‘we can’t afford one’ which ends up costing 20-30 times as much money as a well trained, well managed receptionist could help to generate. |
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From about 7 am - 5 pm weekdays, most of the calls into the dealership are for
departments other than sales. During those hours, you have a receptionist to
answer that call and transfer it to Parts, so they can try to sell that $9.95 cup holder,
and calls to Service, so they can sell that $200 R.O.
But then at night and on weekends, when all of the calls are about buying a car and
with a minimum of $2,000 profit (or more) on the line, too many dealerships send
their receptionist home, because it’s too expensive to keep them. That means they
leave the job of answering phones, taking messages and paging people up to a
salesperson, manager or the porter.
It wouldn’t be too bad if the calls were handled correctly, but we all know they aren’t.
When salesperson Bill answers the phone and it’s for John, we both know Bill doesn’
t try too hard to get the information John will need to call them back.
In fact, since it’s John’s customer, Bill rushes through the call so he can get back
outside, so he doesn’t miss an ‘up’. And when he sees John later, he’s likely to say,
“Some guy called for you before, but wouldn’t leave his name.”
departments other than sales. During those hours, you have a receptionist to
answer that call and transfer it to Parts, so they can try to sell that $9.95 cup holder,
and calls to Service, so they can sell that $200 R.O.
But then at night and on weekends, when all of the calls are about buying a car and
with a minimum of $2,000 profit (or more) on the line, too many dealerships send
their receptionist home, because it’s too expensive to keep them. That means they
leave the job of answering phones, taking messages and paging people up to a
salesperson, manager or the porter.
It wouldn’t be too bad if the calls were handled correctly, but we all know they aren’t.
When salesperson Bill answers the phone and it’s for John, we both know Bill doesn’
t try too hard to get the information John will need to call them back.
In fact, since it’s John’s customer, Bill rushes through the call so he can get back
outside, so he doesn’t miss an ‘up’. And when he sees John later, he’s likely to say,
“Some guy called for you before, but wouldn’t leave his name.”
Copyright© 2008-2011 Automotive Dealers Network. All rights reserved.
| By Joe Verde President Joe Verde Sales & Management Training email: jverde@automotivedealersnetwork.com |
Joe Verde holds workshops across North America and pioneered Virtual
Training with JVTN®. Mr. Verde is the author of “A Dealer’s Guide To
Recovery & Growth”, “How To Sell A Car And Close The Sale Today”
and publishes two monthly newsletters; “For All Managers In Sales” and
“Selling Cars Today”. Joe Verde Sales & Management Training, Inc.,
founded in 1985 with corporate offices in Southern California and
Dallas, Texas, is consistently rated the number one automotive sales
and management training company in North America with its focus on
leadership, management and sales training for dealerships, dealer
groups and manufacturers. Learn more at www.joeverde.com | www.jvtn.
com
Training with JVTN®. Mr. Verde is the author of “A Dealer’s Guide To
Recovery & Growth”, “How To Sell A Car And Close The Sale Today”
and publishes two monthly newsletters; “For All Managers In Sales” and
“Selling Cars Today”. Joe Verde Sales & Management Training, Inc.,
founded in 1985 with corporate offices in Southern California and
Dallas, Texas, is consistently rated the number one automotive sales
and management training company in North America with its focus on
leadership, management and sales training for dealerships, dealer
groups and manufacturers. Learn more at www.joeverde.com | www.jvtn.
com
Help your salespeople sell more cars with Joe Verde’s latest book, “Earn Over $100,000 Selling Cars – Every Year.” Go
to www.joeverde.com to get a free PDF or order a free soft cover book.
to www.joeverde.com to get a free PDF or order a free soft cover book.
| We Can't Afford a Receptionist |
An answering machine would get more names, numbers, appointments and some
sort of a message than most of your salespeople and managers do on these calls.
You should deliver 1 out of every 5 sales calls (20% is just average, not great). With
an average gross of $2,000, that means every single incoming sales call is worth
$400 in gross profit (20% of $2,000). Unfortunately, right now, the typical
dealership only sells 4% of the calls they get, not 20%.
It shouldn’t take a math pro to figure out it’s less expensive to hire a receptionist for
nights and weekends and less expensive or us to train your salespeople to handle
the calls, than it is to lose a sale every day and $50,000 per month.
Tip: Use the ‘Phone & Internet Training’ on JVTN® to ‘certify’ your salespeople
before they can take incoming sales calls (or work Internet leads) and you’ll see an
immediate ROI.
sort of a message than most of your salespeople and managers do on these calls.
- Mishandled Sales Calls Cost A Typical
(100 Unit) Dealership $50,000+ Per Month!
You should deliver 1 out of every 5 sales calls (20% is just average, not great). With
an average gross of $2,000, that means every single incoming sales call is worth
$400 in gross profit (20% of $2,000). Unfortunately, right now, the typical
dealership only sells 4% of the calls they get, not 20%.
- If you sell 100 units, you get about 150 calls and deliver only
5 or 6. That means you miss 20 to 25 easy sales per month.
It shouldn’t take a math pro to figure out it’s less expensive to hire a receptionist for
nights and weekends and less expensive or us to train your salespeople to handle
the calls, than it is to lose a sale every day and $50,000 per month.
Tip: Use the ‘Phone & Internet Training’ on JVTN® to ‘certify’ your salespeople
before they can take incoming sales calls (or work Internet leads) and you’ll see an
immediate ROI.
TM
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