sell an induction service by “Number One”

“Number One” is his nickname because he won our monthly BMW advisor competition 6 out of 12 months last year. Sometimes it feels like he wins the monthly competition at will and no coincidence he is asking to roll play. Always looking for the law of “slight edge”

"Number One"

I think he thought I would go into a bunch of product knowledge and information, but that never sells anything… He made it to easy on me, because he said our customer was driving an M3…

Here’s how the conversation went….

Me: Good morning Mr M3…how are you doing? (I open his door for him and he gets out of the car)

Mr. M3: Great Thanks

Me: I love your car…how long have you had it?

Mr. M3: Over two years I think…

Me: It’s awesome…ok can I ask you a real question? How fast have you driven it?

Mr. M3: Haha 140….

Me: No way…what was that like? Holy cow…

Mr. M3: (Big Smile) (Reliving that in his head)

Me: Where did you do it?

Mr. M3: I-15 on my way to Vegas

Me: Do you go to Vegas a lot?

Mr. M3: Yeah, I guess

Me: I love Vegas…where do you stay?

Mr. M3: Depends, but most of the time the Mandalay Bay…

Me: Let’s walk around your car and check it out…. could you do me a favor….

Mr. M3: Sure

Me: I’m going to measure your tread depth and check your tire pressure…. while I do that, could you write down the tread depth and psi for me in these boxes here as we go (I hand Mr. M3 the clip board with the walk around sheet, and a pen)…we also will check the car for any bumps and bruises…

Top Dog

Me: Mr. M3…how often do you check your tire pressure?

Mr. M3: Never, should I do that?

Me: Yeah, it’s a good idea…do you have nitrogen in these tires?

Mr. M3: I don’t think so…do I want my tires to explode?

Me: Nitrogen doesn’t explode…no, but that’s funny. I can’t believe we haven’t set you up with nitrogen yet, I can’t think of any of my M3 or M5 customers that don’t have it. . We will get that handled today…

Note: I just did two things there…I associated Mr. M3 with all of my other customers…They have it, so it must be good…Second…I just assumed it was a done deal. The only person worried about price at this point is the advisor, depending on his abilities…

Me: Ok M3, lets check your tire pressure and tread depth and do me a favor and write down what I say next to the corresponding tire diagram on the sheet on the clip board….rear right tire…29 psi, and 5 mill’s on tread depth….

Now we would walk all four tires as the customer writes down the info for me…

Me: Ok, lets go inside and start the paper work…

Now inside sitting at my desk and I check history in Reynolds…

Me: I have you down for your service, nitrogen, and one other thing I noticed you should do for your racecar at this mileage. It helps with performance and gas mileage it’s an Induction Service.

Mr. M3: Is that covered under maintenance?

Me: Yes, the inspection service is…. but the Nitrogen and Induction are not. Maintenance is great, really only two things that are not really a part of it… Tires and Fuel related stuff. Tire’s wear depending on driving habits, and how well you maintain your psi and alignment. Fuel varies by what type you use, brand, and what region in the country it’s refined.

Number One: Strong!

In Closing: In my experience what the customer bought had way less to do with product knowledge and way more to do with the way they felt about me. Role-playing and product knowledge are good, but often don’t sell anything….

At time of writing this “ Number One” is not #1 in the advisor comp….

I have had clients on several occasions tell me they wish that their sales meetings had as much energy and focus as our daily shift meetings in service. It’s not that easy for the managers to keep the meetings fresh. I think it’s my Secret Service Society number one challenge to keep the advisors engaged. We find the better the games and meetings, the harder they are to top or duplicate. The advisors do get somewhat jaded after 90 days. I am constantly blown away by what some of the managers come up with.

15 minutes that can up your sales, C.S.I. , communication, productivity, and morale. It is a simple thing to implement. It’s a shift meeting 15 minutes before you open service or, as your sales dept opens everyday. If your service department opens at 7:00am, the meeting starts at 6:45.

Would you start your day off without a plan? Well your employees might be. They might be wandering in late and unnoticed.

Employees need to be trained and reminded of what they need to be doing and what’s important everyday.

Set the mood for the day with an upbeat music.
Start the meeting with music playing a bit louder than you can talk above. It sets an up mood and automatically lifts the mood and tempo of the morning.

