When you think about CRM at your dealership, do you immediately think about concrete, feasible, short- and long-term objectives to accomplish your dealership’s overall vision? Or do you, like most dealers I speak with, simply get caught up in the buzz? If you sided with the former, make it happen! But if you struggle with making reality out of the buzz, consider the following – to have a winning overall strategy to drive your business toward success, you need the right technology, the right processes, and the right people – in other words, the “CRM-Trifecta.” The concept of the Trifecta is imperative to success because if one of the three parts is missing or lacks CRM-focus, your dealership’s efforts in this area will stagnate.
So that’s the buzz. The key difference-maker is how you create the tangible objectives to affect positive CRM inertia within your sphere of influence. The first step may be to simply ask for help from reliable “services only” professionals, so there is no leaning toward specific products; just objective guidance toward helping you fulfill your CRM objectives along with the most cost-effective solutions. The tangible steps toward CRM-focused success have been mapped out and implemented – with great results – just ask the right people to help your dealership implement a tangible CRM-based plan for your growth whether it is your Internet department, floor sales or phone skills. But let’s start by looking at each part of the CRM-Trifecta to give your dealership a few objective solutions to implement today.
Technology
What is its purpose? The function of technology in your dealership is to enable or facilitate effective processes and people efforts. And, in the end, it’s all about connectivity with your customers the way your customers wish to be connected, not the way you think they wish to be connected. So start with evaluating how your salespeople touch your customers. Most likely, you will find that phone and e-mail are the two most commonly used methods of customer touch. The result, then, of thinking beyond the buzz is getting technology in place to better manage the common customer touch points. Whether it’s Palm Trio phones for salespeople to receive e-mail the moment it arrives, video e-mail for strong relationship building as soon as the auto-responder e-mail is sent, or, optimally, a comprehensive CRM-software to manage the “who and how” for your salespeople to touch on a given day, that’s technology that enables. The return on investment on Trio phones, video e-mail, and CRM management software, just to name a few, is tremendous and it’s measurable! The key to purchasing technology for your dealership is selecting only items that will enable your people and processes to accomplish tasks toward greater efficiency, productivity and ultimately increased business success.
Process
Processes are the most often overlooked part of the CRM-Trifecta. Just like technology, without good processes, your people are operating down the path of least resistance and they won’t be able to figure out why they continually fail to meet their personal objectives. This is the also the major cause for attrition, which can cost upward of $75,000 per lost employee. My team goes into various dealerships that want us to develop a successful Internet department for them. In speaking with my e-business director, Aaron Graham, I recently asked him what he thought the biggest problem is at these dealerships where we are evaluating. His reply, “They simply don’t have any clear processes or the proper training in place to affect a positive direction of the department.” There’s the buzz, now let’s look at the tangibles to lead you to success in this area.
Paper proves process. If you effectively utilize CRM software, each salesperson should be receiving a daily game or marketing plan – in other words, a daily list of who to contact: phone-up follow-ups, fresh-up follow-ups, owner base calls and letters, other un-solds, and orphan owner calls. The key to success in this area is to faithfully record every ounce of customer interaction information and have it entered into the CRM software application. So, what if you don’t have CRM software? First, think long and hard about the direction of the industry and if you still choose to proceed manually, do your best to manually record your customer interaction.
Now you know who on a daily basis your salespeople need to contact; the next step is instituting the processes for how your salespeople will connect with the customers they are contacting. Effective phone narrative guides, powerful e-mail templates, and appointment guidelines are great ways how your salespeople can more effectively connect with your customers. However, to make these processes effective, you need to invest in your people. You may also need to invest in your management team’s leadership skills training in order for them to lead the charge to a proactive CRM initiative, whereby all members of the sales team are working as one. So often I see a laundry list of “CRM to do” items for the sales people and the managers don’t have a clue what they are doing or how they are doing it. Why? Because they did not attend any of the CRM training sessions with the salespeople so the sales staff knows more about the strategies than their so-called leaders. This is the wrong picture because it starts at the top, not the bottom. So if you truly desire to attain solid CRM initiatives, it is imperative for your management team to be on top of the learning curve as well. This way you will achieve a total team approach. That’s how it works.
People are the driving force in your dealership and your salespeople can be a blessing to your dealership if they are trained in CRM-focused techniques. It’s important to remember that the end goal for your dealership is to sell vehicles – and that the transaction requires people connecting with people. If your salespeople are committed to investing time and energy into customers, they are ready for CRM training. It is imperative that the training program your dealership selects be focused on training your sales and management team to align with customers on the phone, through e-mail, and in-person – all migrating toward building the relationship that will yield a sold vehicle and a satisfied long-term customer. The depth and breadth of “customer-focused” training is tremendous, but all of it is based around the mission above, just to a greater degree of success.
Now, when you look at the components of the CRM-Trifecta, it’s obvious the most important element is your people. If you are going to pick only one of the three components to focus on, training all your people (including receptionists and phone operators) to effectively interact and build relationships with customers will render the largest gains. Better yet, CRM training in combination with great processes and effective technology will allow for the greatest success. Go for the Trifecta and win big!
Chuck Barker’s experience ranges from an executive with a Fortune 200 computer corporation to the automobile business. He has held positions as business development manager, sales manager, acting GM, ADP executive regional manager specializing in CRM and his own current company, Impact Marketing & Consulting Group, LLC, located in Virginia. His firm delivers CRM process strategies, 21st century CRM sales training, CRM e-business deployment and CRM management leadership workshops. More information can be located at his web site: www.impactgroupcrm.com.
