Since the first dealership opened in 1898, the environment has gone through levels of consistent change yet in many ways, some patterns and processes have remained the same. Call it a “presence of conflict”. Some of these patterns resonate a high level of stagnant behavior. The true effectiveness of day to day operations at a dealership must change!
With the Dealership Alchemy series, we will teach you how to transform every aspect of your dealership to meet modern expectations – and transmute your old and stagnant leads into gold.
Session 1: Evolving the Sales Associate Role
What’s in a Sales Assiociate? Today, successful sales associates are forward thinking, engaging in a daily work routine that ensures productive use of their entire work day. They immerse themselves in knowledge of both the products and of the customers, and employ a blended vision of both the sales and service departments, so that the invisible wall between sales and service melts away, and a sales lead that goes “cold” becomes a viable service lead instead. This, along with many other insights, will assist you in rethinking the way you define the role of a sales associate, utilizing their knowledge and experience so that their influence draws more customers to your dealership for more reasons than just to buy a new car.
Outcomes:
- How to build a productive daily process
- Establishing an effective plan for sold customer retention
- Utilizing Your Circle of Influence
- How to conquer and prioritize communication skills
Session 2: Building a Better Sales Manager
A flaw in our history of auto dealerships has been the selection process of many managers. Too often, managers begin as salespeople, and are promoted to management roles based upon their ability to sell cars. Unfortunately, this leads to managers who adopt the role of a conqueror – when what is required for the role is a nurturer. An effective sales manager is a manager of people – both salespeople and customers.
An effective manager will hire, train, motivate, and carefully nurture successful salespeople through constant contact and encouragement, while also nurturing customer relationships by way of visibility, availability, transparency, and consistency. A good manager is an integral part of the sales process from beginning to end, making real human connections with both the sales staff and their customers.
In this session, we challenge you to rethink what you believe makes a good sales manager at a dealership, and transform your approach to filling and training this vital role.
Outcomes:
- Key steps to develop people and not just revenue
- Establish open door to encourage interaction
- Powerful daily one on one’s
- How to attract and retain sales team members
Session 3: A New Kind of Service Advisor
The squeaky wheel gets the grease… the service advisor at a dealership often concerns themselves with serving the customers they have on hand – those who come in, those who make appointments, and those who call. These are customers who are meticulous about maintenance, customers who have vehicle problems, and customers who have a unique service need that only the dealership service department can fulfill. Once the wall between sales and service has been dissolved, it is time to discard the squeaky wheel strategy, and bring the role of the Service Advisor into the new dealership paradigm.
Today’s service advisor should be a constant, proactive force in their customers’ lives – making contact 30, 45, and 90 days after the sale to provide wellness checks and begin booking future regular maintenance visits. The conscientious service advisor checks in with customers 24 hours prior to an appointment, and 24 hours after, and between visits takes an active role in the ongoing maintenance of the customers’ vehicles. In this session, we will help you to mold a new service advisor for a new kind of service department – one that is integrated with the sales process, a vital part of your dealership’s total customer experience.
Outcomes
- Establishing a new set of information gathering practices
- How to reach out to current customer household drivers
- Open mind to shared vision of sales with service
- Proactive steps to control future service needs
Session 4: Customer Care Reinvented
Your dealership’s lead sources are like the spokes of a wheel: Internet leads, phone leads, sold customers, service customers, equity customers, lease renewals, referrals… each of the spokes in this wheel is an opportunity for your dealership, and they all meet at a singular hub: Your customer care department.
Often called BDC, your more aptly titles BDC team is much more than a way to follow up on internet leads. Customer Care at the modern dealership should be integrated with every aspect of the dealership, working closely with all departments, and working with all kinds of customers and leads. An effective customer care team member is the glue that holds the successful dealership together – or, to use an alchemy term, they are the Philosopher’s Stone by which you will turn lead(s) into pure gold.
Outcomes:
- How to outline a blended role of sales and service
- 90 day continue contact methods for improved retention
- Self generating 30% of daily opportunities
- Establishing the necessary daily appointment level to meet dealership sales and service needs