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1 Prospecting: 25 Ways to Create New Customer Showroom Appointments Effective prospecting will help mid-level performers increase 2-3 units per month With Bill Forbes Sales Trainer and Consultant, Former Award-Winning Chevrolet Dealer Moderated By Mike Bowers Executive Editor, DealersEdge Thursday, March 24, 2011 1 – 2:30pm ET Bill Forbes Sales Trainer and Consultant, Former Award-Winning Chevrolet Dealer Bill Forbes Chevrolet Chrysler Jeep Dodge Bill Forbes started in the car business in 1978 as a car salesman at Royal Oldsmobile in Charleston, West Virginia. At that time, the Key-Royal chain of dealerships was one of the largest in the country, and offered an extensive training program in automotive sales and management. In July of 1979, he was offered the position of Used Car Manager of Bob Robinson Chevrolet in his hometown of New Martinsville, West Virginia, and accepted it. In 1981, he was made General Manager, and in 1985, at the age of 29, purchased the dealership from his employer, Bob Robinson. The dealership then became Bill Forbes Chevrolet-Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge. Since 1985, the dealership has acquired another location and franchise, Jeep, and has grown to over 50 employees.

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Prospecting: 25 Ways to Create New Customer Showroom Appointments

Effective prospecting will help mid-level performers increase 2-3 units per month

WithBill Forbes

Sales Trainer and Consultant, Former Award-Winning Chevrolet Dealer Moderated ByMike Bowers

Executive Editor, DealersEdge

Thursday, March 24, 20111 – 2:30pm ET

Bill ForbesSales Trainer and Consultant, Former Award-Winning Chevrolet Dealer Bill Forbes Chevrolet Chrysler Jeep Dodge Bill Forbes started in the car business in 1978 as a car salesman at Royal Oldsmobile in Charleston, West Virginia. At that time, the Key-Royal chain of dealerships was one of the largest in the country, and offered an extensive training program in automotive sales and management. In July of 1979, he was offered the position of Used Car Manager of Bob Robinson Chevrolet in his hometown of New Martinsville, West Virginia, and accepted it. In 1981, he was made General Manager, and in 1985, at the age of 29, purchased the dealership from his employer, Bob Robinson. The dealership then became Bill Forbes Chevrolet-Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge. Since 1985, the dealership has acquired another location and franchise, Jeep, and has grown to over 50 employees.

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PROSPECTING, OR ‘CUSTOMER FARMING’: THE MOST NEGLECTED STEP IN ‘THE ROAD TO A SALE’

“Forbes on Car Sales”

Bill Forbes11601 108th Place NorthLargo, Florida 33778

304-815-3364

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What We Have Learned To Accept

Dealers have lowered their expectations of salespeople prospecting and no longer hold sales managers accountable to make sure that it gets done

Sales managers have given up on salespeople doing daily, consistent prospecting

Consequently, many salespeople stare out showroom windows waiting for the dealer to ‘feed them’, just like the ‘pelicans of Monterey’!

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How To Foster An Environment That Promotes ProspectingYou Must Change Your Dealership’s Culture! . . . Why?

You will get a better quality ‘up’ in through your door!

Your salesperson turnover will be reduced!Why can’t dealerships keep new salespeople? . . . Prospecting is a way for your ‘green peas’ to get their fair share of business!

It will keep your sales people busy, reducing the ‘malaise’ and poor self-image that results from staring out the showroom window all day!

Most importantly – my goal is not to teach you how to keep your salespeople busier – my goal is to teach you how to teach your salespeople to sell more vehicles!

More Sales = More Money = Happy Salespeople!As your dealership culture changes and your daily appointments

continue to grow, you will be able to reduce your advertising expense!

Total Advertising Spent By Number of New Units Sold

$0$100,000$200,000$300,000$400,000$500,000$600,000$700,000$800,000

1-149

150-399

400-749

750 or more

Average of AllDealerships

$171,048

$376,576

$701,061

$89,749

$292,010

Monthly Average: $7,479 $14,254 $31,381 $58,421 $24,334

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$0$100$200$300$400$500$600$700$800$900

Total advertising per newvehicle sold

$842

$638 $544

$426

$661

1 – 149 150 – 399 400 – 749 750 or moreAverage of all dealerships

Total Advertising Per New Vehicle Sold

1. You must begin to ‘manage’ your dealership’s daily sales appointments!

Managing Prospecting

Potential Prospecting Gross 10 Salespeoplex 4 Appointments40 ÷ 2 (half don’t show)

= 20x .30 Closing ratio

6 Sales Per DayX 2500 Gross Profit

= $15,000 Day ‘prospecting’ Gross!

