By Sean V. Bradley

These are truly exciting times! Two main topics for this month’s column:

1. 7 Habits of Highly Effective Online Dealerships
2. Internet Sales 20 group’s Internet Director Immersion Program

Last month we discussed the awesome success of the Synergy Sessions and I promised to go over my interpretation of Stephen Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I have had a tremendous amount of feedback in regards to the Franklin Covey and Dealer Synergy “7 Habits of Highly Effective Online Dealerships”.

I have come to realize that there is no way I can do Dr. Stephen Covey’s book any justice by a simple article so I have decided to turn it into a 7 part series. Each month I will focus on one of Covey’s “7 Habits”. This month I will begin the series with the first habit “Be Proactive”. There are several interpretations for this, but for this article we will focus on one, and that is take initiative; don’t wait on things to “just happen”.  

In life you have two choices to be reactive or to be proactive. It is much better to be proactive. For example, I have recently conducted the first ever Internet Sales 20 Group in Philadelphia (details to follow).  I want to acknowledge a very proactive dealership Reed Lallier Chevrolet in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The Internet Sales Director’s name is Mike Leechford.  Mike’s Internet Department consistently sold 20 units a month. Mike realized that just having a website, lead management tool and some leads did NOT mean he was an Internet sales department. Reed Lallier Chevrolet completely redesigned all of their tools to be much more strategic. They created a whole new branch of their Internet Department and set up Internet Sales Coordinators. These people sell the appointments, NOT the cars. These coordinators aren’t simple telemarketers or receptionists, but highly trained Internet and phone Ninjas! They have been trained in the art of automotive Internet sales, and handling objections and rebuttals.  Reed Lallier modified the compensation plan in the department to make sure they were amply compensated for their efforts, but more importantly they were rewarded for specific and relevant achievements. For example, the coordinators’ pay plan has a base, plus commissions for appointments made, appointments that show and for appointments that are sold & delivered. Plus a strong bonus structure for reaching and exceeding goals.

This was no “on the job” training effort, everyone was trained and certified. These folks were put through an intensive onsite five day training program that went into detail about their tools, resources, online marketing, standard operating procedures, intensive role playing, practice drills and coaching.  Additionally, Mike Leechford, attended an offsite week long powerful Internet Director immersion program. Reed Lallier Chevrolet chose to make a serious commitment to figure out how to achieve the absolute fastest response times for their Internet prospects.

They also created another totally new position, third shift coordinator. A staffer actually works from nine in the evening to six o’clock in the morning. The dealership has literally 24 hour/seven day a week coverage. The new program has been well received by online visitors; and as a matter of fact they delivered 4 additional units just last month from these new initiatives. The dealership promotes their services to soldiers at the nearby military base, Fort Bragg. Soldiers in Iraq are online viewing the dealerships’ website and the third shift coordinator has emailed them personally minutes after they were on the Reed Lallier site. But, the success has not been solely from soldiers. You would be surprised how many people are online those hours researching and shopping for a car.  What has resulted from these efforts?  Reed Lallier Chevrolet has gone from 20 units a month to 40 units a month then to 60 units a month with this new Internet structure. Don’t just wait for things to happen, make them happen. Take a proactive approach.

Now, let me share some information on the newly developed Internet Director Immersion program. I truly learned as much as I taught. It was held in Philadelphia and dealers came in from all over the country. We based it on the traditional format of used by NADA and NCM for their 20 groups.  Each of the Internet Directors shared with the group their current departments status and structure.  The first section went over the philosophy and strategy of Internet sales. After a long day we relaxed in center city Philly at a casual networking dinner in one of the most posh restaurant clubs in the city.  The next day the participants spent time in our corporate office in Philadelphia to get a behind the scenes look at how our analysts conduct their audits and mystery shopping calls.  Next we spent about 6 straight hours going over the three square exercise (I wrote an article several months ago explaining in detail the three square concept). We all could not believe that literally six hours passed on one exercise but with our focus the time went by quickly.

On the third day we hit the throttle. All of the participants were back in our office but this time they personally were involved in:

• Mystery Shopping. We had the team mystery shop their dealership and fill out Dealer Synergy report cards based on the quantative and qualative measurements of the phone call.
• They went through full analytics of their departments, reporting, ROI calculations etc…
• Went into their CRM tool and completely broke it down. They learned how to analyze their ILM/CRM for information that can help them evolve their department. Taught them what metrics to track. For example they were taught how to identify loss productivity time, average gestation period for leads etc…
• We then had four senior executives, each with over 10 years automotive experience drill down different components such as process, human resources, management, motivation, reporting, and technology analysis.

On the fourth day the class took a field trip. We went to a dealership just outside the city that consistently delivers over 100 units a month from their Internet department. And then in the afternoon they went to another dealership, this one in New Jersey that went from 60 units a month to over 131 units a month on the Internet.

The group said this was so very powerful for them to actually see it done the right way. Each dealership was unique but both had tremendous success with their efforts. Feedback from the attendees was that most training is theory and some strategy, but they never have been in a session where they could see everything taught being implemented first hand in the dealership. They truly got a lot out of seeing teams in action.

The final day was a brief summation and then testing. They all passed the test with flying colors. Then it transitioned into an in-depth recap of the week and action planning for when they get back to their dealerships. Many said they could not wait until the next Internet Sales 20 Group!

We are anticipating another Internet Director Immersion program for August, back again in Philadelphia. If you or your dealership wants more details on these programs or if you want to speak to some of the dealers who attended this first one please send me an email or call me.

Sean V. Bradley