In business, what you don’t know can kill your monthly goals and cost you valuable revenue opportunities. Competitive markets like car sales face constantly changing inventory, technology, and consumer habits, and missing the little details can quickly drop you to the back of the pack. It takes a lot of expertise to keep your sales team up to date on the latest strategies.
That’s why it’s important to work with automobile dealership consultants who can equip you with next-level tactics and training. Sales is an increasingly specialized task that requires a deep understanding of phone scripts and coaching principles, and the industry experience to know what’s going to make an impact.
Unfortunately, not every consultant is going to have what it takes. There are a lot of companies that offer ineffective, generalized training that won’t deliver on your investment. On the other hand, the right automobile dealership consultants will send your business soaring past your monthly goals. We’ll help you spot the winners!
A Focus on Phone Scripts
You’ve seen it yourself: showroom foot traffic has fallen dramatically in the last few years. Inventories are starting to recover from their COVID slump, but the fact is, most customers are turning to the phone for their first handshake with your team.
Dealers need to pivot to meet changing consumer patterns and habits, and that starts with upping your phone game. Automobile dealership consultants who are serious about the industry should deliver phone scripts that:
- Establish a unified personality for your entire dealership. No matter which employee picks up the phone, customers instantly know it’s your business and feel at home.
- Are customized to guarantee a consistent, high-quality customer service experience.
- Support your team with a roadmap for common challenges and troubleshooting issues they’re likely to encounter.
- Deliver accurate and reliable information that directly supports the buying process.
- Improve customer retention through consistent phone etiquette and procedures that capitalize on every revenue opportunity.
Of course, writing is only half the battle! In addition to great content, your partner will need to support the scripts they create with customization and coaching to make them start generating revenue for your business.
Personalizing Content Creation
Under no circumstances should you accept recycled phone scripts that have been given to a hundred other businesses. Automobile dealership consultants should be providing you with fresh content that will set you apart from your competition. That’s impossible with pre-written scripts.
They will also hand-tailor scripts to match your dealerships’ products, philosophy, and target audience. This means taking the time to understand all of the above variables and producing inspiring scripts that will connect with your local customers.
Finally, they need to go the extra mile and customize content to each team member’s personal sales style. By getting scripts right, your dealership will always be on brand and in line with your big-picture goals but never sound artificial or… well… scripted!
Insist on a Long-Term Relationship
Effective automobile dealership consultants know that deep, authentic learning takes time. No one masters new skills overnight, and their training strategy should establish a baseline of performance, offer guidance and suggestions, and then follow up to ensure it’s happening when the pressure’s on.
Short, focused weekly sessions are ideal. That’s just enough time to digest the last coaching session, not enough to start to forget or lose momentum with the learning, and at 15-20 minutes each it won’t interfere with their work. It’ll take a while to get your team coached up, but it’s worth the investment because they’ll know the material cold.
Hire Mentors, not Lecturers
Although initial sessions may be a group activity, at its core, mentorship is a one-on-one relationship. The fact is, your people don’t need to hear a lecture. You already have a great team! They need experienced professionals who will work with them individually to deliver training they can use to boost their personal sales numbers.
Do not compromise on the one-on-one learning environment. Automobile dealership consultants should be willing to wade into the weeds and get specific about the changes your people can make.
Check the Training in the Actual Workplace
The top consulting agencies will perform their own mystery shops and follow up with associates to continue their skill growth. Some automobile dealership consultants only throw out a bunch of numbers to back up general sales advice, but that doesn’t give you a game plan for your specific business. You need to know what’s getting in the way of your sales goals, and that means looking at what’s actually happening on a call.
Mystery shops and the first, most obvious way to find out what can be done today to improve your numbers. They also allow automobile dealership consultants to explore different scenarios, ask follow-up questions, and interrogate possible sales opportunities you’re leaving on the table.
Phone Ninjas Is the Perfect Partner
If you’re ready to partner with automobile dealership consultants to make a lasting impact on your bottom line, Phone Ninjas is ready to help! Our customized dealership strategies help our clients go from a 28% appointment rate on phone calls to nearly 80%.
We achieve this with a business model based around weekly one-on-one coaching sessions that focus on individual growth and mastery of our hand-crafted phone scripts. We offer two free mystery shops up front to show you how we can raise your game and follow up our training with more mystery shops to ensure everything is running smoothly.
Contact us today to schedule a demo. We’d love to be your automobile dealership consultant, and know we can blow the doors off your sales goals!
As the COO | Partner of Phone Ninjas, Chris delivers leadership, coaching, and mentorship to 55 team members providing software sales and phone skills coaching. He fosters powerful partnerships and collaborations with leaders across various business sectors, establishing expectations, communicating vision, and escalating performance to maximize productivity and effectiveness.
Chris is an innovation-driven business executive with over 25 years of experience delivering leadership to teams of up to 75 overseeing development, launch, and sale of website lead acquisition, reconditioning process software systems, and technology that support automotive dealerships across the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
