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Columbia Powersports Finds Ultimate Dealership Satisfaction with the PSX Platform
Willie Phillips, Sales Manager at Columbia Powersports in Tennessee, talks about his ultimate satisfaction with the PSX CXMAi platform at their dealership.
"If I'm an elevator with another Polaris or other brand dealer, I just pull out my cell phone and go to the PSXDigital app to show them...I'm not at the store, but I know exactly what's going on without having to be there."
THE X FACTOR
Columbia Powersports knew they needed to make a change in their CRM system. They were looking to improve two things:
- Sales Follow-up Process
- Units and Inventory Management
"Our last CRM was built for an automotive market and not based on the Powersports industry. So we chose PSX because it was created for this type of market. It integrates well with our RZRs, Sea-Doos, motorcycles, boats and Jet Skis - the things that we do in this market."
ADAPTING A NEW SYSTEM
Change is hard. Nobody likes change. Willie says that acceptance of change is key.
"When there is a change or a new system put into the store, everyone is resistant. It takes a week or two, but eventually, everybody will agree to the change. Once you accept the change, then the process becomes a little bit easier."
SALES FOLLOW-UP
Columbia Powersports was lacking in technology to support the follow-up process between sales and the customer. This could mean lost opportunities - and even lost sales. But more than that, Willie wanted to ensure the conversation continued even after the sale in order to positively impact customer loyalty and retention.
"In Sales, the most important part is the follow-up; either after the sale or during the sale. The customer wants the salesperson to at least acknowledge him through the whole sales process, from beginning to middle to end.
And then it's always good to have that post-sale phone call like, "Hi, how are you enjoying your new toy?" That's what I call them - I call them toys. This is what they are. This is what we do on the weekends; we ride up mountains, dirt roads, through creeks and we get out on lakes and oceans. So, it's a toy. You obviously want to make sure they enjoy their toy!"
VISIBILITY TO SALES
Built-in internal and external communication tools make all the difference for Columbia Powersports. Whether via call, email or text messaging - it's all made easy right inside the CXMAi platform CRM.
"The communication part of the system actually allows the manager to be more in-tuned to what the salesperson is involved with, what the customer is looking for, and the type of questions they are asking.
So I don’t have to ask the salesperson these questions, I can actually pull up the notes in the system, and see where they are at on the deal. If the salesperson is off that day, we know where he’s at on the deal and we know what needs to be done to close it."
EMPLOYEE RETENTION
A system that no only helps retain customers..but staff, too? That's the ultimate satisfaction Columbia Powersports found in CXMAi.
"Sales is stressful. But whenever you’ve got in a system that allows salespeople to follow-up in a timely manner and can rely on ALMA to assist with leads and calls when they are with a customer - it puts things at ease.
I said before that nobody likes change. But, if you make it fun, if you make it exciting, and you make it pretty simple, then salesperson retention is the easy part! If you make the process enjoyable then they’ll enjoy it. When they accept it, then it makes it easier to put the process in place. And the process never changes. We’ve had the same process since day one and we'll have the same process throughout."
CUSTOMER RETENTION
Customer retention means more to Willie than just loyalty - it also represents the future of new customer acquisition for the dealership.
"If my customer retents in five years, the impact on my salespeople will be the benefit of a big database; a lot of sales, a lot of referrals, and a lot of happy salespeople. I’ll probably have a bigger showroom than what I’ve got now. We'll just keep doing a good job and progressing forward so that we can continue to do a good job towards impacting the community."
WILLIE'S RECOMMENDATION
"If I'm an elevator with another Polaris or other brand dealer, I just pull out my cell phone and go to the PSXDigital app to show them, "Hey, I'm away from my store, but I know what everybody's doing. I'm not at the store, but I know what we sold. I'm not at the store, but I know who's working. I'm not at the store, but I know exactly what's going on without having to be there."