When a customer calls your dealership to inquire about a car, you have a limited time to convert that lead into a sale. As a salesperson, you may think you’re using the right strategies and saying the right things; but, if your closing rate isn’t as high as you’d like it, there’s obviously room for improvement. A mystery shop might be just what you need to identify your strengths and supply you with tools to be more effective.
What Is a Mystery Shop?
In a mystery shop, a coaching expert poses as a customer interested in buying a car. He or she will behave like any other potential customer, and you won’t have any idea of the person’s actual identity. You will treat the mystery shopper just as you would anyone else and respond with your usual attitudes and actions.
The purpose of the mystery shop is to evaluate the communication that is taking place between the salesperson and the customer. While every encounter is unique, each salesperson tends to fall back into patterns of dealing with customers. It’s likely that some strategies you are using are quite effective, whereas others are not—and you don’t even realize it.
How Does a Mystery Shop Work?
When the mystery shopper calls, the call will be recorded. You won’t realize it at the time, so the recording will capture your natural habits and sales techniques when dealing with a lead. Recording the call is unobtrusive and won’t interrupt or distract from your giving your best. Later, the call is evaluated.
A mystery shopper can also be used to evaluate how well you interact through your online encounters. Emails, chats, and texts are becoming the preferred method of communication for many people looking for a car. In these cases, the shopper will video record or use screen captures to create a log of all interactions with the mystery shopper.
What Does a Mystery Shop Evaluate?
Using the recording of your phone call or online interactions, the professional evaluator will take note of everything you say and do—even your voice inflection on the phone or the level of friendliness in a text. Then, they will compare the notes to a set of standards of excellence.
You will receive a detailed report of the interaction. The coach will identify your strengths and offer helpful comments so you can continue to build on them. The report will also point out opportunities for improvements and make suggestions that can help you and your sales staff generate more sales from leads. Keep in mind that the feedback isn’t used to merely criticize you and your business; rather, see the feedback as constructive advice that will only help you to improve.
How Can You Use Feedback from a Mystery Shop?
The feedback from a mystery shop is ultimately more valuable than any customer review, in person or online. The coach has no other motivation than to help you improve overall car sales by learning effective sales strategies. You can trust the feedback to be honest, positive, and useful.
Once you have analyzed the feedback, you can take the next step by arranging for active coaching. This can take the form of one-on-one phone training or group phone training for the entire sales staff. Training can be done either in person or by video conference. Coaching is proven to boost results in turning leads into sales.
In car sales, building positive relationships with customers is important–but so is understanding tried-and-true sales strategies. A mystery shop can assess your sales performance in real-time and provide you with practical techniques that every salesperson can learn. It is always worth getting someone else’s perspective, especially from those who are experts and whose job is to help you become the best you can be.
A mystery shop can help you increase sales and customer satisfaction. Click here to learn about how Phone Ninjas can help!
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.
