Fusion Management Briefs - Issue 4

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BRIEFSEssential Insights for Automotive Professionals

FUSION FEBRUARY , 2013

The importance of using an automated sales log

How to protect your business against unfair dismissal claims

How to implement a consistent sales process

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AUstRAliA

CONtENt

ABOUt UsFusion Business Solutions is a performance-focused consulting group that offers a range of client solutions, including training, consulting and in-business coaching. We also operate a wholly-owned software division called Op2ma, which provides leading-edge web-based management and customer feedback tools. With our Head Office in Adelaide, Australia, we operate in most markets throughout Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific and Asia. We have offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Shanghai (China). Our philosophy is to offer our clients profit-enhancing solutions, which are both cost-effective and innovative. With the business and retail landscape becoming increasingly more complex and challenging, companies must adapt and change, or risk falling further behind. Our clients see an ever increasing need to enhance skills and processes such as pro-active financial management and employee performance management.

sydney OfficeSuite 14, 1 Chaplin Drive,Lane Cove West, NSW 2066

Melbourne OfficeLevel 5, The Fawkner Centre, 499 St. Kilda Rd,Melbourne, VIC 9004

Perth Office45 Ventnor AvenueWest Perth, WA 6005

Head OfficeLevel 1, MTA Building83 Greenhill RoadWayville, SA 5034

UNitED KiNGDOMRts Consultants (UK) ltd (strategic Partner)The Old Clift House1 Langley Road,Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 1BPUnited Kingdoms

CHiNAshanghai OfficeRoom 1401, Building No.1,Lane 400 Tang Qiao Road,Pudong District, Shanghai 200127 (PRC)Telephone: +86-21 5138 3731E-mail: [email protected]

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08THe imporTance of using an online sales log

How To proTecT your business againsT unfair dismissal claims

How To implemenTa consisTenT sales process

Any effective auto sales manager or salesperson understands the importance of capturing leads. Leads are what makes for a robust sales process. Once your sales team enters, or captures, the leads into your sales log, it sets the foundation for optimizing your sales process. When done efficiently, leads can be converted into lifelong relationships that benefit all parties.

For the past few years, employers were free to decide whether to keep or terminate a bad employee, but that has all changed with the WorkChoices Fair Work Act. The new regulations require businesses to honour their promises.

A sales process consists of more than the steps needed to persuade potential customers to make the purchase. For most businesses, the sales process begins with their salespeople learning about the product, generating sales leads, and then engaging customers in one-on-one conversation to close the deal.

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the importance of usingan online sales log

sales logs play a crucial role in lead generaTionAny effective auto sales manager or salesperson understands the importance of capturing leads. Leads are what makes for a robust sales process. Once your sales team enters, or captures, the leads into your sales log, it sets the foundation for optimizing your sales process. When done efficiently, leads can be converted into lifelong relationships that benefit all parties.

THey provide wriTTen records

Maintaining proper records plays a key role in improving your firm’s overall efficiency by capturing leads. By having records of all your customer contact information, you can better see where your customer base is coming from. Demographics include income level, age, profession, etc. Knowing your customer demographics is crucial for developing an efficient sales process and marketing plan.

A sales log will also point out which products, services or accessories are high-money earners and which are not. You can see which products were sold using gift certificates, coupons or other marketing tools. All these play crucial factors in optimizing your sales process and marketing plan.

sales logs can provide individual feedback

A sales log offers the perfect way to monitor your sales process. Reviewing the sales log will provide insight into which phase of your process has the largest lead generation. It also provides insight into which phase produces zero results. Once you know this, you can adjust your sales process accordingly.

A sales log can also provide information about your sales force’s productivity level. Reviewing your sales log will highlight which of your sales members has the most sales and which are not achieving

their goals. Logs will also show how much time was spent with each customer. You will notice if team members follow through, properly maintain the log, or seem to be slacking off. You can then adjust your sales tactics and manage them accordingly.

A sales log will also reveal if your automotive dealership is amply staffed. If your company properly logs each prospect entering your sales area, your sales log will reveal the number of walk-in customers, number of inquiries, what time the lead entered your facility and when he or she was greeted by a member of your sales staff. You will be able to see if more prospects than sales staff currently exist. This also works on the opposite spectrum. A sales log will show when more sales staff are logged in, but not working with prospects. You can adjust your sales staff accordingly.

