Every January, as the clocks strike midnight, we rotate from the previous year to the new year. In our society, it’s common for people to contemplate goals that they have for themselves in the new year. These are called New Year’s resolutions. Some common resolutions made yearly include losing weight, going to the gym more often, spending more time with family, quitting smoking, etc. The list could go on forever. These resolutions are typically made with good intentions, resolve, and determination, however, did you know that 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail before February?
Businesses Also Make New Year’s Resolutions
Just as in our personal lives, business executives take a look back at the previous year, check performance and make goals for the upcoming year. Sometimes those goals involve improving customer experience, process changes, budgeting changes and, inevitably, technology changes. In the same manner that personal resolutions are our way of setting goals to improve our personal lives, businesses are looking to increase profitability, and many consider making changes the easiest way to success.
Rising above the 80%
New Year’s resolutions sadly-as we know from that 80% statistic, often do not come to fruition, but this doesn’t have to be true for you/your business. Remember, there is that 20%…
Below is some key insight as you look to fulfill those New Year’s resolutions.
it’s not about quantity. It’s quality that increases revenue. One of the most scrutinized areas of any business when it comes to increasing profitability is in the sales department. In the automotive industry, we know that consumers are increasingly extending their car buying time online. They are communicating electronically in a virtual interview with prospective dealerships. Dealers are signing up for services that will increase their online exposure to consumers shopping for vehicles whether those be third-party listing services, lead providers or the latest and greatest shiny object. All with the goal of increasing sales.
It’s not, however, getting more leads that inevitably results in sales. Even the best operating and most efficient dealerships will only be able to contact and sell cars to about 15% (or less) of the leads that come into their CRMs. The other 85% are stuck in a virtual black hole in which the dealer continues to try to communicate but, for whatever reason, the customer doesn’t respond.
Give customers what they want, now.
We live in a ‘now’ society in which customers want access to instant information. You don’t even have to Google anything anymore. You can simply ask Siri or Alexa and they’ll do the search for you. What they can’t do, however, is connect the customer with a live person instantaneously to get answers to specific questions like “Is this vehicle still in stock?” or “Does it have a rearview camera?” or any of the myriad of other questions that a customer may have.
Which opportunity (lead) do you think dealers have a better chance of closing? The one that zipped into their CRM from wherever? Or the one that began online via chat where rapport was built, questions were answered, and appointments were made? These customers wanted information immediately, got that information from a real person that was relevant to their needs and made the decision to choose your dealership. Does it always happen this way? Of course not. But instant human-to-human interaction brings about quality in the lead that no form lead can provide.
Which method do you think is better for a dealership’s bottom line and will increase your closing rate? The one in which only 15 percent of the customers are ever contacted? Or the one where 100% of them were engaged with by a live person? The answer is obvious.
Remember that sometimes, change is detrimental.
As a dealership, before you embrace the spirit and tradition of New Year’s resolutions and rush to make changes, consider that, perhaps change in a particular area, isn’t even needed. Trying new things is fine but trying new things simply to try new things is not sustainable. If you’re happy with your vendor, it’s performing well for you don’t cut off your profit centers. Put in the work to find out if your technology provider is performing as expected before making a change that you may find backfires and find yourself wishing you’d have stayed put.
If you believe you have a good service but have ideas of what else you’d like to add to that service, let them know. You never know what resolutions they may be working on too!
Key takeaways:
Achieving your New Year’s resolutions does not always require more technology, new vendors, increased spend, or complicated techniques. Sometimes, success is found in fine-tuning and perfecting those seemingly ‘little things,’ like quality interactions, improved response times, or knowing when NOT to reinvent the wheel, that play the biggest role in getting you to the top of those New Year’s resolution high achievers.
About the Author
Carol Marshall has more than 20 years of automotive industry experience. She has held executive in-store positions such as general sales manager. More recently, she held positions with national organizations such as Mazda N.A. and AutoNation as sales process manager and national manager of eCommerce field operations, respectively. Email: [email protected]