Suggested music (ITunes I-mixes)

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=284961259

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=279178031

Hand out numbers, talk about important issues, number of appointments that day, sales tools, games for the day…Games for who has the most tires sold by 2pm or how many advisors can sell the most alignments or do the best walk around.

Who should attend?

Managers
Service Advisors/Sales staff/Finance Staff
Service BDC Manager

Guest speakers

Other Department Managers
GM
Owner
Elvis

It’s important to keep meetings up and positive. Make the focus selling and customer service.
I would never address issues or poor performance in the meeting. I would avoid any negative coaching. I would do coaching one on one. For example: If an advisor is bad at paper work and is missing signatures on ro’s. I would pull him in and coach him one on one. I would not make the whole team listen to me talk about missing signatures. You can loose the enthusiasm and attention of the top performers. You get more impact one on one.

1. Make a great first impression with customers. A first impression is made in the first 40 seconds of a contact. If the customer is a woman, you probably have only 30 seconds. The following suggestions will help you establish that all-important first impression.

2. Begin immediately to establish rapport with the customer. Compliment the car, something they are wearing, maybe just their smile. You can always find something to say about a person or car that is sincere. And it doesn’t have to be clever or wise. Look for that something the moment you approach the car.

3. Start the day with a plan. When you begin your day with clear and precise goals you will always be more productive. Establish goals for daily sales and specific items such as alignments.

4. Smile…smile…smile. A smile is always the best way to start a relationship. It makes you look friendly and willing to help. It also helps relax the customer who will then be more open to your suggestions. No matter what sort of day you’re having, always approach a new customer with a smile.

5. Put yourself on the customer’s side. Express concern for their problem. It can be something as simple as, “I’m so sorry you where stuck and had to ride in a tow truck. That happened to me once and I know it’s not much fun. So let’s see what we can do to get you back on the road.” Just be genuine and sincere.

6. Dress neatly. You are representing the entire service department. If you look clean and neat, customers will get the impression that the entire department is neat, clean and efficient. This will help assure them that they made the right decision to bring their car to you.

7. Build value into your services. Say things such as, “We’ve got the latest diagnostic tools so we can locate your problem quickly.” Or, “I’ll have Bill look at the car. He’s been certified by the factory and is particularly skilled at locating transmission problems.” Never miss an opportunity to brag a little about the quality of your service. But keep it sincere and low key. When you build value, you build confidence.

8. Ask open-end questions. Rather that ask questions that can be answered yes or no, get the customer talking. Often they’ll say something that will give you a better clue as to what the real problem is.

9. Be a good listener. Not only will you learn more about the problem but may pick up clues that will lead to other work that needs to be done. Plus, showing the customer that you are really listening will increase their confidence in your willingness to help them.

10. Follow-up and follow-up again. If you suggest to a customer that the work will be done at a certain time, follow-up. If you discover that there is a delay, have the customer immediately contacted with that information. Customers can be very forgiving about delays when promptly notified. Plus, you’ll earn a reputation for really being on top of things.

Just this past afternoon, my wife and I were getting into our car for a drive. She asked me if I had heard about Arnold Schwarzenegger. I told her no. She went on to tell me that he is doing what Clinton did and that he was shutting things down until a budget is agreed upon. According to her, the government workers were complaining and getting worried that their wages would be cut. She told me there were police officers everywhere and that they were pulling over motorists for the littlest things to produce more money for the state. I told her that I did not know anything about all that.

She went on to tell me that these officers were really agitated, she supposed that they must all be concerned about the budget problem and that she had never seen so many cops as she did today while she was out driving Newport Boulevard. She told me that she saw five different police officers in their cars and that they had pulled over a few drivers.

I sort of jerked my head while dread crossed my mind and thought wow, they must have a quota to meet or beat or something. After thinking about it for a second or two, I ask her if they pulled her over as well.

She says to me, “Can you believe it, I was pulled over and given a ticket?” I asked her what for. She told me it was for speeding. I asked her where at and she told me on 17th Boulevard and that she had seen them on every street she had driven.

Some individuals and sales people have the ability to get you all caught up in a story, an idea or for some type of personal need where you feel you have no choice but to buy.

People love to buy, however no one wants to be sold!