AutoSuccess Jul06

July 2006

GuaranteedPre-Approval /GuaranteedResultsBy Ben Elliott

Take our customers...Please!Why chase false leads when you can have real,qualified customers?She completed an extensive application, pre-qualifiedwith flying colors, received her purchase check, andnow she just needs a car. Want her contact info?

Become a myAutoloan Preferred Dealer now.Our approved customers arrive with financing in place.Our qualified customers have passed an extensiveverification process through our Preferred Placement®technology. Now, all you have to do is put them in thedriver’s seat.

Each month, we approve hundreds of qualified, ready-to-buy customers in your area. They prefer all brands,all models, and great service. But they don’t requireselling – they’re ready to buy!

To choose your spot on our Preferred Dealer Networkand start getting these customers, give us a call toll freeat 866.625.2668, send an email to [email protected],or visit our Web Site at www.myautoloan.com/dealers.

In partnership with

REAL LENDERS - REAL LOANS - REAL TIME

Complete Customer Contact DetailsExclusive TerritoriesEntire Credit Spectrum ApplicantsExclusive Real-Time Leads by Zip Code24/7 Online Dealer AccessCustomers are Buying Now

AutoSuccess Magazine is published monthly at 3411 Pinnacle Gardens Drive, Louisville, Kentucky, 40245; 502.588.3155, fax 502.588.3170. Direct all subscription and customer service inquiries to 877.818.6620 or [email protected]. Subscription rate is $75 per year. AutoSuccess welcomes unsolicited editorials and graphics (not responsible for their return). All submitted editorials and graphics are subject to editing for grammar, content and page length. AutoSuccess provides its contributing writers latitude in expressing advice and solutions; views expressed are not necessarily those of AutoSuccess and by no means reflect any guarantees. AutoSuccess accepts no liability in respect of the content of any third party material appearing in this magazine or in respect of the content of any other magazine to which this magazine may be linked from time to time. Always confer with legal counsel before implementing changes in procedures.© All contents copyrighted by AutoSuccess Magazine, a Division of Systems Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction inwhole or part is prohibited without express written consent from AutoSuccess. AutoSuccess may occasionally make readers’ names available to other companies whose products and/or services may be of interest; readers may request thatnames be removed by calling 877.818.6620. Printed in the USA. Postmaster: Send address changes to AutoSuccess Magazine, 3411 Pinnacle Gardens Drive, Louisville, Kentucky 40245.

Courtney Paris, Sales-improvement Strategist [email protected]

Brian Ankney, Sales-improvement [email protected]

Brian Balash, Sales-improvement [email protected]

Charlie Tierney, Sales-improvement [email protected]

3411 Pinnacle Gardens DriveLouisville, Kentucky 40245

toll free: 877.818.6620facsimile: 502.588.3170 web: www.AutoSuccessOnline.com

Patrick Luck, Editor & [email protected] Susan Givens, Vice [email protected] Thomas Williams, Creative [email protected]

Dave Davis, Creative [email protected]

helping to promote...

cover

8

9

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

28

30

32

33

34

36

37

38

40

41

42

44

Psalms 37: 3-5Trust in the Lord, and do good: so you will dwell in the land, and enjoy security.

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.Commit your way to the Lord: trust in Him, and He will act.

Conducting a Self-Audit in Sales and F&IThings You Should Check Before Someone Else Does

Scott’s Individualized Consultation Transcripts, Part 2

There’s Magic in Enthusiasm

Developing the Traits of a Leader, Part 2

More SalesTest Drive Fundamentals and the Essentials of Leasing More Cars

Guaranteed Pre-Approval / Guaranteed Results

Going UpHow to Open the Door to the Elevator Conversation, Part 2

E-Mail Marketing

Brewster Makes Every Delivery Special

Finding Your Next Business Manager

RickCase.com Uses E-Mail Marketing to Increase SalesDealership Increases Sales From 250 to 500+ in Just Nine Months

Women Speak in Estrogen and Men Listen in Testosterone

Is Sales-Floor Mentality Costing You

Closing is Sweet Success

Why Your Customer Buys

The 7 Commandments of Selling, Part 3

Employment Marketing to Attract Top Talent

How to Flood Your Dealership With Customers

1212

TonyDupaquier

ScottJoseph

BrianTracy

BenElliott

SeanWolfington

DavidKain

PattiWood

DavidJohnson

TimShea

DeborahRenshaw

JeffMorrill

MikeParsons

ZigZiglar

TomHopkins

DavidJacobson

BobHarkins

MarkTewart

God is the source of all supply

DebBrewster

CharlesArrambide

Disclosure + Transparency + Training = Compliance

PhilCohen

RogerHerman & JoyceGioia

Home Field AdvantageYour Web Site at Work

No Such Thing as a Self-Made Man JesseBiter

Investing the Fundamentals, Part 2

There’s Magic in Enthusiasm

ZigZiglarsts fos ls ms sf fi s

sales and training solution

8 www.autosuccessonline.com

Nothing great ever happens without enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm is the difference between competing and winning.

When a word is overused, it can lose its power and its meaning. Enthusiasm can be just that type of word. However, when we study enthusiasm, we can capture its true meaning and, therefore, re-capture its power. Enthusiasm has nothing to do with jumping and shouting. That’s hysteria, and it’s giving enthusiasm a bad name. The origin of enthusiasm comes from the Greek root words en theos. This means “the god within.” This powerful word is really an internal feeling. There is the power of the last four letters of enthusiasm: I Am Sold Myself. With “God within you” and being sold on yourself, you are well on your way to being enthusiastic. This leads you to an

outward expression of inner feelings. When this happens, you become a very effective sales professional. Here is a magic formula for leading a more enthusiastic life. When you implement these action steps, you will feel the magic.

First, ACTIVATE your motivators. Why are you in the world of sales? Why are you making contacts, phone calls, and all those prospecting activities? Remember what motivates you and activate those motivators.

Second, ANALYZE what you need to do, or what you need to learn, in order to become more successful. Realize that you never graduate from selling. You need to invest and improve in those areas that will assist you in performing your sales activities more effectively. Once you develop those skills, you will act more confi dent and more enthusiastic.

Third, take ACTION. Remember, logic will not change an emotion, but action will. Successful people make a habit of taking action on those things that unsuccessful people fail to do.

So, there you have the magic of enthusiasm: Activate your motivators; Analyze what you need to improve upon; and take Action.

Yes, you are absolutely correct. This is certainly not magic. It gets back to following the steps necessary for success. I enthusiastically encourage you to “go get ‘em today.”

Zig Ziglar is the chairman of the board of Ziglar Training Systems in Dallas, TX. This article was reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. He can be contacted at 866.873.0026, or by e-mail [email protected].

Closing isSweet Success

TomHopkinssts fos ls ms sf fi s


9july 2006

In the selling profession, closing is the winning score, the bottom line, the name of the game, the cutting edge, the point of it all. We all

know lots of techniques for prospecting, meeting new people, building referrals, qualifying, presenting or demonstrating our products and services, and overcoming objections.

But, if you can’t close, you’re like a football team that can’t sustain a drive long enough to score. It does you no good to play the whole game in your own territory and never get across the other team’s goal line.

If you don’t love the closing process enough to master it now, start falling in love because this is where the money is.

True professionals are closing most of the time. They close for names and contact information. They close for appointments. They close for opportunities to present their product or service. They are constantly trying test closes, and they can kick into their fi nal closing sequence anytime they smell success.

Many average sales people get so wrapped up in their selling sequence that if the prospect decides to invest before they’re through, they won’t let them have the product. They just keep going in their set pattern of telling, telling, telling instead of selling. Some clients get sold quickly. If you keep talking instead of getting the fi nal agreement, you might unsell them just as fast. More talk triggers more objections. Pay close attention. When the prospect is ready, stop talking and start fi lling out those forms.

Next, I’m going to give you the eight most important words in the art of closing. These are the most powerful words spoken on the complex, demanding and well-paid art of closing. If you’re just skimming this article and haven’t marked anything yet, get your highlighter now. Here they are:

When you ask a closing question, shut up.

The important words are shut up. That is why the late J. Douglas Edwards used to shout this at his audiences. I was sitting in the front row the fi rst time I heard these words. I was already jumpy from the excitement of the seminar, and when Doug shouted “SHUT UP,” I dove for cover. That memory is carved into my mind, along with those words. They explain the single-most important element in turning my disastrous sales experience at that time into the

record-breaking success it soon became.

Ask your closing question - then keep quiet. It sounds simple, doesn’t it? Believe me, it isn’t. I had a real challenge in this area, and I didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing wrong until I heard J. Douglas Edwards say those words.

The fi rst time I tried to ask a closing question and then keep quiet, I was prepared for the prospect’s reaction. I expected them to keep silent. What I hadn’t prepared for was the intensity of my own reaction; the silence felt like wet sand being piled on my chest. My insides were churning, I had to bite the inside of my lip and I was acutely aware of every nerve ending in my body. It was a gargantuan struggle not to fi dget. Finally, the prospects did decide that they would invest, and I never again dreaded that awful silence after asking a closing question.

Why is it so important to keep quiet? Say the prospect hesitates for a few moments, wondering when they should take delivery. You become uncomfortable and assume that they are questioning the investment, so you blurt out that you’ll give them another 20 percent off the total investment, when that wasn’t even the issue. You can’t know what they’re thinking when they’re quiet, so don’t try to guess. Just sit and wait.

The average sales person can’t wait more than 10 seconds after asking a closing question. If “Mrs. Jones” hasn’t answered by then, they’ll say something like, “Well, we can talk about that later,” and go on talking, unaware that they have just destroyed the closing momentum. And it’s probably not just the one close that is destroyed. “Mrs. Jones” can certainly keep quiet for a few moments—almost all undecided buyers can. If you’re true champion material, you can sit there quietly all afternoon, if you have to. It takes concentration, but the actual silence after asking for the sale rarely lasts longer than 30 to 40 seconds.

Having the skill, courage, and concentration to sit still and be silent for at least half a minute is the single most vital skill there is in selling. Practice this until you get a feel for how long 30 seconds is, and then it won’t be so nerve-wracking when big money is riding on how calm and quiet you can remain in a real closing situation.

World-renowned master sales trainer Tom Hopkins is the chairman of Tom Hopkins International. He can be contacted at 866.347.6148, or by e-mail [email protected].

"Processing vehicles to the Internet has never been easier. We take multiple photos of each vehicle and save time with the VinStickers system. The photo uploading is seamless, simple and cost effective. Our sales data is accurate and powerful. We don't wait for someone once a week and the savings are enormous. We give it our highest marks."

Dustin Zeck - GM - Danny Zeck Ford Lincoln Mercury, Leavenworth, KS

VinStickers.com866.662.1984

[email protected]


Why Your Customer Buys

BrianTracysts fos ls ms sf fi s

leadership solution

Why does your customer buy? This is the most important question in selling. What benefi ts does he seek? What is he

attempting to avoid, achieve or preserve by

buying your products or service? Amongst the various benefi ts available to him or her, what are the tangible benefi ts and what are the intangible benefi ts? A tangible benefi t is something the customer can touch and feel. It is something the customer can hold up and show to someone else. A tangible benefi t

has very much to do with how the purchase is viewed by others, and is important. Describing the components and features of a product or service is how you point out to the customer the tangible benefi ts of purchasing and using it.

However, as we have seen, the intangible benefi ts are largely emotional. They are concerned with pride, status, security, admiration and respect of others, and other factors that make the person feel happy that he or she has purchased what you are selling.

A person who buys a Rolex watch will explain it to others in terms of its gold case, its jeweled Swiss movement, the fact that it is waterproof to 330 feet and the tremendous accuracy for which it is famous. But none of these are reasons for buying a Rolex.

The real reasons, the intangible benefi ts, are the feeling of success, prestige and status that a person gets when he or she wears a Rolex in the presence of people who are wearing less expensive timepieces. It is the unspoken statement that “I have arrived” that the customer is making that causes him to buy the watch in the fi rst place.

What are the tangible benefi ts of buying and using your product or service, and what are the intangible benefi ts? What are the tangible and intangible benefi ts of dealing with you as a sales person? What are the obvious payoffs of dealing with you, and what are the not-so-obvious payoffs?

Now, here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, identify the specifi c tangible benefi ts your customer will enjoy from ownership and use of your produce or service. How could you prove these to your prospect?

Second, identify the intangible, emotional reasons why your customer buys from you. How could you demonstrate and emphasize these benefi ts in your sales conversation?

Brian Tracy is the chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International. He ca n be contacted at 866.300.9881, or by e-mail at [email protected].

Dear John

I am ple

prestige

Pre-AOnly

cessup t

ThWw

You Will Be Approved

for a New or Used Vehicle... Take the Credit Challenge!

------------------

------------------

------------------

------------------

------------------

------------------

------------------

---------

...or we will give you

FREE GAS for a YEAR!

JOHN You

Pre-Approv

Visit

ThursdaM

and dor

NO F

Status: Pre-Approved

Personal Approval Code:

Pre-Approved Financing Amount:

$ __________________________

Maximum amount up to $25,000.

Please have your Personal Approval Code ready when you contact us. Bring this letter with you to the dealership.

PRE-APPROVED

*****3463HG***

Mr. John

B. Cust

omer

5555 Mai

n Street

Yourtown

, GA 501

62

This is not a government check

*Terms and conditions:Your new vehicle payment cannot exceed 20% of your gross monthly Income; vehicle payment totaled with your current monthly payments must not exceed 50% of your gross income. You must

be at least 18 years of age. Lender assumes no responsibility for incorrect information supplied by various credit reporting agencies. Any equity deficit in your current vehicle must be paid or refinanced with new vehicle.