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iT can Help raise cusTomer saTisfacTionEvery business understands the importance communication plays in the overall success level. Your business relies on positive, mutually beneficial customer relationships. A well-maintained sales log can be used as a foundation for this. By keeping track of communications, customer needs and desires, likes and dislikes, it provides your sales force with a way to touch your customer on a more personal level. Instead of simply sticking to the impersonal sales tactics, your sales force will have the know-how to turn the sales process into a more personal one. Your sales log can make it easy to contact your customers, offering them special deals or the latest information.

Regularly communicating with your customers is crucial for the success of your overall sales process. It, in fact, plays a crucial role in improving your overall customer satisfaction rating.

A well-maintained sales log gives you the ability and tools to maintain a customer database that can easily be turned into an email list. Email lists are a fantastic way to build your lead generation, keep customers informed about current happenings and improve your overall customer satisfaction rating. Having birthdates, for instance, gives you the ability to send your customer a birthday wish that contains a special discount on his or her favourite automotive service.

sales managemenT sysTems provide many benefiTs

Sales logs can be cumbersome, time-consuming and frustrating when

done using traditional paper logs and spreadsheets. Utilizing an effective sales management system like Sales Accelerator can improve efficiency and effectiveness significantly. These provide an ideal format for helping your sales team manage and collate customer contact information in an organized and efficient manner. Customer contact management, as you know, plays a crucial role in lead generation, productivity and overall business success.

The key to optimizing your sales process is creating a proactive and well-organized sales team; sales management systems allow you to do this quickly and effectively. Instead of manually capturing sales contacts in an easily retrievable format, something many sales people fail to do, your sales team can quickly and easily enter information into a centralised, cloud-based database. This improves efficiency and optimizes time usage. By taking less time to maintain a customer contact management file, your team members can spend more time with customers and bring in more sales.

Sales management systems also reduce the risk of you or your sales team misplacing hard copies of sales logs and customer info. These sales logs can get quite large over time, making them difficult to access for information and reports.

Leading sales management systems also offer a number of productivity features that can improve your sales results. Common features such as auto-generated email reports, Smartphone enabled, user-friendly interface, interactive dashboards and having the capability of

receiving web-based real-time reports 24/7 can make a big difference when making business decisions. Reports can highlight which step of your sales process needs focusing on as soon as you notice a discrepancy between the budgeted and actual amounts, which model bring in the most revenue and which sales person is expected to meet targets this quarter.

With built-in multiple security access involving multiple hierarchies, a sales management system also plays a crucial role in organizing and filtering information on team productivity. Knowing who your strongest and weakest performers are will help you design incentives and training to manage overall sales performance.

A sales management system unifies sales log from multiple locations onto a single format. Unlike your sales teams using different, personal formats to record open opportunities, you can help reduce confusion and wasted time by putting everyone on a single integrated platform so that you can get access to sales intelligence instantly from wherever you are. Once your sales staff learn how to properly use the system, they will be able to appreciate how it can help them improve productivity and sell more, putting their time to better use.

An automated sales log can take your automotive dealership to the next level by improving sales strategies, sustaining positive results, developing effective work methodologies and enhancing overall profitability. Utilizing a beneficial sales management system program will benefit everyone involved with your firm.

sales

Picture this: Number of inquiries by models, closing ratio for the used car department, total gross for this quarter by sales employees, forecast for this month... All delivered to your PC or smartphone 24/7 LIVE. No more spreadsheets or paper logs. For online demo, call 1300-807-177! Or click to register for a FREE TRIAL.

Sales Performance Reportinglike you’ve never seen before

www.op2ma.com/salesaccelerator

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for the past few years, employers were free to decide whether to keep or terminate a bad employee, but that

has all changed with the WorkChoices Fair Work Act. The new regulations require businesses to honour their promises.

Furthermore, where there were exceptions and exclusions, such as the number of employees on your payroll, those categories will no longer affect dismissal decisions. It’s really become a one-size-fits-all initiative.

TerminaTing incompeTenT workers

Employers often have to deal with employees who are not necessarily malicious or disobedient, but who cannot perform the job to the satisfaction

of the employer. The job market is full of anecdotes about employers who revised, reorganized, redesigned and restructured the workplace to accommodate an employee who seems unable to perform the simplest tasks. In such cases, the employer has a valid reason for dismissing the employee, but according to the Fair Work Act, a cause for dismissal must first be established, and the burden rests with the employer. One of the best ways to achieve this is by maintaining proper and comprehensive records.

So how can businesses protect themselves from unfair dismissal claims? By implementing 5 simple prerequisites for success;

1. performance appraisals spoTligHT deficienciesThe purpose of the appraisal is to explore the employee’s strengths and weaknesses. Appraisals are the nexus between the company’s needs and improved employee performance. This type of interview is critical because it points out performance deficiencies and a plan for remediation. Once the deficiency is identified, however, the remedial action should be agreed upon by both parties, and initiated. In the event there is no improvement, or the employee’s performance continues to deteriorate, managers have documentation to support their actions.

