Simon ‘Skippy’ Bowkett, the respected adviser and trainer to some of the most prestigious dealer groups and manufacturers, is Need To Know Motors’ prime training partner. He has three quick tips to ease the pressure on every dealership when the floodgates open on 12 April.
One skill we have all mastered during lockdown is selling via Zoom, and customers are used to it as well. It’s a tool we can still deploy to ease the expected pressure of – hopefully – having an abundance of customers come 12 April. Using it gives us extra time, too, so sales can re-learn to upsell the profit-making add-ons and extras that many have dropped during lockdown.
So, three easy steps to take the pressure off and to give sales staff time to sell properly:
- Take customers out of the market now, by using Zoom appointments to sell them the car they need now. Don’t start making appointments for after 12 April unless really necessary. More customers buying pre-12 April means less pressure on you post-12 April;
- For customers who are willing to do the entire deal now (probably because they have to change cars soon) but still need the demo drive to seal it, do all the legwork now and book only the demo for after 12 April. Don’t book a sales meeting for after 12 April if you can do that now. They need a demo, so do the deal subject to the demo drive which takes place after 12 April;
- Those customers who must see the car before they do any sort of deal are the only ones you should be booking in for after 12 April, so book them in now so that your sales schedule starts filling up in an orderly and well-managed way. This just leaves the walk-ins and the quick deals that will be happening anyway, but you can be on top of things from the outset.
By giving sales staff more time amongst the anticipated rush they can go back to the niceties of selling, the add-ons, the bolt-ons, the products that make us money.
These tips helps clear the way for a better return to proper selling and they will help you and your sales team serve customers better and do a more profitable job.