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.