* Criteria for Writing Performance Appraisals: Good performance objectives

How to protect your business against unfair dismissal claims

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will address three characteristics: they are clear, simple and achievable. Many employers realize too late that the traditional performance appraisal forms do not fully meet those requirements. There are a number of leading cloud-based performance management systems such as Revuu that can increase the chance of success significantly.

Employee appraisals should include:

A clear statement of his or her performance targets;

Direction of the activities of the organization, a common point of discussion for the employee and his supervisor, and a clear statement of the agreement between them;

Goals and milestones for the entire organization, and a statement of performance objectives for all its officers.

Clearly defined goals for the employee. Begin with a strong action verbs like “reduce,” “increase,” “design,” “implement”. Avoid low action verbs like “ensure”, “help”, or “try”.

2. supporTing records To esTablisH beHaviourManagement should have a complete, well-documented and confidential file for each employee. These documents should be included in the employee’s personnel file. Some of the documents would include:

A paper describing the performance throughout a given period of the performance review;

Documented facts that are objective and concern the tangible performance of the employee, as they occur; don’t rely on memory (including dates, times) or opinions;

Recorded behaviours at work, not after work or hearsay that happened outside of work;

Document observations made directly, rather than information given that is based on rumour;

Specific behaviours rather than descriptions of employee’s personality;

Detailed information that relates to the employee’s work history;

Any formal discussions held with the employee;

Facts and not opinions;

Actions that were taken;

Note new initiatives to improve the employee’s performance, and a description of the action plan and if it was effective;

Note the options examined when the employee’s performance does not improve.

Always make sure the employee’s personnel file includes information related to work, and do not criticize the employee based on a single gesture you deem undesirable. You always want to be fair and personnel files should exhibit this fairness.

3. warning leTTers

According to the tribunal, employers cannot terminate a worker for misconduct, unless the misconduct has been repeated on one or more occasions, and the employer has given him or her appropriate warning letters.

A warning letter is really a low disciplinary action but it gives notice to the employee that they have not followed an employer’s policy. If the employee files an unfair dismissal case, you will need to challenge the nature of the dismissal, and warning letters will serve to prove the employee’s repeated violations; this will boost the merits of the dismissal. The allegations against the employee must be stated clearly detailing the circumstances in which they occurred, witnesses present, etc.

Finally, warning letters should note that first, it is a warning and, second, the measures to be taken by the employee. Any warning letter, even a poorly constructed one, will be considered if the content of the writing received by the employee highlights the problem and how it should be improved. Courts have even upheld that an email, if it highlights a fault and a warning, can be construed as a warning letter.

4. Handbooks and manualsMany employers issue policy handbooks and manuals that list employee obligations. The best policies are specific to the workplace and are not borrowed from other backgrounds or written by outsiders.

What makes a policy effective? Company policies vary greatly in their form and content. Their style, however, is not as important as the clarity with which they describe the functional responsibilities and decision-making.

For a policy to be effective, it must:

1. Show that senior management and representatives were involved in its drafting;

2. Be consistent with the objectives of efficient and predictable operation of the workplace;

3. Be relevant to the real needs of the workplace (it should not come from another workplace);

4. Be considered as important as other policy objectives of the workplace.

Whichever way your company manual is written, a policy contains only empty words if there is no plan to implement it across the organization. Policies can protect you from unfair dismissal claims only if:

Responsibilities are clearly defined and assigned to each individual employee;

You have established accountability for your employees;

Management follows proper procedures that are implemented for all employees;

Employee responsibilities and objectives have been discussed, clarified and communicated.

Although the responsibilities must be established in a comprehensive manner and according to the type of work assigned, management should avoid being too specific and thus promote a legal interpretation of the policy.

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5. Terms and condiTions of employmenTEvery employer should develop a workplace policy guided primarily by the employee’s execution of work. You want your employees to know and understand the rules, as well as establish examples of conduct that will not be tolerated. One of the best methods of making employees aware of the rules is by establishing terms and conditions of their specific employment.

All employers should establish that the work:

is performed according to a set of instructions;

involves the integration of the worker in the organization of the company;

is done according to a schedule specified or agreed by the person requesting the work.

esTablisHing a causeAlthough a large number of behaviours can justify a dismissal, such as wilful misconduct, fraud, a breach of fiduciary duty, and insubordination, it is incompetence or poor performance that typically constitute grounds for dismissal.

