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Stan Sher, CEO and President of Dealer eTraining Speaking At The Internet Sales 20 Group In Chicago. Stan had the honor of educating dealers on the importance of how to use Call Monitoring in solutions to avoid profit leaks as well as create in-house employee training sessions that inspire teams to improve their skills. This was a powerful session.
How valuable is a used car manager for a single point dealership?
In my recent travels I have started to see dealerships do away without a used car manager. I am talking about dealerships that are selling between 70 and 100+ used cars per month. In fact, it seems to be a role and responsibility that a GSM or even GM have started to take over. The technology that we have in place for merchandising and pricing inventory has turned used car sales into a simpler process where a few marketing tools such as vAuto, HomeNet, and others have eliminated the need for having a costly six figure manager on staff. In fact, the dealerships that have no used car manager have a used inventory merchandising manager that is just in charge of making sure that inventory is properly being taken care of, the right amount of pictures get taken, and the inventory is posted properly on the internet. They also deal with buyers and are in charge of making sure that inventory arrives as it should. I noticed that these people work for less money then a used car manager and are basically an assistant to the GSM or GM.
Some might see this is as a negative thing because they might blame technology for putting people out of work while others might see it as a positive thing because they do not have to deal with the extra ego of an arrogant used car manager. In all reality it is great to have technology that allows us to keep our processes in the dealership simpler and allow for a faster turnaround time. When it comes to managing used car sales for multiple dealerships there might still be a need for the used car manager because the duties change.
What do you think of this? Has the time come for used car managers to be extinct? Please share your thoughts...
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I did not want to spam anyone and sending out messages to each and every one of you would take years because I just have something special to say to each and every one of you. I have decided to write this instead.
Where do I start?
Let's start with the fact that I want to express my gratitude and appreciation for everyone on here, especially my friends and colleagues that communicate with me on a daily basis. Some of you would be considered as competitors (by some people) while I consider you as a business partner that has helped me stay motivated and on track. The same people have become great friends and provide great wisdom for a young, thriving, and squire like myself who is just out there working hard and making it happen.
It is people like Jim Ziegler who have an open mind and prove to be great friends. A few years ago Jim Ziegler never knew me or who I was. Now I talk to him weekly. He has been a great friend and I consider him to be one of my mentors. I look up to him and always enjoy speaking with him. We had a small difference in the past and I did something’s that I regret. However, I was open about admitting how wrong I was and Jim accepted me for being straightforward, apologetic, and up front. I look at pictures of Jim and me at another friend's wedding and it warms my heart to know that the Alpha Dawg is my friend.
I look at people like Cory Mosley (who is the reason why I got into consulting). Here is a man who is a few short years older than me who I have looked up to for the past five years because he blew me away when I saw him speak. I met Cory when I was just becoming an Internet Sales Manager. Now, we talk on the phone, have dinners, and he smacks wisdom into me. The man is wise far beyond his years. I appreciate Cory as a friend and colleagues.
This year I have made friends with two new people that are in my circle of friends in the industry. I was fortunate to become friends with a phone trainer who is an absolute powerhouse and a class act. This man saw potential with me and has helped me secure a role as a trainer and speaker for the Greater New York Dealer Association. He has become like a brother to me. When he sees that I might be wrong he corrects me as if he was an older brother or a father. We talk everyday and we are very good friends. We have collaborated on some projects and together make a wonderful team. Do not be surprised if you see us working together in the future as we feed off of each other’s strengths. Ladies and gentlemen, I am talking about Mark Rodriguez (Auto Client Care).
In 2011, I made another friend who invited me to collaborate on projects. He is another great friend with wisdom to share. He got me turned on to some great books and has helped shape my thinking. I want to thank Sandy Cermai (Applied Selling Dynamics) for his friendship, business partnership, and support. He has made an impact in my life.
I need to credit another very special person. This person taught how not to give up and that anything is possible. We were very close friends and I even helped him run his company in a very important time of need. As many of you know we had a falling out. However, I look back to our friendship and business relationship and I admire him for the skills that I have picked up. I got involved in public speaking as well as starting my own company because I was influenced by this person. I learned digital marketing strategies, VSEO, and maybe even just a little tiny bit to make me a better automotive internet sales professional. Yes, Sean V. Bradley, I am talking about you. We have been through a lot together through great times and tough times. His family has been warm, loving, and kind to me (especially after I moved far to be away from home). His wife Karen is just an amazing person and friend and their kids are great.
I want to thank Ralph Paglia and Chris Saraceno for having sites like Dealerelite.net and automotivedigitalmarketing.com. They have created a portal that allows to not only offering insight to the automotive industry but also a way to connect and build great long lasting relationships. They have also looked after my well being. Ralph has always been great to me and I have a learned a lot from him. Chris has been wonderful with calling me personally and giving some wisdom when needed. They are both a class act and great friends to have.
I have to add to my list people like Joe Webb who has been a close friend and supporter for years. He is straight forward and has never steered me wrong.
