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Listen to Our Industry Experts at www.AutoSuccessPodcast.com

March 2009

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AutoSuccess Magazine is published monthly at 3834 Taylorsville Rd., Building A, Ste. 1B Louisville, KY 40220; 502.588.3155, fax 502.588.3170. Direct all subscription and customer service inquiries to 877.818.6620 or [email protected]. Subscription rate is $69 per year. AutoSuccess welcomes unsolicited editorials and graphics (not responsible for their return). All submitted editorials and graphics are subject to editing for grammar, content and page length. AutoSuccess provides its contributing writers latitude in expressing advice and solutions; views expressed are not necessarily those of AutoSuccess and by no means reflect any guarantees. AutoSuccess accepts no liability in respect of the content of any third party material appearing in this magazine or in respect of the content of any other magazine to which this magazine may be linked from time to time. Always confer with legal counsel before implementing changes in procedures.© All contents copyrighted by AutoSuccess Magazine, a Division of Systems Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited without express written consent from AutoSuccess. AutoSuccess may occasionally make readers’ names available to other companies whose products and/or services may be of interest; readers may request that names be removed by calling 877.818.6620. Printed in the USA. Postmaster: Send address changes to AutoSuccess Magazine, 3834 Taylorsville Rd., Building A, Ste. 1B Louisville, KY 40220.

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web:AutoSuccessOnline.comAutoSuccessPodcast.com

team:Susan [email protected]

Thomas WilliamsVP & Creative [email protected]

Dave DavisEditor and Creative [email protected]

Brian AnkneySales-Improvement [email protected]

John WarnerSales-Improvement [email protected]

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helping to support...

March 2009

EVEN IN THIS ECONOMY BILL DUBE HYUNDAI ATTRIBUTES MORE THAN 72 PERCENT OF ITS ENTIRE DEALERSHIP’S BUSINESS FROM ITS INTERNET SALES DEPARTMENT...AND NO CONVENTIONAL ADVERTISING

An Interview By SusanGivens

FOCUSTranslating Lofty Goals Into ActionStephenR.Covey

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26 DON’T LET FEAR DRIVE YOUR BUSINESSJesseBiter

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THE POWER OF REMARKABLE SERVICESolutions That Work QuicklyPaulCummings

KEEP YOUR BOAT AFLOATTomHopkins

DO’S AND DON’TSDalePollak

SAY IT WITH CONVICTIONMarcSmith

SPECIALIZATION:The Key to Increased Service AbsorptionLawsonOwen

OLD SCHOOL - NEW SCHOOLTime To Upgrade Your Best PracticesPaulWebb

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WHERE THERE’S URGENCY, THERE ARE CUSTOMERSMattBaker

CASHSteveBrazill

TACTICS THAT WILL MAKE YOUR WEB SITE ‘SING,’ PART 2ScottWeitzman

IS YOUR DEALERSHIP RELEVANT TO WOMEN CAR BUYERS?JodyDeVere

BEYOND THE WEBAlexBravy

YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSET? YOUR CUSTOMERS, OF COURSESeanStapleton

GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE AND SOLD!DrakeA.Baerresen

www.autosuccessonline.com

StephenR.Covey

FOCUSTranslating Lofty Goals Into Action

leadership

solu

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08

In prior columns, I’ve talked about an

“execution gap” in organizations, the gap between setting a goal and achieving it. To close the execution gap, leaders must practice four disciplines of execution:

1. Focus on the Wildly Important Goal2. Create a Compelling Scoreboard3. Translate Lofty Goals into Action4. Hold Everyone Accountable All of the

Time

Once you have identifi ed your “wildly important goals” and posted the scoreboard on those goals, you must translate them into action.

For most workers, organizational and team goals are somewhat lofty. It’s easy to lose sight of the higher or strategic purpose. A clear goal and a scoreboard help a lot — but people must also get help in deciding what they are supposed to do about the goal.

Getting the Water to theEnd of the RowI live in Utah, a beautiful but dry country where farmers must irrigate their crops because they cannot depend on rain. If you walk along a sprinkler line on a farm, you might notice lush, green growth near the fi rst sprinkler head—the one nearest the valve—but sparse and yellow growth toward the end of the line. Unless the farmer regulates the water pressure in the pipes, there is little fl ow left for the plants furthest from the source.

The same is true in an organization. So many leaders proclaim lofty strategic goals from their headquarters offi ces only to fi nd that those goals are never implemented at the front line where the work really gets done. The water fails to get to the end of the row.

So how big a problem is this? In a recent study, more than 12,000 U.S. workers in hundreds of organizations were asked to

respond to this question: “Which statements are true about my organization’s direction?”

• My organization has a clear and compelling purpose

• My organization has a clear strategic direction

• I clearly understand the reasons for the strategic direction

• Our organizational goals are clearly connected to my organization’s mission and strategy.

• I clearly understand what I am supposed to do to help achieve my organization’s goals.

Only 23 percent of the respondents agreed that all these statements were true for them. This means that more than three fourths of U.S. workers are unclear about organizational mission and goals — and what they are individually supposed to do about them. The water is not getting to the end of the row.

The consequences? Firms fail to meet market expectations, leaders face frustration in moving important initiatives forward and, in many cases, things get completely out of hand.

Leadership is far more than the proclamation of a lofty goal. It is also ensuring that each person on the front line knows exactly what he or she must do to achieve the goal.

New Goals Require New BehaviorsThe answer to “what do I do about it?” is in identifying the new or better behaviors that will ensure execution of the goal. The principle is this: Goals we have never achieved before require that we do things we have never done before.

Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York City once set a lofty goal of making people feel safe in the Big Apple once again. New York’s reputation as a dangerous and

intimidating place was driving away tourism and business. But how to translate that lofty goal into action?

Instead of doing the same things others had tried, the mayor’s team asked themselves what they could do differently that would realize the goal quickly and with relatively little effort.

One of the fi rst and last impressions of New York for anyone visiting the city was the “squeegee operators” who haunted the tunnels and bridges of the city. They spit on car windows and wiped them with dirty rags, then demanded payment for “cleaning the windows.” Because this activity is not illegal, the city was helpless to stop it — until one of the mayor’s counselors pointed out that jaywalking is illegal. The mayor directed that the police cite the squeegee operators for jaywalking. The police soon found that the squeegee people were usually wanted for more serious violations. In no time, the entrances to New York City were much more inviting. (Rudolph Giuliani, Leadership, New York: Hyperion, 2002, 41-42.)

To identify the new or better behaviors needed to achieve key goals, meet with your team and explore these questions:

• Where in your organization or elsewhere are people consistently achieving their goals? What are the key behaviors these superior performers consistently engage in?

• How could we adopt these behaviors and make them general throughout the organization?

• Imagine — what might be the most impactful thing we could do to achieve the key goal?

Stephen R. Covey, Ph.D., is co-founder of FranklinCovey, and is the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He can be contacted at 866.892.6363, or by e-mail at [email protected].

TomHopkins

KEEP YOURBOAT AFLOAT


sale

s&tr

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How do negative thought patterns affect

your life? They give you the emotional droops. Your drooping emotions bring on a mental sag. Then your sagging mental powers cause a downturn in your job performance. That downturn leads directly to a sharp decline in your income. The decline in your income gives you more negative thought patterns, and they add more spin to your downward spiral.

We all go into declines. We all start sliding downhill now and then. Let me show you how to arrest your slide, get yourself turned around and start climbing again. These are the general things you should be continuously doing to keep from getting exposed to depression.

Talk to positive people more. Always be on the lookout for positive people. Actively seek them out. Encourage their friendship. Positive people are gems. Treasure every one you meet. Find ways to spend more time with them.

Talk to negative people less. You can’t do this passively. You can’t just stand there and let anyone who comes along monopolize your ears with a fl ood of negativity. When someone is negative, you have to say to yourself, “I can’t help people like this until they’re ready to be helped. In the meantime, I’m not going to let them hurt me. So I’m closing my ears to them — nicely if I can, roughly if that’s the only way I can do it. My contribution to the world is enormously more important than hearing this pointless negativity.”

At times, this means that you’ll be talking to nobody but yourself around the offi ce. If that’s the only way you can talk to someone who’s up, so be it! Talking to yourself is always better than talking to a promoter of

despair, depression and decline.

You might be thinking, “Tom, I work all day with people who are negative. They sit at desks all around me. I can’t get away from them.”

