An example:
If I want to sell 15 cars I need to talk to 100 people because I know my closing ratio from all sources is 15%.
We all look at these statistics e-mail leads answered in 3 minutes close at ___
Phone calls from a referral close at _____
Service customers usually close _______

And in every single store so far, very few have their closing ratio, their demo’s, their TO’s but we keep throwing out numbers and we believe them. The reason salespeople need to know this and their direct manager needs to do a 1 on 1 with them every month is not because of big brother! Not because they are picking on you.
How can you improve if you do not have any idea where you are? We all need goals and activities to reach them. They have to be real and reachable not pie in the sky, fluff or fictitious. If you can’t swallow this get out of the car business, right now. Do your family and yourself a favor and go.
The best salespeople 15 years ago could tell you this stuff in 10 seconds and they did not have computers.
They tracked by hand, without automation, and I know it was more accurate because they needed it to improve and survive. They did not look at it as a scolding or punishment when they were asked because they had to know. Those that actually worked 8 hours a day were true professionals.

Do we need to know?  Really?  Ask yourself if you actually work just  5 hours a day and be honest now, do you think you could sell two or three more cars a month?
Just a thought.
KC

If you want to succeed pay attention

Kim Clouse has been involved with automotive internet sales and process for over 16 years. He is a charter member of the AAISP, and winner of the Lemons to Lemonade Award given at Digital Dealer. Kim spoke at the 4th Digital Dealer Conference in Orlando, the 5th in Grapevine, Texas in 2008 and the 6th in Las Vegas for 2009. At the 6th Digital Dealer Conference, Clouse moderated in the roundtable discussions for automotive internet sales professionals. Kim Clouse also spoke in the general session at Digital Dealer and spoke in a separate breakout session for auto dealers and internet sales managers from across the United States the same day. Kim is managing owner of I Auto Consultants LLC which recently merged with Level 3 Creative LLC. Together, they will provide new and innovative solutions that will set new standards for truly assisting car dealers. One of these solutions, Dealer Report Cards,™ provides interactive car dealer reviews, ratings and pro-active reputation management. Coupled with the social media management solution Social BDC they will help remove all of the snake oil flowing through dealerships every day. Another product, Webpush™ will change the way we interact with our customers forever. These products have been tested, improved, and tested again to minimize the current ridiculous learning curve or just “trust me” factor that has car dealers falling through what seems to be a never ending dark bottomless pit of confusion.
Kim only works with select strategic alliance professionals who are quantifiable and share the vision of bringing about true change at the dealer level. By assisting automotive professionals with awareness of customer satisfaction levels quickly, problems are addressed in a pro-active metric rather than being reacted to. Think of it as “Daily CSI”
The company’s services also include:
*Dealer needs analysis and assistance with the development and implementation of the correct process
*Assisting in creating successful dealership policy in all departments
*Proper consequence with adherence and implementation practices. Process and policy are nothing without consequence.
*Proactive Car Dealer Reputation Management including hosting customer evaluations and reviews on the Dealer Report Cards platform and all social media.
*The most comprehensive Managed Interactive Social Media Solution available for automotive (personal interaction on demand or in real time.)
*Website design, development and deployment with quantifyable results.
*SEO
*Video syndication with campaigns on demand including video ppc.
*Avocar, making dealer inventory appear alive for commercial broadcast and web applications
*Helping the dealer control cost, increase customer satisfaction and ROI while avoiding the Snake Oil in this industry.
Kim Clouse has been a member of Southeast Toyota Pro’s – Master Level, GM Mark of Excellence for multiple years, Cadillac e-certified and Honda i certified. His training experience is in all GM makes, Honda, VW, Mazda, Toyota, Ford, Nissan and Hyundai. Kim has extensive experience in marketing and advertising as well.
From budget analysis and strategic planning to in studio pre and post production, engineering and mastering.
If you want to succeed pay attention.

Shouldn’t Your Online Reputation Be Accurate?

For the last year I have watched all of the industry blogs, trade magazines and networks describing the best way to manage your reputation. If you Google car dealer reputation management the results are staggering. Pages and pages of different opinions on the appropriate way to make sure all of your good reviews show up. Then, there are the manipulation tricks to cherry pick and post only good reviews and appear in the top spots on search engines.

Uhmm, excuse me, but do we as automotive professionals  actually think that our prospective customers and previous customers are gullible enough to think we are telling the whole story? Especially if they have had problems at a particular car dealership and all that is available is customer testimonials explaining how great that car dealership is; I certainly hope not. Customers and prospects are much more comfortable seeing the bad along with the good and they also want to see what the dealer or the sales person did to fix it the issue.  That is one of the many areas addressed directly by Dealer Report Cards

If your reputation is not important to you and you do not care about customers and prospects, then you need to leave the car business. You are part of the problem that makes us less popular than visiting the dentist. The professionals at automotive dealerships on the pavement and in the service and parts departments deserve to be recognized for their hard work.

