Digital Dealer - March 2018 - 14

Continued from pg. 12

DEALERSHIP MANAGEMENT

the sales representatives
basically just reacted to the
direction the prospect took
the call.
 The call quality (systems) was consistent for all
dealers.
 The better-performing
dealers were able to meet
the customers' expectations
and also obtain full contact
information.
 But even in these circumstances, expectations
were not exceeded, merely
met.
 Overall, there appeared to be a lack of
phone call sales strategy
OPINION:

 National averages
SUCK. If the national average is a 45% (out of 100%)
on phone call evaluations
and 55% of this OEM's
dealers (that were mystery
shopped) nationally scored
50%+, that isn't cause to
celebrate. It just proves that
the bar is set so terribly low.
 For the most part,
people were nice on the
phone. They answered the
phone politely. But that isn't
enough. There needs to be
purpose. There needs to be
a strategy.
 There wasn't a beginning, middle and end to the
call, strategically speaking.
The sales reps simply
reacted to the prospect's
direction.
 Most of the dealers
asked about the car but did
not try to further qualify the
prospect and identify his
or her wants, wishes and
expectations.
 Not one of the dealerships ever tried to build
any kind of value. Not one
presented a value package
proposition (why buy from
us).
 The reason why this
is so important is that price
is ONLY relevant with the
absence of value. If you are
14

MARCH 2018

LEARN MORE about how to improve your dealership's performance by attending the

Digital Dealer 24 session, "Blueprinting a High-Functioning (and Profitable) Internet
Dealership... NOT a Department," presented by Sean V. Bradley, CSP.
This session will help you to understand how a high-functioning internet dealership
should encompass both the internet side of the business / BDC AND the showroom
with an ecosystem where each works with the other synergistically.

trying to get an internet
prospect or a phone up
to commit to an appointment, you MUST build
VALUE. If you want to
get more appointments
to actually show up,
then there needs to be a
reason why they actually
show up. Dealers need to
create value and differentiate themselves from the
competition.
The average prospect
visits approximately 10
dealerships or websites
before they step foot into
a dealership. But the average in-market buyer visits
ONLY 1.2 dealerships! So,
the idea is dealers must
be exceptional in converting that phone or internet opportunity into an
appointment and that appointment into an in-store
visit, and then, if they are
an actual qualified buyer,
the vast majority will buy a
vehicle.
 Not one of the dealerships even attempted to
T.O. the call to someone
of high experience level.
EMAIL
PERFORMANCE:

66% of dealers ranked
higher than the national
average.
Dealer Performance
(40% national average).
 25% of the emails
scored 50%+ (highest
score was 63%). The key
differences for these email
responses were quickness, internet pricing and
email strategy/video.
 62% of the emails
scored between 40% and
49%.

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

 The lowest-scoring
emails had response
times >1 hours and almost
no email content.
OBSERVATIONS

 All emails had acceptable tech formats.
 Almost all emails did
not include testimonials,
next steps, auto response
or salesperson bio.
 With the exception of
one dealer who provided
a video, all the other dealers did not provide any
compelling reasons to buy
or a sense of urgency.
 Only three emails
had any pricing info.
 The majority of
responses were within 15
minutes.
OPINION:

 Email is one of the
most common forms of
communication but it is
by far the least valuable.
Only 6% of communication is text or the words
we use. 38% is tone and
inflection and 55% is visual perception and body
language.
 There should be an
escalation protocol. Email
should ONLY sell the
phone call, video communication, CoVideo, Apple
Facetime, Skype, Zoom,
etc. Those communications should ONLY sell
the APPOINTMENT, and
the appointment is used
to build value, build a
relationship and SPOT the
vehicle.
 The vast majority of
the emails were basic text
email templates which
probably haven't been updated in almost a decade.

Same basic message with
very little escalation strategy, and very little calls to
action.
 There should be a
complete overhaul on
email templates and CRM
action plans for that matter.
 Email templates
should be diversified. In
addition to text templates,
there should be some
HTML or graphic templates
but there should ABSOLULTEY be a complete
LIBRARY of video email
templates. Video increases
read open rates by 300%!
I will break down the
next four KPIs and give a
summary assessment of
the entire national mystery
shop evaluation in next
month's article. However,
if you have any questions
about this article or if you
would like to see the evaluation forms we created
or have me mystery shop
your dealership (for free)
send me an email at
seanb@dealersynergy.com.
SEAN V. BRADLEY, CSP is
an entrepreneur, published
author, speaker, and awardwinning international trainer.
He is an eight-time NADA/
ATD convention speaker and
a FranklinCovey Certified
Facilitator. He has earned the
coveted "CSP" designation
in the National Speakers
Association. Sean is also a
member of the elite "Million
Dollar Speakers Group" in
the NSA, as well as a State
Association Speaker and
Trainer. He has spoken at
over 217 NCM and NADA 20
Groups. Sean has personally
trained 25,000+ automotive
sales professionals in 1,100
unique rooftops. EMAIL:
seanb@dealersynergy.com
http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - March 2018