Yes, you can. You can get away from them in the only way that matters — mentally. If you’re surrounded by negativity, put a positive shell around yourself. Let me tell you about the positive shell I used when I was in sales. I worked at it, of course — my positive shell didn’t grow all by itself. But after a short time, that shell was so thick that negative people very rarely tried to break through it.

Whenever somebody new joined the staff, I would greet them warmly and wish them well. Then I’d say, “Now, I have enough problems to handle in my life already. If you have anything negative to say, don’t come near my desk.” That got it out in the open right away. I wasn’t there to win the “Good Guy of the Year” Award.

I stuck to my guns on this. Nobody was allowed to pull a chair up to my desk unless they were qualifi ed to make a purchase. When anybody came over to kill some time, I’d reach in my drawer, take out a deposit receipt, and say, “All right, let’s see which one you want today.”

Do not let these people slurp you. In this life, you’re either a slurpee or slurper. A slurper is someone who steals your warm emotions, absconds with your enthusiasm, swindles you out of your good feelings, and leaves nothing behind except bad news.

All you can ever really have in life is your enthusiasm and good feelings. Think about that and I believe you’ll agree with me. You can have honors, awards, property,

income — but all those things count for nothing if you don’t have enthusiasm and good feelings about it all. How many famous and wealthy people can you think of who’ve committed suicide when they lost their enthusiasm for life? Don’t give your enthusiasm and good feelings away to any angry loser who passes by. Keep them. They are the most precious things you own.

If you want to help Joe and Jane Negative, set a positive example. Be enthusiastic and successful. Laugh hard and work hard. Your example will radiate the message of positive-minded success to the lesser folk around you who are mired in moodiness and mediocrity.

Keep pumping. Pessimism is bilge water, and your life is like a ship. All ships leak a little, but that’s no problem as long as the crew keeps pumping the bilge water out.

Your pumps are your self-instructions. If your self-instructions are nothing more than the mixed bag that you’ve picked up as you go along, you’ll be pumping a lot of bilge water in, not out. Some people pump so much negative stuff into their lives that their ships sink.

Think about what you’re pumping into and out of your life with your constant thoughts that are negative or positive self-instructions according to your choice. If changes are called for, make them now. There’ll never be a better time. Make those changes and start cruising happily toward the rising sun of success.

World-renowned master sales trainer Tom Hopkins is the chairman of Tom Hopkins International. He can be contacted at 866.347.6148, or by e-mail [email protected].

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AutoSuccess would like to congratulate Bill Dube Hyundai, located in Wilmington Massachusetts on their tremendous success. This modest single-point Hyundai dealership in New England is delivering over 72 percent of the dealership’s entire business from its Internet Sales department with virtually no conventional advertising.

During normal times this achievement might not get much attention, but given the current state of the economy, this is an outstanding achievement. Then when you recognize this is not a Toyota or Honda store and it’s located in a tier-two market, the results become even more startling. As a matter of fact, this past December (2008) Bill Dube Hyundai delivered more units out of their Internet department than they did the previous December (2007) out of their entire dealership.

While our industry is seeing some diffi cult times, we believe it is important to show you that it isn’t impossible to make progress in your sales growth. The results you achieve will depend a lot on your expectations. Are you a “glass-is-half-full” or a “glass-is-half-empty” person? Why are some dealers still selling vehicles with a modest drop off and others taking major hits in their sales volume?

There are dealers buying up stores and expanding their dealer groups, and grabbing bargains from dealers who see no future in auto retailing. This month we wanted to focus on a different kind of a dealership. A dealership that is proactive and willing to change traditional ways of thinking. Their perspective: “Failure is not an option.” It’s refreshing to see a dealership commit to a course of action, execute on a plan and see it through to its success. Bill Dube Hyundai, a tier two product in a tier two market has literally defi ed all logic and reasoning and has outperformed many larger dealerships with more money and resources.

Bill Dube Hyundai is another Dealer Synergy success story. Dealer Synergy, an award-winning training, consulting and technology company has achieved international recognition for the profound effect they have

Even in This Economy Bill Dube Hyundai Attributes More Than 72 Percent of Its Entire Dealership’s Business from Its Internet Sales Department...And NO Conventional Advertising

had on the automotive retailing community. They have taken dealership after dealership from just average or below-average results to a level of tremendous success. Many of their dealer clients have been nationally recognized for their success in Automotive Internet Sales and Business Development — more so than any other training company in the industry.

AutoSuccess recently had the opportunity to sit down with both Scott Dube, dealer principal of Bill Dube Hyundai and Sean V. Bradley, founder and CEO of Dealer Synergy. We wanted to fi nd out why and how they have achieved a high level of success in their fi elds.

AutoSuccess: Scott, tell us about your store and background.Scott Dube: My father, Bill Dube, bought a Toyota dealership in New Hampshire in 1975, and bought a Ford dealership in the same town in 1981. Then in 2004, we acquired this underperforming Hyundai franchise in Wilmington, Mass. The store had some reputation issues and we have jumped in with both feet to improve the store’s performance and image.

AS: What have you been doing to improve the dealership?SD: We really focus on customer satisfaction and retention of every customer. We don’t shoot for a home run on every deal but rather focus on making a good profi t and keeping the customer coming back again and again. I am very hands on and always in the dealership or easily available to customers and staff. All our dealerships have family members running them, so there’s always a Dube available to talk to if an issue arises. We put that extra special touch on all our deals. I have a good crew of people, but it takes a while to put that crew together and culturally bring them to your point of view.

AS: How has the current slowdown in the industry affected your dealership?SD: Actually, it’s been a real positive for us; our volume is up, between 60 to 80 percent over last year.

AS: That’s impressive! How did you accomplish that?SD: During the last quarter of 2008, everyone was talking themselves into a pretty deep hole. There was bad stuff going on, to be sure, but even the worst-case scenarios being portrayed in the media were only business being off by 20 to 25 percent. We knew some dealers were off 30 to 50

percent, so we thought the time presented a real opportunity for us in the market. By maintaining a targeted focus and deciding that failure wasn’t an option for us, we could pick up that difference between what the industry was going to be down and what people were talking themselves into.

For the last half of 2008, we just refused to participate in the slowdown and we continued to improve our business. In 2009, it’s sort of the same thing, only the stakes have been raised a little bit. Even as positive as we wanted to be, the end of 2008 was hard for a lot of people. We essentially doubled our new car business in December and again in January. We weren’t necessarily able to maintain the same level of profi tability as in boom times, but we were certainly better off than we would have been if we had participated in the 30 and 40 percent declines people were recognizing.

I credit a good deal of our success to Dealer Synergy. We got up and running with them last September and at that time less than 20 percent of our business came from the Internet. By December, 72 percent came from online sources. We also incorporated a customer loyalty/rewards program using Visible Customer and that is showing great promise too.

AS: Was this the fi rst time you tried to put a focus on Internet sales?SD: No. We’d been down this road fi ve times before, and in July, I got really tired of that. We’d been through two people in a really short period of time, and I knew I had to do something; I knew I was leaving deals on the table. We started looking around and I talked to several different companies, and was most impressed with Dealer Synergy mainly because of their aggressive follow-up and their willingness to engage in conversation about what they’d do right away to help us.

AS: How did their relationship with you evolve?SD: Dealer Synergy asked what my goals were and really talked to me about what I was trying to accomplish, and then crafted a game plan to get me there. They were able to rough out a budget with me and get me an idea of what it was going to cost and what I could expect from it. I also asked them to help with the staffi ng portion of building our Internet Department. They provided assistance in writing the employment ad and in interviewing the candidates. They also oversaw the hiring and orientation of the people who were going to work in our BDC.

AS: Describe the process of creating your Internet department.SD: Essentially, we built a new department from the ground up. We had no employees for this department. From one point of view, it was perfect. There were no preconceived ideas or bad habits to break. We had fi ve brand new people who were going to come in and do it the way we wanted to do it. I made a commitment from the beginning not to “Frankenstein” the process, that is take one piece of advice and ignore another. I was making a pretty substantial commitment, and my initial goal was to hold (Dealer Synergy CEO) Sean V. Bradley accountable if it didn’t happen, and in order to do that, you have to do what the guy says. I had spent enough time and enough due diligence to put my confi dence in him and say “I’ll do what you say, and hire people to do what you say.”

