That is what the death of retail sounds like. More often than not, especially lately, it is common to hear more excuses than Elizabeth Taylor's list of husbands. If you want to wait all day long (in some cases all week long) for something to happen, join the Fire Department or Coast Guard. If you are a true salesperson with a strong desire to make money, get going or allow someone who wants to get going, gosh darn it.
Most sales staff I talk with has this tendency to believe that their network is going to bail them out, or the next launch will help them, or the incentives that will be announced can save their month or even their referrals will drive a sale or two...very soon. How many of you are members of LEADS or another group of professionals that feed referrals to other members of the organization? How many have their social and business networks built..online? Would everyone please stand up that has invited their new owners from the last month to come in for a face-to-face thank you and a chance at a prize (read: not the store, not your boss, you are doing it on your own accord).
No, it seems that the creative ideas flew out the door with the last 'over 20 car month'. Folks, don't watch yourselves out of business! What if the traffic statistic estimates do come to pass and there's 10, 20 or even 30%+ less people coming to your dealership? What then? That's when you'll really get busy working your CRM and Internet leads?
Work no less than 10 leads a day (old, new, orphans, etc), if not 15 or more. Ask your clients this month some compelling questions, keep track of the answers (not in your mind), ask for real referrals, call them at the office or home 20 days later to see if they're still completely satisfied and give them a reason to come back. Start asking if people prefer contact via email or text rather than prodding them with "can I have your email address, please? It's a requirement here at our dealership or else my deal is not complete".
Go to lunch somewhere that you haven't been every day/week/month and leave your cards with the owner or manager. Sponsor your kid's sports team pizza outing this week and give a flier to all the parents with a good discount (and one that won't get you disciplined). And be reciprocal, nobody likes a mooch.
If you are fortunate enough to work the Internet department, stop the water cooler talk and curb your not-so-sales-oriented habits (we all have them) and get down to contacting and selling. Your month will be the better for it, I promise you. Yes, that means stop reading this so you can email that "Jack" back...
Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results
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