When I’m not conducting a seminar or at a dealership closing deals, I call at least 20-30 new car dealerships every day.  I am astounded how most dealerships answer the phone.

Sorry to go on a rant here, but it seems a warm, courteous and positively infectious greeting and routing of a phone call  is too much to ask for.  More often than not, I get a receptionist who seems “inconvenienced” by having to answer the phone or (even worse), I get the automated “Press 1 for…” greeting.  Not a big fan of the computerized receptionist.  They’re cheap and never call in sick, but there are too many down sides.

Automated greetings are fine for overflow, but a machine left to handle the dealership’s only chance for a first impression does not leave me with the warm and fuzzy feeling that would make me want to drive across town to buy a car.  Neither does a receptionist who seems hurried or bothered by having to stop that game of Solitaire to answer what is a very important call. Read more…

For Managers, The Business Apathy, CSI, customer service, dealership receptionist, phone skills

Call it book smart vs. street smart, theory vs. practice, analytical vs. creative thinking, or right brain vs. left brain… Testing or quizzing salespeople has always been an exercise in futility. Largely because the methods used to test and score a car salesperson share little in common with reality.

Salespeople don’t close real deals with essay or multiple-choice answers.  What looks great on paper, might not play well with a real customer.  Traditional testing can test a salesperson’s knowledge, but reveals little about how he or she will react, in certain situations, with real customers.  Testing may have its place, but roleplaying and practicing is the key to the automotive sales professional’s confidence and competence.  A comfortable and confident salesperson will put customers at ease and will sell more cars. Read more…

For Managers, For Salespeople automotive sales training, role play, roleplay, sales practice, sales training accountability, salespeople, salesperson testing

How much profit would you like us to make on this sale?  That would be the dumbest question in the car business.  It doesn’t take a rocket-surgeon to figure out that the most common answer will be:  “As little as possible”.

I know that question sounds a little ridiculous, but many salespeople and managers ask a question that sounds exactly the same to a customer:  “How much down payment are you going to put on this car?”.  Come on…  Be honest.  Think back through your last 10 deals and I’ll guarantee you asked something similar at least 8 times!  If so, you’re asking the 2nd dumbest question in the car business. Read more…

For Managers, For Salespeople down payment, sales training, salespeople, video

You don’t need me to tell you that times are not as good as they have been in the past.  The silver lining in this cloud is that a our areas of improvement are now glaringly apparent for both salespeople and sales managers.  Since the direction in most dealerships is a top-down issue, we’ll focus on the managers in this discussion.

Let’s take a look at a typical desk manager’s daily routine… Read more…

For Managers desk manager, low ball, managers, negotiate, roam the lot, roll play, salespeole turnover, training