Credit severity may affect down payment. Bankruptcies must be discharged. If in compliance with provisions listed above, you are guaranteed to receive a loan for the purchase of a 1999 or newer vehicle from Auto Credit)

Source. See dealer for details.

Dear John Q Sample,

I am pleased to invite you to a special event at Dealership Name located in Yourtown, NY. There, you will experience the

prestige of Platinum Pre-Approval Auto Financing.

Pre-Approved Auto Financing of $7,500 up to $25,000 By Invitation Only.

Only a select group of individuals like you John Q Sample, are receiving this invitation. Your unique status gives you ac-

cess to a very special Auto Financing package arranged by Auto Credit Source. Your approval qualifies you for financing of

up to $25,000.

The Prestige of our Platinum Pre-Approval Program--Purchase a vehicle virtually hassle free.

With Auto Credit Source, you’ll have the luxury of being a buyer not a browser. Plus with multiple lenders available, there

will be no dealer finance delays. No financing headaches. No application fees. That’s the prestige of Pre-Approved Auto

Financing.

Follow these four easy steps to find out the amount of your Pre-Approved Auto Financing:

1. Call (800) 206-0000 or log onto http://dealername.4preapproval.com

2. Give the Authorized Representative your Personal Approval Code.

3. Write down your pre-approved financing amount in the space provided on the voucher.

4. Bring this letter with you when you visit the dealership!

Call Today to Reserve Your Platinum Pre-Approved Auto Financing.

Call today to find out the amount of financing you’ll receive with your auto financing package. But you must act soon.

This Pre-Approved offer is available Thursday, June 22nd through Monday, June 26th Only at:

Dealership Name

1234 Main Street

Yourtown, NY 10710

(866) 305-0000

Sincerely,

George Fraley

Senior Vice President, Auto Credit Source

*See terms and conditions of offer on the other side.

...and you may have won

$25,000. CASH

Guaranteed Winner!

Call Now! 1-866-305-0000

YOU WILL RECEIVE

$40 WORTH OF GAS

WITH TEST DRIVE!

JOHN Q SAMPLE

You are invited to a

Pre-Approval Auto Financing Event.

Visit Dealership Name

Thursday, June 22nd through

Monday, June 26th

and drive home with the car

or truck of your choice.

NO FINANCING HASSLES.

Prescreen & Opt-out notice: This “prescreened” offer of credit is based on information in your credit report indicating that you

meet certain criteria. This offer is not guaranteed if you do not meet our criteria (including providing acceptable collateral).

If you do not want to receive prescreened offers of credit from this or any other companies, call the consumer reporting agencies

toll-free, 1-888-567-8688 or write: Equifax Options, P.O. Box 740123 Atlanta, GA 30374, Experian Information Systems, Inc.,

P.O. Box 919, Allen, TX 75013, TransUnion LLC, P.O. Box 97328, Jackson, MS 39288

ou must vehicle.

dit)

12 13

fs feature solutionBenElliott

A growing number of Americans have damaged credit records. Outnumbering those with bad credit, however, are those who feel they are “credit challenged.” Many car buyers, with good or bad credit, don’t understand credit and are nervous of being turned down for a loan when they visit a dealership to purchase a vehicle. In response to this ever-growing demographic, dealers have blanketed their markets with advertising claiming that everyone is approved. “No-credit, No-problem” and “You are Guaranteed Approval” have become some of the most-common statements in used-car advertising. Customers are becoming immune to statements like these. Too many have been told they will need $6,500 down and/or a co-signer. Several fresher ideas are fi lling showrooms with people today. One of the best is the pre-approval sale.

Many dealers have tried pre-approval sales and experienced incredible results. Others have seen results, but have also angered buyers that can’t get the fi nancing they thought they were promised.

With most pre-approval sales, buyers receive

Guaranteed Pre-Approval /Guaranteed Results

an invitation in the mail that guarantees they are pre-approved for a car loan. These buyers arrive at dealerships expecting exactly that: a loan on a car. In the past, many of the people invited to a pre-approval sale found out that they were not approved when they arrived at the dealership, or that to be approved they were required to make a large down payment. This upset these customers and led to bad word of mouth for many dealerships. No one wants to put people on the street who feel they have been lied to. A great legal concern also exists. In today’s legal environment, it is important to be able to back up a claim of pre-approval.

With such an ominous down side, many dealers have given up on pre-approval sales, or have decided not to even try them. The results of pre-approval sales speak for themselves,

but how can a dealership avoid the potential public relations and legal pitfalls?

“With a guaranteed pre-approval sale, you don’t get a showroom full of people who came for the $8 tool set. You get people looking for a car.” – Joey Windham, Windham Chevrolet

Guaranteed Pre-Approval SaleTry using a guaranteed pre-approval sale rather than just a pre-approval sale. When setting it up, it is important to have a real bank back up your guaranteed pre-approval sale. By doing that, you can be sure that the approved customers who walk through your door are really approved; every customer who is directed to your store with a promise of a guaranteed pre-approval will be approved.

The mail piece should instruct customers to call to fi nd out how much they have been approved for. This way, they arrive at your dealership with a realistic idea of what they will drive home in, and you will know how much car you can give them. A few of the people who call will not qualify due to recent changes in their credit, income or employment. It is far better for them to learn this in their living room before they spend an hour with one of your sales people looking at cars. It is impossible to predict changes in a person’s credit worthiness in the time

between the list generation and the actual guaranteed pre-approval sale. Events such as job loss or missed payments can make a person unable to qualify. By having the customer call before visiting the dealership, you can prevent most customers who no longer qualify from wasting their time and yours. This will also eliminate most of the ill will created by the situation.

“Our guaranteed pre-approval sales are real easy and real simple. In the past, all you got was a manifest. Now I watch on a Web site as people call in to see how much they are approved for. We see the trade, how much they owe, and even pull the credit. We pick the ones we want and set appointments.” – Joey Windham, Windham Chevrolet

By having a bank back up your guaranteed pre-approval sale, you will also increase your return on investment by delivering more cars. An average 10,000 piece mailing campaign with two percent of the recipients visiting the store will generate 200 ups. Only half of these 200 ups will be qualifi ed, so even if you close 20 percent of the qualifi ed people, you will only see 20 vehicles go over

the curb. If you average $2,800 per copy, your total gross profi t for the event will be $56,000. Some of your 20 may have to be pulled back in, too.

The results from a guaranteed pre-approval sale that is backed by a bank are far more attractive. If the same 10,000 mail pieces are sent with a guarantee of pre-approval and the same two percent of the recipients visit the dealership, everything is doubled. Now all 200 ups qualify. Now with a closing percentage of 20 percent you deliver 40 vehicles. Now if you average $2,800 gross profi t per copy, your gross profi t is doubled to $112,000.

The growing number of credit-challenged and credit-fearful car buyers in United States presents retail automotive dealerships with a huge opportunity. The pre-approval sale is an effective means to drive these people to your dealership.

“Guaranteed pre-approval sales work for me. I do a 10,000 piece guaranteed pre-approval sale every month and have great success.”– Lorenzo Pena, Bill Heard Plant City

“I like the guaranteed pre-approval sale. They work real well. In the past we did direct mail sales where 50 people would come in to see if they won the prize. This frustrated the sales people, and they began to run and hide from those customers. When the sales people see the guaranteed pre-approval customers come through the door, they are excited. These leads are car deals. I have never had one come in that did not get approved.”– Craig Minten, Jerry Chambers Chevrolet

When looking for a guaranteed pre-approval sale, look for a partner that can offer you a sale that is backed up by a bank.

Find a partner who can guarantee every customer that walks into your dealership holding a guaranteed pre-approval mail piece is truly approved. Look for a company that has a bank to back your guaranteed pre-approval sale and you won’t have to worry about breaking the laws that govern pre-approval sales. Pre-approval sales present an opportunity to both sell more cars today and bring more customers into your dealership that use service and buy additional cars in the future. Take advantage of this opportunity and make sure you maximize your ROI by choosing a partner that brings to the table all the pieces necessary for your success.

Ben Elliott is the president and CEO of 300 Up Promotions. He can be contacted at 866.319.7337, or by e-mail [email protected].

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

200Ups

Ups thatQualify

Sales at 25%Close

Pre-approval Sale

100

20

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

200Ups

Ups thatQualify

Sales at 25%Close

Guaranteed Pre-approval Sale

200

40

0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150

Thousands of Dollars

$56,000Pre-Approval

Sale

Guaranteed Pre-Approval Sale

Gross Profi t at $2,800/copy

$112,000

10,000 Piece Mailer

Employment Marketingto Attract Top Talent

RogerHerman & JoyceGioiasts fos ls ms sf fi s

leadership solution


To build a highly talented workforce of a u t o m o t i v e professionals, you have to be

attractive as an employer. Qualifi ed workers - people with the skills you seek - have plenty of opportunities for decent jobs. To attract them, you must discover and promote the answers to two fundamental questions.

Question One: How will the most desirable applicants fi nd you?

Use a variety of methods to fi nd the good people you’re looking for. Maintain a presence on the Internet, as well as in the traditional newspaper medium. Use non-traditional media, like radio or local-market television advertising, as well. Ask valued employees what radio stations they listen to and which TV shows they watch, then use that input as guidance to reach more people like them.

The Message is Important.When you write your employment marketing messages, make sure they are candidate-centered, meaning they are written to appeal to the applicant from his/her point of view. People don’t want to work for a company that only cares about itself. Rather, they want to work for a company that will care about them - one that offers training and development, opportunities to advance and good benefi ts.

Here’s an example of how not to write an advertisement or Internet posting:

Automotive SalesMajor car dealer seeks experienced sales men and women for fl oor positions. Training available for advancement. Competitive compensation and benefi ts. Call Joe at 000-0000 for an appointment.

Here’s a better way to advertise for the same position:

Automotive Sales OpportunityAre you an experienced fl oor sales professional looking for the right company to help you build your career? We are a major car dealer seeking a few good sales people with proven track records to join our fast-growing team. We offer training and development to help you reach your goals - both professional and fi nancial. Competitive compensation/benefi ts and tuition reimbursement. If you’re ready to take the next step in your career, call Joe at

000-0000 for an appointment RIGHT NOW.

The highly talented people you seek are not looking to work for just anyone. Most often, they want to work for a company that will put them fi rst. Your messages must communicate that attitude of genuinely valuing employees.

Question Two: Why should the best people work for you?

Your answer to this question should be “Because we are the preferred automotive employer in this area.” Use the following eight elements for becoming an Employer of Choice® :

The Company/Organization. Does the organization have a solid history and a good reputation? Is it stable? Is the company respected in its industry and in the community? Are the products sold produced well - is quality valued? Is the company socially conscious and environmentally sensitive?

The Culture. People want to work for a company with high values and standards. They want a culture of inclusion, providing a sense of community. Today’s workers are less interested in status barriers; everyone works together. Traditions, rituals and history are important as threads that weave together the community.

Enlightened Leadership. Even though the most infl uential relationship in any company is between the worker and the worker’s immediate supervisor, people want to be well led from the top of the organization. They expect leaders to think and operate strategically, looking to the future. Senior executives in Employer of Choice® companies emphasize the strategic value of people. Enlightened leaders are visible and accessible, reaching out to others. They embrace change, making continual growth and improvement comfortable for all.

Care of People. Quality of life issues are increasingly important to workers in today’s fast-moving, highly active world. A home-like, safe, healthy environment is practically expected today. People want good working conditions, fl exibility and lots of recognition. They want their families involved and they want to know what’s going on. A good internal communications system is a common characteristic of Employers of Choice®.

Growth and Opportunity. Personal and professional growth are strong motivators

today as employees concentrate on their future marketability. Whether they stay with one employer or not, people want to choose their own circumstances. Staying current makes that choice possible. Supervisors become advocates of employee growth, encouraging people to take training, gain new experiences and participate in the company’s mentoring program. Fast-track opportunities abound.

Meaningful Work. People want to do something meaningful in their work today; “just a job” is no longer enough. They want to do things that make a difference - for the public, customers or internal customers. Employees want to see the value of their work. They want to stretch to reach their full potential, expanding and enriching their jobs and enjoying stimulating opportunities. Employees like to be involved in the design of their work so they feel a part of what’s happening.

Compensation and Benefi ts. Today’s workers are concerned about competitive pay, but they’re also looking for profi t sharing, stock options, domestic partner benefi ts, direct deposit of paychecks, voluntary insurance coverage, wellness programs, adoption coverage, time off, college loan repayment, discount pricing and childcare. Some are even asking for petcare benefi ts.

Making a Difference. Social values are increasingly important - what are we doing to improve the world around us? Savvy employers are involved in their local communities and in broader interests that serve mankind. They lend their support - fi nancial, in-kind and human to United Way, community theater, Habitat for Humanity, youth programs and clean-up/fi x-up projects.

To attract and hold top talent, you must become much more responsive to what people are looking for. The key to good automotive employment marketing is to focus on the applicants. Look at what you’re offering from their point of view. If your competitive intelligence tells you that other dealers offer better packages of compensation, benefi ts and opportunities, it’s probably time to rethink the value you place on your employees and make some changes.

Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia are certifi ed management consultants and principals with Automotive Transformation, Inc. They can be contacted at 866.347.5023, or by e-mail at [email protected] or [email protected].

More SalesTest Drive Fundamentals and the Essentials of Leasing More Cars

JeffMorrillsts fos ls ms sf fi s



Our biggest competition isn’t the car on the lot at the Subaru store across town or the Toyota store down the street.