Monthly Scheduled Appointment Goal

10 Salespeoplex 20 Working Days200x 2 Scheduled Appointments400 Scheduled Appointments per Month

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Managing Prospecting1. You must begin to ‘manage’ your dealerships daily sales appointments!

2. ‘Spiff’ your sales manager on appointments and he/she will make sure that everyone is prospecting!

3. The sales manager(s) must take the time to INDIVIDUALLY meet with each salesperson to review their prospecting methods and results.

4. Recognize top performing prospectors in sales meetings!5. The dealer must ‘inspect what you expect’! As soon as each sales meeting is over, you must ask the sales manager how many scheduled sales appointments there are for that day. At the end of the day, you must ask how many of the appointments showed up, and how many were sold. Compare the appointment list with your traffic log EVERY DAY!

Convincing Your Salespeople Of The Value Of Prospecting To Them1. Incoming showroom floor traffic is “open game”

2. Incoming showroom floor traffic is ‘unscheduled’

3. The ‘closing ratio’, or percentage chance that you will sell a vehicle to someone, is approximately 20% for ‘walk-in’ showroom traffic, and is as high as 50% for scheduled appointments4. Most importantly, you will not be able to make the kind of money that you’re probably expecting to make in the car business if you totally rely on showroom traffic!

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“What I Need To Do To Achieve My Goals”1. Desired Monthly Income2. Average Commission P.U.S.3. Number of Monthly Sales Needed

(Desired monthly income divided by average commission P.RU.S.)4. Number of Customers “CLOSED” Needed to Attain Monthly Sales Goal

(number of monthly sales needed x 1.33%)5. Closing Ratio (customers “sold” divided by customers assisted)6. Number of Customers I Must Assist Per Month in Order to Hit My Goal

(number of sales needed divided by closing ratio %)7. Average Number of Walk-In Customers I Get Per Month

(daily average x number of working days)8. Number of Customers I Must Attract In Order to Hit My Sales & Income

Objectives9. Daily Number of Customers I Must Attract In Order to Hit My Sales & Income

Objectives (20 average working days)10. Today’s Appointments:

__________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________

When you get 4 appointments, you’re done! (No matter how quickly you got them!)

$5,000$35014

1820%

90

50

40

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Will PurchaseRich Feller Justin Time

Lisa Carr

The Required Attitude For Prospecting

The Art of Searching For Something of Value

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How ‘Prospecting’ differs from ‘selling’:In selling, we assume that everyone who comes on the lot can buy. In prospecting, we make no such assumption.

When selling, you shouldn’t take ‘no’ easily. In prospecting, you should.

Prospectors should not be concerned as much with ‘making people interested’ as they should be in ‘finding people who are interested’.

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“How can you be so happy while shoveling horse manure?”

“With All This Crap, There’s Got to be a Pony in Here Somewhere!”

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“Customer Farming”The average salesperson talks to 2.4 people per working day, and that’s not enough! You must wait on at least 4 people per day in order to be successful!

Prospecting Methods

Disclaimer: SOME OF THESE METHODS REQUIRE SOME GOOD, OLD-FASHIONED HARD WORK!

WARNING

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Prospecting Methods“work smart first; work hard second”

1. Prospect out of your dealership’s body shop.

Body shops are the first to know whose vehicle has been “totaled” by any insurance company and therefore who will be looking for a replacement for their wrecked vehicle.Many people whose vehicle has been seriously damaged but not “totaled” will not want to keep it because they feel that it will ‘never be the same’ and because of the waiting time in getting it back.Rental Expense.

Sometimes a customer can receive more on trade by combining their insurance check with the salvage or ‘cash’ value of their wrecked car than if their car had never been wrecked!

Prospecting Methods2. Prospect out of your dealership’s service department.

Remember: you’re talking to people who already trust your dealership enough to do business with you, and most franchises have at least a 60% owner loyalty percentage!

“Suppose we could pay enough for your car to make buying a newer one fit your budget – you’d at least have to consider it, wouldn’t you?”

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Prospecting Methods3. Prospect out of your dealership’s customer waiting area.

Prospecting Methods3. Prospect out of your dealership’s customer waiting area.

“I’m supposed to walk my inventory every day in order to familiarize myself with it – would you mind going out and walking the inventory with me just to kill some time?” Remember, these are people that have already trusted your dealership enough to spend money with you, they probably have franchise loyalty, and they’re a captive audience!

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Prospecting Methods4. Call individuals in the classified section of the newspaper and in auto trader publications that have vehicles listed for sale. I consider this to be the easiest way to find customers who are in the market NOW !

“If you sell your vehicle, you’ll be replacing it with another, won’t you?”

“Have you considered selling your car to a car dealer?”

“If you would purchase a replacement vehicle from us in stock, perhaps we could allow you more on trade-in. You would be interested in doing that, wouldn’t you?”

