Personal Organizer
The Largest Rolodex Wins
When it comes to a Personal Organizer or Customer Relationship Management (CRM), most car salespeople need an "I exam". They suffer from being short sighted. It seems their vision cannot see any further than the next UP, the next walk-in. When it comes to follow-up, staying in touch with sold customers, they are blind. And, please, do not even mention an occasional newsletter. That is lights out for sure.
Before personal organizers and CRM the saying was "He who has the largest Rolodex wins." My first sales manager repeated it over and over until it finally sunk in. I am sure, in one form or another, that is what most auto and RV sales managers still voice several times a year. Although the Rolodex is now referred to as a personal organizer, the idea holds strong. A system for storing contact information. CRM expands it to include a process so salespeople can stay in touch with sold customers and a timely system for staying on top of prospects. When properly implemented, CRM is worth big bucks.The problem for most auto sales consultants is the elephant syndrome. CRM, Customer Relationship Management, sounds large, labour intensive, with lots of expectations. Hence, most auto and RV sales consultants work at finding ways to short circuit CRM rather than embrace it for what it is. What is it? For any auto salesperson, with the least bit of smarts, it is a money machine. Customer Relationship Management can be the million dollar Rolodex or personal organizer for any career RV or auto sales consultant, if a little time was put into learning it. Let's say you, as an auto salesperson, are now keeping a copy of your contact sheets. Contact sheets are pretty generic. Email me for a FREE sample, if you need one . And, even for pay purposes, you are likely keeping a copy of your deal sheets. Regardless of what you call your worksheet, the following is basic information:
1. Name, 2. Address, 3. Contact Telephone Number, 4. Email Address That is it. Not too complicated. No more information than you would write on a Rolodex card or type into your personal organizer. The good news is this core information is the foundation of a CRM system. Sure, it is the bare bones. But you have enough information to call the person. Okay so you are ready to call, but for what reason? How do you start the conversation? The answer is it depends. Is the person a prospect or a sold customer? If a sold customer, what make, model, year does he have? What were the terms, lease or finance? How long? Having this information would give direction to the conversation, right? If calling a prospect, what is she interested in? Is there a trade? A budget? A must have by date? Others involved in the decision? Knowing this would direct the call a different way. And what professionalism this would add. Yes, how efficient it would be if you could store all information in one place. A convenient location easily access as needed. And when you pull the file to make contact, it would be great if you could add notes, reminders, schedule an appointment, flag your sales manager to make a follow up call on your behalf, without having to enter the information multiple times. Is it possible to replace your personal organizer with a CRM process? So far, has anything extraordinary been requested? Not really. It is all stuff you, as a car salesperson, are doing now. You probably have the basic information in a Rolodex or personal organizer. But you are not recording the rest, the other important information. The information you need to add value to a follow up call. The saying Garbage In - Garbage Out doesn't hold water here because most car salespeople are not moving the information from their personal organizer or deal sheet to the CRM software. And so you, like countless other car and RV salespeople, are doing the daily paper-shuffle. You know, the shuffle starts like this, "Lets see. Um. Who should I call today? Shuffle paper. Shuffle paper. Shuffle paper." The shuffle is played in the key of B, for Broke. Oh, did I mention what most paper-shufflers have in common? Small vouchers. There is no doubt Customer Relationship Management is more extensive than what is presented here. There is the potential to integrate service, parts, after market revenue streams (F&I), and much more. What should be clear is that implementation from the showroom floor requires change. Rolodexes have to go. Individual personal organizers have to go. There must and can be only one CRM process for all. As dealer principle or sales manager, an important question is "Am I happy with the information I currently get on the worksheets?" If the information is lacking there, it will not be any better automated. A second question "Do the salespeople understand the personal income potential CRM has to offer?" If the answer is a "Yes" and the paperwork does not support it, then you need to make an executive decision. Customer Relationship Management is imperative for a progressive auto and RV store. If you are not following up with your prospects, someone is. If you are not building a relationship with your sold customers, someone is. If you are not listening to the voice of your customers through service follow ups, and regular contact, someone else is. All things being equal, people will buy from those they know, like, and trust. Is that you? Perhaps an "I exam" is due.
Remember: Nothing happens until someone sells something.
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