It’s the car that the customer arrived in. Most of our prospects don’t need a car, because their current one is running fi ne. Our sales success is largely determined by the excitement and urgency we generate while the customer is with us. Of all the steps to the sale, the test drive is the most emotionally powerful and most effective at stoking a prospect’s desire.

Nearly 100 percent of people require a test drive before buying. Even the tough customers who insist they don’t need a drive and want to negotiate the whole deal will usually decide they need to drive before fi nally committing. Remember: If they don’t drive it, they won’t buy it. To increase test drive percentage (and therefore closing percentage), don’t ask if a customer wants to test drive. Asking gives the customer the opportunity to voice a host of objections about test driving (“I don’t want to be responsible for the car,” “I don’t have time,” “I don’t need to test drive it because I’ve owned so many before,” etc.)

1. Set up the test drive properly at the conclusion of your walk around. Assume the test drive. If you were showing the actual car outside, make sure that the last part of your presentation occurs with the customer in the driver’s seat. Then, ask for a license, attach a plate and go. If you were showing a car inside, let your customer know that you are going to bring down a vehicle in the desired color or trim for closer inspection.

2. Assume that you are going. Don’t ask if you can join the customer, just hop in. You contribute a lot: you answer questions, manage any concerns about the vehicle (especially for used cars), observe the customers’ responses to the car, and trial close (e.g. “this sure handles better than your old car, doesn’t it?”). t

3. If someone just doesn’t feel comfortable driving, you still need to do a test drive - with you driving. Taking them on a drive is not as effective as the customer driving, but it’s better than no drive at all. For example, Subarus have a remarkably tight turning radius and you can impress customers even if they won’t take the wheel. Once you get customers on the road, some will be willing to drive on the way back.

4. Walking back in, ask the customer, “Is this the car you want to own?” Come back to your desk. If “no” or “maybe,” investigate to discover the concern and address it. If “yes,” before proceeding with pricing ask the customer, “If we can fi t this car into your budget, will you write an order with us?”

5. Know a good test-drive route in advance. Choose some highway and some winding streets. Take 15 to 20 minutes, minimum, to create mental ownership and give you “comfortable” time with the customer away from the dealership. This is usually when people loosen up and forget they are buying a car. This is a great time to sell yourself and the car.

6. Here are some safety tips. If you do not feel comfortable getting into a car with someone, talk to your manager. Customers are driving an unfamiliar vehicle, so make sure they are comfortable before leaving. Ideally, take all right turns so you never have to cross two lanes of traffi c. If a customer drives irresponsibly, don’t be bashful about telling them to settle down. Remember you can always pull the key out to disable the vehicle.

Once you get the customer emotionally attached to the vehicle, you can then move them towards the lease, which can be benefi cial for both them and your dealership. If done correctly, explaining the fi ner points of leasing can make the fi nal negotiation easier for both you and your customer.

How leasing benefi ts the customer: • A lower monthly payment• A safer, more reliable car all the time, and not just when the car is new• A car under warranty with fewer repair bills• Investing cash elsewhere instead of tying it up in a depreciating asset • Sales tax only on the monthly payment instead of the whole car (this may vary depending on state)• Owing nothing at lease end with the option to buy your car at a wholesale price• Excess miles are cheap to buy on a lease (10 cents per mile up front) compared to the depreciation on your fi nanced car (more like 25 cents per mile).• Gap insurance is free from most manufacturers. If a leased car is totaled in a theft or accident, there’s no risk of owing the bank more than the insurance proceeds.

• Great way to put an end to being upside down in the loan. Instead of rolling negative equity over into a new loan, nothing is owed at lease end.

Why leasing benefi ts you as a sales person:• Shortens the trade cycle - The average Subaru customer, for instance, owns his/her car for seven years. The typical lease term is half that, so you sell twice the number of cars.• Increases urgency - At lease end, a customer can’t postpone making a decision about a new car because the old one is going away.• Simplifi es negotiation - It’s a lot easier to fi t a payment into a customer’s budget than to dicker back and forth over the selling price.

Keys to successful lease presentations• Ask this question early in qualifying: “Would you like to look at lease options?” Yes or no doesn’t matter. The important thing is to introduce the lease option early. If the fi rst time they hear about leasing is at the end of closing, after you couldn’t fi t their budget with a fi nance deal, you make leasing look like a desperation move rather than a credible alternative.• Any time you quote fi nance payments, quote the lease with it. Some customers will choose leasing on payment alone.

How to present the leaseThe biggest objection customers have to leasing is that they don’t understand it. People tend to fear and avoid things they don’t understand, especially when they are in an uncomfortable environment (such as a showroom). Your success with leasing will be determined by your ability to explain it in simple terms. Try this:

“Mr. Customer, when you get a $20,000 loan, the bank pays us $20,000 for your car and keeps your title until you pay off the entire $20,000, plus interest. When you lease, the bank also pays us $20,000, and keeps the title. What’s the difference? With a loan, the bank wants back 100 percent of the $20,000, plus interest. With a lease, the bank only wants you to pay back the difference between $20,000 and the residual. The residual is a forecast of the value of your car after the lease term, and the bank stands behind that forecast.”

See the sample comparison below, between a 60-month loan and a 36-month lease:Handling The Top-Ten Objections to Leasing 1. With a lease, I don’t own anything.

continued

17july 2006

HomeNet

Free Consultation:866.402.0691

Inventory OnlineTM

Get. Edit. Deliver.

Sell.Save.

Simplify.

The Secret to Selling More Cars Online

www.homenetinc.com

HomeNetPowered By

34Highest Volume Automotive Groups

50of the

of 2005 are

Loan:

$20,000

$0

Monthly Payment = $420

Lease:

$20,000

$12,000 (residual)

$0

Monthly Payment = $300

Bank collects all $20,000 from you over 60 months plus interest.

Bank collects $8,000 from you over 36 monthsplus interest.

“When you take out a loan, do you get the title? Not until you pay off the whole amount. So you don’t really own it till it’s paid off. A lease is the same way. The bank retains the title and if you want to own the car you just pay off the lease.” 2. With a loan, I own the car at the end.“True. But not much of a car! A fi ve-year-old car with nearly 100k? If the lease saves you $120 a month for the term of a 60-month loan, that’s $7,200. (And that’s assuming you didn’t make some interest on it by investing it or putting it in the bank.) What’s a 100k-mile car worth? Probably not $7,200. So you would have been better off saving money along the way instead of parking it in a depreciating asset.

3. It’s better to own than rent. “The reason you should buy a house instead of rent is because the house almost always appreciates. But cars depreciate. Why would you want to own something that’s going down in value?”

4. I can’t trade the car in before lease end. “Actually, you can. After driving your car for 30 months, don’t you think it’s less expensive to get out of a 36-month lease that’s almost up rather than a 60-month loan that’s only half paid?” Approximately 40 percent of people owe more on their loans than their cars are worth - not only do they not have equity, they are actually ‘upside down.’”

5. You seem awfully excited about leasing, Mr. Sales person. What’s in it for you? “Because our lease customers pay less to

drive a nicer, safer car that’s under warranty, they are almost always thrilled with their experience here. The margins in auto retail are thin, so we’ve built our business on the volume of repeat and referral business from happy lease customers.”

6. I don’t want a new car every few years.I like to buy new, pay the car off, and then have the car without a payment. “While you may not have a payment in those out years, there are still costs. You’ll be spending more in repairs to keep an older car on the road, older cars use more gas and pollute the environment more, have fewer safety features than modern cars and are more likely to break down and leave you in a dangerous situation.”

7. Do you lease? If yes, “Yes I do, as do most of my colleagues here. And who would know better than the insiders?” If no, “I drive a car that I had before I started here. I’ll defi nitely lease my next one.”

8. I drive too many miles. “Cars depreciate about 25 cents per mile. Yet with a Subaru lease, you can buy additional miles upfront for only 10 cents. At the end, if you go over, they’re only 15 cents. People who put a lot of miles on fi nanced cars usually end up owing more than they are worth - not only do you not own your car, it owns you.”

9. I had a bad experience with a lease because I drove over the miles and I had to write a big check at the end. “If you had fi nanced the car, don’t you think that piling on extra miles would have substantially reduced the value of the car at trade-in time? Cars depreciate about 25 cents per mile but they only cost 15 cents on a lease if you go over. If you buy them up front, they’re only 10 cents. So if you’re concerned about driving a lot of miles, we’ll build them into the lease for you. Either way, you’re better off putting too many miles on somebody else’s car.”

10. I had a bad experience with a lease because I had to pay for damage at the end. “People who trade in fi nanced cars with damage have to pay too - because they get less on trade in. You don’t get a bill in the mail for it, but you still pay it. Furthermore, our experience with lease returns is that the inspectors are pretty lenient about minor damage because they want you to get another lease.”

Jeff Morrill is co-owner of Planet Subaru in Hanover, Mass., and Planet Chrysler Jeep in Franklin, Mass. He can be contacted at 866.872.8699, or by e-mail [email protected].


How to Flood YourDealership with Customers

MarkTewartsts fos ls ms sf fi s


There is a revelation that is shocking and, quite frankly, scary. A dangerous and potentially fatal mistake is being made

everyday in businesses. The mistake is the confusion between strategy and tactics. Strategy is your overall goal for your business and your overall marketing philosophy to achieve those goals. Tactics are executable actions you take to achieve those options. The good news is that once you have clarity about your strategy, and then apply emotional direct response marketing methods, you can create a continual stream of customers to your business. The scary part is that it is as easy as fl ipping on a light switch, and yet very few people know and understand the simple secrets to make this happen.

Your business is actually comprised of two businesses: the people business and the marketing business. You can be great with your people skills and handling of customers,

but if you don’t have the customers to be great with, it won’t matter. Lead generation equals dollar creation. You live and die by the success or failure of your marketing efforts to create new customers and retain existing ones.

There are three simple things you can do immediately to make a dramatic impact on your customer fl ow and sales: Market, Message and Media

Step One – Defi ne who your market is.If you were asked who your average customer is, do you really know? Do you know where they live, what they do for a living and what their hopes, dreams and fears are? Have you begun to break down every element of what makes up your best potential market of customers? Many dealerships open the doors every day and spend tons of money to drive customers through the door without ever giving extensive thought to who their market really is. Successful businesses don’t try to do business with everybody. If you believe your market is everyone, you are wasting tons of money. You must match your message to your market. The more accurately you defi ne your message while also narrowing your market and niche, the more success you have. You also greatly increase your return on investment. Step Two - Defi ne an effective message.Remember that you are not in the car business. You are in the emotions business. Your customers don’t buy cars. What they are doing is seeking to emotionally solve their perceived problems. If you believe you are in the car business, you have just grouped yourself into a fi shbowl with every car dealership and every sales person in the world. You can immediately differentiate yourself by creating an SDP (Specifi c Defi ning Proposition) built upon emotional pull.

In other words, what does your business do better, more of or more originally than any other business in the world? Begin to tell your story. Facts tell; stories sell. You may not have spent enough time fi guring out what your story is that positions and sells you. If you don’t believe you or your business is better or unique, I would argue that you are wrong, and you should do more work on fi guring it out. If, after careful consideration, you still don’t believe you are better or unique in any way, the good news is that it probably doesn’t even matter. Since most

people or businesses never tell their story, you will automatically differentiate yourself and stand out if you do. There are three legs that must be established to create a winning marketing approach to your business: Message, Market and Media. You have now created the second of three legs that builds your business – the message.

Make sure that all of your marketing messages contain the following: an emotional story, a specifi c and incredible offer, a strong sense of urgency with a specifi c call to action, multiple ways to respond and, if possible, a specifi c deadline that creates a real or perceived fear of loss for a lack of action by that date.

Step Three – Defi ne your media strategy.Be forewarned, advertising agencies are usually nothing more than commissioned-based media sales agents. The focus of the majority of advertising agents is to place the largest amount of money possible in media. This is a recipe for waste and lackluster results. Although there are technically no bad media selections, you must defi ne which medium is best for your market and message. If you can’t dominate a medium, can you dominate the way you use the medium (for example, infomercial versus regular TV)?

A huge mistake would be to believe that the medium itself is what gets you the results. A good example of this is a dealership that chooses a particular medium, such as radio or TV, as their favorite and then places tons of ads that are strictly brand-based messages. For dealerships, branding should always be of secondary importance to the actual direct-response offer. The best way for a dealership to build a brand is to sell a bunch of vehicles. Unless you are Budweiser, Coca-Cola or some other huge brand with tons of money, spending money on brand-based advertising is like pouring money down the drain. You are in the business of creating customers and profi t, not in the ego-infl ation business.

When you get very clear about your strategy and tactics and use emotional direct-response marketing to achieve your goals, you will have fl ipped on the switch to a continual fl ow of customers and sales.

Mark Tewart is the president of Tewart Enterprises. He can be contacted at 866.429.6844, or by e-mail [email protected].

Call fora FreeSample!

1.866.973.9490www.cartube.com

Sell Cars 24/7Sell Cars 24/7 With CarTubeWith CarTube

Give customers specifi c information

Great for after-hours shoppers

Stand out from your competition

Effective, low-cost sales solution

Attaches easily to your entire inventory

Includes free software to create fl yers

DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE

through September 1, 2006

old fashioned service. cutting edge solutions.

XIGroupAuto, a Trader Publishing Company, brings old fashioned service to the web solutions market.

We offer the best inventory display and management solution, lead generating tools, and search engine

marketing at affordable prices. We also offer short-term contracts to meet your specific needs. See for yourself:

visit: xigroupauto.comcall: 866.464.1197 x3

“XIGroupAuto’s inventory solution has brought me measured success!”

