You mean to tell me you don't have those damn emails done yet? Which I'm sure is what you're saying. But it takes a little more time than you think. Once I've created them, then I had to get with Cobalt to show me how to upload the pictures onto their server, since you don't want to embed them in the email and have the email size larger. Then you have to link the pictures in your email with the picures on the server. I copy/pasted the code into Autobase, where I proceed to add merge codes for their name, and type of vehicle they were interested in. So, I have the autoresponder and the first 7 emails completed. Now I need to create one for when the appointment is set, a confirmation and reminder will automatically go out, and if the appointment is a no-show, and email will go out. So there's still some work to do.
I was supposed to attend a General Motors meeting today with my Fleet Manager, but I decided to send our new Government Bid salesperson instead.
The Autobase upgrade has put us another week behind. The integration between Autobase and OneSource was supposed to be complete, but my rep didn't send in the correct paperwork, so it won't be completed until Monday. By integration I mean that all the GM OneSource leads will go directly into Autobase so we only have to use one CRM program. So because we're still working in OneSource, the GM wasn't seeing any activity in Autobase and wanted Beth to manually input all the information. Well, that was taking all her call time away to do secretarial work, so I'm having her just make calls and set appointments, and Autobase will just have to wait.
We're looking for more salespeople, so I had to create another post in Careerbuilder.com.
Talk to you later.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Day 21
Beth's presentation is coming along very nicely. Her customers have an easy time talking with her. She set one appointment today. Once the integration between Autobase and OneSource takes places, she'll put out a lot more calls.
Took a picture of Beth to put in all the emails. It will give them that personal touch and put a face to a name.
Listened to several hours of Who's Calling and worked with several salespeople on their phone presentations.
Met with the General Manager, Finance and Special Finance Managers to talk about how we can increase sales of our Loyalty Card, which is discounts on parts and service, along with two free oil changes if they send in their CSI surveys. The Finance Managers are trying to upgrade them to the Premium Loyal Card which will give them more oil changes and other special features.
We started getting calls from pull-ahead customers which call my department, where we set appointments for the salespeople to take them out of their leases and put them into another lease.
It's a late night and I'm getting tired, so I'll talk to you tomorrow.
Took a picture of Beth to put in all the emails. It will give them that personal touch and put a face to a name.
Listened to several hours of Who's Calling and worked with several salespeople on their phone presentations.
Met with the General Manager, Finance and Special Finance Managers to talk about how we can increase sales of our Loyalty Card, which is discounts on parts and service, along with two free oil changes if they send in their CSI surveys. The Finance Managers are trying to upgrade them to the Premium Loyal Card which will give them more oil changes and other special features.
We started getting calls from pull-ahead customers which call my department, where we set appointments for the salespeople to take them out of their leases and put them into another lease.
It's a late night and I'm getting tired, so I'll talk to you tomorrow.
Day 20
It's Friday, and I'm really looking forward to the weekend.
I started out the day working with my Appointment Coordinator on how to call the leads. She has a real friendly voice, and I can see that the prospects take to her very quickly. Though she has to leave a lot of messages, the ones she talks to are very accepting of her time. I'm a big fan of getting to the appointment stage as quickly as possible. That's Plan A. If she can't get the appointment because they're looking for more information first, she transfers them over to the Internet Manager and he strives for the appointment after providing whatever information is necessary.
Since phone-up training is one of my priorities, I try to listen to all the calls on Who's Calling to see what individual training needs to take place. Trying to be nice to salespeople by just asking them to answer the calls more productively doesn't always work. You sometimes need to let them know that the phone-up business is not a game and needs to be taken seriously. And even after you approach it that way, they still seem to do answer the call the way they want. It can be a frustrating business sometimes.
I got my weekly report from Used Cars for the week - 9 leads, 3 appointments, 3 sales. 100% closing ratio on appointments to sales, and 33% closing ratio on leads to sales. Still not bad. Now, if I can just increase the number of Used Car leads, which should happen once Autotrader gets on board next week, I should be able to increase those numbers dramatically.
A lot of time was spent on the phone with my Autobase rep. Since the major upgrade will take place over the weekend, which includes the new internet module, we had to plan on what stages (folders) we wanted to have to it can be setup before the upgrade. The stages we setup were:
New - the lead comes in
First Response - the call is made with no contact
Communicating - contact was made but no appointment set
Quoting - customer requests email quote
Unresponsive - continuous calls are made and emails sent with no response
Appointment Set - duh
Appointment Set/No Show - duh
Appointment Showed/No Sale - prices were given but couldn't get financed, etc.
No Purchase Decision - prices were given, but no decision was made yet
The weekend looks sunny and warm. It will be nice to get outside finally and enjoy the warm weather. Have a great weekend.
I started out the day working with my Appointment Coordinator on how to call the leads. She has a real friendly voice, and I can see that the prospects take to her very quickly. Though she has to leave a lot of messages, the ones she talks to are very accepting of her time. I'm a big fan of getting to the appointment stage as quickly as possible. That's Plan A. If she can't get the appointment because they're looking for more information first, she transfers them over to the Internet Manager and he strives for the appointment after providing whatever information is necessary.
