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How to Squash Your Team’s Resistance to Adopt Modern Sales Automation…NOW
There must be some reason why some salespeople outperform others. Said another way, if two equally charismatic salespeople are set the same sales goals, why does one outperform the other?
It all comes down to having a process.
Maybe you’ve been trying to get your sales team’s numbers up for a while now. You see other dealers do it, and everyone else makes it look so easy. But for some reason, you just can’t figure out what piece you’re missing.
The missing piece of the process is sales automation, and you need to use it if you want to compete in modern Powersports sales. But if you’re like a lot of dealers we talk to, you’re probably already worrying about how much your team is going to complain and resist the change.
No need to worry.
We’re going to arm you with tips to handle sales team pushback and get going on the process that will increase your sales numbers.
ASSURE THEM IT'S NOT BIG BROTHER
One of the reasons that salespeople historically dislike CRM software is that legacy applications basically provided a way for managers to spy on the salespeople and micromanage their workdays. They were systems put in place to help management, not the sales team.
Today’s CRMs function as sales automation systems. They are not there to tattle on salespeople to management. Instead, they actually work for the salesperson to help their daily processes go smoother and quicker.
For instance, they can easily start to gather lead information just by scanning a customer’s driver’s license into their phone.
SHOW THEM THE BENEFITS
Modern CRMs actually do make salespeople’s workdays much easier. They automate pretty much every step of lead gathering and data entry. And that leaves your salesperson to focus on what they do best -- interacting with the customers.
What are some of the tedious tasks an app can handle for your team?
- Determine which leads need to be followed up with
- Determine when leads should be contacted
- Allow online appointment scheduling
- Send confirmation emails and basic communications automatically
- Show if a customer is already in the system
- Show customer sales history
- Pre-fill notes for common customer comments
Honestly, which of your salespeople is going to balk at having less admin work to take care of?
GET MANAGEMENT ON BOARD
The truth is that if you implement a sales automation platform as your means of entering customer information, your salespeople can’t avoid it unless they are given other options. So, if your management team continues to allow the processing of paper forms, you may get some holdouts who keep using paper.
The solution here? Make sure managers are on board with the new process.
Simply do not provide paper forms as an available option. And they can direct the desk not to take orders that come in on paper.
Salespeople may balk at being required to use a new application, but the reality is that all of your employees have learned to use mobile phones -- they’re the most widely used device in the US. And that means they are capable of learning and using an intuitive sales automation app too.
Are you still not sure if switching to a sales automation platform is right for your dealership? Get our guide to hacking the modern sales process to see more about the benefits of automation.