How do I know if I have the best Internet process in place at my dealership?
By: Cory Mosley, Principal of Mosley Training
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Sometimes the best opportunity to get ahead is in a down market. When a dealership is busy they traditionally operate on the proverbial "autopilot", essentially doing whatever is familiar and following whatever process has been in place regardless of whether it is actually maximizing sales and profitability. Let's explore a simple 3-step approach that will help you evaluate your Internet or BDC department processes.
1. What am I doing now?
So what's the playbook? How are you handling the Internet department from the moment you acquire the lead what is the next step. Is it a personalized email? Do you send a personalized email quote? Do you call within 20 minutes?
Do you clearly understand the road to revenue or process flow from origination to transacting business?
For example, are customers handled the same way every time by every salesperson? How detailed is that instruction? Is every phone call answered the same way? Are the sales techniques the same for everyone interacting with customers?
Is there a clear understanding of the value proposition that your dealership should be presenting to customers? Why should I buy a car from your dealership? (Note, exclude price, location, family ownership, being number one, having a large inventory, and winning the president's award)
2. Why do I do it this way?
The answer to this question will knock most decision makers off of their chairs.
There is so much power in taking the time to answer this question procedure by procedure, you will find that many times the answer is something like: "It's just the way we've always done it" or "this is the only way I know."
Remember, we all have a process even if sometimes the process is the absence of one. Marketers spend millions trying to stay up to date on knowing why people do what they do and more importantly how to control those decisions.
Is your mix of technology and support products driven by who was the cheapest or based on the company that presented the best product and value?
I find that the saying "you don't know what you've got until it's gone" holds so much value in the decisions that we make. It is extremely difficult for most people to see the opportunities that they are missing when they have never seen them before. If I show you 100 Internet sales for 3 months and then you start losing 50 of them a month you will listen to someone who tells you how to get them back as appose to someone trying to tell you that they can take your 50 sales and get you to 100.
How about personnel? Did you hire that sales person because he was the best candidate or because you just needed a warm body to fill the spot? Sport scouts talk of the clouded judgment that comes with filling a spot vs. choosing the best player.
3. Is there a better way?
Many great ideas come from the pure act of talking through a situation and making an effort to consider an option other than the one you thought was best.
The idea of exploring better ways to do something opens the door to increasing efficiency, improving profits, and trimming the fat the right way.
During tough times we want to cut, cut, cut. In many cases exploring better ways to do something is the perfect time to make a purchase of a product or service that will better address the needs of the process.
I won't say it will be easy to self examine, but it is necessary. You owe it to yourself to do everything to maximize profits in 2009.
Cory L. Mosley is principal of Mosley Training, a national training and consulting company focused on sales and marketing strategies at dealerships. Cory can be reached at 877-667-5398; www.mosleyautomotive.com
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