Since phone-up training is one of my priorities, I try to listen to all the calls on Who's Calling to see what individual training needs to take place. Trying to be nice to salespeople by just asking them to answer the calls more productively doesn't always work. You sometimes need to let them know that the phone-up business is not a game and needs to be taken seriously. And even after you approach it that way, they still seem to do answer the call the way they want. It can be a frustrating business sometimes.
I got my weekly report from Used Cars for the week - 9 leads, 3 appointments, 3 sales. 100% closing ratio on appointments to sales, and 33% closing ratio on leads to sales. Still not bad. Now, if I can just increase the number of Used Car leads, which should happen once Autotrader gets on board next week, I should be able to increase those numbers dramatically.
A lot of time was spent on the phone with my Autobase rep. Since the major upgrade will take place over the weekend, which includes the new internet module, we had to plan on what stages (folders) we wanted to have to it can be setup before the upgrade. The stages we setup were:
New - the lead comes in
First Response - the call is made with no contact
Communicating - contact was made but no appointment set
Quoting - customer requests email quote
Unresponsive - continuous calls are made and emails sent with no response
Appointment Set - duh
Appointment Set/No Show - duh
Appointment Showed/No Sale - prices were given but couldn't get financed, etc.
No Purchase Decision - prices were given, but no decision was made yet
The weekend looks sunny and warm. It will be nice to get outside finally and enjoy the warm weather. Have a great weekend.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Day 19
This week is basically getting ready for next week. That will be the beginning of our Internet Department with a full-fledged Appointment Coordinator in place. I probably would have started it a week earlier, but because of the big upgrade with Autobase which includes the new Internet module, there was no sense rushing it.
Beth spent the day completing her courses and I spent the day prepping the emails. It was a slow day, but things will pick up next week.
I need to start developing a checklist for how we want to start the Business Development Center (BDC). Though the General Manager would like me to handle the whole development process by myself, I feel strongly that getting input from all the Managers, and hearing their ideas of how the BDC can become successful, is more advantageous. So I'll setup a meeting for sometime next week.
Later.
Beth spent the day completing her courses and I spent the day prepping the emails. It was a slow day, but things will pick up next week.
I need to start developing a checklist for how we want to start the Business Development Center (BDC). Though the General Manager would like me to handle the whole development process by myself, I feel strongly that getting input from all the Managers, and hearing their ideas of how the BDC can become successful, is more advantageous. So I'll setup a meeting for sometime next week.
Later.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Day 18
Ok, things are moving along. My Internet Coordinator started today and I have great hopes for her success. She has that perky, rapport building, appointment setting way about her that will definitely benefit this department.
Her entire day was spent doing Autobase training. So she went through all the sales, management and internet modules, since I'll be giving her management status. I took her around and introduced her to everyone, and sat down with the new and used Internet Managers to lay down some groundwork. I'm sure she'll be able to handle both of them just fine. They like her and since she's responsible to make them money, I know they'll work together as a team to get the job done.
To show you how valuable the Appointment Coordinator position can be, I already mentioned that last month at the last dealership I setup, the Appointment Coordinator had 200 leads, set 122 appointments (61% closing ratio) and sold 40 vehicles (33% closing ratio). Not bad for a one person operation utilizing the sales staff.
Now, let me tell you the weeks numbers I got back for last week from my New Vehicle Internet Manager - 60 lead, 20 phone calls (30%), 3 appointments (.05% closing ratio) and 1 sold (.01% closing ratio). Based on this comparison, no one will be able to tell me that if you don't want to develop a full-blown Internet Department, the Appointment Coordinator process is the way to go.
I then helped our General Manager interview for Service Advisors for the afternoon. We found a good one that will start next week.
Still suffering through some residual effects of my illness, but feeling lot better. Hope you're feeling well also.
Her entire day was spent doing Autobase training. So she went through all the sales, management and internet modules, since I'll be giving her management status. I took her around and introduced her to everyone, and sat down with the new and used Internet Managers to lay down some groundwork. I'm sure she'll be able to handle both of them just fine. They like her and since she's responsible to make them money, I know they'll work together as a team to get the job done.
To show you how valuable the Appointment Coordinator position can be, I already mentioned that last month at the last dealership I setup, the Appointment Coordinator had 200 leads, set 122 appointments (61% closing ratio) and sold 40 vehicles (33% closing ratio). Not bad for a one person operation utilizing the sales staff.
Now, let me tell you the weeks numbers I got back for last week from my New Vehicle Internet Manager - 60 lead, 20 phone calls (30%), 3 appointments (.05% closing ratio) and 1 sold (.01% closing ratio). Based on this comparison, no one will be able to tell me that if you don't want to develop a full-blown Internet Department, the Appointment Coordinator process is the way to go.