AS: And how did all that turn out?SD: I was very pleased. We had no way to know what the Internet department was going to do, and I’ve been very pleasantly surprised with the effort Todd Cole, my Internet director, has put in, and the results he’s been able to generate. We implemented a website from TK

Carsites that improved search optimization for us and that along with Todd’s efforts have really impressed me. I see us continuing to steadily grow that department. We have a goal that’s targeted around vehicle sales, and the BDC or the Internet department is there to support those vehicle sales. As long as we can continue to meet those numbers and generate new opportunities, we’ll continue to add people to meet those opportunities.

Todd’s been an integral part of building this thing and making it happen, and the daily discipline of actually seeing that the vision gets implemented. My management style is to design the vision and then fi nd people to implement that vision. We have great people in our Internet department, but without the support of Dealer Synergy, it would be that much more diffi cult to measure, manage and maintain that department.

I’ve got to credit our general sales manager, Said Bousbaa, with part of that success, too. The Internet department’s job is to get people to show up. Once they do, it’s really his job to make sure that we deliver on our promise. All those things that people were informed about our dealership have to come true, or else we are what they fear the most. It’s his responsibility to ensure the customer experience is what we said it would be. That’s a huge job and he does great.

AS: Where do you see this industry going in the next year, or the next fi ve years?SD: It’s clear that a lot of people are going to talk this industry down for a long time, and I’m not sure who wins in that equation. The talking heads on TV and the politicians and some industry leaders really seem to be putting a negative spin on the industry. I guess it really depends on how quickly the consumer regains confi dence, both

An Interview bySusanGivens

ScottDube

SeanV.Bradley

in the economy and in their own personal lives. Hyundai is offering its Hyundai Assurance program, and that really helps build some confi dence with prospective buyers when they know they can give back the vehicle if they lose their job.

Our industry is cyclical. We’re seeing some bad numbers now, but my family’s been in the business a long time. My father can attest to the fact, and reminds us very often, that this isn’t as bad as it was in the early 1980s, when we had sales that dipped like this and we had interest rates in the 20 percent range. We’re not facing that kind of problem right now. In fi ve years, we’re very optimistic. It will have turned around, and we will have gone through a process where we will have reduced the amount of competition we have. There will be fewer dealers, and hopefully those of us who make it through this challenge are going to come out stronger on the other side. When times return to more a normal economy and lending environment, we will prosper.

I’d like it to be over right away, but the reality is we probably needed a little bit of an adjustment. It’s going to cause us to run a much more effi cient operation, and the entire industry is going to have to clean it up a little, and tighten up things, and it’s probably healthy to do that. Hopefully, it doesn’t have to be catastrophic for us to learn that lesson.

Interview with Sean V. BradleyAutoSuccess: Sean, we have spoken to Scott Dube and he has shared his experience about working with Dealer Synergy. His results aren’t unique are they?Sean V. Bradley: Over the last 10 years I have continually honed my craft, and every year more and more dealers are benefi ting from the lessons I have learned. Dealer Synergy has achieved some incredible results with dealers over the years, and some of the ones recognized for their achievement using our systems and procedures are Nelson Mazda in Oklahoma, Willis Honda in New Jersey, and Peruzzi Toyota in Pennsylvania. Every one of them was featured in a cover story in either AutoSuccess Magazine, Digital Dealer or Auto Dealer Monthly.

AS: How do you replicate these results at each dealership?SVB: First off, we recognize that every dealership situation and market is different so we complete a needs analysis to clearly identify

their goals and the status of their current situation. Also we recognize that you need a holistic approach and that the Internet Department does not operate as a separate company, but a department within the dealership and everything between departments must work smoothly. I read an article recently that compared a dealership to an “eco-system” where things are interdependent. I think that is exactly what we have in dealerships. If you bring in a consultant and they make changes just to the Internet department or BDC area and do not look at how they interact with other processes in the dealership, the likelihood of long-term success will be compromised. We provide a customized solution that insures the entire eco-system works in a healthy fashion.

AS: What other services differentiate you from your competitors?SVB: Coming back to the eco-system analogy, one of the major differentiators is our ongoing support. We are not backseat cheerleaders who say, “Here it is; go do it.” Dealer Synergy provides ongoing support and mentoring to ensure they stay on track and focus on results.

We coach, monitor phone calls, perform auditing functions of services and the Web site, provide analyst reports, make mystery shopper calls, provide ongoing phone training and a host of other services. This helps to ensure that the dealership stays focused on the process and that the team is held accountable for following their routine every day. We know of no other training organization that provides this complete service for their dealer clients.

AS: Are you able to get your message home to the managers during your in-store visits?SVB: While we are able to make a major impact during our on-site training we recognized early on that a more comprehensive solution was required. After studying all the options and channels available we developed our Internet Sales Director Immersion Program. These are held regularly throughout the year near our Philadelphia location and incorporate a three- and/or fi ve-day deep dive into the inner workings of an Internet and BDC department. Todd Cole from Bill Dube Hyundai attended one of these events and he attributes much of his knowledge and success to information he learned about during that week of training. What’s also very exciting about this course is the information from FranklinCovey. Dealer Synergy is the only automotive training company certifi ed by Franklin Covey Management and Organization Solutions Group. This means we bring all the dynamic principles of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to the participants in our Immersion Training. That along with our training information makes this incredibly valuable. General managers attending have found it very rewarding.

AS: Any thoughts you want to share in closing?SVB: We have proven again and again that our system works and those dealers who commit to it really like the results. The key word here is commitment. We have spoken to some dealers interested in our program and we could tell by their comments they wanted a few pieces, but weren’t committed to the entire eco-system program. We chose to walk away from those opportunities because we knew they would not succeed in the long term. Dealer Synergy likes to focus on dealers who recognize that success is within reach if they are willing to jump in with both feet and stay the course.

For more information about Dealer Synergy’s Immersion Training, visit www.InternetSales20Group.com, or www.dealersynergy.com.

Sean V. Bradley is the founder and CEO of Dealer Synergy, a nationally recognized training and consulting company in the automotive industry. He can be contacted at 888.814.0409, or by e-mail at [email protected].

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clockwise from the left:Sean V. Bradley, founder and CEO of Dealer Synergy;Scott Dube, Dealer Principal and Todd Cole, Internet Director at Bill Dube Hyundai;Sean V. Bradley and the Dealer Synergy team


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MattBaker

WHERE THERE’S URGENCY, THERE ARE CUSTOMERS

marketing

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Effective brand advertising has an

appropriate time and place. Unfortunately, given today’s economic conditions, this brand-boosting initiative may not result in the drive of traffi c that one might expect.

Today’s buyers aren’t just looking for a deal; they are looking for the deal of a lifetime. While advertising focused on brand building is important, it is not what will get buyers off their couch and into your dealership in today’s tough times. Why not? It all comes down to urgency, which is created through an immediate call to action, fear of loss and the deal of a lifetime.

The Power of UrgencyPeople in general are excellent at the art of procrastination. For many, the easiest decision to make is no decision at all. The stresses brought on by a gloomy economy makes buyers feel increasingly paralyzed, which contributes greatly to consumer procrastination. As Michael Fortin, President and CEO of SuccessDoctor.com expressed in a recent blog post, the key isn’t in pressuring people to make the purchase. Instead, it’s using pressure to give your consumers a compelling reason to stop procrastinating. By supplying your customers with a logical reason for why they should buy now, you are replacing their purchasing objections with a need to act on your proposed offer.

So just how successful can this approach be? Marketing Experiments Journal took it upon itself to test the effects of urgency on sales conversion rates. By offering special event savings for consumers who purchased between the dates of May 8 through June 15, 2006 Marketing Experiments noted a 992.68 percent average increase in sales over the course of the offer period. Long story short – limited time offers create urgency and urgency drives sales. However, as the Marketing Experiments study is quick to point out, the urgency you create must be genuine in order to be effective. Promotional gimmicks like continuously extending offer

expiration dates will only result in a loss of credibility and a lack of return.

Making It Work for YouWhile there is a lot to be gained from urgency-driven advertising efforts, many often aren’t sure of exactly how to use this theory to generate the highest return. Here are a few different options to consider when developing an urgency plan that works for your dealership.

Utilizing Promotional Events:For many dealers, staffed events or “SuperSales” can help to create an ongoing training program or provide a shot in the arm during a good economy. Yet when times turn tough, these events often become an integral part of a dealer’s business plan. As the dealership staff stops believing they can move markets, these promotional events become even more effective as they “stir up the pot.” This opens the dealership employees’ eyes to develop effective ways to create their own market, even when everyone else doesn’t believe one exists.

