Performing regular diagnostics of your sales process can put you on the road to higher close rates. These diagnostics can occur on a variety of levels. At the metrics level, it means understanding key ratios, such as close rates for lead providers and appointment show ratios. You can also perform diagnostics on a more philosophical level. For instance, making sure that your entire Internet team shares the same vision and the same objectives. The key is to conduct regular assessments so you can achieve the goals you set for yourself and your department.
 

Part I of this article was published in the July issue of the Dealix Dealer Newsletter. It was also published in its entirety in the July issue of Auto Success Magazine.

Having successful email communication with your Internet prospects requires a high level of empathy and understanding. And, in most cases, this is the first communication your Internet prospect will receive from you. Since you only have one chance to make a first impression, launching a successful email campaign that engages, rather than puts off, your prospect is essential. Here’s Part I of “Creating Money-Making Customer Emails.” In this part, you’ll get some tactical examples of how to word attention-grabbing email subject lines.

At the request of many of our dealers, we're currently working on an article on how Internet departments structure their compensation plans. We’ve begun conducting interviews with GMs, ISMs, sales trainers, and other industry pros in order to provide a comprehensive story on this hot topic - ISM comp plans. The results of this survey will be used in the article, so your participation is appreciated. Look for this story soon.

At the dawn of the Net Age, car-buying Web sites convinced some dealers that paying for online leads was their only hope of surviving the new way of retailing. That dire prediction lost some of its punch as dealers took on e-commerce with sites and strategies of their own. Even so, most say there’s still a place for lead providers in their marketing mix. And some dealers, like Dave Handel, Internet director at Rosen Automotive see them as "extremely important."

Imagine if your sales team pre-qualified every up, or shouted: “We’re closed!” and slammed the door on every other prospect that came to your showroom, or worse, they sent them down the road to your biggest competitor. Sound crazy? It is. And it’s equivalent to not taking advantage of the enormous opportunity offered by Internet sales leads: grabbing market share while reducing costs.