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Auto Industry News

Creating a Culture of Accountability at your Dealership

August 2, 2018 by Scott Thompson Leave a Comment

Accountability doesn’t just happen … it’s a learned behavior. It’s a culture that can be developed. Every week I work with dealers to help them transition from a traditional negotiation based sales model to an Upfront Pricing sales model. This entails leading meetings and workshops that take a deep dive into their standard operating processes and procedures. We discuss everything from pay plans to their road to the sale to help uncover areas for improvement. Inevitably during these conversations, one concern or frustration always comes up. “We’re going to need to hold them accountable for that if we are going to be successful.” No matter what the issue is, there is always a realization that they are not doing a good job of holding their employees accountable for day to day job responsibilities. This leads to continuous break downs in process often followed by a myriad of “band-aids” aimed at correcting the root of the problem.

So how can you create a Culture of Accountability in your dealership? There are four main areas you should look at first.

Job Descriptions

When was the last time you dusted off your dealerships job descriptions and took a look at what was written on them? When were they written? If I were a betting man (and I am), I would guess most of them were written five, ten or even twenty years ago. A lot has changed since then! Do you know that the number one complaint of employees is not related to pay? It is that many have no idea what their daily responsibilities are, much less what encompasses success. If you’re like most dealers, your Job Descriptions were written by someone in HR or perhaps a Sales Manager with little attention being made to the actual job responsibilities. Most dealers use them out of necessity, not as a tool for success. Successful dealers use Job Descriptions as a tool to Coach, Lead and Mentor their salespeople. A well written Job Description should include two main parts: Checklist of daily responsibilities and Experience/Attributes desired in an applicant. When written correctly, it will serve as a valuable tool for the dealership to hold employees accountable.

One-on-Ones

How often do you sit down with your Salespeople and conduct one-on-ones? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Challenge yourself and your Sales Managers to take 5-10 minutes every morning for each salesperson. Make sure your receptionist is aware that you are not to be interrupted during this time except for emergencies. In addition, put your cell phone away, avoid answering calls and by all means don’t check your email. This is uninterrupted time for you and that Salesperson. You should be prepared for these meetings and the Salesperson should be prepared as well. Develop an agenda that can be used repetitively so everyone knows what will be accomplished. During this meeting, you are responsible for Coaching and Mentoring them … not Managing. In other words, don’t just review their performance for the current month. Spend this time helping them improve their skills. Focus on whatever they need to do differently to get better results.

Checklists and Measurements

Someone much wiser than me penned the quote “What gets measured gets done”. There couldn’t be any truer words as it relates to the car business. Is your dealership incorporating daily, weekly and monthly checklists and measurements for your employees? This includes your Management team as well as your Salespeople. Develop a checklist for each position and hold them responsible for completing each of their tasks. When these are being checked daily during One-on-Ones, it improves the odds for creating consistency and the culture of Accountability.

Training

I know … I know … you’re really busy. You try to train, but there just isn’t enough time in the day to do everything. The first thing that falls to the wayside is usually Training. What if I told you that you could spend only 15 minutes a day with your team and greatly increase your bottom line sales results? Could you find that kind of time? I’m sure you could. The problem with Training is that it takes effort. You can’t just stand in front of a group of Salespeople and talk to them for 15 minutes and expect to drive great results. You have to plan and prepare for each session. So, I would encourage you to look into training resources that you already have or invest in material from a third-party that you can use.

In the end, it all comes down to you. How committed are you to implementing the necessary changes to create a Culture of Accountability? If you are committed to the necessary changes, you will definitely be rewarded for your efforts. Oh yeah … and your employees may just thank you.

Filed Under: Auto Industry News, One-Price Selling, Training, Upfront Pricing

Busting The Negotiation Myth

February 7, 2018 by ryanAdams_admin Leave a Comment

Busting The Negotiation Myth

This blog post was written by Matt Weinberg, Senior VP of Customer Experience for Drive Motors, the leading e-commerce platform for Auto dealers. It is reposted here with permission. _________

Consumers hate the established car-buying experience. We’ve said it before. It’s a well-known fact throughout the automotive industry. Car dealers understand this. And yet, many dealers believe that customers want to come into the showroom and negotiate a deal. The truth? They don’t. 

While most consumers do negotiate, they don’t actually want to. Negotiating is a top source of frustration for customers. They’d prefer to completely avoid it. The reason they negotiate is that they suspect dealers aren’t offering a competitive price up front. Customers feel like they have to negotiate because it’s the only way to get a fair price.

In today’s economy, people value (and often expect) transparency. It’s the number one differentiator between dealerships, which means dealers that offer it have a leg up on the competition. So why do many still resist it?

Many dealers worry that offering transparency, especially when it comes to pricing, will hurt their profitability. Luckily, this is a myth. Transparency actually improves profitability. Dealers that show realistic pricing online actually increase PVR by $785.

