Social Media is an entirely other topic, and it is not "hype" that can be ignored. It's not 1984, and marketing a dealership or selling cars in the same way will lead to disaster.
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Why hasn't CRM sold me more cars?
- Thread starter Alex Snyder
- Start date
- Sep 16, 2009
- 137
- 2
- First Name
- Mitchell
I think everyone is living in some kind of dream world. Salespeople are inherently lazy and if left to their own devises would never pick up a phone, send a letter, an email etc. The fact that a CRM exists to "force" them to do a job is reason enough to have one and use it. I believe the point of the article is that it's not good enough to just set it and leave it but to be constantly monitoring your sales staff to make sure they are looking at their "tasks" as people. People who buy cars. Maybe now, maybe later but they do buy cars and the salesperson who maintains a good relationship with their customers (stemming from a good first experience) will be the ones who succeed. I have seen salespeople who never have to take a fresh up and just work their customer base. Unfortunately, I'm seeing less of that. If salespeople took their careers seriously, we wouldn't have to be talking about this. It's up to us, the managers, to insure the future of our dealerships!
- Sep 16, 2009
- 137
- 2
- First Name
- Mitchell
Boy it was early when I first wrote this.
Larry,
What this post has to do with Social Media I have no idea so why would anyone bring it up? Personal agendas always get in the way.
Mitchell
Larry,
What this post has to do with Social Media I have no idea so why would anyone bring it up? Personal agendas always get in the way.
Mitchell
Speaking on both sides of the fence, Dealers and Vendors have a responsibility to making the processes effective. And Alex consolidating systems is a 1st step. Every store has a system or best practices. My dad had a saying in the business. "There is a million systems, but if you deviate, you no longer have a system" So a Vendors job is to understand what the Dealer wants to accomplish and set those processes in place, and if the Dealer gets off track, as a vendor you better monitor let him know his process is breaking down. That is how you become valuable to a Dealer as a Vendor and he looks forward to your input monthly as a Consultant. Dealers should hear from Vendor on suggestions that work in other stores. Do you know what the Dealers benchmarks are? How can you help him raise his penetrations? The biggest process improvement that we see in CRM is making sure the phones are integrated into CRM and those calls are set up on an immediate process or schedule. Over 60% of all your buisness will touch you by phone or Internet. Phone has been lost with the high focus on internet over the last few years. Dealers are now starting to get back to that most basic opportunity. Happy New Year everyone.
@Mitch
Perhaps two of your 2010 New Year Resolutions should be to, 1.)develop a better attitude toward your sales staff and, 2.)have your sales managers stop hiring lazy people who don't take their jobs seriously.
Managers who see their employees as "inherently lazy" tend to be condescending and somewhat dictatorial and end up with lazy employees who don't take their jobs seriously... and who harbor bad attitudes toward management. You get what you expect.
As a professional car salesman who had my own effective CRM processes in place long before CRM became a buzzword, and who was encouraged by management to view my position on the sales staff as if I were running my own business, I disagree with your characterization.
As an aside, valuing your salespeople with a good comp plan and not nickle-diming them with ridiculous packs and other little management "gotchas" will also help you keep motivated professionals who take their jobs seriously. (Not saying your store is guilty of this, but many are and you can usually tell just which ones just by walking in and seeing the caliber of the employees they are able to retain.)
Perhaps two of your 2010 New Year Resolutions should be to, 1.)develop a better attitude toward your sales staff and, 2.)have your sales managers stop hiring lazy people who don't take their jobs seriously.
Managers who see their employees as "inherently lazy" tend to be condescending and somewhat dictatorial and end up with lazy employees who don't take their jobs seriously... and who harbor bad attitudes toward management. You get what you expect.
As a professional car salesman who had my own effective CRM processes in place long before CRM became a buzzword, and who was encouraged by management to view my position on the sales staff as if I were running my own business, I disagree with your characterization.
As an aside, valuing your salespeople with a good comp plan and not nickle-diming them with ridiculous packs and other little management "gotchas" will also help you keep motivated professionals who take their jobs seriously. (Not saying your store is guilty of this, but many are and you can usually tell just which ones just by walking in and seeing the caliber of the employees they are able to retain.)
Guy wrote: "Over 60% of all your buisness will touch you by phone or Internet."
Guy, can you please provide the study or documentation for this statement? It contradicts the theory that a vast majority of people arrive at the showroom without having called or emailed first.
Thanks.
Guy, can you please provide the study or documentation for this statement? It contradicts the theory that a vast majority of people arrive at the showroom without having called or emailed first.
Thanks.
There are a lot of stats out there, and if no one comes back with any I will dig some up for you. BIG key to remember - touching you by Internet cannot be narrowed down to just email. Most online shoppers are 2nd and 3rd generational shoppers and have realized that in-store email processes are really bad, therefore they avoid email. That drive many people to the phone and directly to the showroom. JD Powers stated that over 42% of used internet shoppers do not phone or email but go directly to the store. If you're still only counting emails to measure interactive advertising success you're setting up a risk.
And 60% is a low number - it is actually over 80% that will touch you by Internet alone.
- Sep 16, 2009
- 137
- 2
- First Name
- Mitchell
First off, we have the best pay plan of all Acura dealers in our region so we don't "Nickle and Dime". Secondly, when I was a salesperson I had my own CRM called my looseleaf that I carried with me everywhere and followed up regularly so I know there are salespeople out there that can, and do, do a good job. The problem is there are less and less of them. Our sales staff, for the most part, have been here on average over 5 years and are good salespeople. They are not, however, above taking short cuts and "knocking out" their To Do list without actually doing the job. They cherry pick! I've been in this business 27 years and the caliber of salespeople have dropped significantly over the last few years (read Why We Suck Why We Suck! – DealerRefresh). As your new years resolution maybe you should go back to working in a dealership, any dealership, and see the quality of salespeople and then get back to me.
Alex, Great article. One could write a book on CRM and you've certainly nailed some of the better chapters. This would be a great forum discussion thread.
@lightnup, Thanks for the laugh this morning. You said what I was thinking.
As far as the 60% number by mentioned by Guy, I can validate some of that. I did a study on a little over 100 dealerships using CRM last year. I looked at the percentage of customers who were Walk-in, Internet & phone. Internet represented 40% of the customer base while, phone was around 30%. In any given day other than Saturday, most dealers are logging more Internet & phone-ups than walk-in traffic.
@lightnup, Thanks for the laugh this morning. You said what I was thinking.
As far as the 60% number by mentioned by Guy, I can validate some of that. I did a study on a little over 100 dealerships using CRM last year. I looked at the percentage of customers who were Walk-in, Internet & phone. Internet represented 40% of the customer base while, phone was around 30%. In any given day other than Saturday, most dealers are logging more Internet & phone-ups than walk-in traffic.
✨ AI Highlights
A CRM administrator at a dealer group addresses the persistent complaint from salespeople that CRM hasn't helped them sell more cars, arguing the tools do work but fail when layered over redundant dealership processes, siloed systems, or poor management follow-through. Replies from industry veterans reinforce that CRM success depends on consistent one-on-one coaching, call monitoring, and making processes simple enough for salespeople to actually execute. The thread's core insight is that CRM is an amplifier of process, not a replacement for it.
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