October
2007
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Hello,
My
name is Andrew Kiely, and I am proud to introduce myself as the new Director of
Training and Development for Dealership Development.
I
was recruited for my 17 years of experience in dealership sales and sales
management to assist our dealer partners with all of their
training needs. Our
training programs will encompass service, sales, F&I development and
customized in-dealership training programs.
Dealership
Development has an 18-year track record in the Midwest of increasing dealer net
F&I profits while building and maintaining the overall compliance of the
dealership.
As
you begin to do business with Dealership Development, you will find that all of
our training revolves around our main philosophy of “Consultative Selling.”
We
pride ourselves on our ability to teach your dealership personnel to create a
relaxed and trusting environment before any sales process begins.
Before
any of our sales techniques can be effective, your sales staff must first
establish themselves as a friend and consultant. We view our consultative
selling philosophy as the “glue”
that holds all of the word tracks
and sales techniques together. I am proud to present our first “Consultative
Selling” newsletter. I am going to start with a few thoughts or tips on
increasing
the success and retention of the
heart and soul of any dealership: The Sales Staff
We all want our sales staff to succeed and so do they. However, in many situations we have not outlined what their responsibilities are, only the expectations.
We talk about closing percentages, gross average, volume, etc. While it is important to share goals and expectations with your sales staff, it is not a job description.
I believe this limited direction leads to misdirected energy and ultimately lost sales, lower grosses and increased salesperson turnover.
Before we discuss a job description for your sales staff, the most important step to teach any salesperson is to make friends with the potential customer first.
Create a relaxed and trusting environment. According to
industry statistics, “71% when surveyed said they bought their vehicle
where they did because
they liked,
trusted and felt comfortable with the salesperson.”
Here is a simple
three-part job description for any staff.
1.) Find a Car
This is done by investigation. It is the salespersons job to find out:
· Who will be the primary driver?
· What is the motivation for getting the new vehicle?
· Where will they use it?
· When will they need it?
· Why they should own this vehicle now?
2.) Find a Commitment
This is an agreement wherein the buyer expresses the desire to own the vehicle based on what it will do for them when they own it.
It is at this point if handled wrong that we tend to start selling price because we do not understand the customer’s buying motivation.
3.) Find a Manager
As a condition of employment, it is imperative that 100% of the customers are turned over 100% of the time. Whether they purchase a vehicle or not,
no one ever got insulted
because they were so important they got to meet the boss.
National statistics
show the top reasons for employee turnover are: 1. Limited opportunity for advancement 2. Lack of training 3. Poor compensation 4. Negative work environment Now, how does this relate to your dealership? We all know
that opportunity abounds in the automotive industry, but does your sales
staff? Are they aware of the income potential available to
them? Have you created a positive environment that encourages growth? Most importantly, do you offer quality training for
your sales staff? Dealership
Development believes a big part of the success of your employee is
determined by the quality of your training processes and continuing
education. How to Reinforce
the Importance of Training In today’s market of the more educated consumer and
the internet it is more important than ever for a salesperson to be
thoroughly and professionally trained. This requires a commitment to training, starting at
the top. Take training seriously. If you don’t put training
first your employees won’t. Get excited. Hire someone who is enthusiastic about
training or your employee won’t be enthusiastic about training. Enforce the process. Every week professional sport
teams practice their plays over and over because the coach knows that is what they need
to succeed, and your business is no different. Let employees know what is expected. You must be very
clear with your expectations. Inspect what you expect. It is necessary for your
manager to inspect what is expected. Then the employee will begin to hold
themselves accountable. Deliver continuous training. Salespeople can be
discouraged if they are not afforded ongoing training and support. Cross train, use a formal classroom setting, as well
as one-on-one
talking and role-playing. The army has boot camp
and professional sport teams report to spring training every year. This is
done to create a foundation to build off of in the future. Dealership Development Sales Certification Program
takes this into account and addresses the continued need of consistent and
well-defined training with critical one-on-one
follow-up. I encourage you to make the commitment to ongoing training. You
can’t afford not to. How much money are you wasting if your team isn’t
prepared? Quoting Payments Your sales managers and business managers need to
work together to maximize profits and remain compliant. Unfortunately, many of the desking managers I’ve met
are unaware of compliance issues. In fact, many managers when quoting payments still
use the old method of payment packing. Payment packing is defined as
quoting a payment to a
customer with anything other than the vehicle included in the payment.
Excessive rate can also be considered to be payment packing. Payment packing has been used for many years as a
method when quoting payments to increase the potential profit on a
transaction. However, payment packing has drawn the attention of
private practice attorneys and states’ Attorneys General. For those dealers
who still practice payment packing this could be a costly mistake. The common misperception is that profits will
decrease if payments are quoted compliantly. Nothing could be further from
the truth. A dealer can maintain or increase profits and
still be compliant. How? Through developing written payment quoting
policies that require dealership employees to utilize a payment quoting rate chart on every customer. Each payment quote
from the payment quoting chart contains two points of rate (or amount over
buy rate that your finance companies will allow). Menu Selling As I meet different finance managers, I have come to
find that many finance managers if not most use the menu to simply pacify
the dealer, not really understanding the
psychology behind the menu. Understanding how and why to use the menu is
probably more important than the word tracks everyone teaches. Below is an
explanation of how to understand the psychology behind the menu. With menu selling as it was originally intended, the
selling doesn’t end with the first no – that’s where it begins. In fact,
the initial menu presentation is set up to allow specific customer profiles to get the
no off his or her chest. These customer types
rarely listen to the initial presentation due to the no preoccupation. The
customer’s anxiety along with the anticipated confrontational response from the F&I manager will
often filter out key points of the initial sales pitch. Once the no is out
and the manager casually acknowledges the declination without
confrontation, the customer is much more
likely to be open to follow-up. With a more relaxed customer, we’re in a
much better position to engage them in an informative exchange on our
products. Many business managers think the menu replaces step
selling. This couldn’t be further from the truth. When presented properly,
the menu introduces all the products the dealership wants to sell in a non-confrontational manner
and sets up a relaxed environment for the business manager to step sell
each product to the customer. Menu selling is designed to be
non-confrontational, but it is not designed to be low pressure. The right
training teaches a manager how to apply the needed pressure without
upsetting or alienating the customer.
“We have always demanded
complete compliance and the highest of ethical standards from our F&I
departments. Thanks to Dealership Development’s training and compliance programs
we have been able to consistently achieve $1,000 per retail while maintaining
these high standards.”
- Richard Fisher, The Autobarn Group
#1 Volkswagen Dealer in
Illinois
#1 Mazda Dealer in
Illinois
“Your installation of your
selling menu system has brought our F&I profits to
an all-time high and has helped ensure our F&I Department is compliant with
the Attorney General Office.”
- Joe Massarelli, Liberty
Auto City
Chrysler, Jeep, Mazda,
Hyundai, Suzuki, Subaru