When it comes down to it, your dealership’s success relies fully on your ability to close sales successfully. There are various ways to accomplish this, but inbound and outbound sales have become the buzzwords of car dealership sales. But which one should you use, and how do you make them work for you?
Inbound vs. Outbound Sales
To understand how to use each sales method properly, you need to understand what they are. Inbound sales are when a potential customer reaches out to your dealership about buying a car or using one of your services. These customers usually come from marketing campaigns and other targeted materials that you use. They can also come from referrals from other satisfied customers. Outbound sales occur when one of your agents reaches out to a potential or returning customer about making a purchase they have not yet expressed interest in.
Sales Strategies to Entice Customers
To have successful inbound sales, you need to get your dealership name out there so people know who you are and want to visit your dealership. Inbound sales rely heavily on personalizing the experience and helping the buyer feel like their needs and concerns are at the center of the entire experience. This requires your sales team to work closely with the marketing team to create a seamless experience. Your marketing team puts the promotions out there that draw people in, and then the sales team delivers on the promises. This starts with the phone call experience. Some people will show up at your dealership, but others prefer to make an appointment ahead of time.
Your sales team should tailor the appointment to the customer’s needs by ensuring they understand what they are looking for and what stage of their buying process they’re in. If they are only looking for information and aren’t ready to buy yet, avoid pushing to close the sale. This will more likely alienate them than to get a sale.
Methods of Identifying New Prospects
Outbound sales for car dealerships differ slightly from outbound sales for other companies. Most people don’t need multiple cars, so you must adjust your efforts to match their needs. One of the most valuable ways of drawing in new prospects for sales at your dealership is by pulling from the list of people who have already bought a car from your dealership. While you have already converted them to a customer once, you want to keep them. You can use outbound sales tactics to book maintenance appointments for past sales. Having someone call to schedule the oil change for their car is much more convenient than having to schedule it themselves, which means that they are more likely to book with you, especially if they had a solid experience before.
You can also target past customers who have had their car for a few years by offering them trade-in deals and letting them know about the exciting deals you have on your lot. Not only does this bring you the benefit of new sales, but it can also lead to you acquiring their trade-in car, which adds to the valuable inventory on your lot.
Which Way is Best?
In the end, both inbound and outbound sales are a valuable part of your sales strategy that allows your dealership to be successful. You need both. There isn’t just one way to sell cars; focusing only on one area of your dealership sales means you are ignoring a large part of the population you could be reaching. But that doesn’t mean that everyone should do everything. You may find some of your agents are much more successful at outbound sales than inbound sales or vice versa. When setting your strategy, evaluating the strengths at your disposal and placing your employees appropriately is important.
Inbound and outbound sales are both successful sales strategies you should be employing, but you need to make sure you keep your market in mind. You may prioritize one over the other at different points based on the type of business you are looking for and what people are receptive to. Keep your finger on the pulse of the car market and adjust your strategy as needed.
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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.
