Corey Mosley is apparently declaring a state of emergency for automotive dealerships across the country. After completing a series of mystery shops nationally, Corey said “It’s enough to make a guy want to retire and run the other way”.
I’ve never performed a nationwide mystery shop but do shop several of my local and competitive dealers and it’s amazing to find how inconsistent most dealers are. The 3 day rule seems to be the average follow-up time frame most dealers / sales people stick with. I know some of my sales people are at times guilty of this. This is where a strong BDC effort needs to come into play, just a simple 5 day PR phone call can make a nice difference.
Here is the complete article and a
link to the original.
Internet Sales State of Emergency – by Cory L. Mosley
This month I bring some grim news, after completing a series of mystery shops nationally I must declare a state of emergency for automotive dealerships across the country. It is seriously alarmed that an overwhelming percentage of dealerships do not brand their dealership, make phone calls to contact prospects, don’t believe in follow-up past 3 days, and just plain ole’ don’t get it! It’s enough to make a guy want to retire and run the other way. The icing on the cake however was the amount of general managers and dealer principals that did not want to see their stores results and/or didn’t want to do anything about fixing the problems. Deficiency of knowledge is one thing, but a desire to not fix a problem that in the long run will cost a dealership millions of dollars in lost front end, back end, and service grosses is just plain ole’ astonishing. The one fun part about having your own newsletter is that you can be as direct as you want, so here it is.
10 questions to ask yourself regarding your commitment to Internet sales success:
- Does my dealership have a clear vision of the expectations for the Internet?
- Other than buying products from vendors, what investment have I made to
ensure the success of my dealerships Internet department?- What investment have I made in my Internet personnel (for dealer or GM)?
- What investment has my dealership made in me? (for Internet/BDC sales professional)?
- On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest, what is the overall value I put on the Internet department at my dealership?
- Do I believe we are maximizing our Internet sales opportunities and if not what am I doing to change that?
- What is holding me back from embracing the Internet customer or taking my Internet sales efforts to the next level?
- If I am not going to invest in building a successful Internet operation
then what is my game plan to control the sales I will be losing to my
competitors?- Is it possible that I have to reevaluate my belief system in regards to the Internet customer?
- Do I want help filling the gaps in my Internet sales results?
The industry is gearing up for the summer selling season, let’s make sure we make the most out it! Don’t we all deserve it?
I assume that the mystery shopped dealers are not participants on DealerRefresh. It seems like the people commenting here are on their game for the most part.
I’ve done some national mystery shopping, but it has been a while. I’ve found the better areas to be the most competitive ones: New York, Northern Virginia/DC, LA, and other parts of California. Overall, the majority of American Automotive Dealers are still way behind.
It’s amazing when 90% plus of all car buyers start the process of shopping on the internet and in most dealerships there is only a 3 day follow-up. If it were my business, I would want to capture the shopper where they start looking and continue for a lifetime.
The “10 Commitments” list is great but in reality, attempt keeping upper managements attention for that period of time on the; Internet.
It’s sad for the hopeful internet shopper looking for a quality shopping experience, but for IM’s like myself going back into the dealership tomorrow and my competitors are still using templates & processes created from my rookie days in the same town… Priceless.