Put an end to the good times.
There is nothing more gratifying than viewing a slick P&L statement. throwing air hoops while leaning back in the chair to celebrate a job well done. Or perhaps you’re looking for a new Rolex to add to your collection online. Everything about this is excellent. It’s great, in fact. The difficulties dealers will experience in the upcoming months are less than ideal. When suppliers rush in with the newest tech devices to help your dealership, it’s a telling indicator. They continue to provide a lot of the same things they have for the past three years. claiming that your dealership wouldn’t be as profitable without their items.
The correct tools must be in place, for sure, but before we can even discuss if the tools providers offer will solve your store’s problems, we must first discuss what those problems are. It goes without saying that the ordinary dealer’s claims are beginning to paint a different picture, one that should cause you to pause before making the decision to purchase that new Rolex.
Let’s not be drawn into the whirling rush of cutting this to save that during that little pause. Instead, let’s examine the problem’s core (which is also an opportunity). It’s best to check that you have the correct personnel around you before making any budget cuts. What use is it to lower prices on goods and services, or all of your advertising budget (my personal favorite), if your teams aren’t functioning properly?
And no, you are not calling your GSM or BD Manager into your office on a whim and telling them to solve the problem. After all, stirring up a commotion among your teams won’t get anything done. Telling someone to fix it could make you feel good at the time, but what exactly are they fixing?
Instead, the focus should be on how they perform in their roles as managers. When did you last take some time to analyze your CRM metrics? When things are going well, it is easy to lose sight of the results, commonly referred to as tunnel vision. It’s critical to constantly monitor how many appointments your employees are creating, how many calls are being answered, and whether or not those appointments are being sold. More importantly, do your teams follow up with unpurchased clients and unsellable leads? There’s a chance that a few clients slipped through the gaps. Something that is simple to do when leads are plentiful and customers are gripped by FOMO. However, there’s no denying that things will become a little more difficult over the next few days, weeks, or months when customers start to have more options and dealers start to advertise on TV.
The time has come to speak with your GSM and BD Managers once you have established your goals or benchmarks. where you can discuss the objectives rather than hammering them with what is or isn’t happening. If the objectives are not being achieved, the topic shifts to how to deal with the fundamental problems. Most likely, the fundamental problems are caused by the Sales Consultants and BD Agents not adhering to a reliable methodology. Everything, from properly returning incoming calls and emails to failing to follow up with consumers who were not sold. The best thing about it all is that nothing needs to be invented from scratch. But when we have to get down to the basics of managing a retail sales business, we present it as some sort of revolutionary change in the industry. But the fundamental aspect, which shouldn’t have changed in the first place, is all that has changed. Have you ever stopped to consider why you are so hard on yourself?
However, I digress. It’s time to assess the tools and resources you’re paying for now that you have a handle on what is or is not happening. It doesn’t make much sense to keep the resources and tools around if they aren’t going to be managed (note that I didn’t mean used!). However, you should keep them if they help your sales process or if they can help your managers control the sales process.
Last but not least, despite the fact that training is frequently left out of budgets or is the first thing to be reduced, it is the single most crucial area for Dealers to continuously work on. The dealers that have kept up with team development over the past three years are far ahead of the competition. A game that, in the near future, has the power to make or break your store. In addition, who wants to sell vehicles in a difficult market while sitting around eating stale cake from the customer lounge?
Therefore, let’s concentrate on what actually counts—our teams—before you throw another air hoop, click “buy now” on the following Rolex, or monogram that new fancy pen. They will only be as competent as we train them to be.
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