You've got your good people and the training is in full swing and you are starting to get them into activities and so far it is all working. Great. That's sort of like the trial close. You've found the need, desire and ability and you've put a trial close on them, and now is time for the real close. Here is where it is harder to follow through, yet this part will be the most critical in my experience. We've really done the easy part up to now. Finding them is easy, and starting the training is easy, and now you must create success under them in order to keep them. You heard me, I said you need to create success under them. You don't hire them to make you successful, you hire them and make them successful so that you in turn succeed.
I learned this from being involved in a Shaklee multi-level marketing business. All the really strong leaders were teaching us that when we find what we think is a "business builder" (good people), we needed to get in there and create success underneath them so they see the payoff quickly and we would thereby create a strong business under us that would grow and multiply. We had to be active about that. With multi-level marketing, the more business builders you have under you the better, and depth was far more important than width, so the real superstars in that game are always focused on creating success under their members and the members below them and so on.
So, how do you create success under your people? Number one is to direct their activities and participate with them in that. If you're the GM or dealer, you will be having a team member focused on this for you. You need a plan. Don't let them figure it out for themselves, you plan it for them. You create a success plan that you know will produce results. Maybe you don't have a plan. Now's the time if you don't.
I have what I call a sales matrix that has a box in the center titled 'Sales' and then it has boxes around that in a circle with lines going to the center box. The boxes around the center box are titled, 'Referral', 'Service/Parts', 'Offsite Display and Sales', 'Merchandising Lot to Attract Sales', 'In Person Prospecting, Presenting, Following Up', 'Networking', 'Telephone (Gather Info, Follow Up & Make Appointments)', 'Regular Mailer-Stay in Touch with Dbase', 'Specific Mailer - Target Marketing', 'Advertising'. Mailer can mean postage or email. Repeat business is not on there because this is mainly focused on where new business is coming from. I've used this form with many dealers. At the top of the form it says: Develop a Multiple Approach Strategy and Plan of Action! At the bottom of the page it says, What Have I/We Done Today To Create Sales?
With the sales matrix, this will give you a good plan of the things that can be done to actively create sales or at the very least interest toward them. I recommend that you do as it says and create a multiple approach strategy. In other words, do some prospecting, do some mail, do some merchandising, do some offsite displays, work the service drive, do some other advertising, work the phone for follow up and appointments, do some networking. Mix it up. It will keep them interested longer. A great time for prospecting in person business to business is in the morning from about 9 or 10am to 12pm. A lot of the service businesses that you will want to visit are open earlier than typical retail establishments.
After the prospecting and lunch, this would be a good time to get some mail going out. Answering questions that came up during the day, sending out brochures, etc. This is also a good time to plan any presentations that need to be made from the day's prospecting and to get the quotes done that people want. Merchandising the lot can be done first thing in the morning. Now is a good time to cruise the service department looking at vehicles in the shop and especially those with business names. This can be supplemented with communication with service writers you work with to find additional prospects.
Try to mix it up enough that there is no down time to speak of and that the activities are effective. How do you find business? It drives into your service drive, it buys parts at your parts counter, they are at their business thinking of making a vehicle change but haven't found the time to actually go down there. It's people driving by seeing something they've never seen before or thought of quite that way. It catches their eye and their thoughts and they stop in to look at it more closely. That is the reason the spend time merchandising the lot (not like a parking lot). They call in asking for more information on something they saw on TV or had a question about. Perhaps they are in the market and that is their method of "shopping around." Business comes from the flyer that just arrived last week and now today the business has a chance to look at it and it is just the right time because their truck is on its last leg. It is a pile of opportunities waiting to happen when someone or a team of someones begins focusing on the opportunities. The more of the activities with better and better execution will create success under your people.
Now the real bonus for the dealership is a very strong sales rep and that will beget even stronger sales reps and so on. If they are sitting in the store at their desk most of the time, there is a serious amount of business being missed. Create success under your people by showing them how to be successful and working with them until it is reality. The strength that comes from this team member will be unmistakable and highly profitable.
I'll talk of a specific prospecting program tomorrow.
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