3 Reasons People Sell Their Vehicles Themselves Rather Than Trading It In:1. A “weak” salesperson told them to, because they were afraid to give them a trade-in figure after hearing

What the customer wanted for it, orHow much they owed on it

2. They have always heard or been told since they were “knee-high to a grasshopper” that “you’re better off if you sell your vehicle yourself”.3. They can’t afford the payments on their present vehicle, and don’t realize that they can ‘trade down’ with a dealer and immediately lower their payments.

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Five Reasons It’s a ‘Hassle’ For Them to Sell Their Own Vehicle

1. At least 6 out of 10 customers have a trade-in, which your customer won’t be able to “take in” as payment.2. Many customers have tarnished credit, and as an individual private seller, you don’t have the ability to assist them in obtaining financing.3. You can tell a customer until you’re ‘blue in the face’ that a sale is “as is”, but if something goes wrong with the vehicle some time after you sell it, the customer will think that you knew about the problem and didn’t tell them.4. Many states give tax credit towards the purchase price for the amount of the trade-in allowance.

Ask your customer, “Did you know that you have a ‘built-in tax credit’ if you sell your car to a dealer?”

5. Dealers are able to market your vehicle much better than you are.

“. . . therefore, we may well be able to give you what you want for your vehicle!”

“If I could make you an acceptable offer on your car, you would at least consider it, wouldn’t you?”

Three Other Ways to Utilize This Phenomenal, Inexpensive Tool to Prospect:

1. People selling their vehicle because they can’t afford the payments on it usually don’t realize that they can actually ‘trade down’, or purchase something less expensive than what they’re trading in, and lower their payments while selling, or disposing of their vehicle immediately!

Three immediate advantages of this for your customer:1. Timing and Convenience2. Lowering Their Payment!3. Tax Credit!

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2. If you have another customer who has been looking for a vehicle similar to what your customer has advertised in a trade publication, ask the customer with the advertised car if they will leave it at the dealership for an afternoon or evening while you show it to your prospective buyer.

“If we sell your car to the other customer - contingent, of course, on your approval - then it will be a ‘win-win’ situation in which you’ll be getting the maximum price for your car, and will be getting tax credit for selling it to us as well!”

Three Other Ways to Utilize This Phenomenal, Inexpensive Tool to Prospect:

3. Approach customers in trade publications who are selling ‘other related merchandise’ such as atv’s, motorcycles, boats, campers, etc. as to whether or not they would consider trading the item in to a dealer.

Then sell them on the 5 reasons why it’s better to sell to a dealer than to sell to an individual, and show them something in stock to purchase with their new-found money!

Three Other Ways to Utilize This Phenomenal, Inexpensive Tool to Prospect:

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Prospecting Methods5. Develop “Bird Dogs” or People of Influence Who Will Direct You to Prospects or Actually Bring Them In to See You and Buy a Vehicle.

Prospecting Methods6. Your Manufacturer’s Captive Finance Source Will Periodically Send Your Dealership a List of Your Dealership’s Lease or Loan Portfolio Which Will Show You When Individual Leases or Loans Will Mature.The quality of these leads is outstanding, as these are customers who:

1. Have made their payments on time2. Presently own your dealerships product3. Have equity4. Have trusted your dealership with their money before

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Prospecting Methods7. Post a “car/truck” leaflet on the bulletin boards of restaurants, company bulletin boards, and public bulletin boards that says the following: “Looking for a particular new or used car or truck?”

Once the customer contacts you, you can meet their needs in one of three ways.

1. Notify them as to the closest match you have to their request in inventory.

2. Locate their vehicle for them, utilizing auction pre-sale lists, condition reports, to pre-sell the vehicle to them.

3. Look in trade publications to see if you can locate a vehicle similar to what your customer has requested.

Prospecting Methods8. After your customer has completed all of their paperwork and has paid for their vehicle, ask them who they know that might be interested in their trade-in or any other new or used car or truck.

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Prospecting Methods9. Consistently contact your owners to make sure that they are completely satisfied with the vehicle that you sold them, and the service that they have received on it.“By the way, I never asked, how many drivers are there in your family? How many vehicles do you all have? Of the drivers in your family, who will be next in line for a new or pre-owned vehicle? Will that be soon, or sometime in the future?”

Prospecting Methods10. “Ticketing” vehicles that you see in the parking lots that have great eye appeal and look like they would sell fast on your dealership’s lot.

“Please call me about your car”“If we could pay you what you want for your vehicle, and could show you a newer replacement vehicle that you could buy under your terms, you’d at least have to consider it, wouldn’t you?”

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Prospecting Methods11. Contact your dealership’s ‘orphan owners’ to let them know that you will be taking care of their account. And first see if there is anything you can answer or do for them in order to insure their total customer satisfaction.