They have thick skin and are not afraid to address their mistakes then take the proper steps to correct them. They would rather have the whole story displayed and yes, the customers that are just taking advantage of them need to be exposed as well. We all know they exist and can seriously damage an individual as well as a dealer’s reputation. Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone yell foul on those individuals? Dealer Report Cards will do that too.

The main reason I started this crusade and made the decision to get involved with Dealer Repot Cards is because everybody screams ” help the dealers” and we should. But more importantly, does it makes more sense to provide online tools for these professionals so it’s easier for customers to find them? Without employees and customers car dealers will not exist.

I have firsthand experience with being reviewed by an angry customer and after the dust settled it was funny how I got excellent marks in every category on Toyota’s survey. But after four years my customers’ negative review, where he called me a liar, is still coming up in various web searches fed by the posting on Dealer Rater. When I requested they remove my name from the title and leave the review as it stood I was told they would check into it. Funny, now that I am an owner of a company that competes with them, it is being indexed with changes made to it. Of course, I kept a copy of the original for my records.

Dealer Report Cards assists auto retail professionals, the customers and the dealer by letting the truth shine through. We will do our very best to give you the tools you need to show your good reputation and  automate your social media marketing efforts while allowing you to react with your various streams like you should. We have other features and functionality that you will learn about as we go, but pitching dealers’ snake oil is not part of the plan.

Kim Clouse
Dealer Report Cards.com

To Tell The Truth!

Well, since I watched the video post by Ralph Paglia on Social Media Douchebags, (here for your pleasure if you missed it.)  http://bit.ly/92jg0U

I could not resist stirring the pot myself.

Okay, you have been at work all week, sold scared, followed every customer to the owner’s office door to introduce them for the mini and you’re burnt. As you enter the cashier’s office to get the last five dollars you have exchanged for ones you glance at the floor and see three one hundred dollar bills.

Nobody else in the world has seen them or you, now standing on them. You’re  invisible, you only have 4 cars out and it is the 15th. Your power bill is two months late and you are back to the go phone.

Tell the truth here and now.

What would you do with this money?

Answer, or if you’re scared, close the page.

Pretenders know.

Kim 

What’s the best way to develope a social media policy for employees without sounding like “big brother” or defeating the purpose of an “open conversation”?

Julie,
I find that it is best to research and find specific negative social content and then allow them to see the damage potential it can have personally. This will help demonstrate how that will affect them professionally. Then, have a special day for the creaton of the process and policy of the company in regard to social media. Invite, in fact “make it mandatory” that everyone attends to help create the process, policy and the “consequence” for breaking the rules. Make it fun, have lunch brought in or have a day away so they feel involved. Then you can moderate and get their thinking channeled to the severity of the consequence. This will let them understand you feel the need for a policy but want their input to write it and that you are serious without the big brother approach.
People usually live better by the rules they help create. They also tend to monitor it better themselves if you give them the power of pride.
From there, have a monthly review day to get their input and check progress. Also make sure every new emloyee understands and ask them for ideas they may have. Be sure to include the company e-commerce and social marketing review day in your employee pack.
Empower them to make the rules, then require them to adhere to those rules or suffer the consequqence you all created together..
In my opinion, this works best.
KC

Okay,
It is time for us to reveal all of the “Snake Oil” we know of over the years that are the (yes I am using slang) stupidest thing you know of a dealer has bought or was presented and considered buying. It still happens you know.
If we think hard enough we can look back and see just how ridiculous a lot of things directed at the auto industry have been. It doesn’t matter if it is fixed ops, sales, f&I, inventory just whatever. You know like some nifty glow in the dark static signs that went on a door in a parts delivery area for late night deliveries. They were $450.00 and could not have cost $10.00 to make. I saw them once and the parts manager said ”hey, I got some signs that glow in the dark so the delivery guys will quit complaining about not having a way to get close to that door.” Yeah right, cheaper than a night light but I never saw them work, not ever. I bet they are still on the building now 12 years later. I know there is a ton of this including consultants and rain makers who have been in your store that you know never sold a car and a host of well, other crap that really isn’t funny but stupid. So let’s all laugh about it now while we can. I want to collect them here and then I will have a surprise for all of you. Dealers, rat out your buddies that fell for stupid stuff that cost thousands and include yourselves. Remember to respect everyone’s privacy or at least pretend you do. After a few weeks I promise you it will get funny and be a good learning experience. Even now, reveal those things that are snake oil and those who need tarred and feathered just like the rain makers.
KC

 It works try it and see!