Whether you offer transparent pricing or not, customers can find it online. It’s no wonder dealers that only show MSRP online are losing customers. But dealers that offer artificially low internet prices, only to increase them once a customer is in the showroom, are driving customers away, too.

Offering price transparency isn’t the same as offering the absolute lowest price. “Low price and transparent or fair price are the same in the consumer’s mind,” according to a Cox Automotive study. Dealers that embrace transparency actually earn more profits.

By being open and honest with customers when it comes to pricing, dealers can increase profitability, earn new customers, and build loyalty and trust with customers and staff alike.

 

Filed Under: Auto Industry News, One-Price Selling

Digital Natives Are Changing Retail Automotive

December 14, 2017 by Katie Lambert Leave a Comment

75 Million Millennials (age 23-37) are predicted to account for 40% of U.S. new vehicle sales by 2020. According to J.D. Power millennials purchased just over 4 million vehicles in 2016, 29% of the new vehicle market. Millennials are the first generation to enter their teen years as Digital Natives. Digital Natives came of age with the internet.

Millennials rely on digital tools to facilitate social interaction and purchases. They communicate with friends and family via a host of instant message and chat apps. They buy airline tickets on Kayak, share the cost of a restaurant meal using Venmo and use Apple Pay to shop for fashion. They book vacation stays at Airbnb using a smartphone and find a date by “swiping right”.

This smartphone-enabled generation expects a fast, streamlined process that’s as close to friction-free as possible. Millennials are accustomed to a subscription or pay as you go style of transaction. Withholding payment information signals a retailer is not in tune with how this generation acquires the things that are important to them. Not having accurate, VIN specific payments on a dealer website makes it more difficult for members of Gen Y to get some of the most important information they require to select and own or lease a vehicle.  This generation doesn’t negotiate, they compare.

It’s no surprise that programs offered through True Car, Costco and others continue to gain in popularity among all age groups including millennials. These programs promise a great value, transparent and upfront pricing and a fast, no-hassle experience. Costco alone facilitates the sale of over 400,000 cars annually.

These programs exist and flourish because dealers continue to withhold information and insist on herding potential customers through an outdated sales process.  The irony is that rather than providing price and payment transparency directly to shoppers, automotive retailers are paying fees to Costco and others who then offer transparency on behalf of the retailer. Based on the popularity of these programs it begs the question: why don’t dealers cut out the middleman and offer transparent pricing and a hassle-free experience to all of their customers?

Final thoughts:

Millennials will soon be the largest segment of new car buyers. They value friction-free, mobile-enabled transactions. Transparent, hassle-free programs offered by third parties are gaining popularity. The unintended message dealers are communicating is that Costco is trustworthy, car dealers – not so much. Now is the time for auto retailers to align their business model with the needs of the first generation of Digital Natives. The alternative is to continue to pay Costco and others to do it for them.

 

Filed Under: Auto Industry News, One-Price Selling, Single Point of Contact Tagged With: costco, digital native, millennials

Buy a New Fiat through Amazon-No Negotiation Required

October 20, 2017 by Katie Lambert Leave a Comment

How do you buy a new Fiat 500 through Amazon? If you live in Italy it works like this.

  1. Find the Fiat vehicle you like on Amazon.it. You’ll see that Fiat models have upfront prices at very attractive discounts.
  2. Purchase the “Welcome Kit” for around EUR 180. This includes the dealer’s offer code for picking up the car at the posted price, a brochure, and a hat. The Welcome Kit is calculated into the final price and appears to be a small down-payment committing the customer to the transaction.
  3. The Amazon Call Center then contacts the shopper and coordinates an appointment at the Fiat dealer of the customer’s choice.
  4. The customer makes an appointment to visit the dealer, complete paperwork and take delivery.

Amazon/FCA and the participating Fiat dealers are offering upfront pricing and a convenient way to select and take delivery of a new vehicle. Amazon is reducing the friction in the transaction so that committing to purchase a car can be done with one-click.

US dealers should consider adopting an Upfront Pricing business model to eliminate the friction introduced by negotiation. Can you imagine Amazon engaging in online negotiation? Of course not. Amazon wants the shortest line between desire and purchase and they work tirelessly to eliminate any “speed bumps” in the online purchase process.

Ryan Adams Group guides dealers who are converting to Upfront Pricing so they can compete by providing a more transparent, customer-friendly way of selling cars.

Read a review (translated to English) from an Italian customer who purchased his new Fiat through Amazon.

 

5 of 5 stars A beautiful experience

DaMattia Sanfilippoil 3 December 2016

Color: White | Verified Purchase

EDIT 05/01/17: On January 3 I retired my 500! I added a photo to the review.

