Although email, text, video and social media DMs are greatly effective forms of communication, the phones are the ultimate level of communication. Based on the Science of Communication, only 7% of what we say is fully conveyed via text, or the words we use. Only 38% of what we say can be fully conveyed through what is heard, while 55% of what we say can be fully conveyed based on visual cues and body language. A car purchase is the second largest item a person will buy in their lifetime, behind a home. Therefore, trying to sell someone through a text message or email is ludicrous, and if not done perfectly, can send the wrong message. Thus, the end result is a loss of a potential sale. That means that not all forms of communication are created equal, and that there should be an escalation process. The purpose of the email, text, chat, dm, etc. should be to sell the phone call, and the phone call should be used to sell the appointment, which sells the product presentation, demo drive, and delivery. That being said, phone sales are everything! For that reason, it is crucial to have the absolute best phone sales strategies, scripting, rebuttals, and appointment closing skills. It’s about what you say, how you say it, and when you say it. Below you will find an example of a typical phone call, versus what a phone call should sound like with the use of our help:
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The Top 6 Challenges Plaguing Dealerships' Phone Skills Training:
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Dealership Goals & Projections
Little to No Phone Sales Training
Most phone sales professionals lack the necessary skills to maximize lead conversion. They focus on the car itself, rather than focusing on getting the prospect into the showroom. A car purchase is the second largest purchase a person will make in their lifetime, and it’s hard to do that via the phone. Beyond that, the dealership representative may not build enough value, or do enough to differentiate the dealership from the competition. Lastly, they get stuck on price and have no strategy to overcome it which sends the prospect searching for other dealership options. This isn’t necessarily because they are not good at what they do, or are a wrong fit, but rather because they have never received the necessary training.
Anyone at the dealership handling the phones should have a road to the appointment process, be able to identify, meet, and exceed the prospects’ expectations, identify the prospects’ objections to overcome them with rebuttals, and most importantly have a VPP to solidify the value in the appointment.
Phone Training
Inadequate/Generic Voicemail Scripts
The majority of phone sales professionals’ efforts will result in leaving a voicemail. To be clear, if a phone sales professional makes 120 phone calls in a day, they will connect with about 12 people. That means that out of the 120 phone calls, 108 phone calls will result in having to leave a voicemail.
The problem in the automotive industry is that most phone salespeople don’t have exciting voicemail messages. They are usually very basic and sound something like, “Hi Mr. Jones, this is Mrs. Smith from ABC Motors, call me back,” or “Hi Bob, this is Karen calling from ABC Motors, I was calling to see if you have any questions regarding the XYZ vehicle if so call me back.” If the prospect has questions, they would have called you already! Also, the dealership down the road is most likely going to say something very similar so why should the prospect remember you? Voicemails should be energetic, contain exciting news, contain a call to action, differentiate you from the competition, and ultimately get the prospect to call you back.
Phone Training
No Automotive Call Tracking Capabilities
How do you inspect what you expect on the phones? With call tracking software, or call tracking capabilities. Unfortunately, many dealers don’t care to invest in a call tracking solution, or see it only as an unnecessary added expense. It almost seems as if the calls aren’t recorded with no proof that their people are inadequate on the phones. Some proactive and successful dealers spend big dollars on phone sales training, yet skip out on the accountability piece of it all.
Call tracking allows the dealer to listen to phone calls to ensure if their staff is utilizing the training they paid for with the right processes and verbiage, while representing the dealership professionally and accurately. It is most important to provide the customer with the absolute best phone experience they deserve. Other dealerships may invest in the tool, however, they do not set the tool up properly, take the time to actually listen to the phone calls, or appoint someone to do so. If used correctly, call tracking acts as a tool to create training opportunities and generate awareness, along with measuring progress and training success.
Call Monitoring
Improper/Underutilized Phone Sales Strategy
The phone itself is the most powerful tool and resource a salesperson possesses. However, the phone is only as good as its setup, as well as its users. If the phone is not setup properly, its power and capabilities are reduced. To master the phones, it takes more than just the ability to pick up and dial. Today’s phones have the ability to be loaded with apps to make a salesperson’s job easier and more efficient, as well as video conferencing and video calling capabilities to escalate a standard phone call into a close-to-real-life in-store experience.
Everything from the CRM app, logging calls, appointments, and notes on the go, to time maximization, organizational apps for task management, call reminders, follow-up reminders, appointment reminders, and more are inclusive in the features we can help improve. Even beyond underutilized technology, is the dealership’s phone system setup. That too is not properly set up at most dealerships. The routing system is ineffective, and random which can cause frustration for the customer. Extensions may not be set up with exciting voicemails, and essential calls to action. In some extreme cases, phones will misroute and drop the call. That usually results in the customer googling the competition’s phone number.
Phone Training
Poor Texting Strategy/Not Compliant
One of the preferred methods of communication is texting, yet still many dealerships don’t participate in texting, or have no real texting strategy in place. Just like you have scripting for the phones, every dealership should have texting scripts based on various situations, as well as pre-saved rebuttals to objections, and every text should be constructed with the end in mind to escalate the conversation to a phone call. Beyond that, on a more serious note, many dealerships and individual operators do not follow state and federal rules and regulation guidelines for texting. One way this happens lately is by dealerships not adhering to the Federal Communications Commission’s TCPA Guidelines on Texting or SMS messaging and can become a huge, costly, and expensive issue to fix.
Fines can become out of control very easily and sometimes range up to $1500 PER TEXT MESSAGE, incoming and outgoing! Every dealership needs to be FCC and TCPA compliant by understanding the rules, especially when it comes to opting in. If you are allowing your people to text at their own discretion, that can lead to major problems. There needs to be texting processes, accountability measures, and permissions in place.
Phone Training
Poor Video Communication Strategy
While video is the preeminent form of communication, dealerships are still lacking in this area. Everyone within the dealership has the ability to utilize video with their own cell phones. However, many automotive professionals are uncomfortable creating video content because they are unfamiliar in doing so. Video content gives the dealership the ability to differentiate themselves from the competition. Having a video strategy in place is one of the most important aspects of having the best phone skills possible. Whether it is shooting BombBombs as a visual meet and greet, or shooting video walk-arounds of the vehicle, the possibilities are literally endless.
Videos can be shot and utilized for social media, the company website, the individual salesperson sites, YouTube channels, digital promotions, texting, email blasts, search engine optimization, for commercials, TikTok, and so much more. Again, the use of video is never-ending and it all starts with the phone! It is vital that every dealership have a good video strategy in place and provide each person with the necessary skills to dominate the phones with video.
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