I then helped our General Manager interview for Service Advisors for the afternoon. We found a good one that will start next week.
Still suffering through some residual effects of my illness, but feeling lot better. Hope you're feeling well also.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Day 17
Phewwwww! I came to work this morning and there was a message from my Appointment Coordinator. The reason she didn't return my calls over the weekend is she was out of town for her birthday. She'll be starting tomorrow. That's a load off my mind.
We lost our Service Director and we are in need of a new Service Advisor, so today was spent calling the resumes from Careerbuilder.com and setting up appointments for the General Manager to interview tomorrow.
I worked on the emails and autoresponders we'll use once the new Internet module is installed in Autobase. The new Autobase upgrade has an automatic email program where once a lead comes in, an autoresponder is sent out. The the Appointment Coordinator will attempt to contact the lead. If the lead is contacted, the appointment is set. But if the lead is not contacted, it is put in another folder and the automatic emails will begin, and continue at specified intervals until the contact is made. Then by placing that contacted lead in the appointment sent folder, the emails will automatically stop. It's a great time saver that I used when I installed WebControl into dealerships.
I'm starting to concentrate on developing more phone-up business. I know this is separate from the Internet Department, but my actual title is Director of Marketing which actually means, figuring out ways to develop or "market" more business. So aside from Internet, phone-ups and lease renewals are at the top of my list. So my first task is to monitor all phone-ups coming into the dealership, and making sure the Sales Manager knows who they are and which salesperson handled them. So I developed a two-part phone-up worksheet for all the salespeople. When they take a phone-up, they are responsible to fill out this worksheet. One part stays with them and one part goes to the Sales Manager. This will give him a way to monitor them, and put more deals together. It also makes the salespeople more accountable with every phone-up they take. I'll be able to track them by going into Autobase, and also by listening to Who's Calling every morning and matching them to the worksheets. I'll do this until I'm sure that salespeople are being accountable for every phone-up they take.
I'm also feeling much better today, thank you for asking. See you tomorrow.
We lost our Service Director and we are in need of a new Service Advisor, so today was spent calling the resumes from Careerbuilder.com and setting up appointments for the General Manager to interview tomorrow.
I worked on the emails and autoresponders we'll use once the new Internet module is installed in Autobase. The new Autobase upgrade has an automatic email program where once a lead comes in, an autoresponder is sent out. The the Appointment Coordinator will attempt to contact the lead. If the lead is contacted, the appointment is set. But if the lead is not contacted, it is put in another folder and the automatic emails will begin, and continue at specified intervals until the contact is made. Then by placing that contacted lead in the appointment sent folder, the emails will automatically stop. It's a great time saver that I used when I installed WebControl into dealerships.
I'm starting to concentrate on developing more phone-up business. I know this is separate from the Internet Department, but my actual title is Director of Marketing which actually means, figuring out ways to develop or "market" more business. So aside from Internet, phone-ups and lease renewals are at the top of my list. So my first task is to monitor all phone-ups coming into the dealership, and making sure the Sales Manager knows who they are and which salesperson handled them. So I developed a two-part phone-up worksheet for all the salespeople. When they take a phone-up, they are responsible to fill out this worksheet. One part stays with them and one part goes to the Sales Manager. This will give him a way to monitor them, and put more deals together. It also makes the salespeople more accountable with every phone-up they take. I'll be able to track them by going into Autobase, and also by listening to Who's Calling every morning and matching them to the worksheets. I'll do this until I'm sure that salespeople are being accountable for every phone-up they take.
I'm also feeling much better today, thank you for asking. See you tomorrow.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Day 16
Still sick at home, but I thought I'd post anyways.
I tried to call my new hire over the weekend to let her know that I was sick, and wanted to know when she'd be showing up for work. I left my home phone number for her to call me, but she never did, and still hasn't. I've done enough hiring to know that that's not good. It usually means she decided not to take the position, and isn't planning on calling me to let me know. This will be a real setback.
If she doesn't show up, which by the way may be tomorrow from what I remember, and she's out of town for the weekend, I'll have to go back into my top 13 and start bringing them in for second interviews. I haven't had this problem of hiring before. I guess it was destined to happen eventually.
I did check Careerbuilder.com for the Service Advisor position and we got 10 resumes over the weekend. Looks like several good ones too.
Hope I get better soon.
I tried to call my new hire over the weekend to let her know that I was sick, and wanted to know when she'd be showing up for work. I left my home phone number for her to call me, but she never did, and still hasn't. I've done enough hiring to know that that's not good. It usually means she decided not to take the position, and isn't planning on calling me to let me know. This will be a real setback.
If she doesn't show up, which by the way may be tomorrow from what I remember, and she's out of town for the weekend, I'll have to go back into my top 13 and start bringing them in for second interviews. I haven't had this problem of hiring before. I guess it was destined to happen eventually.
I did check Careerbuilder.com for the Service Advisor position and we got 10 resumes over the weekend. Looks like several good ones too.
Hope I get better soon.
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