These staffed events sales offer an excellent opportunity to create genuine consumer urgency with an effective time-sensitive offer. Whether your staffed event ad plan includes direct mail, newspaper, TV, radio or all four, promotional sales offer a unique opportunity to communicate a logical reason why consumers in your market should buy now and most importantly, why they should buy from you.

Direct Mail:Whether you handle your own direct mail campaigns or rely on a marketing agency to help you get your message across, make sure your approach is geared towards driving home that much-needed urgency factor.

As the Marketing Experiments study went on to show, simply adding an “offer expires on this date” starburst to your advertising may seem like the easiest way to increase your sales return. However as they came to discover, better results were received by

those special offer promotions that were produced through careful and thoughtful planning.

For instance, consider developing a direct mail campaign that includes both implied and direct urgency. While direct urgency gives the consumer a straight forward reason to act, such as through noting a deadline for special savings, implied urgency uses creative verbiage to help suggest that acting now would be in the consumer’s best interest, without expressing it directly.

As Marketing Experiments came to fi nd, the combination of these two approaches in one special offer lead to an increase in sales conversion rates by 508 percent.

Additionally, consider steadily building upon the urgency your copy creates by staggering direct mail send dates to the same customers. This method will not only repeatedly remind those consumers why they should buy and where they should buy from, it also motivates these buyers to make the move out of the house and onto your showroom fl oor, before it’s too late.

In The End…No, unfortunately not every prospect will choose to buy from you now. However, by capitalizing on the power of urgency advertising, you are putting your dealership at better odds to see that infl ux of traffi c.

Remember that creating effective urgency is not a one-step process. Instead, it’s a series of well-planned steps from a number of angles. Your goal is to give your consumers a compelling reason to stop procrastinating and make the purchase. Provide your customers with a logical reason why they should buy now and chances are that more will do as you say.

Matt Baker is the vice president of sales for G&A Marketing. He can be contacted at 866.618.8248, or by e-mail [email protected].


18

SteveBrazill

CASHSuccessful dealership managers are, by

nature, profi t-focused. We learn, generally through experience, how to mix customers, products and people in the right combination to maximize profi t. We hone those skills month after month. Through most of the business cycle — certainly the normal

years and the boom years — the ability to maximize profi t is a “money” skill set. But when business gets ugly, the ability to manage cash can become more important than the ability to manage profi t.

A dealership that fails to earn a profi t in a month often gets a chance to try again in the

next month. A dealership that runs out of cash is out of business. Game over.

Let’s examine a couple myths about cash:

“I can sell my way out of a cash problem.” — Generally not. To understand why not, think of the process of starting a dealership. Before I can sell anything, I invest cash, then convert that cash to inventories. As I sell those inventories I get some cash back but I also create receivables (customer, rebates, warranty claims) and new inventories (trade-ins). Those receivables and inventories will (should) eventually convert back to cash as I complete the sales cycle and, if my sales are stable, I eventually recapture my initial cash plus my gross profi t (and less my expenses). But growing my sales rate means growing my investment in the non-cash part of the cycle. More inventory. More receivables. Growing my sales rate does not produce cash — it eats cash. Slowing my sales rate allows me to unwind my investment in inventory and receivables, recapture cash and keep it in the bank.

“I can’t make money if I don’t make a profi t.” — Not necessarily. Operating profi t is the difference between gross profi t and expense. If my total gross profi t last month was $190,000 and my total expenses were $200,000, my accountant will record that I lost $10,000. But my expenses likely include some depreciation, which is a non-cash expense. The assets I depreciate today were generally purchased and paid for in the past — I don’t write a check to pay for this month’s depreciation. If my total depreciation (and amortization) in this example was $25,000, the remaining cash expenses of $175,000 would have been covered by the $190,000 gross profi t. Some managers use this analysis to get a rough assessment of cash fl ow and you can see it’s possible for that measure of cash fl ow to be positive even when profi t is negative.

Running a dealership is challenging under any circumstances, but it becomes more so when a depleted checkbook is forcing your decisions. Managing for cash can be every bit as important as managing for profi t — sometimes more so.

Steve Brazill is the chair of automotive marketing for Northwood University, Texas Campus. He can be contacted at 866.861.1515, or by e-mail [email protected].

marketing

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TACTICS THAT WILLMAKE YOUR WEBSITE ‘SING,’ PART 2

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Thanks to the Internet, today’s car buyers

shop in an environment that serves up instant information gratifi cation alongside a healthy dose of online distractions. This issue, we’ll look at some other ways that you can make your Web site “sing” to your customers and stand out from the crowd.

Stand Apart From the CrowdGuess what? Your competitors have Web sites, too. And with the increasing use of templates in Web development today, there’s a good chance they may have a site that looks very similar to yours.

So how do you stand apart from the crowd? If you have the resources, invest in a premium Web site template versus a standard version from your developer. High-end premium Web sites communicate to your customers that you take your business seriously. They also convey a higher level of presentation quality by putting the dealership on equal footing with manufacturer and automotive portal sites, to which online car buyers are already accustomed.

Check out the latest automotive Web site content being offered, and don’t be afraid to incorporate this content into your site. For example, a new video product that showcases the sexy aspects of a car’s styling, down to the trim level, can be used to create a “mini-commercial” at the home page of your Web site, for maximum impact at minimal expense. There’s plenty of cutting-edge, off-the-shelf content available on the market today that can leave your competition in the digital dust.

Be Marketing-MindedHaving an organized content-rich Web site that looks great is one matter, driving traffi c to that site is something else.

For starters, promote your Web site every chance you get — in traditional advertising, by word of mouth, on signage and in collateral materials such as letterhead and business cards.

Then focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM). SEO and SEM are the sciences of generating traffi c in both free and paid ways, through user searches at Google, Yahoo and other major search engines. Your Web development company may already offer SEO and SEM services. If not, solicit the help of an outside organization or specialist, or research information online and do it yourself. SEO and SEM are critical components to driving traffi c to your Web site, so take the time and do it right.

Let the Leads Come to YouDon’t fall into the trap of driving every visitor to your lead generation page. While this tactic might work for third-party lead generation companies that monetize each customer inquiry, it’s not the best way to generate quality prospects at your Web site. Allow visitors to browse and research without overwhelming them with annoying pop-ups for quote submissions and coupons.

Instead, create pages of your Web site that follow a natural “research to purchase” pathway by providing lead generation forms at reasonable stages throughout the research process, or at the end of the research process. When leads come to you in a natural way, you gain your customer’s trust in the process.

The Internet provides a great opportunity for OEMs, lead-generators, and dealers to leverage content to drive success. When you keep your Web site simple, focus on content that captures attention, distance yourself from the competition, strategically market your site as often as you can, and take a more natural approach to

lead generation, your Web site will “sing” while your customers sing your praises.

Scott Weitzman is vice president of business development for eVox Images. He can be contacted at866.618.9004, or by e-mail [email protected].

the #1 sales-improvement magazine for the automotive professional

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22

JodyDeVere

IS YOUR DEALERSHIPRELEVANT TO WOMENCAR BUYERS?For the past several months, you can’t

turn on the TV, glance at the Internet or fl ip through the pages of a newspaper without seeing a story or two about the dismal state of the auto makers and whether the local market dealerships will survive or not. The auto industry is struggling to gain ground with cash-strapped consumers and is looking for ways to once again become a relevant part of consumer’s daily lives.

Women either buy or infl uence the purchase of 85 percent of all new cars and trucks sold in the United States today. If women are so infl uential, why do they often feel ignored, or worse, on the showroom fl oor?

Here are a few tips to help you communicate, gain trust, respect and sell more cars to women:

1. Ask for and use her name. Her name is not “Sweetie,” “Honey,” “Lovely Lady,” “Baby,” or any other similar nonsense. Regardless of what kind of car she expresses interest in test-driving or buying, at no time does it give you (the salesperson) the right to patronize her by saying “You’ll look really good in this car.”

2. Use direct eye contact. Look at her when she is speaking to you, and look at her (not your cell phone) when you are talking to her. And remember, her eyes are “up here,” not “down there.”

3. Listen to her carefully. When a woman tells you exactly what she’s wanting in a car, write it down if necessary. When she asks questions, be patient and respectful when answering, and don’t talk so fast. When you talk too fast, it gives the appearance that you’re trying the bait-and-switch game, which no woman has any patience for.

4. Don’t answer your cell phone. Being on your cell phone when you’re with a customer is downright rude. Either put your phone on silent or vibrate, or simply turn it off when dealing with customers directly. When receiving a call on your cell phone, your customer should be your fi rst priority. Let your caller go to voicemail and take care of your customer, then check your voicemail messages. Don’t talk on your cell phone when taking customers on a test-drive. Doing so just might cost you the sale.