These tend to be more difficult to justify. Claiming that an employee is gravely incompetent is only one of the factors the court will consider when deciding whether or not to confirm dismissal for cause.

Employers must also demonstrate that they have taken steps to document the alleged dissatisfaction in performance. The courts will want to be sure the

Powered by Op2ma

Protect your business from unfair dismissal claims.Are you keeping proper records of your employees performance appraisal? Are you able to establish behaviour with supporting documents when you need to? Do you still rely on a paper-based, manual appraisal system? To find out how Revuu can protect your business, call 1300 807 177 for a free demo now.

www.revuu.comSydney • Melbourne • Adelaide • Perth

employee was informed of these dissatisfactions, and an opportunity was given to correct the situation.

overlooked measures THaT Help

The most overlooked measures taken by employers are generally

the simplest. Start by maintaining proper and comprehensive records: implement an effective management system that can seamlessly document all performance appraisals, warning letters and interviews. This will undoubtedly help if employees unjustly file unfair dismissal claims.

A sales process consists of more than the steps needed to persuade potential customers to make the purchase. For most businesses, the sales process begins with their salespeople learning about the product, generating sales leads, and then engaging customers in one-on-one conversation to close the deal.

From that point, the salesperson takes on the responsibilities of reading the customer’s characteristics, relating the product’s benefits to those characteristics, and then persuading the customer to complete the sale. Although there should be room in the sales process for personal initiative and improvisation, a robust sales process is dependent on standardizing the steps so long as it is not harmful to the salesperson’s

effectiveness. For automotive sales people, standardization is even more important because the sales process is so drawn-out.

What is process standardization?Standardization is ensuring that the steps used in the sales process are carried out based on the business rules and recommendations. Overall, standardization is essential to ensuring a robust sales process because it ensures that salespeople understand the best practices and procedures to handle each step in the sales process.

For example, if a salesperson learns through experience that a certain kind of customer responds positively to a specific sales approach, then the business can pass

that information on to other salespeople and implement it as the standard. Over time, standardization based on best practices and procedures helps to ensure better and more consistent results.

For auto sales managers, being able to produce consistent results is an enormous boon because the auto sales process provides lots of opportunities for salespeople to make mistakes. Customers searching for the right vehicle often head into dealerships to ask questions, head home to research the issue using the Internet, and then shop around other locations attempting to find better prices. Salespeople making a single mistake in the auto sales process can alienate customers and turn them away to the competition. Not only does the

How to implementa consistent sales process

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dealership lose potential sales, but the investment spent on bringing in those customers is also wasted. Standardization helps to combat this problem because the implementation of best practices and procedures helps to reduce the chance for error at each step in the sales process.

However, standardization cannot be implemented unless the right resources are set up to record information, enable monitoring, and ensure compliance. For example, one of the most important steps in the sales process is following up with potential customers to remind them that the auto dealership is still there and that there is stock available to meet their needs. Although standardization can dictate the best rules and recommendations for following up with potential customers, their actual implementation is crippled unless salespeople have the tools needed to do so. Similarly, most auto salespeople are not going to be able to remember the optimal days to wait before sending out a reminder, which makes schedulers indispensable tools. For auto dealerships, the best solution to this problem is sales management software with an automated sales log.

measuring performance using a sales logAlthough sales management software can provide many benefits to small businesses, its main advantage lies in its ability to record sales statistics and compile them into useful reports for planning and presentation. Examples of relevant sales statistics can include how potential customers heard about the auto dealership, the number of follow-ups, and the percentage of follow-ups that led to completed sales. Bear in mind that sales logs are not limited to collecting statistics but can also calculate forecasts and project trends based on historical information.

Sales managers who gain access to the information compiled through sales logs have a couple of advantages. First, they can monitor their salespeople’s performance and the degree of their compliance with the dealership’s standards. Diligent sales managers can identify and address potential issues, helping to improve their salespeople’s performance.

Second, sales managers can use the LIVE information to gauge the actual

effectiveness of the auto dealership’s standards in action. The ability to get the big picture and drill down to individual sales events means managers can get insights without spending hours crunching and checking data. Over time, these standards can be adjusted to produce better and more consistent results through continuous improvement.

How To incorporaTe a sales log inTo THe sales process

1. First, the sales managers need to identify automated sales management software that meets the needs of the dealerships, replacing manual systems with cloud-based automated systems. This is so that all data can be consolidated and processed for useful reports and indicators.

2. Once the system is installed, the sales manager needs to tailor its settings to suit their auto dealership. Most sales management systems are scalable, and their settings can be tailored to suit a range of needs like multiple users, departments, locations and hierarchies.