Troy NievesOurisman Automotive Group

ourismanva.com

“Excellent customer service, easy system to update. Any time of the day!” Matt Strohminger Schaefer & Strohminger sandsauto.com

BlakeAutoGroup.com HoffmanAuto.com

FrankelAuto.com YoungerToyota.com

Best VehicleInventory Solution!

Lead Generating ToolsSearch Engine Marketing


Scott’s Individualized Consultation Transcripts, Part 2

ScottJosephsts fos ls ms sf fi s

marketing solution

John (real name omitted to protect the store’s identity) is the owner of a Chevrolet dealership on the East Coast. His customer

satisfaction scores are above average, but sales are fl at.

His television ads were bringing in some business, but weren’t conveying the uniqueness and high quality his store has to offer. They were also using direct mail, but felt the list contained a lot of “deadwood.”

In this consultation, I gave John a wide range of innovative ways to approach prospects, showed him how to resell existing customers, and told him how to word a compelling message to convert his “deadwood” into live buyers.

If you want to reach more prospects or convey a stronger and more compelling message, read this transcript.

(Continued from June 2006 issue of AutoSuccess…)

Scott: The one thing I hope that I can teach you in the context of this consultation is to let your marketplace tell you what the best approach is by picking a lot of suppositions and conservatively dividing your customers into test groups or cells. Try one approach to 1,500, and another approach to another 1,500. Then analyze which approaches are the most profi table and go forward. Perpetuate those that work, and reject or stop the ones that don’t. I can tell you what to test and give you suppositions, but the only vote that is really important is whether the market embraces it.

John: One of the problems I have right now is that we’re going out to about 8,000 people when we target the credit score lists, and our results aren’t nearly what they used to be. We used to get close to one percent but now we’re lucky if we get over a half percent. The point is that this list is getting more and more expensive to pop these

direct mail pieces out each month.

S: You should have a formula established until you get more experienced, because right now you’re just sending them all the same printed material. You should bite the bullet and try a few customized offers to all of them. If you can track by correlation, you can follow up and see which names responded to which offers. If certain offers pull stronger or some fail, then just go with what works and eliminate what doesn’t. That makes sense to me. Does it make sense to you?

J: Sure.

S: What you want to do is always play the game. You want to radar-scan 100 percent of your potential market at any given time. I like your copy, but I think there are ways to make it much more exciting. Every direct mail piece you send out doesn’t have to be just one page. Some of the most effective direct mail letters I’ve seen have been nine or 10 pages long. Your copy or letter is nothing more than a sales man in print. You don’t want to say too much, but at the same time you want to say whatever it takes (honestly) to sell the deal. What works best with automotive direct mail advertising is a two-step approach. You want to get a response and once that happens you need to sell the car.

J: How can I make my ads more exciting?

S: Tell stories about everything. Get into it. When I was in New York City with a business associate, we went to an art gallery and saw an incredible piece of art. We thought it was nice and found out it was $35,000. We were going to leave, but the guy who ran the gallery was best friends with the artist. He started telling us about the collectors around the world who had it, and the background, and the inspiration and he showed us the write-ups. I didn’t buy it, but my business associate bought not just that one, but $45,000 worth of art.

Right now you’re doing a lot of work, but you’re inversely leveraging. You’re not getting these people through the door. You’re not telling them why you love the deal, the service you offer or the special allocation of vehicles.

With new cars, your challenge is what you can say legally. The reality is you’re a Chevy dealer, and your competitors can get customers the exact same car you can. So, you need to spend more time giving them

IMN Loyalty Driver™ is a turnkey e-marketing service thatdrives interest, sales and customer loyalty. Customized, trackable email communications provide tangible results for dealerships across the country. A couple of examples:

• 90 phone calls in a month as a direct result ofone IMN Loyalty Driver e-newsletter.

• Web traffic spiked to 2.5 times its normal rateafter a dealership’s first e-newsletter.

Looking for results like these? Call 866.964.6397, ext. 214 or email [email protected].

Drive customers in…For sales, for life.

866-964-6397 imnLoyaltyDriver.com

> Scott Haynes, Penske Chevrolet and Honda

“Within the first hour of the

e-newsletter going out, I had 15 test drives.”

factual, credible and believable reasons as to why your “sale” is a better deal than the competitor’s down the street.

You have a great opportunity on the used-car side. Tell them your buying criteria. You search the country looking for the best-quality, previously owned vehicles. Moreover, you literally will look at 500 different vehicles before you even consider one. You go to auctions to buy cars, don’t you? Are these statements true?

J: Yeah, sometimes we look at more than 500.

S: You look for vehicles that not only have low mileage and will be dependable for years, but you literally hand pick every pre-owned vehicle and complete 124 quality inspections on all mechanical items under the hood and under the vehicle. Plus, extensive road tests guarantee the entire vehicle is in perfect working order. Every vehicle completes 21 thorough inspections to guarantee the customer’s next vehicle meets all their appearance expectations. You check for it all: dents, dings and scratches on all body panels and bumpers as well as the entire interior. That starts getting exciting, doesn’t it?

J: It does. What would be a new approach for us? Do you think by telling a story, we’d be opening up a new market for ourselves?

S: You’d be doing two things. You have two problems, as I see it. One, you have to help the people who have already bought from you. You have to verbalize and articulate and get them to remember why they bought from you in the fi rst place. In your fi rst year you were able to double sales, correct?

J: Yes.

S: Now sales have fl attened out, yet your satisfaction scores are above average, right?

J: Yes.

S: Let me ask you this, when sales doubled, did most of the business come from new prospects or repeat customers?

J: Most of them were new.

S: In your opinion why have sales fl attened out?

J: I’m beginning to think we’ve hit our potential. I’m not sure this market will

generate any more sales.

S: OK. Your sales are still double compared to the prior owner, so you’ve grown your customer base by quite a large margin in the last two years. If the new business continues to come in at the same rate, why aren’t you selling more cars over the prior year? What I mean by that is every dealership has a percentage of repeat business and referrals. If you have a lot more customers, you should be getting a lot more repeat and referral business to add to all that new business that has remained consistent. Your satisfaction scores are high. Wouldn’t you agree that even if the amount of new business you sell each month has fl attened out you should still be selling more cars?

Over the next several months the rest of this private consultation will be printed. If you would like it in its entirety now please e-mail me at the address below.

Scott Joseph is the president of J&L Marketing, Inc. He can be contacted at 866.429.6846, or by e-mail [email protected].

continued

21july 2006


RickCase.com Uses E-Mail Marketing to Increase SalesDealership Increases Sales From 250 to 500+ in Just Nine Months

PhilCohensts fos ls ms sf fi s

marketing solution

With more than a half-a-million square feet, and more than 1,500 new Hondas on display, Rick Case Honda opened in Fort

Lauderdale, Fla., in 2002 as the world’s largest automotive complex. In their fi rst month and fi rst year in operation, Rick Case Honda surpassed all Honda sales volume records. Today, the Rick Case Automotive Group is enjoying tremendous growth in its eCommerce initiatives - doubling their Internet sales from 250 to more than 500 units per month while and cutting their cost per sale from $340 per car to only $210.

How has the Rick Case Automotive Group achieved incremental sales and a boost in profi tability during this growth period? We put together a new eCommerce strategy and use the power of search-engine marketing and e-mail campaigns to increase sales and lower ad costs.

We see the highest return on investment from Internet and phone leads generated from our own Web site, www.RickCase.com, and from the e-mail campaigns we run, so we shifted some of our focus to these areas. By tracking cost per sale by lead source, we’re able to make smarter decisions with our marketing strategy and budget. For us, it makes the most sense to reduce our reliance on traditional forms of advertising. Our new Web site, search engine marketing and e-mail campaigns are cheaper and get better results.

Marketing Best Practices• Implement the right balance of

advertising and SEO/SEM• Create effective, low-cost e-mail

campaigns• Establish a strategy to populate the e-

mail database• Build the right Web site

Search Engine MarketingWithout traffi c it’s tough to generate sales. Customers today are using Internet search engines like Google and Yahoo during their buying process, so we decided to get serious about search-engine marketing. To attract today’s shoppers, we rely on our technology and training partner to help generate more high-quality leads at a lower cost. Our vendor uses search engine optimization to ensure we appear at the top of the most popular search results. There’s organic optimization, which is free, and pay per click, which is not. We appear up top for free when a customer “Googles” a popular search like “Fort Lauderdale Honda” or “Fort Lauderdale Hyundai,” whereas our competitors have to buy sponsored links. They pay to get a position that’s worse than our free positions. As a result, we’ve seen an increase in the traffi c to our phones, our Web site and, ultimately, to our stores.

E-mail MarketingThe goal of e-mail marketing is the same as the goal for search-engine marketing: to attract more quality traffi c at a lower cost. We love how quickly, easily and inexpensively we can reach hundreds and even thousands of customers and potential customers. Best of all, we love that it’s 100 percent measurable. We’re able to create unique mini-movies that get the customers attention and prompt them to come in or contact the dealership, and if they don’t contact us, our highly trained CRC team follows up until they do.

For example, we recently featured Rick and Rita Case in a “Race for the Record” e-mail campaign. Once we create the Buzzmail, BuzzTrak makes it easy to query our database, load and blast. We set criteria to target only the customers we want to reach. If Honda comes out with a low-lease payment or special rate on the Accord, we can target everyone who’s been in during the last 60, 90 or 120 days on the Accord and send them an

interactive e-mail. Our customers also love our virtual test drives because they hit “play” and get to watch a mini-movie on the vehicle they’re interested in.

How effective are these e-mail campaigns? It’s impossible to create 100 percent accountability, but our technology helps us measure how many e-mails were sent successfully, how many duplicate e-mail addresses we have and how many customers opt out. This is our fastest, easiest, most effective and least expensive form of marketing. Compared with conventional advertising like print, radio, television and direct mail, e-mail marketing allows the team at Rick Case Automotive to communicate with hundreds or thousands of customers with just a few clicks and virtually no cost. It’s faster, easier and more effective. Populating Your E-mail DatabaseOne word of caution, however: E-mail marketing only works if you have a database of e-mail addresses. With the right people and processes in place to hold the team accountable in both sales and service, we have seen our e-mail address capture rate increase nearly 30 percent. All leads go into our lead management tool, which makes it quick and easy to execute as many campaigns as often as we like.

Our eCommerce team is responsible for capturing, recording and following up with all prospects to sell them a car and keep them loyal to the dealership. Our CRM tool makes it easy to manage and measure all customer activity, while the Virtual BDC can automatically execute thousands of daily activities and do the work most sales people resist.

Phil Cohen is the national director of eCommerce at the Rick Case Automotive Group. He can be contacted at866.473.7901, or by e-mail [email protected].

An Interview with DebBrewstersts fos ls ms sf fi s

special feature


Deliveries are something Deb Brewster understands very well.

The sales woman at Planet Subaru, located in Hanover, Mass., delivers an average of 25 to 30 cars to customers a month, her best is 42 vehicles in one month.

Prior coming to the dealership three and a half years ago, however, Brewster had a much different profession: She helped women with childbirth.

For 18 years, Brewster served as a professional doula, helping women prepare for giving birth, providing physical and emotional support during the delivery and then helping them adjust to life with a baby.

Although the two positions seem to be worlds apart, Brewster has found certain similarities that have aided her in becoming one of her dealership’s top sales leaders.

“Selling a car to someone is a lot like helping someone give birth, in that I can’t promise to make it pain-free; I can’t take all that away,” Brewster said. “What I can do is make it more pleasant than they expected it to be. That’s one skill I’ve been able to carry over from my previous profession.”

Brewster said she really wasn’t looking for a change in careers, but the dealership provided a tempting opportunity.

“I bought a car at Planet Subaru,” she said, “and they have a different model of hiring people. They like to hire people who have never really sold cars before. I ran my own successful business for 18 years, but selling cars? That was never on the list of things I wanted to do when I grew up.”

After thinking about it, though, Brewster grew more curious. “I was sending a daughter off to college,” she said, “and the more I listened, the more interested I became, and I eventually wound up with a new career.”

Brewster said that the leap from the delivery room to the show fl oor wasn’t as diffi cult as it might seem.

“It’s not really that big of a switch,” she said. “I’m still dealing with people.”

Brewster has noticed that people prepare for

both events in similar ways.

“In childbirth, there’s a lot of preparation, a lot of reading and a lot of listening to stories of other people’s experiences,” she said. “In both cases, you always wonder if you are being told the truth. Is everything okay? Is there anything you’re not telling me? There are a lot of similarities.”

Not that there haven’t been any bumps in the road.

“The biggest challenge was not to take everything so personally,” Brewster said. “When I fi rst started, if someone would walk away without making the sale, I would take it more personally. I like to approach everything with passion, so I’ve had to develop a little thicker skin.”

Her ability to listen to what the customer is actually saying is a major tool Brewster uses to turn reluctant shoppers into Subaru drivers.

“I believe I’m a good listener,” she said. “There’s a lot more information that people have to share than just talking about the deal. It goes beyond what they say. It helps to build a rapport. I know a lot about people by the time they leave, and they know a lot about me.”

Brewster said her excitement about the product she is selling is the other key to her success.

“I love it when people come in and don’t know anything about Subaru,” she said. “I love to explain my product, because I really believe in it. I tell them that this will be fun, and we’re going to have a great time. People like to work with people who love what they do.”

Jeff Morrill, co-owner of Planet Subaru, said that Brewster’s enthusiasm for what she does strengthens the entire company.

“When we asked Deb to join our team, I knew that a person who could help someone through the second hardest process in the world (giving birth), would be great at the hardest process in the world (buying a car),” Morrill said. “All kidding aside though, we treasure Deb as much for her sales skills as the personal qualities that she brings to our team - brightening our day and pushing us to be our best.”