Prospecting Methods12. “LOT PROSPECTING”

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Prospecting Methods13. Call and ask present owners, or someone who has expressed interest in trading “in 3 or 4 months”, to assist you in ordering a vehicle for stock.

Prospecting Methods14. Go see one of your owners per day with a ‘niche’ pre-owned vehicle and ask them,

“Who do you know, perhaps a family member, friend, or someone that you work with, that might be interested in this vehicle? We just got it in on trade, and I wanted you to be the first one to get a shot at it. This car won’t be in stock long!”

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Prospecting Methods15. When you get a certain type of vehicle in, call one of your owners who bought one quite similar to it and ask them,

“Has anyone ever asked you where you got your vehicle, and said that they wish that they had one just like it?”

Prospecting Methods16. Develop a ‘Master File’ that consists of friends, family, acquaintances, previous co-workers, church members, etc., and compose and send out a “newsletter” to everyone in your ‘Master File’.

Keep your newsletter simple by including a joke, a quote, and a ‘car of the week’.

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Prospecting Methods17. Develop your own form of internet “social prospecting”

Prospecting Methods18. Go and thank your recent customers personally in their work environment.

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Prospecting Methods19. Send out at least 10 direct mail pieces per day, and follow up in 4 days with a phone call.

Before composing your letter, you must ask yourself: “What’s the offer that we’re making to our customers? What’s the benefit to them?” And, “How do I most effectively communicate that message?”

Prospecting Methods20. One way to “break up” the monotony of prospecting phone calls is to make it a ‘competition’.

Whoever is the first to get 4 appointments is the winner! (In more than one way!)

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Prospecting Methods21. You can get good prospects from your newspaper’s obituary page.

Prospecting Methods22. Leave your business cards everywhere you go.

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Prospecting Methods23. Pay for the customer behind you in a fast food drive-through, asking the cashier to give your business card to them with an explanation.

Prospecting Methods24. Laminate wedding notices, promotion announcements, graduation notices, and other noteworthy milestones in peoples lives that appear in the newspaper, and mail it to the affected parties with one of your business cards included.

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Prospecting Methods25. “Cold” prospecting, or randomly introducing yourself to people in order to find someone who will be in the market in the next 12 months.

“I realize that you’re probably not in the market for a car or truck today, but I’ll bet that if you’re like most people, in the next year you’re going to at least think about it.” “The only reason that I came by today was that I just wanted to meet you, and give you an opportunity to meet me.”

Prospecting Methods26. “Cold” prospecting in neighborhoods.

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A friend of mine used to always tell me:

If you’re in ‘good times’, what can you be sure is eventually coming? Bad Times!If you’re in ‘bad times’, what can you be sure is eventually coming? Good Times!

“Prospector’s Pledge”4-3-2-1 Every Day

I will not depend on showroom traffic to make my living.I will dedicate a portion of each day to ‘planting seeds for the future harvest’.I will prospect until I have 4 appointments per day.I will help my dealer reduce his/her advertising expense and help myself increase my sales and income by bringing in, on my own, four customers per day to see me.A Prospector’s Work is Never Done!Signed ____________________________ Date _____________Dealership _________________________Signed ____________________________ Date _____________

“Forbes on Car Sales”“Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did” -- Newt Gingrich

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The Parable Of The SalespersonAND IN THOSE DAYS, behold there came through the gates of the city, a salesperson from afar off: And it came to pass as the days went by, he sold plenty.And in that city were they that were the order takers, and they that spent their days in adding to their alibi sheets. Mightily were they astonished. They said to one another, “What the heck; how doth he pull it off?” And it came to pass that many were gathered in the back office and a soothsayer came among them. And he was one wise guy. And they spake and questioned him saying, “How is it that this stranger cometh to our city and accomplisheth the impossible?”Whereupon the soothsayer made answer: “He of whom you is one hustler. He ariseth very early in the morning and goeth forth full of pep. He complaineth not, neither doth he knock his competitors. He is arrayed in purple and fine linen while ye go forth with faces unshaven and pants not pressed.While ye gather here and say to one another, “Verily, this is a terrible day to work”, he is already abroad. And when the eleventh hour cometh, this man needeth no alibis.He knoweth his line and they that would stave him off, they give him orders. Men say unto him, “Nay, nay’, when he cometh in; yet when he goeth forth he hath their names on the line that is dotted.He taketh with him two angels, inspiration and perspiration, and worketh with great vigor. Verily, I say unto you, ‘Go ye and do likewise’.

-- Author Unknown

PROSPECTING, OR ‘CUSTOMER FARMING’: THE MOST NEGLECTED STEP IN ‘THE ROAD TO A SALE’

“Forbes on Car Sales”

Bill Forbes11601 108th Place NorthLargo, Florida 33778

304-815-3364