Managers on the same page. If your Sales Consultants and BDC Agents see the buy-in from the Sales Managers, they are more likely to partake in the efforts to refine their skills. 

One of the other critical components to making this a success is not using this training process to beat up your Sales Managers, Sales Consultants, and BDC Agents. If you use this training to negatively say “they are terrible” or “they should just not handle the phones,” that will not change anything. In fact, that will easily disenfranchise them from the entire process, which is not the goal. Instead, remember to offer them encouragement and set individual goals that can and will have an impact on their results. All of which can increase their individual income depending on their pay plan! 

Once your Sales Managers, Sales Consultants, and BDC Agents have completed the training, it is also essential to have role-playing sessions or one-on-one coaching sessions to assist them with their own struggles. Remembering that each of your Sales Managers, Sales Consultants, and BDC Agents, has their own unique challenges to address. And by outlining those challenges – for them to overcome – you are providing a clear, defined road map for future training. 

When is the last time you approached phone training with your Dealer Teams? If not, today is the day to get this started! After all, who doesn’t want to increase their dealership’s sales while offering exceptional customer service? 

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