-I decided to buy the 500 Lounge version via Amazon because the offer was really convenient. So I took the first step and bought the Welcome Kit at 180 €. With my first subscription, the package arrived the next day. The package consists of:

– New Fiat 500 catalog (very eye-catching and well-kept in details)

– Red cap with FIAT logo

– Coupons to be delivered to the dealer.

After a few hours of delivery of the welcome kit, Amazon’s customer care telephoned me congratulating on choosing Amazon and FCA as the seller of my new car and explaining to me the details of what I would have to do in the following hours. After making the checks, I was assigned the most convenient dealer near my home (in this case the Mirafiori Motor Village in Turin).

A few hours later, I received a phone call from the dealer asking me to show me to the dealer after the appointment always taken at that time.

A few days later I went to the dealer, I received the final estimate (11300 € + 130 € of IPT excluded from the offer, which varies according to the province of residence) and I could conclude the purchase by signing all the documents. Remember to bring the Coupon present in the Welcome Kit and Amazon’s order confirmation (or receipt) !!

I take the opportunity to deny all the reviews that say it is not possible to make a loan. False, funding is ALWAYS possible with approval from the financial (in this case FCA Bank), quiet! So you can pay it all together, fund the entire amount of the order or give an advance and finance the rest.

The contract also provides a delivery date of 15 days following the order (or approval of the loan).

If you are going to buy a great city car, take advantage of this offer because you really save a lot of money (the value of the 500 Lounge + optional provided is € 16,000)

Really a nice experience, congratulations Amazon and FCA! 🙂

Filed Under: Auto Industry News, One-Price Selling

New York Times – How to Soothe Luxury-Car Buyers: Add Perks and Subtract Haggling

July 18, 2017 by Katie Lambert Leave a Comment

By Eric A. Taub from the New York Times Wheels section, July 6, 2017

Read the article from the New York Times Wheels section on the approach Lexus is taking to enhance the customer experience. Ryan Adams Group is working with project managers at G.P. Sandy to deliver Lexus Plus training to dealerships across the country.

Link to the New York Times article here.

 

Filed Under: Auto Industry News, One-Price Selling, Single Point of Contact, Training

Staff for Success – One-Price Dealerships

April 6, 2017 by Katie Lambert Leave a Comment

Staff for success with one price

Here is part 2 of 2 of our interview with Brian Pasch on CBT News. We discuss the one price or up front pricing business model and the important role of recruiting and creating a career path. In “How to Staff for Success”, we will address:

  • The Enterprise Rental Car strategy for attracting young talent
  • Recruiting recent college graduates
  • Providing a predictable income
  • The importance of a career path
  • Work/Life balance
  • Serious training versus “sit by Mike”
  • Single Point of Contact
  • Simplified F&I menu
  • Increasing the throughput of the dealership

Curious about up front pricing or single point of contact? Call Alan at 612.308.8539

Watch the interview here. 

 

 

Filed Under: Auto Industry News, One-Price Selling, Single Point of Contact, Training

We’re Presenting at DMSC

April 5, 2017 by Katie Lambert Leave a Comment

one-price at dmsc

We are pleased to have been invited to speak at DMSC (Digital Marketing Strategies Conference) on May 22, 2017, in Napa, California. The Digital Marketing Strategies Conference is a high-level executive planning event, designed to assist automotive dealers with creating a market-dominating strategy for the year ahead. Held annually, this event brings the top thought leaders from the automotive marketing industry to beautiful Napa Valley for an intimate conference experience unlike any other. This event is for the progressive dealer interested in learning how to be a part of their dealership’s digital strategy and lead their teams in a digital age. Our presentation on the one-price business model is just one of many that will be delivered by industry experts.

Ryan Adams Group’s presentation, Why One-Price and Why Now? , kicks off the first day of the conference. We will address how the one-price business model affects recruiting challenges, margin compression, differentiation through customer experience design, e-commerce and speed of transaction. One-price dealer financial composites will illustrate how a one-price business model impacts profitability.

Interested in attending? Get information here.

Filed Under: Auto Industry News, One-Price Selling, Single Point of Contact, Training

The Future of One-Price Dealerships

March 29, 2017 by Katie Lambert Leave a Comment

one-price or up-front pricing

 

In our interview with Brian Pasch on CBT News, we discuss why a one-price or up-front pricing business model may be the future for your dealership. Topics that we address include:

  • Most dealers are already very close to one-price, particularly on used cars.
  • How upfront pricing affects recruiting.
  • E-commerce and online payment calculators – how can the payment be accurate when the price is not?
  • Using up-front pricing to speed the transaction.
  • Selling a new way to buy a car before you sell the car – using a concept statement
  • Does up – front pricing lead to greater customer satisfaction?
  • How long does it take to switch to a new, up-front pricing business model?

Stay tuned for a second interview that specifically addresses recruiting millennials to a business that employs a up-front pricing business model.

Watch the interview here.

Filed Under: Auto Industry News, One-Price Selling

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