tina bauman may 2005 university of st. thomas waking up dormant dealers

Tina BaumanMay 2005

University of St. Thomas

Waking Up Dormant Dealers

Situation

Interest: Need to generate sales volume

Issue: Approx. 20% of dealers never activate Reason for lack of business is unknown

“Companies can become like a bucket with a hole in the bottom: their customers drain away but the company managers, instead of concentrating on fixing the hole, devote resources to pouring more and more new customers into the top.” (Hill & Alexander, 2000)

Research Question

Do dealers become dormant because they are dissatisfied with GE’s services?

Methodology

Mailed a survey to 218 dormant dealers – Enrolled but have not submitted business– 23 Likert scale & open-ended questions– Incentive: drawing for one of ten

$25 Gift Cheques Response rate 24%

Possible Reasons for Dormancy

– Enrollment process

– Marketing materials

– Sales interaction

– Customer service

– Training

– Method of communication

– Financing program

Sample Survey Questions

How satisfied were you with the length of the enrollment process?

How satisfied were you with the amount of contact made by your GE Salesperson?

Satisfaction Results

Satisfied to Very Satisfied

38%

50%

66%

67%

67%

69%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Salesperson contacts

Salesperson knowledge

Arrival of materials

Courtesy of sales staff

Materials explain process

Overall financing program

Asp

ects

Percent of responses

Why Dealers Are Not Using GE

6

4

3 3

2

1

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Oth

er

pro

gra

ms

mo

rea

ttra

ctiv

e

No

de

ma

nd

To

oe

xpe

nsi

ve

Diff

icu

lt to

un

de

rsta

nd

Co

mp

lex

ap

plic

atio

np

roce

ss

La

te a

rriv

al

of m

ate

ria

ls

Nu

mb

er

of

res

po

ns

es

Training Results

Will training influence program participation?

No32%

No Answer

16%

Yes52%

Training Results

Preferred Methods of Training

19

10 10 10 95

0

5

10

15

20

TrainingHandbook

Internet Session w/Sales

CD Rom Video Phone

Methods of Training

Res

po

nse

s

Do dealers become dormant because they are dissatisfied with GE’s services?

YES

Recommendations Develop a dealer training program Increase contacts/information by

sales team Compare GE and competitors’

financing programs

Questions?

Waking Up Dormant Dealers Tina Bauman