It is critical for dealerships to understand

the “Power of the Purse.” Women represent multiple markets and are well informed before they come to buy a car. They talk to their friends, they surf the Internet and they read an average of four car magazines. When they buy, they buy for their families, their businesses and make recommendations to their friends and family.

Will women visiting your dealership be recommending you?

Jody DeVere is the CEO and president of AskPatty.com. She can be contacted at 866.849.9973, or by e-mail [email protected].

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THE POWER OF REMARKABLE SERVICESolutions That Work Quickly

“Business goes where it is asked for, but it

only stays where it is truly appreciated.” This simple statement really sums up the content of my message. Our industry has done a fantastic job of customer acquisition, but as a general rule we have struggled with customer retention. The reason we continually spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to attract new customers is because we invest very little to keep our existing customers genuinely happy. Why? I think it is because we use short-term thinking to run a business in a rapidly changing industry marketplace that demands a longer-term strategy.

Create the Remarkable ExperienceThe fi rst key to providing truly remarkable customer service success lies in your creation of a seamless experience. Great service providers anticipate the real needs of their customers. These companies put customer-focused systems in place and then train their people within the system to ensure a great customer experience. The company runs almost fl awlessly because of the effort and time they put into the daily processes. My question is simple, even for the great organizations: What happens when the unexpected happens? How do you respond when the unusual request comes your way?

How Far Will You Go?I have always suggested that the unexpected occurrences provide companies with two opportunities. Organizations will both respond and shine or they will panic and fail. Which approach best describes your organization? What lengths will you go to in order to “WOW” your customers? How prepared is your team to handle the unexpected in a remarkable way? Sometimes, in moments like these, the very system you use everyday to operate in a fl awless manner must be cast aside in order to address the current situation. Have you built this type of fl exibility into your service approach? I promise you it is hard to be remarkable if you are rigid in your approach to customer service. You must be fl exible in

approach and rigid in principle.

To Care is to CureHave you ever had a customer service experience that was so horrible you actually said “These people don’t care about their customers?” I know I have on more than one occasion. The aftertaste of a poor service experience stays with you for a long time. I have also had more than my share of remarkable customer service experiences where I felt immensely cared for by an employee or company. My take on all of this can be summed up this way: Where employees are truly cared for, so are the customers. If you want to cure your customer service issues, you must care for your people at a deeper level. In addition, never allow individuals who do not possess a desire to serve to interact with your guest. Immerse your service team with people who enjoy solving problems.

Please Un-tie My HandsIn today’s fast-paced business climate, customers lose their patience very quickly if they are in the middle of a bad customer service experience. I see this all the time in airports as I travel across the globe. As airline agents continually use the phrases such as “I don’t know,” or “That’s not my job,” or “I don’t have the authority to make that decision” when a customer expresses a concern, you can immediately see the frustration on the faces of the customers. Why? Because what the customer really wants and expects is to speak with someone who has the authority to provide a real answer and a real solution. Airlines continually put their own agents in harm’s way by giving them very little authority to make decisions that give the customer the feeling they are important to the airline. It is unfair to both the employee and the customer. Create a service-based culture that provides team members with the freedom to WOW the customer.

Get Excited About ServiceExcitement truly does run downhill in

organizations. From years of experience, I can attest that the best service organizations I have ever met are those who have an excited leader on board. How can you expect your people to be genuinely excited about providing remarkable customer service if you are not excited. The most important task at hand is for you to motivate yourself as the fi rst order of business. Service is not a “do as I say, not as I do” enterprise. Your team defi nitely learns from your daily example because the eye has always been the great teacher. Regardless of what position you hold in the dealership, you must dig deep and be excited about and proud of what you and your team contributes daily. If you are motivated, your team will be inspired and – guess what – your customers will be well taken care of as a result. You must set yourself on fi re with genuine enthusiasm everyday so when your teams gather to watch you burn; you can set them on fi re as well.

Paul Cummings is president and CEO of Paul Cummings Enterprises. He can be contacted at 866.865.3171, or by e-mail at [email protected].


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“Regardless of what position you hold in the dealership, you must dig deep and be excited about and proud of what you and your team contributes daily.”


24

The Internet has been with us long enough

to qualify for “Old School” / “New School” best practices. And I’m sure this article will be outdated in another three months as techniques change rapidly in this high-speed world of auto-response and texting-speed fi nger fi nesse. You have to be smarter. It’s School Time.

When customers started coming into the dealership with Internet research, we had to change. What were we trained to say? “Great, Mr/s. customer, you’ve really helped with the research. Thanks for doing all the work and making it easier for me to sell you a vehicle.” (I still remember as a training consultant the sales meeting when the GSM gave his staff that word track to say to the Internet customers.)

So what are some of the best practices for successful Internet departments today? Here are some ideas making money in today’s most successful Internet departments. Run these ideas against your own processes and you measure the results. If you have a better process, stick to it. And if you fi nd one of these techniques work better, adapt and upgrade to a better approach.

HiringIt’s better to have one or two Internet Techno Types working in the background — not handling customers. Just keeping the SEO and SEM up-to-date is well-worth the labor expense. And don’t kid yourself and cut corners thinking these analytical co-workers can sell vehicles. It’s a rare fi nd to get a highly analytical and highly expressive driver type personality in the same person. These types usually have their own software companies and are not candidates for automotive sales positions. What you really end up with is a person with technical skills — great with computers — but they come up a little short in the “people skills” category.

Today’s Best Mix: • Eight computer- and Internet-literate

salespeople

• Two computer-literate salespeople• One tech support person

It’s a given that everyone has to be computer savvy in today’s market. And, as we move forward, eventually everyone will have to become Internet savvy, as well.

Job Description:“Experienced Webmaster wanted for leading area automobile dealership (group); should be profi cient in creating and editing Web pages, Web graphics and photos; knowledge of SEO techniques, SEM campaigns, scripting languages, and Web-enabled databases a must. The ability to build a team and a passion for winning is mandatory.”

Closing the Internet CustomerIn the early stages of using the Internet for buying vehicles, the customer looked up equipment, specifi cations, price ranges, accessories, etc. As a customer, you were considered highly analytical. We had other words not as nice, yet we all new where the customer’s mind was headed — facts and details. So, we discounted the vehicles (“Internet pricing”), gave up gross on the front end and made it up on the back end. Analytical customers spent money in F&I. And that worked for a while.

By having the Internet highly accessible to everyone today and making all the information (facts and details) available to everyone, we’ve turned a lot of emotional buyers into analytical shoppers.

Here is a great closing technique to close the Internet customer: sequencing.

Here’s a test: Since you know the alphabet, start saying the letters, starting with the letter “L” and go backwards. Why is it diffi cult? Because you learned it in order – from the letter “A” going forward. Why do customers say, “I want to think about it”? Because they’re confused. And who confused them most of the time? We did.

Sequencing is one of the most effective techniques in selling, and it’s easy to do.

Sequencing selling is simply making a list of the customer’s needs. You must write things down in a logical format and in the order your customer gives them to you, then repeat the list to the customer during the interview. This will focus both of you.

If the customer doesn’t know what he or she wants, this will help them get on track and bring them to a logical conclusion. The volume of information on the Internet has infl uenced customers helping them to become more logical and analytical.

One important point to remember is to never take the list out of order. Write the list down and let the customer review it frequently. It is even more effective to let the customer write the list. People fi nd it hard to argue with their own list. Remember, this is a list of their needs, not yours.

Your brain likes things in order. When you ask a customer, “What do you feel is important in a vehicle?” they might respond with “four doors.” Your new technique is to write down what the customer wants on a clean piece of paper and make a list.

Let’s say the customer also wants an automatic transmission, and, for the ease of learning the Sequencing technique, this imaginary Internet customer only wants those two things. The list is now set.

Presenting The VehicleWhen you take the customer to the vehicle, what is the fi rst thing you’re going to show them? Right! The four doors – you sell in order. Once you sell the customer on the four doors, go the next item on the list: automatic. Continue with this process down the list — obviously, real customers will have more than two items. Don’t confuse the customer by taking things out of order.

Paul Webb is a principal of Street Smart / Paul Webb Training. He can be contacted at 866.500.5827, or by e-mail [email protected].

