Skip to content
Introducing the Customer to Mobile Sales Technology
Mobile technology is changing the way modern Powersports dealerships are meeting the needs of their customers. Larry and Danny discuss how.
Danny James: If a salesperson pulls out a mobile phone when greeting a customer, does the customer perceive it as a distraction or is it seen as being on the cutting-edge of technology? Is it a sign that the dealership is current with the modern age and are using tools to serve them better or is it just rude!
MAKE IT RELEVANT
Larry Bruce: The salesperson should make the technology relevant. For example, if the customer says, "I'm at the dealership to look at a Razor 9000," and you're pulling up inventory on your phone, you're demonstrating two things:
- You're searching the system to find out what Razor 1000s you have available.
- You're confirming availability of the Razor 1000s you have in stock.
These two authentication processes are positive activities to avoid two common pitfalls specific to Powersports dealership inventory management:
- Finding the exact machine is available, but still in a crate
- Finding the machine is available, but on hold with another customer
For instance, a Powersports buyer enters the dealership and requests a blue Razor 1000 or red Razor 1000 or even a Razor 1000 stock number XYZPDQ. The salesperson goes out to the lot to locate that precise machine and might find that it's not yet built. Ideally, you have access to inventory management on your mobile phone and would know this information in real-time.
As a dealer, I'm helping my salespeople by having an integrated CRM in place. You look smarter and more prepared to your customer because you know exactly what's on your lot from the palm of your hand.
In my second example, a salesperson might have progressed through the entire sales process with a customer only to find out at desking that the vehicle they are ready to buy is on hold. Another customer has secured a deposit. This scenario happens quite frequently in Powersports machine sales.
MAKE IT EASY
The ideal situation is, again, that you could verify vehicle availability on your phone app. Your inventory management system would inform you if the vehicle was already on hold. If that particular blue Razor 1000 is on hold, then I'm able to direct the conversation to a similar machine that is showing available. The salesperson is able to make the experience easy on the customer and easy on themselves. They are working smarter and they are on top of their business.
MAKE IT NATURAL
People pick up their mobile phones to search for information multiple times a day. They're on Google, they're scrolling Facebook, all with the purpose of seeking information. So it's only natural for a salesperson to pull out their phone in a dealership to find information.
As in the first example, the sales manager realizes that adopting a modern CRM is helping them. It's helping them stay on top of inventory. It's also helping the dealer order the most profitable inventory. The data is ushering inventory from the oldest unit to the newest unit. This guides the salesperson to show the oldest unit first.
Danny James: That is very helpful. It would be a tedious and disruptive task to do manually.
Larry Bruce: If you weren't utilizing mobile phone technology, it would be very hard indeed. In the example of the customer asking for the blue Razor 1000 stock number XYZPDQ, the system will automatically push up the oldest blue Razor 1000 in inventory. The salesperson can then guide the conversation if it differs: "We've already got this blue Razor 1000 already built. It's the same one. Let me show you. It's right over here." The system has just helped move the salesperson to the oldest unit as best-practice and best profitability.
Larry Bruce: We've covered just one benefit of using a mobile phone as a sales tool. There are many. But the misconception that pulling out a mobile phone when meeting a customer is going to seem rude or distracting is a complete myth.