Although Brewster had operated her own successful business for nearly two decades, putting down goals in writing was a tool she said she wished she had started long ago.

“I’ve done that a lot more in this job, and it’s been incredibly helpful,” she said. “My current goal is to sell 25 cars a month, and that’s what I’ve written down. I know it; my sales manager knows it. I feel like it’s almost a given if I can write it down.”

In addition to setting goals, getting her name out in the public is essential, Brewster said. “I’m always prospecting, but I don’t really do a lot of cold calling,” she said. “Whenever I talk to someone, I always make sure to tell them what I do. If someone who has come into the dealership decides to buy a Honda instead of a Subaru, I’ll still ask them to pass my name around. I try not to write anybody off. I’m very quick to tell people what I do for a living.”

After almost four years, Brewster said she is beginning to see some familiar faces coming into the dealership.

“I’m starting to see a lot more repeats and referrals, which is very nice,” she said. “It’s what we strive for. There’s also a value in just being here for three and a half years, in that you are a familiar face, and one of the few that’s been here that long.”

Brewster has no regrets about the path her career has taken, and wishes that more people could see what she has found on the sales fl oor.

“I would love to see more people, and more women especially, take advantage of the opportunities that auto sales offers,” Brewster said. “There are fantastic opportunities, but a lot of people don’t take advantage of because they are focused on the negative stereotype of the car sales man. Even my own children were not thrilled when I took this position, but they’ve seen now how it can be done with a lot of fun and a lot of integrity. It’s a profession, and we need to treat it as a profession. If we do that, people will start to see it that way, and we will treat ourselves that way. It’s worth doing, because you can help people.”

Deb Brewster is a sales person at Planet Subaru in Hanover, Mass. She can be contacted at 866.484.0383, or by e-mail [email protected].

Brewster MakesEvery Delivery Special

DavidJacobsonsts fos ls ms sf fi s


The 7 Commandmentsof Selling, Part 3


We have already established that genuine empathy is like a warm blanket for the ego, enabling you to get very close with

the customer. This is a natural lead-in to help make the sale by befriending the customer, rather than insult him.

Consider Roger’s story. Roger is a sales man with fi ve years of experience in auto sales. While he considers himself a professional, his grosses were considerably lower than the rest of the sales team.

Why? Because he did not ask for higher ones. After we suggested he try and quote all of his customers at list price, he responded by saying the customers were too intelligent to pay list and he would be insulting them. We asked him to try it anyway and he agreed.

When the fi rst customer sat down at his

desk, he quoted list price on a new Buick, to which the customer stood up and walked out on him. He came to me and said, “You see what happens when you quote list price? He walked out on me.” I asked him what he did prior to quoting the price.

“The customer was looking for the precise car and asked for my price. I gave it to him and he left.”

It’s true that quoting list price can be perceived as an insult, especially to an educated buyer who has been shopping around. So what do we do? Discount every car, every time? Try to prejudge who will pay list and who won’t?

First of all, you do not have to make excuses for asking list price for a car. That is the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. Getting a discount should be an exception to the rule.

So we asked Roger to try something different next time: I suggested he stop selling and forget the car and the price. I recommended he talk to the customer about themselves; how they heard about us and what they enjoy doing when not shopping for a car.

When Roger met his next customer, he did just that. For the fi rst three minutes, he engaged in good conversation with the customer, who happened to be a bartender. This was a good bond, since Roger had owned a restaurant prior to working in the auto business. And, when Roger recounted their conversation, I gave him the list price for the car his customer was interested in. Roger went back and quoted the price on that car. The customer then said, “Come on Roger, I found the car at another dealership for $1,300 less. You can do better than that.” Hallelujah. What goals were achieved? Roger now knew where his customer had shopped, the price quoted and that his customer really wanted the vehicle. Since they had established a bond, the customer not only stayed, but also told him every objection up front. Plus, they were on a fi rst-name basis. He made a friend before he insulted the customer. The results were extraordinary.

Once you’ve established a relationship,

you’ve earned the right to guide a customer through the sale. Whether a customer is angry or scared, making a friend enables you to control the sale.

Stay high and make it look diffi cultWhat does a customer perceive to be a good value? Is it the true best price, or the one they think they have earned?

When it comes to items that are usually negotiable, such as cars, homes and boats, there are many theories and sales techniques to convince the buying public that your item is the best. I remember attending a sales seminar where the trainer explained how it isn’t how much you take off the price, but rather how many times you do it. I have also heard others state that you should always give a discount to show good faith when starting a negotiation. They all have their merits. However, my goal as a sales man is to maximize my gross profi t, as well as my closing ratio. You work too hard to give up any gross profi t. There are enough professional negotiators out there. How do we keep control of them? How do we keep a professional negotiator at high gross and close them now?

Diffi culty rules the roostWe have already discussed making a friend before you insult, so you should have a relationship at this point. Keep in mind that while your goal is to stay high and make it look diffi cult, the customer’s goal is to stay low and make it look easy. Therefore, it’s important to not make the customer feel they’re in a “win-lose” situation.

This takes a certain technique: Bringing a customer up in price is like going against gravity. Every customer has an idea what he or she thinks something is worth. Sometimes what they think something is worth is directly related to what they can afford. This causes the unreasonable offers that we often get.

Let’s say you and your customer have found the car they want to buy. In their mind, they want to spend $19,500 and the list price is $23,000. The customer is fi guring they can

29july 2006

buy it for the former because $3,500 is what their friend negotiated off their last car. If you originally quoted them $20,950, the customer feels that it’s simply a matter of negotiating to get you down another $1,500 to their price of $19,500. Your goal, at fi rst, is to bring the customer’s expectations up. Staying high does this. You need to separate the difference between what they want to spend and what you quote them. If a customer is thinking $10,000 and you say $11,000, you have lost gross and will have a tough time closing this customer. Now they want more. You made it look too easy.

If a customer is thinking $10,000 and you quote $14,500, they might think to themselves, “Wow, I’m too low.” Now their fi rst price will rise to $11,500. You may think it has a negative effect if you quote too high, but it doesn’t. First, remember, make a friend before you insult. Second, people want something that is out of reach initially. It seems to be a greater value. Doesn’t $10,000 sound like a great deal when you started at $14,500?

What do we mean by “make it look diffi cult?”

Let’s say you initially quote a customer a much higher price. If they like you, they will share with you what they are thinking. They will tell you that you’re way too high. What do you do now? First of all, you never know, the customer might agree to the fi rst price. If they don’t, explain this is the price that you have been selling the car at for quite some time and that anything less would be a great challenge and an exception to the rule. This again reinforces that they should not expect to get much more off the price. If they do, they will have scored. Remember, you must go against gravity.

At this point, a customer may even say the price is too much and they want to shop around. Most sales people would take that as a negative and lose control. However, your counter should be something like this:

“I can appreciate that you are looking to be treated fairly and I have never lost a customer because of price. It does seem that we are quite a distance from each other.”

You must set the pace and the rules to your sale. You will ensure they get a fair price.

But fair doesn’t mean that they buy at the price they were initially thinking.

Never negotiate with a customer that is unwilling to negotiate with you. Lowering your price is a waste of time if they keep saying “no.” Use phrases like, “I know you would be happy if I could do this price, but I can’t. Therefore, I need you to help me so I can help you.” Always refer to your original asking price, which allows them to agree to negotiate. They may say, “Yes I would be happy at this price, but not any higher.” Now you have a semi-commitment from the customer without committing to them. You don’t want to make an offer to a customer. Never say, “If I can do this, will you buy the car?” The only thing this does is lock you into a price without a commitment from them.

Learning these techniques creates a less stressful and a more systematic approach towards successful selling.

Remember to always leave whatever you and your customer agree upon subject to fi nal verifi cation. Get them to commit before you. Don’t give the customer the opportunity to say “yes” or “no.” Never go back with a solid offer. Never go back with a sliding down scale offer. For example:

“My manager said he can’t do $14,500, but he said, maybe $15,000, maybe even $14,900.”

This causes gravity to take control. As you go down in price, their mind is thinking, “$15,000 to $14,900 is $14,700 and could be $14,600 which is really close to $14,500. Maybe I can do even better.” You must go upward. Another example:

“My manager said that price really isn’t possible, but I told him to earn your business he must work with us. He said he will consider $14,900, $15,000 or $15,100.”

First of all, $14,500 now sounds like the deal of the century. You will now get a much fi rmer commitment. Secondly, you will most likely pick up a few hundred dollars in gross. This technique is crucial in protecting against false commitments.

David Jacobson is the founder and president of GrooveCar Inc. He can be contacted at 866.663.9038, or by e-mail at [email protected].

continued

Home Field AdvantageYour Web Site at Work

DavidKainsts fos ls ms sf fi s

marketing solution

When a sports team plays a home game, there is always the intangible advantage that comes from

playing on their own fi eld. The surroundings are familiar, the home team understands the nuances of the playing surface and, of course, the crowd is there to cheer them on. Dealerships have a home fi eld advantage too – it’s called the showroom – and it works similar to a home fi eld in sports.

Sales managers know that, once they get a customer into the showroom, the chances of closing a deal go way up. This is the biggest reason they encourage their sales people to “just get them in the door.” The showroom is where the dealership has the most opportunity to guide the deal along and motivate a customer to purchase. The reasons are simple: The product is on display and can be seen and touched, the point-of-sale material emphasizes the benefi ts of purchasing the brand you sell and the entire sales team is on-hand to move the deal along. Sales managers are typically very involved in keeping the showroom and the sales lot in order by arranging vehicle displays, keeping point-of-sale material current and training their sales teams to use the showroom and dealership to their best advantage. This is the home fi eld advantage.

Dealership Web sites have changed this showroom dynamic dramatically, and wise sales managers are fi nding it extends their advantage when they participate in the building and management of the site. Sales managers today need to utilize their dealership Web site as a primary marketing tool to increase opportunities and sales. Most of your prospects will not see your live showroom, so you have to make your Web site as productive as possible. Here are several methods today’s sales manager can use the Web site to truly make it a home fi eld advantage.

1. NavigationJust like on your dealership lot, it is best to keep Web site navigation simple and

straightforward. Make it easy for the prospect to fi nd what they are looking for. Watch your customers drive into your lot or walk into your showroom. See if they pause and look around, or if the layout is simple and easy enough for them to confi dently go where they want. You’ll quickly convince yourself that clear and well-versed signage makes their visit much easier.

A good test of the ease of navigation of your Web site is to get your service customers who are waiting on their car to let you look over their shoulder while they click around your site. Give them an assignment like “fi nd our best deals or vehicles on special” or ask them to fi nd the vehicle they are considering next or to schedule their next service appointment. Ask them to talk out loud and see if you can detect confusion or confi dence as they click around.

Most of your prospects only visit a dealership Web site when they are searching for a vehicle, which can mean it is two or three years between visits. They are not likely to be familiar with the nuances as they might be with a Google or a Yahoo, which they use each day. The key is to make it so they do not have to think because the navigation is so intuitive. I fi nd it intriguing that so many dealership Web site builders today are now using moving arrows to guide customers to different basic parts of their sites. They would not have to revert to this remedial action if the sites were intuitive and well designed in the fi rst place.

2. Inventory displayWhen you drive past a dealership, it is easy to see how much a dealer emphasizes their inventory. Front, center, left and right - vehicle after vehicle lined up straight and true, clean and shiny and ready to sell. Vehicle sales are the life blood of a dealership and, because of that, sales managers are very active in displaying the vehicles in just the right way. I have spent hours on our lot over the years lining up vehicles just right so they stimulate the prospect’s interest level. This is vital and a foundational task for every sales manager. The question, of course, is do they

work as hard on their Web site inventory display? When reviewing dealerships’ Web site statistics, the main thing you will notice is that the largest percentage of customers are clicking on the inventory. Because of this, it is critical that your inventory be displayed in the best manner possible. I’ve written about making sure your vehicles are “Web ready” and the increase in leads that is achieved when your inventory stands tall. Sales managers should line up their inventory online each week the same way they line it up on the lot.

3. Car fi nder optionI like to compare the car business to the real estate business, because they are both considered to be the biggest purchases most people make in their lifetimes. Real estate companies have adopted the option of helping you fi nd the home that meets your specs electronically. You simply type in the data that means the most for you and they will automatically send you updated inventory as it comes on the market. Dealers could help themselves a great deal by providing this option to their Web site visitors. This “serve yourself” option works behind the scenes to keep your customer aware of what has “just arrived” that meets their specs. Many Web site companies now offer this feature, and the best part is it’s hands-off. Your team does not even have to write the e-mail. When the vehicles are uploaded on the site, the car fi nder feature sweeps through the inventory and alerts your customers.

The concept is really quite simple: Get your dealership managers to be responsible for the Web site (even if they don’t actually do the updating) the same way they are responsible for the dealership departments they operate. A quick Web site run-through once a month during managers meetings will keep the site in good order and attractive. Make it a true home fi eld advantage.

David Kain is the automotive Internet training specialist at Kain Automotive Inc. He can be contacted at 800.385.0095, or by e-mail at [email protected], or visit www.kainautomotive.com.


Women Speak in Estrogen and Men Listen in Testosterone

DeborahRenshawsts fos ls ms sf fi s


Recent results from surveys conducted by CARMAX and Capital One Auto Finance concluded that women

continue to be unsatisfi ed with their car-buying experiences. The fact that 80 percent of all car-buying decisions are infl uenced by women and 50 percent of all new car purchases are made by women suggests the market for women buyers represents $420 billion dollars in new and used vehicle sales in 2005 (source: NADA data). These numbers encourage education and training.

It appears dealerships are defi nitely selling cars to women. The question is, will they be back in the same dealership for their purchase as a loyal, happy customer?