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OLD SCHOOL - NEW SCHOOLTime to Upgrade Your Best Practices


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JesseBiter

DON’T LET FEARDRIVE YOUR BUSINESS

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When it comes to fi nancial

matters nowadays, fear appears to be a communicable disease. Let’s face it: Anyone with a bank account and a pulse is scared stiff about the disastrous economic landscape. Seemingly daily three-digit swings on the Dow have become the norm and this stomach-churning roller coaster ride appears to have no end in sight. So as the grim economic realities of 2008 carry over to 2009, it is now more important than ever to take a good long look in the mirror and embrace the areas of your business that you actually still can control. The good news is that you may have more control over your fi nancial fate than you may think. While fear may drive markets, it does not have to drive your business.

There’s no sugar-coating the very serious challenges that are currently facing the automotive industry, as well as nearly every other sector in the global economy.

The credit crisis has led to abysmal vehicle sales fi gures and the near-term economic forecast does little to evoke confi dence in the possibility of a rapid recovery. Not to mention that it’s more than a little unsettling to watch CEOs from the Big Three U.S. automakers trek to Washington, tin cup in hand. But while the challenges may prove insurmountable for some, opportunities for success, and even growth, will still be available. For those dealers who choose to face this adversity head-on and adapt their business accordingly, the reward may ultimately include capturing market share from their more fear-stricken competition.

Economics 101 teaches that a decrease in revenue must lead to a decrease in spending. As revenues plummet, no line item is safe — including payroll. But while it may be an act of fi scal prudence to sharpen one’s pencil during a recession, it’s critical to know when to say “when.” Think twice before cutting loose key staff members, particularly top

sales representatives. To stay motivated and effective on the showroom fl oor, your sales team needs some reassurance from the top that their livelihoods are not in a constant state of jeopardy. Most dealers would agree that good sales people are hard to fi nd. If you happen to have a few of those special individuals at your dealership, pull them aside and talk with them. Let them know that while there are undoubtedly concerns about the bottom line, you remain steadfastly committed to your top line. Trimming the fat may be necessary, but it is very short-sighted to sit idly while the most talented and experienced members of your staff fall victim to circumstances beyond their control.

The marketing budget always seems to be on the chopping block during turbulent times. But you really need to ask yourself — do you intend to actually stay in the retail automotive business? If the answer is “yes,” then slashing your marketing budget in conjunction with downsizing your sales force may not exactly be the best way of achieving that goal. Put the chainsaw back in the garage and take a more cautious and thoughtful approach to spending cuts. Technology has really leveled the playing fi eld when it comes to marketing analysis. Use the tools and metrics you have available to carefully analyze which areas of your overall marketing strategy yield the highest return on investment. If the overwhelming majority of vehicle sales originate from the Internet, does it make much sense to start cutting there? Make a direct comparison to the return on your Internet marketing investment to the ROI delivered by traditional media. Are print and radio outlets still driving consumers to the lot? You will most likely have fewer marketing dollars to work with in 2009, so spend them wisely. Cutbacks may be unavoidable, just make sure that you target the areas that will help your bottom line — not hurt it.

There will be light at the end of this tunnel — eventually. An experienced and steady hand at the helm will be necessary to navigate your business through to the other side, so keep your core team intact. Don’t forget to grab as much market share as you can along the way, as fear overwhelms competitors that choose to remain focused on what’s behind them instead of what’s ahead of them.

Jesse Biter is the president and CEO of HomeNet, Inc. He can be contacted at 866.239.4049, or by e-mail [email protected].

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DalePollak

DO’S AND DON’TSI think it’s an important time to

share my thoughts and insights about the used car market for 2009. As I travel the country, I’m exposed to industry leaders at dealerships, auctions, manufacturers and leading third-party solution providers. What follows is a compilation of my best judgment as to the state of the used car industry and importantly some do’s and don’ts as you manage your used car operation in the coming months.

First, it’s important to understand that today’s used car market is an effi cient market. An effi cient market is one where there is relatively equal knowledge between buyers and sellers regarding their choices and alternatives. Remember that it is easy for any shopper to use the Internet and fi nd numerous used vehicles just like yours, know where they all are and how they’re priced. The old days of shoppers paying you more for a used vehicle than they need to pay someone else for the same vehicle are behind us.

Once you come to terms with this fact, you must understand that the destiny of all sellers in an effi cient market will largely be governed by principles of supply and demand. To demonstrate this thought, think about your new car business, a market place that is and has been effi cient for a long time. If you have a new car franchise that produces vehicles with high demand and low supply, your life as a new car dealer is much easier than if your franchisor produces vehicles with high supply and low demand. The unfortunate reality is that today, your used car business is much like your new car business and, therefore, your success in used vehicle operations will largely be determined by the effi cient market forces of supply, demand and price sensitivity. It is therefore critical for you to consider these factors when making the key decisions about what to stock, how much to pay and how to price.

Used vehicle success in 2009 will depend heavily on your ability to think differently about which vehicles to stock. You must appreciate the fact that there are many used vehicles in every market that enjoy high demand and have low supply. Moreover, the Internet makes it entirely possible and effi cient for your dealership to sell these vehicles even if they are not your franchise brand.

Consider the fact that when a shopper does an Internet search for a particular vehicle of their choice, all similar vehicles are returned irrespective of whether the selling dealer’s franchise brand is of that particular make. The Internet gives no preference whatsoever in showing search results for vehicles being sold by dealers of that franchise brand. Once you recognize this fact, you are well on your way to stocking vehicles that your market is demanding and uncoupling yourself from the baggage that your franchise brand carries. In other words, you don’t have any choice about stocking new vehicles produced by your franchisor, but you certainly are in full control of stocking used vehicles that are hot in your market.

The ability to identify the hottest vehicles down to a level of specifi c equipment is critical in order to avoid the traps of your vehicles missing essential equipment like navigation and rear entertainment that are critical to buyers of those vehicles.Now, if the Internet makes it possible for your dealerships to effi ciently merchandise these vehicles and technology allows you to identify and know the exact vehicles that are in highest demand and least supply,

will you let loose of the old notions of stocking your lot predominantly with vehicles of your franchise brand and/or with only those vehicles that have done well for you in the past? I contend that successfully managing your used vehicle operations in 2009 will depend on your willingness and ability to stock vehicles that are outside your past performance and/or consistent with your franchise brand. I can assure you with a lot of experience that any vehicle with high demand and low supply in your market will easily and seemingly effortlessly fl y off your lot.

Remember that sellers in an effi cient market who have merchandise for sale with high demand and low supply enjoy two important rewards. First, the market place is looking for you rather than you having to spend a lot of money to look for the market place. Second, vehicles of high demand and low supply are less sensitive to price competition. If you have any doubt about this fact, just think about your effi cient new car market place. Isn’t it true that buyers sometimes know the expected arrival date of transports delivering the new hot model with high demand and low supply? When they ask you about a discount on such vehicles, you can easily say “whole list price” and they are often happy to pay it. These are the rewards granted to sellers in an effi cient market.

Dale Pollak is an author and the chairman and founder of vAuto. He an be contacted at 866.867.9620, or by e-mail [email protected].

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MarcSmith


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SAY IT WITHCONVICTIONWe’ve all heard the old adage: It’s

not what you say but how you say it. The same can be said about closing a deal and responding to customers’ objections. These days, gaining customers’ trust is more challenging than ever, but showing conviction when speaking of your product and your services can often lead the customer to make a buying decision. Webster’s dictionary defi nes the word “conviction” as “a strong persuasion or belief.” It also defi nes it as “the state of being convinced.”

Some time ago, I made a point about selling with conviction in a training workshop for a large dealer group. “Say it with conviction,” I told them, and immediately said to the class, “Follow me.” Not knowing exactly where I was leading everyone, I walked out of the room, down the stairs, out the front door of the hotel and onto the surrounding sidewalk.

As I turned the fi rst corner of the building, I turned to see the class of approximately 40 people following close behind. I had not anticipated that the sidewalk would end soon, and that in order to complete the walk around the building we would have to walk over the bare ground—not a problem, unless you take into consideration the two feet of snow on the ground and that I was dressed in a suit and wearing a rather nice pair of dress shoes. As we approached the end of the sidewalk, I thought to myself, “I have to complete the journey back to the conference room with the committed followers I’ve so convincingly instructed to follow me.” Never deviating from my quick pace, I continued walking through the knee-deep snow and didn’t look back for a second. When we returned to the conference room, I stood in front of the class.

I said, “Now, when you make a closing statement, say it with conviction and go for the close. Why did everyone follow me without question?” Someone quickly responded, “Because you said it with conviction.”

