CallSource^® Aim Higher

Staying on Top of the Automotive Market – Even in Tough Times

by Tim Gomoll, April 20 2010

Staying up-to-date on the latest marketing technologies is crucial to remaining competitive in today’s automotive industry.  Now, more than ever, auto dealerships must be on top of their game to stay on top of the market. What can you do to increase sales and stay competitive – even in tough economic times?  Read on.

It’s all about attitude.
Automotive salespeople must excel at many different skills, not the least being call handling.  Even in the Internet age, the telephone is still the most widespread tool prospective buyers use when they’re ready to purchase goods or services.  Telephone prospects are three to four times more likely to buy than a walk-in prospect and proper call handling skills should be established and met.  Consider this:

• 75% of all car buyers will call before coming into a dealership.
• 80% of telephone prospects will buy within five days of their initial call.
• 90% of telephone prospects will buy within seven to ten days of their initial call.

Impressions are formed during the first ten seconds of a sales call and a positive greeting sets the tone for the entire exchange.  The pitch, words and phrases used during the initial telephone call are important.  Words have power and must be used skillfully.  Your tone conveys attitude and must be positive, upbeat, engaged and ready to guide the prospective auto buyer to an appointment. 

You may even find that you have more prospects than you realized.  But, due to ineffective call handling, some potential buyers never make it through the dealership door. When handled correctly, phone leads can make a big difference in your bottom line.

Measure what matters.
Can you identify your true cost-per-lead, closing ratios and the number of meaningful sales opportunities generated by each marketing source you use?  If you measure by simply counting calls, you’re not getting the whole picture.  Calls should be tracked and analyzed to separate sales opportunities from vendor calls, customer service calls, misdials, etc. You should know how many calls actually reached your sales team and how many only reached voicemail.

It’s also critical to know which media works and how well it works. Many dealers invest in call tracking and analytic solutions to get an accurate picture of their marketing effectiveness, though few call tracking solutions separate actual sales opportunities from all other types of calls your tracking numbers may receive.  Increasingly, automotive dealers are turning to CallSource.

Knowledge is power.
As the original inventor of call tracking as a service, CallSource provides technologies and value-added services that allow companies to increase their marketing effectiveness and achieve maximum return on investment.

The Telephone Performance Analysis reviews your teams’ incoming calls, grading and ranking each call handler’s ability to convert leads to appointments and deals. 

They’ll alert you to problem areas in need of focused training and develop a customized plan of action to maximize employee sales performance.  

Whether implementing a call tracking system or empowering your team to grow and succeed, you’ll have the knowledge to stay on top of the automotive market – even in tough times. 

Tim Gomoll is CallSource VP of Sales