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“There are two ways to sell more. Increase your marketing budgets by twofold or refining the employee processes in place, thus becoming more efficient with money you currently spend. Which would you feel comfortable doing?”
I posed this question to a group of dealership executives during a training session I delivered. Of course the unanimous answer was to refine employee processes to be more efficient but then the flurry of questions came as to how. “Sounds easy Glenn but there are so many departments and so many pieces to this, where do we begin?”
I asked them what they thought we should do and answers came in a rush from the group. Their responses demonstrated how “Silo” driven this group was. All their questions focused on responsibilities from one department or another and in some cases came across as sounding defensive.
I will describe a few examples of the employee processes we discussed hoping you will see how this can benefit your company as well. Our goal was to follow the customer before, during and after they interact with their business and to make sure at every opportunity, there is a documented process for employees to execute.
There are going to be three “givens” in order for this to have an impact.
- That you have documented processes.
- That you train your team correctly.
- Hold them accountable to performance goals.
Let’s look at the customer Journey:
Marketing:
There are two types of marketing that impact the consumer. Offline and Online. Offline can be considered TV, radio, print, flyers, etc. Online is website, text ads, remarketing banners, video pre-roll etc.
Employee Processes to Check:
- How do these two marketing groups interact?
- Does offline discuss where to drive traffic online?
- Does online have the same look and feel as offline campaigns?
- How are we monitoring results?
- Do we understand what metrics we need to review?
How can the consumer contact your business?
For this group of automotive executives there are three ways, Phone, email and walk-in.
Employee Processes to Check:
- Phone: Do you have scripts for each interaction?
- Email: Do you have templates created and installed in the CRM for employees to use?
- Walk in with Appointment: Is there a process for handoff from appointment setter to sales?
- Walk in without an appointment: How does receptionist transfer to a salesperson?
- How do you handle appointments that do not show?
- Who and how do you log new customers into your CRM?
Sales Process:
Here your own “Road to the Sale” process kicks in and either the customer buys today or not.
Employee Processes to Check: If they buy today.
- Is there a process to introduce them to the Service director?
- Does someone schedule the first service appointment?
- How do you follow up to check in on their experience with the dealership?
Employee Processes to Check: If they do not buy today.
- Is there a written process for following up with the customer?
- How do you follow up to measure accountability?
- How do you increase compliance through additional training?
After Sales Marketing:
Employee Processes to Check:
- How are you keeping your customers engaged with relevant content or tips?
- How are you checking in with them through email or phone to have your business viewed as a resource of information or customer service
Remember this is an example of a few areas to look at through your customer’s journey. It may seem too detailed to some but when you give your team the proper framework to execute their job, they will exceed your expectations.
The end product is a more engaged group of employees, a path for their success and your bottom line increases.
Glenn Pasch is the current CEO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker and part of the Educational staff for the Automotive Digital Marketing Certification courses.
If you liked this article, please share with others and connect with me @glennpasch