When you say and ask things of people with conviction, they are more likely to fulfi ll your request. You have to be convincing and persuasive in order to be a champion in sales. You have to say it like you mean it. Look the customer in the eye when you

ask for their business, because with today’s consumer, it’s all about trust. You must present yourself, the product, the monies and the dealership with conviction that is transferable to the consumer.

Recently, I spoke with an attorney on the topic of privacy. His opinion is that people easily give up their personal information, and rarely question authority. Think about it. Someone asks for your personal information practically every day, and usually in the name of security. I called an airline to confi rm my mileage balance and to book a reservation. The representative, very pleasant and professional, asked for my account number. After repeating my account number, she said, “So that I can verify your account, what is your date of birth?”“I don’t believe I’ve ever given you that before,” I said. Without hesitation, she asked how she could assist me. After providing the information I needed, she asked again, “For future account verifi cation, what is your date of birth?” The conviction she showed, just to persuade me to give her the information, was impressive. I’ve been on the showroom fl oor listening in on salespeople’s presentations and time after time have been disappointed to notice that they simply don’t ask for the customer’s approval. They read off the buyer’s order and wait for the customer to respond, which results in one objection after the other.

When you say it with conviction, you will typically fi nd little resistance. Simply put, people perceive you as more believable when you say it with conviction. If we didn’t conduct ourselves with conviction in what we do, we would never be able to lead a team, hold gross on a deal, sell against a competitive brand or sell products and services in the F&I department.

So think again the next time you ask for approval from the customer for the fi gures on a new car or on justifying the trade value, ask yourself this question: “Would I be convinced or persuaded to make this purchase?” Stay in control and tell the customer, “Follow me.” I wouldn’t, however, suggest taking them for a walk in the snow.

Marc Smith is the president and CEO of Marc Smith International LLC. He can be contacted at 866.665.4479, or by e-mail at [email protected].

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No one will argue that the Internet is

a powerful marketing tool. As I walked around the NADA fl oor in New Orleans this year, it was clear that fi nally almost every dealership “gets it.” The number of vendors at NADA with a focus on dealer Web site solutions and Internet-related services was simply overwhelming. Dealers who took their time to get into the Internet game missed several good opportunities, but with the help of some innovative vendors, they are able to catch up now. However, the “wait and see” game that many dealers played with the Internet might not be something they want to do with the next generation of marketing tools.

Today, younger consumers adopt new technology much faster than previous generations. They grew up with the Internet and cell phones, and can’t even imagine a world without SMS text messaging. Dealers who want to thrive can no longer afford to take several years to start using

new innovations. If they miss the “next big thing” this time around, they just might not be around to play catch up.

A customer’s interaction with the dealership in the near future might look like something like this:

Using a smart phone device like Apple’s iPhone, a car shopper will search for available vehicles for sale based on specifi c search criteria. With the help of the built-in geo-location services, the device will quickly display all relevant vehicles near the car shopper’s location. With integrated vehicle history reports, consumer car reviews, and consumer dealer reviews, the car shopper will have all the information they need at their fi ngertips to make a smart choice.

They will compare vehicles and vehicle prices at many dealerships and select just the right one for them. They will chat with multiple dealers, ask questions, and negotiate prices without going to the

AlexBravym

arketing

solu

tion

BEYOND THE WEBdealership itself. A salesperson will be able to walk over to the car of interest and do a live virtual tour for the car shopper. If the shopper is interested further, they will pull up driving directions to the store from their current location, with just a few taps on their smart phone. Before they arrive, they will know more about the car than perhaps even the sales person. They will not be shy to negotiate with other dealerships while sitting in the dealership offi ce and waiting for the sales person to “talk to their manager.” If the process takes too long they just might fi nd a better deal.

Are you ready for the new age? What steps do you need to take to successfully sell to this new breed of car shoppers?

Alex Bravy is the co-founder and vice president of business development for Web2Carz.com. He can be contacted at 866.618.8425, or by e-mail [email protected].


34

LawsonOwensale

s&tr

ain

ing

solu

tion

SPECIALIZATION:The Key to Increased Service Absorption

With crippling sales, revenue and profi ts

plunging to levels rarely seen before, more and more dealerships are looking to the service department to offset declining profi tability. And the reality is that sometime over the next 60-90 days you’ll be asking yourself, ”How can we increase our service absorption?”

Let’s face it: The rules of the game have changed. The goal posts have been moved. Yesterday’s business model isn’t going to succeed in today’s market. If you fail to adapt, your business is going to suffer.

The model of trying to get service writers to be a “jack of all trades” is unreasonable. Service writers are in a “no-win” situation. Their skill set and comfort level is dealing with clients face to face, yet that is less than half of what the position truly requires.

What we really want from our service writers is to process clients in the service drive, do effective walk-arounds (to build rapport and value), up sell, handle incoming service calls, schedule appointments, call back missed appointments, make status call backs, follow up with declined repair orders, motivate delinquencies back into the process and sometimes act as cashier. Please!

As we begin to analyze our service process, we have to ask ourselves, are all these things really happening? Can we improve and, if we did, what would that equate to in dollars and cents.

Over the past three to fi ve years, many have looked to a business development center (BDC) as the solution. I honestly feel that it is, or at least can be, for many organizations. But let’s be honest: Who wants to go out and create a whole new department, hire a new manager, hire three to fi ve reps and hope that this “program” works? I’m guessing not many.

In most cases the solution is already on your payroll. Most organizations already have someone who handles CSI/SSI calls, or handles overfl ow from service writers. This position is normally watered down by assigning the individual with tasks or functions not related to generating service revenue.

They cover for the receptionist while they’re

at lunch; they act as part-time shuttle driver and assigned “administrative” functions like fi ling warranty claims or stuffi ng envelopes for sales.

The position isn’t clearly defi ned. Training and development of the individual is rarely done (who to call, when to call, what to say). Management doesn’t establish a daily level of production or expectation, nor do they hold the person accountable. So inevitably there is little, if any, additional revenue contribution made by this employee. Keep in mind it’s not the employee’s fault. It may not even be management’s fault. It may be the result of an antiquated, ineffective unmanaged process.

Let’s get real here. In order to make it today we have to do more with less. We have to begin to focus on our “profi tability per employee.” Profi t is the end result of strong processes, a process that is implemented and maintained day-in and day-out, not subject to how we feel or what the economy is doing. Don’t over think it, don’t over analyze it; just do it.

Honestly Assess Your Accountability of Incoming Service CallsCan you quantify your current incoming service call volume? If not, why not? Remember, you can’t manage what you can’t measure.

Honestly Assess Your Current Process for Handling Incoming Service Calls Are your service writers handling calls effectively, meaning do they have a 95 percent appointment ratio with a 95 percent show ratio. If not, why not? Is it something additional training can improve, or is it the fact that they are overtaxed and cutting corners.

Honestly Assess Your Proactive Approach to Developing BusinessWith your current staff and process, can you reasonably expect a consistent, effective follow up of missed appointments, declined ROs, service delinquencies, special order parts, CSI calls and recall customers? If the answer is “no,” therein lies the problem. The growth of your service department is going to be found in proactive behavior, and it’s going to be found in the opportunities that are currently being mismanaged due to a lack of process identifi cation and implementation.

Honestly Assess Your Current Training and Development ProcessHave you given your staff the necessary training to develop business proactively? Have you clearly defi ned a daily goal or objective for outbound proactive calls?

Honestly Consider SpecializationWould a dedicated specialist improve your initial response to incoming service calls? Would a specialist free up a service writer to spend more time with customers in the drive, do a better product presentation and create time and opportunity to up sell? Would a specialist with a clearly defi ned process, skill set and organized call campaign schedule drive traffi c to the service drive?

Hopefully by now you’ve come to see that specialization is key to increasing service absorption. Specialization can mean one or two people, ideally already on staff, with the proper training, process and support can begin to drive traffi c to your service lane almost immediately.

The juice is worth the squeeze. It’s not uncommon for service departments to see an almost immediate return on the efforts and activities of specialization:

• 95 percent appointment ratio from incoming service calls

• 95 percent appointment show ratio• 15 percent increase in RO count• $50 increase per RO• Timely turnover of special order parts• Improved CSI

These are just a few of the immediate benefi ts stemming from service specialization. Increasing service absorption will minimize those peaks and valleys most have been experiencing, help offset new car losses and weather these diffi cult times.

It’s not as diffi cult as you may think but you do owe it to yourself and your organization to assess your options, goals, strategies and plans for growing your service absorption.

