Giving your customers what they want is the most basic principle of selling. Still, everybody at one time or another has dealt with a salesperson who simply didn't listen to their needs. Taking time to truly understand the customer will not only help you close the deal today, it'll keep them coming back in the future.
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Whether you're selling paper clips or cars, the most successful salespeople share the same qualities. Here are some of the things that separate the best from the rest:
The turnover rate for automotive salespeople is about 45%. Why? Maybe they're just not right for the job or they're lazy and unmotivated. Or maybe they need a little direction and most managers are too strapped for time to give it to them. Virtual Sales Coach is for the managers who know that their sales teams aren't expendable. The ones who drive their salespeople to succeed, not just sit back and hope that they do. Here's how it works:
As a manager, you face many different threats in today's economy - shrinking budgets, slowed consumer spending, loss of key staff, etc. But one of the biggest threats to your dealership that can often get overlooked is complacency. Complacency can come in many forms and at many levels of an organization, but it all leads to the same thing: decreased production, lack of accountability, and reduced revenues.
As a dealer, you spend a lot of time thinking about your customers. How can you bring them into the store, provide a great sales experience, and hold onto them long-term? These questions are very important, but not just for your customers. Shouldn't you be asking them about your employees too?
There is a fine line between being a manager and being a leader. A manager is someone who is in charge of the work place; a leader is someone who inspires, guides, and coaches a team toward a common goal. Chances are you're a manager now because you were very successful as a salesperson. But your success as a manager - and as a dealership - depends on how well you lead your team.
When customers walk into your store, they feel the culture you've established - whether it's warm and inviting or hostile and off-putting. For better or worse, every interaction that customers have with their salespeople will make or break your dealership's reputation. What type of environment are you fostering? Here are some questions to help you figure it out:
The Benefit Ball is an exercise in learning the features and benefits of a particular vehicle model. It can be a great addition to your team's sales meetings or training sessions. Here's how to play:
A submarine has individual compartments to protect itself from disaster. When attacked, the crew moves through each compartment, closing the hatch of the previous compartment behind them. Selling requires the same procedure: moving completely through each compartment, or step of the sales process, to arrive safely at a successful sale. We all know salespeople who skip steps to get to the close faster, without shutting the other hatches behind them. And chances are, their sale ended up dead in the water.
Managing your sales team in the age of CRMs, DMSs, ILMs, and other dealership technologies can be both difficult and rewarding. On the one hand, many of your store's processes can be automated, which saves time by decreasing redundancies. On the other, these programs can be expensive, hard to learn/implement, and, as is the case with most technology, can unintentionally build a disconnect between your managers and salespeople. In many cases, managers rely so much on technology that they begin to "manage by wire."
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