Several recent trends signal that better results are coming soon from dealerships and dealership groups who are taking the results of these recent surveys seriously. They “get” that women are controlling much of the profi tability of dealerships through their serious and growing “buying power.”


Here are some of the strategies emerging from dealerships to improve customer satisfaction scores from women consumers:

• Recruit, hire and train additional female sales and service advisors.

• Hold workshops and clinics for women to educate them on car care, fi nancing and service and maintenance.

• Give fl owers, gift baskets and spa treatments to women as thank-you gifts for vehicle purchases.

To take the word “traumatic” entirely out of women’s comments about their car buying experiences, dealerships need to listen to what women want and need, and learn to create a way to make buying a car as pleasant and rewarding as their other retail shopping experiences.

Many women really love to shop, and here lies one of the challenges when “dealership sales man” and “woman shopper” collide at the dealership. When a woman says “I am just shopping,” 90 percent of the time she really means she is just shopping. The well-honed and trained super dealer No. 1 professional sales man takes this response as a battle cry and immediately decides to take the challenge. He takes out his bag of dealer sales tactics and does whatever it takes to close the deal before she escapes. She may even end up actually buying a car, but in the end somehow “feels” manipulated

and frustrated because she was not able to complete her mission and complete her due diligence and research by “shopping” before she makes her buying decision. Will she buy again at this dealership and report a good experience?

Communication and listening problems with women consumers are what I believe to be a core issue dealerships need to address. By providing ongoing required educational training to adjust or modify sales processes, you will insure the “buying power” of consumer women comes in and stays at your dealership.

In part two of this series on how to sell cars to women, I will discuss more on communicating with women consumers, advertising and marketing tactics that work and provide some additional resources for dealers.

Deborah Renshaw is the highest-ranked female professional NASCAR race car driver. She can be contacted at866.476.4389, or by e-mail at [email protected].

E-Mail Marketing

DavidJohnsonsts fos ls ms sf fi s


So you have 5,000 to10,000 (maybe more) names and e-mail addresses just sitting around collecting e-

dust, and you don’t know what to do with them. That’s where e-mail marketing comes into play, and long-term follow up is key. Most CRM/ILM tools allow you to look up a customer by name, zip code, vehicle type and a host of other fi elds that allow you to pinpoint the exact customer types you want to target. If done correctly, you can generate more sales with nothing more than a little time and effort spent behind your computer.

In researching for this article, I found confl icting reports from NADA and DaimlerChrysler that said at any given time there are either two percent or fi ve percent of the population in the market for an automobile. To be fair, in this article we will split the difference and say three percent are in the market at any given time.

Let’s assume that you have 5,000 e-mail addresses, which would mean that 150 of your contacts would be in the market to buy a vehicle. Of course you could send out an e-mail blast to everybody in your database, but more than likely this would be seen as spam by most. The single best way to get your e-mail read is for it to be relevant to your customers needs and for your brand to be recognized. For instance, you wouldn’t send an e-mail about a Grand Marquis to a customer that bought or inquired about a Ford Mustang, or a Silverado to a person looking for an Aveo.

Before constructing an e-mail campaign, you must fi rst ask yourself a few important questions:

• What are your intended goals and objections? Do you want to drive traffi c to your Web site, to your lot or are you trying to create phone ups?

• What types of customers will you be targeting? How do they benefi t from your e-mail ad and what information do they need?

• What type of campaign are you going

to put together? Is it going to be strictly e-mail, or are you going to follow up with a phone call?

• How is your e-mail going to look? What fonts and colors are you going to use? Are you going to use photos and/or graphics?

• What message are you going to convey in your campaign? Is it going to focus on the benefi ts of a certain vehicle, on price or both? What is your cal-to-action going to be? Are you going to bring people to your Web site, your dealership or have them call you?

When designing your e-mail you can choose from three different formats: HTML, text or MIME. Personally I use MIME so that my e-mail gets thru to people who have text only e-mail programs but will still show up as HTML - which offers different fonts, colors and graphics - if allowed. To learn more about these formats, just point your browser to a search engine and search for e-mail formats.

When designing your e-mail, put in links to your Web site so your customer can further research the vehicle, check your inventory or fi ll out a fi nance app if they so choose. Try putting in a coupon for $300-$500 off a new or pre-owned vehicle and put in the stipulation that they have to call you to get a claim number. Use pictures of the vehicle you’re trying to market and links to any third party site that gives good reviews on your vehicle of choice. In your subject line, make sure you put your dealership name, the vehicle your e-mail is about and the date the e-mail goes out, and nothing more. Once you fi nish your e-mail, give it to two other people to edit and use a program such as Spam Assassin to make sure it gets past spam fi lters. Need a few examples? Just shoot me an e-mail.

David Johnson is the Internet sales manager at Orville Beckford Ford Mercury in Milton, Fla. He can be contacted at 866.347.2379, or by e-mail [email protected].

33july 2006

www.worlddealer.nete-mail: [email protected]

866.429.6826

• Call Center Services• Dynamic Web sites

• LMS• SEO/SEM

• Media Buying/Production

Turn Your Internet Leads into Showroom Appointments...

Call for a FREE evaluation to see if you qualify for our

IBDC program

“WorldDealer has helped us with all facets of our web initiative and we have had significant and consistent growth for the past six years. Their customer service

is outstanding and I would recommend them to any dealer.”

- John Taylor, Findlay Auto Group

SeanWolfi ngton

Last month we looked at the collection of traits that help leaders arrive at the top; at a place where they are

considered one of the best, if not the best, at what they do. These leadership traits include discipline and the abilities to prioritize, to build trust, to infl uence others and to cast vision. Last month we looked closely at the ability to build self-discipline, and in this article we will examine the ability to prioritize.

No matter how gifted a leader is, his gifts will never reach their maximum potential without the discipline to prioritize. The ability to prioritize and work towards a stated goal is essential to a leader’s success. If we defi ne success as the progressive realization of our goals, it becomes obvious that we need to develop the ability to prioritize our life.

In the car business, we hear about the “80/20” rule in a variety of ways. Here’s another: Twenty percent of your priorities will deliver 80 percent of your production. In other words, if you spend 80 percent of your time and energy on the top 20 percent of what’s important to you, your effectiveness as a leader will increase dramatically. But don’t take my word for it - think about your own life and your work. Are there 20 percent of the people in the dealership who are responsible for 80 percent of the results? If so, determine which people are your top 20 percent producers and resolve to spend 80 percent of your “people time” with them. Have you noticed that 20 percent of the work you do gives 80 percent of your return? If so, delegate the rest or train someone else to do the other 80 percent that’s less effective work.

Organize or AgonizeAnother phrase you may have heard is, “It’s

not how hard you work, it’s how smart you work.” This requires a leader to learn how to juggle more than one high-priority project successfully, because if you’re living a life in which anything goes, it will ultimately become a life in which nothing goes.

In order to increase organization and reduce “agonization,” it helps to label each project and task in one of the following categories and tackle (or delegate) them accordingly:

• High Importance/High Urgency• High Importance/Low Urgency• Low Importance/High Urgency• Low Importance/Low Urgency

Choose or LoseDo you initiate or react when it comes to planning? Leaders tend to initiate and followers tend to react. Here’s a comparison:

How do leaders build their ability to choose? Many times priorities are not black and white, but shades of grey. The following questions will help in your priority process:

• What’s required of me? In other words, “What do I have to do that no one else can do?” Leaders can give up anything except fi nal responsibility, but many responsibilities can be delegated to someone else. Figure out

Developing the TraitsDeveloping the Traitsof a Leader, Part 2of a Leader, Part 2

sts fos ls ms sf fi s

leadership solution

what those are. • What delivers the greatest return? If

you’re going to invest effort, it should be proportionate to the promised results.

• What’s most rewarding? Life is too short to waste our time on things we don’t enjoy, plus our best work happens when we’re doing something we enjoy.

Keep in mind that priorities are not set in stone; they continually shift and demand attention. To track priorities that never seem to stay put, it helps to evaluate them often using the questions above. Eliminate those that no longer seem relevant, because too many priorities can lead to paralysis. Have you ever looked up from the stack of reports, memos and papers on your desk to hear the phone ring and the door open all at once? It

can lead to a frozen feeling. You may want to schedule time to revisit your priorities once a month and learn to say “No” to the good in order to say “Yes” to the best.

Sean Wolfi ngton is the owner of BZResults.com. He can be contacted at 866.802.5753, or by e-mail at swolfi [email protected].

LEADERS FOLLOWERS

Initiate React

Lead, Reach out to make contact Listen, Wait for the phone to ring

Invest time in planning; Live day-to-day reacting to problemsanticipate and build out problems

Invest time with people Spend time with people

Fill the calendar by their priorities Fill the calendar by requests


VSUMMITBEST PRACTICES

LEADERSHIP • INTERNET • CRM • MARKETING • BDC • SALES

Sign up now for the AutoSuccess Best Practices Summit V, November 2006. - Las Vegas, Nevada

Call Nowfor Information

866.396.7050

Dealers Consistently Rate Dealix Their #1 Internet Sales Lead Provider, Year after Year

Dealix Drives Success.

For complete details on these studies, and to get a free lead estimate, contact Dealix at (800) 717-8079, or visit us at www.dealix.com.

2002Lead Quality, Service

and Profit per Car sold

2003Lead Quality

and Lead Quantity

2004Highest Overall

2005Highest Overall and

#1 Provider to the Ward'se-Dealer 100

2006#1 in Auto DealerMonthly's Dealers'

Choice Awards

If you're thinking about whether Dealix will help yousell more vehicles, ask the people who know.

The Cobalt Group, including Dealix, is usedby 94% of the Ward's e-Dealer 100.

The Best Dealers Use Dealix."Dealix's third party leads and search marketing service, PowerSearch, help usget the maximum visibility and customers, with the minimum investment, inthe shortest amount of time."Mike Zavell, Internet Sales ManagerGunther VW of Coconut Creek, Pompano Beach, FL

"Dealix customer service is unparalleled. I have been a long time customer ofDealix and use their leads because their lead quality is the best in the industry, barnone. They're a great group of people to work with. I wish I could clone my repDolores. She is the best!"Gilbert Chavez, Internet DirectorPhil Long Motor Group, Colorado Springs, CO

"Our Dealix leads have the highest closing ratio of any other lead source."Paul Miller, Internet DirectorCapital Ford, Raleigh, NC


Finding Your NextBusiness Manager

TonyDupaquier

For one reason or another, your business manager leaves, and now you need to hire another one. Who can you trust to work

in what is arguably the most important department in your store, to be the one who has a direct infl uence over the profi tability and compliance of your dealership?

Rather than going outside of the dealership or using contract business managers to fi ll the position, consider the people already at your dealership. Promoting from within offers numerous advantages. First, you already have an in-depth knowledge of your employees’ work ethics, and they are familiar with your store’s policies and procedures. Secondly, fi lling positions internally also gives employees the ability to work toward a goal through the knowledge that there is an opportunity for advancement at your organization.

Begin your search by looking for those

who have strong people skills. The optimal candidate would be the person who works well with everyone in the dealership - the person everyone likes and respects. If this person is well received at the dealership, chances are your customers will like him or her too. Customers buy from people they like.

A detail-oriented personality is also essential. Who is the person in your store who always has his or her paperwork in order? The business offi ce controls much of the cash fl ow at the dealership and is responsible for tracking down the money that allows the dealership to operate. The candidate must have the discipline to call lenders when contracts have not been funded, and this person must also be willing to call the bank to get deals bought. The paperwork must be done correctly the fi rst time, every time, and a detail-oriented person will take personal pride in how well this is performed.

Some experience of the industry is preferred, but this should not necessarily be a prerequisite. If a potential candidate has shown that he or

she is always willing to learn a new task, go to a training class or mentor and help others, this person is trainable – not everyone is. With the effectiveness of today’s F&I training, if a person is trainable and motivated, then he or she should do well in F&I.

Once you have identifi ed possible candidates, consider some form of psychometric analysis, such as Predictive Index testing. These types of tests will help you narrow your list of candidates by giving you an in-depth look at a candidate’s personality and character traits.

Remember, that it is always a good idea to have someone in mind to fi ll the position. Never inform your employees that they could be candidates for the business offi ce; just keep an eye on them and challenge them with tasks on an ongoing basis. In the event you have a business manager leave suddenly, you will already have someone identifi ed as a replacement.

If you do make the decision to move someone up from inside your organization, give that person very limited initial exposure to the business offi ce process. Do not have your new business manager contract people. Instead, have him or her start by booking deals. More importantly, have the business manager attend a reputable F&I school as quickly as possible. Some of today’s F&I schools have the ability to generate a turnkey business manager in about a week.

When researching an F&I school, consider who teaches the course. There are several schools available. However, some of them are taught by professional facilitators, not automotive professionals. The key difference is the credibility of the information being presented. You want your business manager instructed by professionals who have experience from a retail level. If the instructor teaching your business manager has not been in the trenches with the troops, your business manager is not likely to buy into the process being presented.

Start looking for your new business manager now; chances are that person currently works at your dealership. You may not need that person today, but when that time comes, you will already have an action plan in place.

Tony Dupaquier is the director of F&I Training for the Automotive Training Academy. He can be contacted at 866.856.6754, or by e-mail [email protected].


f&i solution

No Such Thingas a Self-Made Man

JesseBitersts fos ls ms sf fi s

leadership solution

There is no such thing as a self-made man. There are business leaders that may be the driving force behind their respective

company. An individual may possess a unique vision, innovative ideas and exceptional leadership qualities. But I challenge anyone to fi nd a successful organization in which its ultimate success doesn’t depend on people. Sure, the Donald Trumps of the world may get the credit (and in his case, the TV show). But the “real” reality is that no organization can continue to prosper and effectively execute its business strategies without a solid foundation of dedicated employees, loyal customers and a supportive network of family and friends.