Contact us at the address below for the free Tip Of the Month: 6 Ways to Fill Your Bays.

Lawson Owen is the managing partner of Proactive Dealer Solutions. He can be contacted at 866.900.8945, or by e-mail at [email protected].

DrakeA.Baerresen

GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE AND SOLD!

marketing

solu

tion

Over the years, those of us in the

auto retail business have seen a wide array of marketing and advertising strategies employed to bring folks in the door. From direct mail pieces that emulate an offi cial state notifi cation to the new online coupons offering a $200 discount if the prospect will only share their name and e-mail address.

We all know shoppers love to get something for free, so for awhile offers were sent out saying come into the dealership you are guaranteed to have won one of three prizes. Prospects came to the showroom and would win an “incredible, heavy duty, safety sealed, matte black, high-intensity fl ashlight!” So what that it cost only 50 cents and broke the fi rst time you dropped it? The event packed the showroom with prospects. Times changed — along came the Internet and new ideas of how to attract customers started to develop. The Internet has certainly been a game changer for many of us, and it forces us stay on our toes and provide the assistance and information online shoppers look for during their research phase.

Let’s take a quick poll. Raise your hand if you or anyone you know have recently started jumping up and down and shouting “yippee” when visiting any Web site? Hmmm, didn’t think so. Don’t misunderstand my feelings about the Web; I spend hours at a time just surfi ng various sites, but it doesn’t invoke the same energy as a live event.

In this period of high technology, we lose track of the fact that we are social creatures, and feed off the energy from those around us. Think about attending a huge concert with thousands of people; you start to pick up on the vibe of the crowd and start chanting or singing along with them. It’s the same thing at a football game or being part of a parade. It’s a feeling and experience that lingers and makes us feel good.

Where am I going with all this? It’s simple: Get thinking about putting on more event-based selling initiatives and bring the excitement of buying a vehicle back to your dealership. Think about auto shows: Isn’t the crowd wild over new vehicles? Aren’t they sitting in them, taking photos, wanting more info about them? Of course they are. It’s about the event. Build on the energy and the anticipation, and create the aura that anything can happen, and then make it happen. It’s a formula for success.

This is what your dealership needs. Work to capture the buyers’ enthusiasm, the excitement of the crowd and the belief that every customer will be getting a great deal on the new or used vehicle of their choice. Have your team put their thinking caps on and start planning your next big event. Come up with a strong theme to base the event around. For football season it could be “The Ultimate Tailgating Party!” Think about other sporting or seasonal activities that might make good themes. Just about any idea is fair game as long as you get fully behind the event, plan every detail in advance and then make sure your team executes fl awlessly to make sure everyone coming on the lot has an amazing experience.

I have an aunt who really likes old furniture and I occasionally accompany her to an Auction House in San Diego. Talk about a crowd getting excited about old knick knacks and antique furniture, this audience gets pumped waiting for the next Hoosier Cabinet to go on the block. Our industry runs on auctions, so why not introduce an auction at your dealership for your customers? Everybody loves the excitement of an auction, and you can leverage the organizations that specialize in helping dealers with these events.

You have probably seen the Barrett Jackson

Auctions on television, and while their audience buying $80,000 collector cars aren’t jumping up and down in their seats, they are still anxious about the bidding, biting their lips and waiting for the gavel to fall. It’s about the anticipation of getting a great deal.

Would you like to create this kind of excitement for your customers? It’s not that hard to do, just make sure all your managers and salespeople understand and really commit to the event and before you know it they will all be really jazzed for the big day.

Then, on the day of the event, make sure your sales team members welcome prospective customers with a hearty and warm meet-and-greet introduction. Be sure to reaffi rm that this auction is indeed a big deal. This validates to the customers that the event is legitimate and builds on the excitement you created in your pre-event auction marketing materials.

You may also want to consider some extra incentives for your salespeople. Maybe put a spiff on each customer a sales person registers for the auction and another spiff for converting a prospect into a demo ride. If you have sales teams, maybe a friendly competition with prizes for winning team members could move them to put a little bit extra into the event. The goals are to build traffi c, increase sales and have fun. Sounds like a solid plan to me.

Drake A. Baerresen is the vice-president of sales and marketing and co-founder of Turn-Key Events. He can be contacted at 866.900.7714, or by e-mail [email protected].


36

SeanStapleton

YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSET? YOUR CUSTOMERS, OF COURSE

marketing

solu

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37

Your dealership is full of assets. Your

vehicle inventory, your computers, your people, even your building and facilities are incredible assets. Do you realize that your most valuable asset isn’t even on your balance sheet? The one true asset that determines your profi tability is your customer base. Especially now, you need to maximize every existing and new customer relationship so they keep coming back to your dealership.

Do you understand where each of your customers are in the sales, service, and F&I lifecycle? We all like to think that we know our customers and what they want at any given time, but marketers are fi nding out that it’s getting more diffi cult.

So, at this point I need to ask, “Do you really know who your customers are?” Now is the perfect time to focus on how to retain more customers and provide them with value throughout their vehicle ownership lifecycle. This can only be accomplished by presenting relevant messaging that matches their needs and preferred communication channel.

Take a quick assessment to confi rm that you are doing things that will help your customer relationships not only today, but in the future. Does the “contact all of your customers in the database” approach reduce your ability to communicate with your best customers in the future? What single message is relevant and valuable to 20,000 customers today? I really can’t think of one single message that all of us would fi nd interesting at any one time. Can you? Non-relevant messaging not only drives customers away, but wastes valuable resources in the process.

See if any of these sound familiar: • Campaign to all your customers

promoting a sale on new pickup trucks, even buyers that just purchased a new truck. Do you think they need a second or third truck right now?

• Service reminders at the wrong time for the wrong make and model. Customers were just in for an oil change within the last month, but you still send them a service notice. Your truck customers come in to redeem an oil change coupon, but are told they do not qualify because they drive a diesel.

• Your e-mail marketing campaign is not performing effectively because you are unable to gather active e-mail addresses or are experiencing an unusually high number of opt-outs.

Most of the time dealers and marketing companies send the wrong message at the wrong time to the wrong customer. I often hear from friends about offers to trade-in their vehicles for a great new model that just hit the streets. The only problem — they sold that vehicle two years ago. The dealer continues to spend money for direct mail pieces. Does that dealer know his customer?

Another example takes a customer with 90,000 miles on their vehicle. Based on the miles and age of the vehicle, you may believe that they want to trade-in, trade-up or trade-out. However, they have said they plan to run that vehicle to 200,000 miles. That customer should be moved from the “upsell to new car” category to a category targeting “high mileage, maintenance and follow ups” specifi c to their model.

It’s important to not only understand where the customer is in their vehicle lifecycle, but also in their personal lifecycles. Stepping back a moment, dealers should ask if they have established more than just a vehicle lifecycle, but a sales lifecycle, an F&I lifecycle, service lifecycle and a goodwill lifecycle. Once this is established, you can create marketing messages relevant to each customer in that segment.

For example, three years ago a high-mileage driver traded in a vehicle with 230,000 miles on it. Now three years into ownership, with only 59,000 miles on the vehicle, they

probably feel their vehicle isn’t even broken in yet. By looking at the customer records and trade-in cycles, the dealer can see that the only times they come in for service are for the big-ticket maintenance items and not the simple tire rotations or other work. By targeting that customer for only the main service items and not the “fl uff” items, you are showing that you understand their needs.

Remember: Your best customer is your competition’s No. 1 target. Do you have a written policy and process about what to market to which customer and when? If not, you should. Start utilizing intelligent membership databases to identify when the best opportunities are to market to various segments of customers. Segmenting your customer base will truly identify the best times to reach out to your customer. With a highly targeted offer, you will bring in the results and the profi tability you want.

In today’s down market, it’s imperative to move from hunting to helping. We all know it costs much more to acquire new customers than it does to market to your existing customers. Regular data updates can reduce marketing wasted dollars and ensure your customers are getting the right offers to help them meet their needs and wants. You will also benefi t by identifying their preferred form of communication. Do your customers prefer phone, direct mail, texting or e-mail?

When was the last time you contacted your customers just to let them know you care? You really didn’t expect anything in return, other than honest feedback.

Value + Relevant Messaging & Offers + Great Service = Loyal Relationships = Profi tability.

Sean Stapleton is the executive vice president of business development for Visible Customer. He can be contacted at 866.406.6337, or by e-mail [email protected].

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