It’s a tried-and-true proposition that most dealerships’ salespeople are incentivized to follow up with customers in their CRM through the “72-Hour” rule. The rule means that if a salesperson has followed up with a customer – and it is logged into the CRM – they are protected for at least half the sale, regardless of if they were off or, perhaps, in the middle of selling another vehicle.
Most salespeople know this rule and will continue to ensure that they, at the very least, keep themselves “protected” by having some sort of action notated in the CRM. That could be a simple “Left a voicemail,” or “No answer.” But that is all takes so that at the very least, the salesperson can end up with half a deal.
In Brian Cox’s last article, he shared the importance of getting buy-in from salespeople to create videos. Not just lead response videos, but also inventory videos. Yes. It’s tricky. Many salespeople are looking for that low-hanging fruit or are camera-shy. Spiffs only matter to them when a car is sold. Just like many dealers – today is the day that matters. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow, or even next month.
So, to incentivize salespeople, how do “spiffs” work and register in their minds? The managers have those envelopes filled with money in the sales office on the weekend. BUT salespeople have to sell a car to choose one that contains some random amount of cash. Are they following up with anyone and working hard to get them in? Or simply completing tasks in your CRM to keep their 72-hour protection in place by just checking a “to-do” off of their list?
It is a well-known fact that personalized video emails from salespeople greatly increase responses from the consumer. If you want to incentivize your salespeople to buy in and create personalized video email responses, walkarounds, etc. extend that 72-hour protection if they make and send the customer a personalized video! And, perhaps instead of 72 hours (3 days), make it 120 hours (5 days.) This is much better than seeing a “No Answer,” or “Left Message,” in the CRM. And, with video responses, the manager can at last truly know without any doubt that the salesperson did follow up in the most engaging manner possible. In addition, video tends to move buyers down the sales funnel and this method can stop bickering about whose deal (or half) deal it is.
To get buy-in from a salesperson, you must incentivize them in a way that matters. Yes, there are always going to be customers that must “think about it,” or “talk to their wife.” Most good salespeople will intuitively know the difference between a “buyer” and a “shopper.” (Shopper is a completely different blog.) But customers who leave without buying a car are universally referenced as “be-backs” by management.
Sure, every dealership still wants to sell cars TODAY! I get that. There are, however, plenty of customers who just aren’t ready to buy TODAY. Does that mean they are all lost causes? Does that mean that they don’t want to buy a car? No, if that were the case, they wouldn’t have submitted a lead or come to the dealership in the first place.
At the end of the day, video interactions smash templated emails. Maybe the customer doesn’t buy “today” but they do “buy” and they do it from your salesperson and your dealership because they want to. Isn’t that what really matters in the long run? In addition, you’ve now incentivized your salespeople to buy into making videos consistently. And all without the $20 bill (or whatever amount) scotch-taped to the window in your sales office. It’s not only the weekends that matter. It’s every day. And salespeople need to be motivated all the time.
