Salespeople are Made Better with a Sales Process

Danny James: The very best salespeople do things that others don't. They have a certain style or a pattern that they follow. You are saying that we don't want to disrupt that with a system. A salesperson can maintain what makes him a great salesperson but the fundamentals of the sales process are left to the control of management and the owner of the dealership, correct?

Larry Bruce: The fundamentals, the stages of a sales process like the meet, greet, customer capture information, test ride, manager introduction, desk, F and I sale are pretty common.

SALES PROCESS FUNDAMENTALS

Larry Bruce: You're not going to get too far away from the fundamentals when building your system. It's not subjective. One salesperson might think they're in one stage of the sale while another salesperson may think they're another stage of the sale when realistically, these are very quantitative sales processes. It becomes easy to track your progress in the sales process.

For example, your steps might be to meet and greet and then go into inventory. Typically when you are looking at inventory, it's for a customer. Therefore, if I'm in a meet and greet, I'm probably with a customer - whether on the lot, on the phone, through SMS text or email - I'm with a customer in the sales process.

SALES PROCESS PROGRESSION

As the process is progressing with a customer, the salesperson will begin to collect customer data or they might just go into a customer record. Regardless of how they are interacting with the customer, the system easily understands and starts the clock to help guide the sales process.

For example, the salesperson has been with the customer for 15 minutes and they'd like to see management. The system will prompt the salesperson to collect the customer information if this hasn't yet been done. The sales manager will get an alert to their mobile phone if the customer information has not been collected.

Data can be entered on an iPad as well. But it's not as natural to carry around an iPad as it is to have your phone in your pocket. You look like you are conducting surveys with an iPad.

But regardless of what device I use and once the customer information is collected, the next process is typically a test drive. As a salesperson, I want to introduce my sales manager as soon as possible in the sales process to avoid the awkward situation of introducing them during the negotiation. As a sales manager, I'm watching the system for a test ride notification.

RESET THE CLOCK

So the salesperson has collected customer information and management has been notified. The clock starts again. Ten minutes later, the system reminds the salesperson that it's time for an introduction to management. manager. The sales manager simultaneously receives the same reminder. They can then walk into the customer introduction with all the customer information on their phone and approach the situation naturally. I walk over to Larry's customer, and I've got all the information.

You might say, "Hi. I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Larry Bruce. I'm with Power Image Performance Sports. I just wanted to say that Razor 1000 is a great vehicle. You're going to love it." This is a smart and impressive way to approach the customer.

Danny James: Yes. You already have the information going into that initial introduction.

Larry Bruce: You know who they are, what they're trying to buy and you can make the customer feel appreciated and feel good about this purchase. 

SALES PROCESS BEST PRACTICE

Danny James: A sales manager should be doing this kind of customer introduction with or without sales automation. This is their job. So when the manager is expected to know what stage each salesperson is in their immediate sales process, it seems impossible. But with sales automation, the sales manager is not only allowed to do what they're supposed to do, but they're allowed to do even more.

Larry Bruce: More importantly, they can do it unobtrusively with the salesperson. The sales manager isn't asking him to do anything that he wouldn't normally do. The system is helping him and making his life easier. You get a lot less, almost no push-back, when that's happening.