Let me be thankful for everyone else out there who has given me an opportunity to help them grow with business as well as a connection for business. I want to thank all of my clients for helping Dealer eTraining create some momentum and bring value to the dealerships. I want to thank the Greater New York Dealer Association for having me provide a service that will allow New York dealers to pick up education that is useful to help sell more cars. I want to thank my family, friends, and friends that I made in the auto industry for being there for me.
Look, this business has been wonderful to me. It is the people that I met and the skills that I have gained that made me what I am. I appreciate the dealers, the vendors, and the trainers. We all learn from each other and are all better because of one another. I will continue to fight for our industry and help make all of your dealerships more successful if you allow me to.
oops almost forgot...I have to call out and thank him Grant Cardone for writing some of the most influential and motivating books that have helped me think clearer about the path that I will take. I want to thank him for what he does.
I wish I could write a list but it would have over 2,500 people so let me finalize this by saying thank you for what you do. I want to give shout outs to Elise Kephart (Sunset Honda), Adam Barish (Route 23 Honda), Keith Shetterly, Lizelle Landino (close amazing friend and PCG Digital Marketing executive), Rob Fontano (Infiniti of Fort Myers), Adam Ross (Infinite Prospects), Maurice Lawrence (AutoTrader), Steve Risso (Teddy Nissan), John McAdams (Team Velocity), Fran Taylor, Eric Gidney, Matt Lamoureux (DealerRater and a very close personal friend for over three years) and many other people. Thank you for the good that you have done to me. Let's continue to evolve and provide good for our industry, family, and society as a whole.
This is going to be an amazing Christmas after all. Reuniting with friends. Fixed relationships. New friends in my life that are like family. Having close ties (personally and professionally) with people that I can call my colleagues (instead of competitors). Also, new opportunities for 2012 both personally and professionally. A few days ago I did not think I would end up being this happy. I want you all to know that I appreciate you all for everything that you do for me. I appreciate your friendship, support, love, wisdom, and just having you in my life. This goes out to not only the people I associate with everyday of my life but also the people that are connected with me on here. I wish you all an amazing Christmas.
Merry Christmas to every one of you and a Happy New Year. Let's finish 2011 strong and get ready to dominate in 2012.
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Stan Sher (Dealer eTraining) invites all greater New York area dealers to attend a workshop on how to effectively utilize email marketing on November 22, 2011.http://ow.ly/776Yt http://www.facebook.com/dealeretraininghttp://www.dealeretraining.com
Stan Sher (Dealer eTraining) invites all greater New York area dealers to attend a workshop on how to effectively utilize email marketing on November 22, 2011.
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http://www.facebook.com/dealeretraining http://www.linkedin.com/in/stansher83 As I work with various dealerships all over the nation, I am still amazed at the kind of attitude that I find sales departments showing towards their BDC. As a matter of fact, it is interesting to see how aggressive sales people embrace it while everyone else has a negative vibe towards it. It is interesting to see the lack of appreciation that sales professionals have towards the support that is being given to them. This is an ongoing that hurts many dealerships every single day. A Business Development Center (BDC) is usually setup as a call center where a coordinator is solely responsible answer internet email leads and phone ups to generate appointments. This has become a more typical approach to maintaining an internet department over the last few years. The benefit of it is that it allows support for the sales department to work with appointments instead of rely on the door for fresh ups. The goal is to generate as many appointments as possible. The more appointments that come in the more cars the store will sell. Sounds like a great idea right? So, why do sales professionals still fight the idea of having a BDC? The problem is that sales people are not trained in the new ways of handling customers. They are not trained to work their customer relationship management (CRM) tool properly and ask the right questions that come along with it. They get a customer that comes in as an appointment and start a new process instead of continuing a current process which creates a bad experience for the customer. This happens because there is little or no communication between management and the BDC. There is also no communication between the sales and BDC departments. They should work together like a well oiled machine. It is becoming evident that the focus is more on training how to handle an email lead or a phone up. Dealerships need to start thinking about training their sales staff and management to adjust to handling their customers better and working as one solid team. Here is what I propose. Keep sales people on the floor but have them rotate shifts working in the BDC. It is really very simple. Each hour a different sales consultant comes in and helps the BDC. Make it a requirement and sales people will start to destroy bad habits and build buy in for having a BDC. Here are some of the benefits: The bottom line is that sales people need to learn what is being said and how it is being said on the phone. They also need to understand why certain things happen the way that they do in a BDC. A sales professional needs to look into the CRM and read the notes so that they can continue where the BDC left off. The sales department needs to be thankful for the support staff that they have and help pitch in when they can. Lastly, sales professionals need to learn what current technology is available to increase their own follow up and customer engagement. These practices will show improved morale in the dealership and better results. About the Author Stan Sher is an Automotive Industry consultant and president of Dealer eTraining where he specializes in training automotive dealerships with their digital sales and marketing efforts.
