Bill and Mary aren’t here right now . . .
The hardest part of a Sales Professionals’ job is handling
voicemail
One of the toughest parts of an Internet
Coordinator or Internet Manager’s job is getting the prospect on
the phone! Seriously, this may truly be the hardest part.
Statistics show you will only reach between 11 to15 percent of
people that you attempt to call.
Think about this in a different way.
That means 85 to 89 percent
of the attempts you make to prospects will not get answered, or
the prospect will not have time to talk, or they bought
elsewhere or changed their mind. The likeliest scenario is that
you will get their voicemail. That’s right; the majority of the
Internet Sales Professional’s job is leaving voice mail messages
and a lot of them.
The problem here is that most dealerships never train on how to
leave a great voice mail message so most sales people leave the
same boring message every time. “Hi, this is Sean from ABC
Motors please call me back at 555-1212”. Or they might say
something like “Hi, this is Sean from ABC Motors, I have been
trying to reach you to see if you are still interested in a
car…”. Over and over again, just like Jim Carey from the “Cable
Guy” movie. It becomes very annoying very fast. Please remember
that the average buying cycle is between 45 to 90 days. That
means your prospect is still looking for a car a couple of days
after they sent you the Internet purchase request form.
Leaving a great voicemail message should be one of the critical
skills that every sales professional has in their repertoire.
Either it is just natural or it needs to be learned and
cultivated. You have to leave great voicemail messages!
You really need to learn how to leave the most exciting,
engaging, best voicemail messages on the planet. Let me throw
one of these reality statistics at you. The average Internet
customer researches or visits between five to nine other
dealership websites besides yours! And remember that their
buying cycle is between 45-90 days. Now, think about how many
dealerships are calling them and leaving voicemail messages.
Think about how many voicemail messages they are going to
receive before they make their decision. Your message must stand
out! If you leave the same boring, dreary, drab and annoying
voicemail messages that the majority of your competitors are
leaving you are done. Just write off that sale and resort to
your alternative strategy . . . prayer. Yes, pray that all of
your competitors screw up so you can make the sale. I think you
get the picture now . . . it’s very important to leave a great
voicemail message for your prospect.
Here are some tips to help you become the voicemail master:
* First and foremost, you want to create a library of voice mail
scripts. That’s right a library, just like you should have a
library of email templates.
* You want to make sure that you diversify your voicemail
messages. I suggest coming up with about 20 to 30 different
voice mail messages. Keep them exciting, relevant and memorable.
* Keep track of the effectiveness of these voicemail scripts by
implementing a national call monitoring tracking numbers for
each individual voicemail message.
* Using a unique toll free number for each voicemail script
allows you to track the effectiveness of each script. You can
now see per day, per week, per month, per quarter which script
worked and at what time of day and which day of the week.
* Practice your scripts in front of co-workers to make sure they
flow. You can also use friends and family to get their reaction.
* Be sure you have some compelling calls to action in each
script. “. . . I know you called about the blue Mustang but we
have four other comparable vehicles with rebates or incentives
that can save you about $1000….” Not that will get their
attention.
* Adjust the tonality of your voice throughout the message. By
that I mean sound excited about your message. Be truthful, but
get excited about the options you can offer them. How can they
get excited if you aren’t emotional?
Put yourself in their shoes and try to figure out what going to
motivate them. Again the goal is to get the appointment and meet
with them face to face to personally help them meet their wants
and needs. You can talk about favorable credit terms available
in the message in case they are a payment buyer. Talk about the
availability of the Certified Pre Owned units that come with a
warranty to fully protect them during their ownership of the
vehicle.
Apply the Ben Franklin principle, “Speak of what benefits
others.” Share with them a few of the reasons they want to do
business with your dealership and don’t resort to, “I have to
sell three more units to make my bonus, so I can cut you a great
deal.” They will buy for their reasons not yours.
Sean V. Bradley
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