“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”Luke 9:25

So, if there’s no such thing as a self-made man, why do we seem to be inundated with self-congratulatory spin? My estimate is that the “self-made man” or “self-made woman” philosophy truly is the ego’s favorite myth. It’s simply too easy to push from the mind just how profoundly blessed we really are in life. Think about it - would you enjoy the same privileges you have today if you were born in Baghdad, Darfur or the Gaza Strip? Being a citizen of the United States is a wonderful blessing, and one that is far too often taken for granted. It is purely by the grace of God that we enjoy freedom and opportunity in our lives - the same freedom and opportunity that is unfortunately not attainable in so many other parts of the world.

Once you’ve come to the realization that you are not exactly self-made, it’s important to construct an environment in your life that is conducive to properly uplifting those around you. Whether it be your spouse, family, employees, customers – anyone that touches your life (business and personal) needs to know just how important they are to you. Effective leaders will constantly be looking for ways to bring up those around them. Our company values every member of our team and makes every effort to provide a workplace in which they can achieve both professional and personal growth.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”Proverbs 27:17

Our company hires, trains and promotes employees based upon the Biblical lesson of “iron sharpening iron.” In an effort to maximize professional growth, our managers give reviews to their team members 30, 60 and 90 days after their hire date. After the initial 90 days, the employee is then reviewed every six months. This isn’t simply a practice of rating the employee’s performance, but the company’s performance as well. Each review session consists of three parts – Employee Self Review, Manager Review of Employee, and Employee Review of Manager. We encourage each employee to offer constructive criticism of the manager and the company.

For our management team, the review process is a little more intense. Manager reviews include all of the above, plus reviews from all of the people he or she manages. We call them our 360-degree reviews and, even though they take a lot of time and effort, they are worth it.

Personal growth is equally as important to our company. We make a wide variety of inspirational and motivational books available to our employees. Authors such as Zig Ziglar, Dale Carnegie, Ken Blanchard, Joel Osteen and Regi Campbell can all be found in our company library. We also hold a program periodically called “The Quest for Authentic Manhood.” This 24-session study focuses on a man’s core identity and gives an overview of basic manhood issues. It helps men deal with various identity issues by looking back at past wounds and other things that may have distorted their idea of Biblical masculinity. Our female employees are also encouraged to engage in similar study groups.

The “iron sharpening iron” principle works both ways. Be humble in spirit and live a servant’s life so that those around you can help shape you, as you help shape them.

Jesse Biter is the president and CEO of HomeNet Inc. He can be contacted at 866.239.4049 or by e-mail [email protected].

37july 2006


Conducting a Self-Audit in Sales and F&IThings You Should Check Before Someone Else Does

CharlesArrambidests fos ls ms sf fi s

leadership solution

When it comes to ensuring compliance in your sales and F&I operations, consider adopting this philosophy: Inspect

what you expect. It is not enough to develop compliance-related programs and processes for your dealership. You have to follow through on the implementation.

A great way to do this is by conducting a self-audit of your sales and F&I areas. The process is simple, and it’s well worth your time. If you fi nd a minor discrepancy, you can correct it before it becomes a signifi cant problem.

What to checkWithin the sales and F&I areas, review the following points of contact between your dealership and consumers:

• Paperwork• Physical layout of store• Policies and procedures• Advertising • Telephone and fax policies

Paperwork Start your self-audit by reviewing the paperwork in your sales and F&I areas. Is everything current? Are there any inconsistencies between documents?

When Tom Hudson, the managing partner of Hudson-Cook, LLP, conducts a dealership audit, he wants to see all paperwork that:

• Customers see; • Evidences any type of customer

transaction; and • Ends up in the dealership’s fi le

“Simply reading that paperwork very carefully is the fi rst level of audit that we want to do,” Hudson said. “We often fi nd that there are dislocations between the various forms or documents the dealer uses.”

Physical layout of store Next, look at your dealership’s physical layout. This part of the audit focuses primarily on compliance with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the Federal Trade Commission Safeguards Rule*. As part of your compliance efforts, you have implemented certain physical safeguards to protect customer information.

Walk through the dealership and verify that those safeguards are in place and being followed. How could personal information about your customers wind up in the wrong hands? For example, is customer information sitting out in the open? Check desktops, reception areas, fi le cabinets, etc. And don’t forget to check the dumpster.

“One of the fi rst things I do in a dealership is wander around and look in the dumpster to see what is getting thrown away,” Hudson said. “You would be amazed at the kind of personal information about customers that is being thrown away.”

Policies and procedures Find out whether your dealership personnel are following the required laws and regulations pertaining to sales and/or fi nancing transactions. These include federal laws and regulations, such as Gramm-Leach-Bliley, Safeguards Rule, Truth in Lending Act, Federal Consumer Leasing Act and a host of others. Also, be aware of state laws that apply to you. Review your dealership policies and procedures manual, and make sure you are 100 percent compliant, 100 percent of the time.

AdvertisingState attorneys general nationwide are targeting dealers for alleged advertising violations. Educate yourself on applicable state and federal advertising laws, and make sure your marketing materials comply with those laws. Never rely on newspapers or ad agencies to check advertisements for legal compliance.

Review all advertising formats you use: print, radio, TV and Internet. Look at any consumer advertising that you have placed throughout your dealership. Also review your Web site content. Don’t rely on a Web designer to check your site’s content for compliance. Remember that you are ultimately responsible for the content of your advertising.

Telephone and fax policies Make sure your dealership’s telephone and fax policies comply with both state and federal laws. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently issued regulations implementing the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005. The new rules,

effective August 1, 2006, amend the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s fax advertising rules and are in addition to current federal requirements on commercial faxes. If you have not already done so, this is a good time to update your fax policy.

Inspect what you expect Don’t assume that because you have developed sound business processes that your dealership is fully compliant with all applicable rules and regulations. Adopt the “inspect what you expect” philosophy, and conduct a self-audit in sales and F&I. It’s a simple process, and it may help you avoid signifi cant problems down the road. You will be able to identify any potential issues and correct compliance gaps before someone else fi nds them for you. If you have questions about conducting a self-audit, consult qualifi ed legal counsel.

What’s ahead?If your self-audit shows that you have sound business processes but employees aren’t following them, you may have a training issue. In August, I will discuss how to properly train and certify employees. I will also provide some training resources you may not have considered.

*See the May 2006 AutoSuccess for information about safeguarding customers’ information and privacy.

This information is presented for risk management purposes only. It is not to be construed as legal advice or legal opinions. Consult your legal counsel for assistance. Universal Underwriters Insurance Company, its affi liates, agents and employees assume no responsibility or liability for making this information available.

Charles F. Arrambide is assistant vice president and associate risk offi cer for Universal Underwriters Insurance Company. He can be contacted at 866.347.5019, or by e-mail at [email protected].


Disclosure + Transparency+ Training = Compliance

BobHarkins

Disclose, Disclose, DiscloseThe best way to avoid being the target of a complaint is through full disclosure.

Disclosure requirements are in the Federal Truth in Lending Act, Regulation Z of the Federal Reserve Board and many state consumer protection laws. Disclosure means transparency. A completely transparent transaction occurs when customers know what they are getting, they agree to buy it, they know why they need it and they feel good about their purchases and decisions when they leave the dealership.

Ethics and IntegrityEthics are the rules or standards that govern the conduct of the members of a profession. Integrity is the strict or fi rm adherence to a code or standard of values. More than anything else, the profi tability of your F&I operations depends on integrity. In fact, profi tability is a product of complete integrity. Having integrity in your F&I process can be accomplished by committing yourself to the 400 Percent Rule. The 400 Percent Rule states that 100 percent of your customers are presented with 100 percent of your products, 100 percent of the time, with 100 percent legal and ethical compliance.

Value-Added SellingThe need for training, education and selling with integrity is fundamental. It is based on the fact that, as good as your products and services are, they are really only as good as your ability to communicate their value to your customers. How do you develop and communicate a value-added sales presentation? The answer is “need awareness,” that is, sharing with your customers why your products, why your services or why your sales ideas are important to their needs and situations. Value-added selling, with transparency, is

accomplished when need awareness precedes need satisfaction or product description.

Transparency and the Truth in Lending ActThe Truth in Lending Act is the federal law that regulates the manner in which creditors advertise and disclose consumer credit. The Federal Reserve Board implements TILA through Regulation Z. The requirement is that creditors provide consumers with TILA Disclosures “before consummation of the transaction” and “in a form that the consumer may keep.”

The NADA management series bulletin “Clarifi cation of the Timing Requirements for Truth in Lending Act Disclosures” provides the following recommendations:

1. Give consumers a copy of the unsigned credit contract with TILA disclosures


f&i solution

and ensure they have a meaningful opportunity to review the document before signing it.

2. Allow consumers to keep the document if they do not sign it at that time.

3. Give consumers who do sign the credit contract with TILA disclosures a copy of the document immediately after they sign it.

In addition to following the federal requirements, dealer-creditors should be aware that their state may impose additional disclosure requirements as well.

Compliance and Ethics Training Why should a dealership have a compliance and ethics program? New federal organizational sentencing guidelines went into effect in November 2004. The guidelines provide a framework for federal courts when punishing organizations for the criminal acts of the organization’s employees. Fine ranges for a criminal conviction can be signifi cantly reduced if the organization can demonstrate that it had put in place an effective compliance and ethics program, and that the criminal violation represented an aberration.

Training and Education is KeyTraining and education is the key to dealership profi tability, customer satisfaction and repeat and referral business. Competent and properly trained personnel help create a more profi table bottom line. In fact, properly trained people are a dealership’s most valuable asset. The training budget should not be considered an expense item – it should be considered a critical investment in profi tability and compliance.

Bob Harkins is the senior vice president of compliance/dealer relations for Resource Automotive. He can be contacted at866.403.0871, or by e-mail [email protected].

More than anything else, the profi tability of your F&I operations depends on integrity. In fact, profi tability is a product of complete integrity.

If You're Involved With Increasing Revenue, You Should Have One.Read Sales professionals, subscribe

NOW for only $59! 800.668.5645Offer ends July 31, 2006

Quite often, while talking with Internet sales people throughout the country, I will ask them how long they follow up with Internet

leads from whom they have had no response. More often than not, the honest response is three to fi ve days. Why? It is because when they were working as a sales person on the fl oor, a manager probably told them about the “72-Hour Buy or Die” rule. This is just one example of a sales-fl oor mentality stifl ing an Internet department.

Sales-fl oor mentality in an Internet department has an adverse affect on the whole dealership in several ways:

1. It will unknowingly frustrate the Internet sales person. If a new Internet sales person (and sales management) does not understand that this position requires a different mentality than the sales fl oor, they will quickly become frustrated. A frustrated sales person does not produce to their potential, and this normally creates high turnover in the position. We lose quality people because they, or we as a management team, did not understand that successful Internet sales require a

Is Sales-FloorMentality Costing You

MikeParsonssts fos ls ms sf fi s


different thought process.

2. Because proper follow up is not executed, the dealership loses sales to competitors who do follow-up properly. Or, they lose sales opportunities from outside their primary market area because they were contacted during the research phase, but the sales staff did not build and maintain a rapport with the prospect until they were in the buying phase of the purchase process. Hence, the prospect bought from their local dealer.

3. In those rare occasions where there is not a high rate of turnover, the sales person has usually convinced management that an increase of leads will increase their sales. This unnecessarily increases advertising expenses and diminishes the bottom line. They say that even a blind squirrel will occasionally fi nd a nut. Rather than perpetually buying more nuts, why not buy the squirrel a pair of glasses, via education, and a change of mentality? He or she will fi nd more of the nuts you have already bought and, over the long-term, bring more money to the bottom line.

So, how long should you follow up? At a minimum, attempt some type of contact via e-mail or phone every day for the fi rst 14 days. Then make an attempt every fi ve days for the next 15 days. Next, move to a seven to 10 day frequency for another 60 days. Once the lead is 90 days old, continue bi-weekly attempts until you make contact, or they ask you to stop.

There are two key points to remember when attempting contact: First, if you are not getting responses to your e-mails, send one in plain text format. Many e-mails with images, hyperlinks or HMTL formatting such as bold typeface get caught in spam fi lters. Secondly, have content of substantial value in every e-mail and voice mail message. “Mrs. Prospect, this is Bill Smith from ABC Motors. I just got your e-mail. Please call me at 555-3692,” is not an acceptable voice message. If the prospect wanted a typical response from a typical dealer who was going to give them the typical car-buying experience, do you think they would have initiated contact with you via the Internet?

Mike Parsons is the director of eCommerce at Asbury Automotive Group, Southeast Region. He can be contacted at 866.446.7143, or by e-mail [email protected].

41july 2006

We need them. They need us. We need you.

It’s that simple.

®

®




TimShea

The fi ve fundamental factors for success in subprime auto sales are:

1. Dedicated subprime department / personnel

2. Proper lending relationships3. Appropriate inventory4. Effecient business systems5. Marketing

Last month, we investigated two aspects of this fi rst fundamental: having a department or personnel dedicated to subprime and the proper process for handling those customers.

This month we will look at two fi nal points under this fi rst fundamental:

• Having staff that “owns” subprime. They are trained for it and paid from subprime sales, which brings accountability.

• They know your lender’s programs and niches, and how to control the sale to maximize gross profi t.

It is essential that dealerships work not only harder but smarter.

