Are You Just Making Excuses?

Having been in the car business for nine years now on the vendor side, I have seen it ALL without even having to step foot into a dealership.

But when I do happen to mosey on into the showroom (if I can make it in without someone basically greeting me in my passenger seat), my initial interaction, which would have already taken place over the phone, has already set the tone for my entire visit.

See, the thing is, the phones are ringing now more than ever before. Society is hesitant. Hesitant to go out into public places, to interact with other random humans, to spend hours upon hours in a dealership using germ filled pens while sitting in chairs that other behinds have sat in just prior to their visit.

They’re calling to make sure you even have what they are looking for before wandering in where they are most likely going to forget their mask anyway.

So, my question is: are your sales people following a script to ensure an amazing initial interaction with the customer where an appointment is being set more than 85% of the time? Or are you of the false belief “He KNOWS how to sell, so he must also know how to sell on the phone!”

Believe it or not, the latter is what I’ve seen happening…and for what? Just to get an “average” score from the CRM which yields a measly bonus in their pockets? The entire point is being missed here!

Instead of focusing on getting higher scores, how about we focus on helping the customer.

Let’s focus on creating rapport over the phone so that we have an easy sale once that customer gets to our front door.

Let’s focus on getting contact info and doing so by using proven, effective techniques so that our CRM is already filled out once they get to our showroom thus minimizing downtime which is now germ time.

Let’s focus on securing a FIRM appointment time by offering the customer options so that when they get to our lot, we are 100% ready for them with the vehicle of interest pulled up for them to see and test drive.

Let’s focus on providing our contact information and location by painting a clear image using landmarks so that there is no confusion and the customer can safely arrive for their appointment on time.

Let’s focus on the customer’s needs which can only be effectively done by following a script and system that simply works.

Instead of making excuses for why our sales people didn’t follow the script or couldn’t get an appointment (there is NO excuse for not asking for one!), let’s focus on the customer experience. And this experience starts with the phones.