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3. The sales managers must then teach their salespeople to use the system, setting conventions for consistency. While most sales management systems tend to automate the process of collecting information as much as possible, some information still needs human input. For example, set a specific format when entering the customer’s address and do not leave it to individual salespeople to decide. Make it mandatory to collect key contact information so that it can be added to the auto dealership’s sales records.

4. Sales managers must then take steps to ensure their salespeople are following instructions, though for the most part, the salespeople’s compliance can be monitored within the sales management system. Be consistent in rewarding compliance and correcting failure when it occurs. However, sales managers should also listen to the feedback of their salespeople when something useful comes up.

5. As the salespeople provide feedback about the sales management system, sales managers should use that information to identify strengths and weaknesses in their current practices. Correcting weaknesses leads to better sales management and a more robust sales process. Failing to listen to the salespeople and refusing to make continuous tweaks can cause the dealership to become stagnant and less competitive.

wHy web-basded sofTware is beTTer THan spreadsHeeTs and paper logs

While older, more traditional alternative sales management systems and practices

such as the stand alone spreadsheet or the paper log can work, the main disadvantage of these is the lack of efficiency. Manual systems just take too much time, and sales managers often have to work with outdated information instead of getting accurate reports when they need it. Automated cloud-based management systems like Sales Accelerator make it easier for salespeople to record customer information so there is a better chance they will actually do it. Compliance is a serious problem with collecting sales information, one that is compounded by using manual systems that are time wasters and often inaccurate.

Manual systems also take significant investments of labour to input the information and compile it using spreadsheets. Doing so keeps everyone involved from handling more productive tasks and admits an increased chance

of human error. In contrast, automated management systems can save dealerships a lot of time by handling the compilation and distribution of compiled reports automatically.

conclusion

Sales managers must take care to keep their sales people informed throughout the process of incorporating sales management software into their sales processes. Under ideal circumstances, sales managers distribute information so that their personnel understand the dealership’s overall vision, while the salespeople contribute information to help make that vision come true. In the end, incorporating an automated sales management system to make the sale process more robust should be a collaboration between all departments within the auto dealership.

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BUSINESS COLLEGE

As Australia’s leading provider of automotive training solutions to dealers, manufacturers and financiers, we help your employees help YOU achieve more. Call 1300 807 177 to find out how.

Sales • F&I • Parts •Service • Management • On-site Coaching A division of Fusion Business Solutions

We help you scale new heights

To find out how Lost Sales Analysiscan help you improve your sales performance,

call 1300 807 177.

Programmes for auto dealers,Financiers and manufacturers.

SOLD20%

UNSOLD80%

Wouldn’t you like to know what happened to the other 80% of prospects who didn’t buy?

Maximising Performance

Did you know that out of the 80%who walked out of your dealership...

69% are still in the market for a vehicle (open opportunities)?

52% will not receive a follow up call from the sales person?

42% are expecting follow up from the sales person?

70% had not met the sales manager or the business manager?

A 5% improvement in conversion is a 20% increase in sales performance?

Adelaide O�ce1/83 Greenhill RoadWayville, SA 5034

Sydney O�ceSuite 14, 1 Chaplin Drive,Lane Cove West, NSW 2066

Melbourne O�ce5/499 St. Kilda Rd,Melbourne, VIC 3004

Perth O�ce45 Ventnor AvenueWest Perth, WA 6005

LOST SALESANALYSIS

Op2ma’s Lost Sales Analysis provides you with the insight to make improvements to your sales process and marketing mix by focusing on the large pool of prospective customers that came to your showroom in the first place.

We will talk to these prospects to identify reasons and obstacles that prevented them from buying. Our consultants will then analyse the feedback to give you a comprehensive report and action plan so you know exactly what to do.

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COACHING STAFF FORHIGHER PERFORMANCE

POWERFUL 1-DAY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP

Investment $495 plus GST

“Increase Profit and Reduce Unfair Dismissals”

Most employees underperform in both productivity and profitability. Coupled with large staff turnover, managers in automotive dealerships must learn cutting-edge coaching skills to turn this situation around.

Book now atwww.fusionbusinesscollege.com

to reserve space or call1300 807 177

• Increasing employee engagement• Running effective Performance Appraisals• How to coach staff on and off the job• Strategies to reduce your unfair dismissal risk• Leading-edge tools to grow performance

In this intense 1-day session, you learn skills and tools that will help you take underperforming staff and movethem to another level. Topics include:

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Fusion Management Briefs - Issue 4