One way to work smarter is make sure you have staff that clearly “owns” your subprime business. Behind every successful subprime effort is a point person or team who has taken ownership and is accountable for that business. Taking ownership includes managing each of the fundamentals mentioned. It includes devotion to necessary subprime training and education. Because this prospect is sold “backwards” from a prime prospect, it requires commitment to a sales process properly structured to manage the customer. Ownership means these individuals have direct responsibility for and control over the disciplines unique to the subprime sales process.

Ownership involves a disposition that is

eager to work through the “diffi culties,” with anticipation of the reward of larger gross profi ts enjoyed. Pay plans are one way to insure such ownership and attitude. If you want an example of a pay plan, e-mail me or I can give you the name and number of a successful subprime dealership similar to yours and you can get theirs.

To be effective in subprime, your staff must also know the niches in which each of your subprime lenders specializes. We will look at having the proper lender relationships more closely in next month’s article. Subprime prospects bring a kaleidoscope of funding issues, and subprime lenders meet a kaleidoscope of niches. To speed the process of funding and manage the relationships with your lenders properly, it is important that your staff know those niches. Here are some to consider:

Calculation of IncomeIs a lender’s calculation made by taking YTD

Investing theFundamentals, Part 2

43july 2006

continued

income and dividing it by month and fraction of the month, or by taking the current pay period and multiplying it by the appropriate pay frequency ratio: 4.33 (weekly), 2.15 (bi-weekly) or 2 (twice a month)? Which calculation maximizes gross? Does that calculation method change at some point in time during the calendar year? If so, when?

Overtime, bonuses or commissionMost lenders allow these items to be added to gross only after it has been earned for a six-month period of time.

Additional incomeWhat are a lender’s requirements for use of additional income such as child support, second job, disability, social security or alimony? Flexibility on requirements may make a difference. Under what terms does a particular lender allow you to gross this income up?

Debt calculationsOne of the most commonly missed items is knowing what a particular lender is going to debt a customer for before calculating an allowable car payment. Are student loans counted as debt? Some do, some don’t. How are charge-offs and public records handled? At what point in time are they no longer budgeted as debt? What is the maximum allowable debt-to-income ratio percentage? Who allows variance?

Payment-to-income ratio What percentage factor, if any, does the lender use?

Down-payment requirementsMost are looking for 10 percent or $1,000, but some allow you to pay a fee to meet the qualifying amount. Some lenders allow smaller minimums, and some tiers allow no money down for customers with better credit. Trade stipulationsDoes the bank allow the trade as down payment? Do they “book” that trade against a wholesale book value, or simply take the stated trade value? HousingIs rent taken as a stated value, calculated as a percentage of income, as a fl at fee or assigned rent value? How are delinquencies on mortgages handled? Some lenders allow none while others allow a work-off plan.

Length of employmentWhat requirements or tolerable gaps are allowed between employments by the lender?

Stip requirements / fl exibilityCommon stips to consider include driver’s license requirements\verifi cation, accepting a cell phone versus a land line, acceptance of a Federal ID Number vs. Social Security Number, acceptable POI (computerized YTD stub, handwritten paystub, job letter, bank statement, tax returns, etc), acceptable POR (drivers license, utility or other bill, bank statement or lease) time in area, and length of employment. Also note whether particular stips can be waived for a fee.

Vehicle limitationsNote year, make and mileage requirements. Vehicle requirements will determine payment and terms which translates to gross profi t. Some lenders favor newer program vehicles where others have made their niche with 3- or 4-year-old vehicles with acceptable mileage. Do you know which handles each? Is the vehicle being considered eligible for the term necessary to meet payment requirements? If not, what fees might be associated that would allow it to meet term requirements?

AdvanceMost lenders allow a front-end advance 115 percent of trade but some allow up to 135 percent. How much front-end and how much back-end is allowed? Each lender has a book preference (NADA, Kelly and Black Book) and the lender you choose may be determined by the book that is most advantageous or profi table for the vehicle you have chosen.

Becoming familiar with these niches will translate to a smoother approval and funding process. In addition, it will lead to higher gross profi ts and much less “brain damage.” The goal as you mentally work through this list of items is to fi rst qualify the customer. After qualifying the customer, then structure the deal on a vehicle that best suits the needs of the customer and dealership. To excel at these fundamentals, I’ve most often found a dedicated team will produce your best results. Between now and next month, happy selling.

Tim Shea is the president of Great Direct Concepts. He can be contacted at 866.853.0223, or by e-mail [email protected].

Going UpHow to Open the Door to the Elevator Conversation, Part 2

PattiWoodsts fos ls ms sf fi s


My college friend Tim was the elevator operator for the back elevator at the U.S. Capitol. The job was part of his graduate

program at American University. You may

think that was kind of a weird job, but it was a great place to learn the secrets of doing business. For four years he saw how congressmen, senators and lobbyists captured each other’s attention and used their short elevator speeches to get things done. Tim said, “I learned that you have to really be prepared

to get people to focus on you and your ideas in that small amount of private time that you may have with a powerful person. You need to know how to get that important short conversation started.”

Last month, you learned how important elevator speeches are for your success. This month, you will learn how to start the conversation so you can have an elevator conversation and go up to the next level in your business.

The fi rst thing you have to do is, for most people, the hardest. You have to break the silence. You know that horrible, stare at your shoes, avoid eye-contact and pretend to be busy awkward silence. The good news is that, just like you use a key to start your car, you can use conversation keys to turn on your elevator conversation.

You probably use these keys with people you know. Let me give you permission right now to use these keys with a perfect stranger or that man or women you see all the time but never would have talked to before. Any time you’re with a stranger or you’re with someone you do not know well, immediately use one of these keys. And if that doesn’t work, do what you do with any key: try again or use another key.

Simply Share Your NameHello my name is Patti Wood.

Why it works: Giving your name to someone is a form of self-disclosure that shows you’re willing to be open and be vulnerable. Pick pockets don’t typically say, “Hey, my name is Max Brewer and I will be taking your wallet today.” Breaking through the silence by sharing your name may be a pretty basic suggestion, but it works. Here is the other hint: we sometimes are afraid to break the silence because we fear we will be met with silence, with rejection. If you don’t get an immediate response after sharing your name with someone you do not know ask, “And your name is..?”

Create General Commonality with a “Nice weather” Comment Why it works: A “nice weather we’re having” comment creates a feeling that you have something in common. Strangers are scary, but someone who is experiencing the same


More Quality Leads!

Better Quality Leads!

Record Response And Results!

Markets Are Still Available!

Strategic Marketing has been systematicallyincreasing dealership results for over 12years. Using our patent-pending technologyand years of direct marketing experience, wehave developed a system that combines thebest of direct mail and lead management. Wewill deliver proven results every month. Ourindustry best CLLVPSM direct mail leads andiSMI internet leads identify the quality“Handraisers” who want to purchase rightnow! Get into the GAME and call us today!

Several markets around the country are sold

out, however, yours could still be available.

Toll Free 800-693-5257www.strategicmarketing.com [email protected]

Strategically Driven Results

VOTED #1 “BEST Direct Mail Advertising Company” and

“BEST Special Finance Lead Provider”by DEALERS LIKE YOU!

Receive a set of Titleist Irons*

(A $750 Value) if youdon’t think our

leads are the bestin the industry!

YOUDESERVE

THEBEST

RESULTSPOSSIBLE!

GUARANTEED!

I R E C T M A I L • I N T E R N E T L E A D S • L E A D M A N A G E M E N T S Y S T ED I R E C T M A I L • I N T E R N E T L E A D S • L E A D M A N A G E M E N

Y S T E M • D I R E C T M A I L • I N T E R N E T L E A D S • L E AM A N A G E M E N T S Y S T E M • D I R E C T M A I L • I N T E R N E T L E A D S

*If you don’t think our leads are the best in the industry, we will send you a set of Titleist ironsupon completion of your 90 day commitment! Ask your marketing consultant for details.

thing you are experiencing is not a stranger. So saying something as innocuous as, “Nice weather for July,” or “Great game last night” can make a person feel more comfortable opening up to you. Try to make your comment positive. If there’s nothing positive about the current weather or the local sports scene, talk about how good the rain will be for the grass or “It’s gorgeous outside today - wish I were out there,” or “I know when the new pitcher gets settled in the team is going to rock.” Remember, you’re making the other person more comfortable so know sharing these simple little comments actually make people like you.

Create Specifi c Commonality with a Comment on Your Personal Environment or Today’s News. Make a reference to something more specifi c than the weather and sports can open the door further. Try commenting on what is going on in the immediate environment or in that day’s news. For example, I often ask people in the elevator if they are there for the conference I’m there for. If they are, I introduce myself and say I am their speaker. They generally ask me what I am speaking on and I often ask them what they are hoping to learn from my presentation. I can easily segue into my elevator speech at any time. If they aren’t there for the same meeting, I ask why they are there and that usually provides a bridge to my elevator speech. If there is something in that day’s newspaper you can relate to what you do, and you see someone carrying the paper or reading it as they sit near you at the next table, you can ask them if they have read the article and bridge to how it relates to what you do. For example, “Did you read today’s article on pharmaceutical companies? I speak on sales in that industry, and know how the new laws are affecting the way they sell.”

Make it a habit to scan the day’s paper or the TV headlines for conversational keys.

Give a ComplimentWhy it works: If a compliment is gently given and very specifi c, it makes a person feel seen. They light up and open up to you, the person that has made them feel so good. I cannot emphasize enough that you have to fi nd something very specifi c to compliment. Otherwise, the person may feel that you have a general compliment at the ready to give to any guy you see coming down the street.

For example, you might say, “By the way, Susan, that was an excellent presentation you gave today. I like the example you shared about your customer.” Or say something about their appearance, such as, “I like the

texture of the leather on your shoes,” or “I like the design on your shirt” or “I like the way your smile lights up the room.”

It is very hard for anyone to resist a specifi c compliment sincerely given. The other reason why it works is reciprocity. When we are given a sincere compliment, we feel compelled to give something back to the giver. In this case, you want them to give you the chance to converse.

Start with a question.Why it works: By asking, “Who are you and what do you do?” you initiate the conversation. Not by blabbing about yourself, but by reaching out to the person you want to interact with to fi nd out about them. Pulling instead of pushing draws their energy to you. And since the majority of people love the chance to talk about themselves, it makes it your turn to be the listener.

You can start with a simple, “Hello my name is…, and what do you do?” Then listen, resisting the urge to jump in and talk about yourself. The information they share about themselves and their problem can help you determine how you can best serve them, and thus help you craft what you will say in your elevator conversation.

Ask more questions and listen some more.This back and forth fl ow gives you rapport with the other person. Years ago, I strained my voice singing in a community theater production of “Godspell.” It hurt to talk so I began asking questions as I met people instead of spouting off what I did. I am a communication consultant, so I asked questions like, “What’s going on in your organization? “How’s the communication in your company?” “What are you doing to deal with your communication issues?” It’s amazing what I learned and how much business I got from people to whom I barely said a word. Because I listened to their problems, they believed (and rightly so) I could solve their problems. You might be memorable to a stranger because of what they said about themselves in your presence. Be memorable for what you don’t say.

So now you have several ways to open up the conversation. Practice all of them with as many people as possible and next month you can learn how to give the content portion of your elevator speech.

Patti Wood is a motivational speaker and communication trainer at Communication Dynamics. She can be contacted at 800.849.3651, or by e-mail [email protected].

45july 2006

continued

toll free: 866.852.0328 e-mail: [email protected]: www.proactivetrainingsolutions.com

"Alan Ram’s training and methodology is the best available in this industry when it comes to handling inbound and outbound telephone and Internet opportunities."

- Steve Pleau, President, Future Automotive Group

In-Person and InteractiveSolutions for Telephone/Internet

and Business Development.

How much does it cost every time someone at

your dealership talks to a customer and doesn’t

know what to say?Alan Ram

“HE’S LIKE VIAGRA FOR YOUR

TRAFFIC COUNT”- Tom Belt, Toyota of Escondido

Viagra is a Registered Trademark of Pfizer, Inc.R

NEED AN NEED AN

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: RESERVE YOUR DATES THIS MONTH

FOR AN EVENT ANYTIME IN 2006 ANDWE’LL MATCH YOUR QUANTITY BY 10%

WE’RE GIVING A 10% BONUS ON ANY EVENT!

Example: 50,000 Mailers PLUS 10% Bonus = 5,000 FREE Mailers for a total of 55,000 Mailers

BONUS

The Driving Force Behind Automotive Advertising 866-239-3862

CALL FOR A FREE MARKET REPORT. EVENT SPECIALISTS ARE STANDING BY

Copyright © 2006 Turn-Key Events and it’s licensors.

Plus, we include everything for you...

Market Exclusive

AVERAGE GROSS PROFIT PER SALE IN JUNE 2006... $168,973.25. TEAM COMMISSION PAID... 0% TOTAL NET PROFIT... $168,973.25.

Direct Parcel • Event Website • Credit Hotline • Balloons • Mirror Tags Registration Cards • Incentives • BDC Scripts and more!

Isn’t it time you ran a “Turn-Key Event” on your own?Turn-Key Events will put money into your pocket, and keep it there.

The HottestThe

SALES EVENTSIN THE NATION

Do-it-Yourself

THAT PAYS?EVENTEVENT

ParagonCars.com

HouseofCourtesy.com RedMcCombs.comSheehy.com Schomp.com

Tasca.com

DickHannah.com

HerbChambers.com

CDodge.com

Free CRM Biz Plan &Free In-Store Consultation

877. BZ.TOOLS877.298.6657

BZResults.com

Congrats!eCRMDealers

Yearof the

9 10outof

Winners use

BZResults.com