Car Salesman’s Coronavirus Survival Guide

Hi there, fellow dealership, brothers and sisters it’s Chris younger today, I wanted to bring you a special edition, video on surviving the coronavirus at your dealership during these crazy times.

Obviously, right now the thing that’s on all of our minds, the coronavirus.
That’s all that’s talked about on TV.
We’ve got stay-at-home orders, we’ve got social distancing, many businesses have shutdowns.

I mean entire towns and areas.
Look like there’s, no one leaving living there anymore, they’re ghost towns, our routines.
Our lives have been changed and turned upside down and backwards, and right now a lot of us are in fear and trying to figure out what to do and how to make some money and how to make business and, if you’re a car dealership.

I think you probably agree that traffic is beyond being low at this point now kudos to most dealerships most dealers, I’ve talked to have found ways to retain their employees, reducing the staff with part-time hours and in some cases furloughs.
However, in most cases again, the dealerships have found ways to retain their employees so good for them.

What you’re wanting to know, though, is what’s the fix? I mean how do you make some money, or what should you do during these crazy times, and I think the best thing to do is turn to history and tap on somebody’s shoulder.

That knows quite a bit about going through crazy times and that’s Theodore Roosevelt and he had a quote.
That said, do what you can with what you have where you are so what he basically is saying: control which you can control and right now, that’s not a lot, but we do have some things within our control that we need to take advantage of.
If we want to survive this coronavirus and frankly, if we do some of these things, that I’m talking about will come out better for whatever we do get back to to normal business tip number one call your entire customer base and when they run out of customers To call and your customer base ask your manager for an orphan list, or even better, yet a 90 day, lease maturity list of guests that have no sales person working at their dealership reason, for it is prospecting, is always important, but right now everyone’s gon na be At home they don’t have a lot to do.

They are probably willing to talk to you.
Your connection rate will never be better.
Now I do understand that every call content is going to be a little different whenever you’re making these calls to your client base, because you’ve got different relationships with every one of your clients.

Some you knew really well probably before you start working at the dealership and some you just met at the dealership.
Maybe you just didn’t connect like you were hoping to.
So every call will be a little different.

However, after you’ve talked to them for a little bit and you’ve warmed the guest up, every one of your own calls should include what I’m gon na go and review with you next, and that is jobber ds5 prospecting questions, so it would go something like this: hey Bill, why got you on the phone? Can I update my records real, quick, great now, you’re still at 123, North Prescott great, and then I assume you’re still in Quincy Massachusetts in the same zip code.
Now I’ve got down Bill Johnson at gmail.
com is still that the best email address to try to reach it.

Okay, and then you still got the same work phone with the extension 296 right.

Okay, great now! Let me ask you how many of you, because do you guys have in your family and how many drivers do you? Oh really, now all the drivers in the family who’s the next in line for a new or used vehicle? Oh a little Bobby, okay yeah! I guess Steve would be about 15 at this particular point now when he gets a little bit closer to to moving towards something.
Is it going to be looking for new or maybe a quality pre-owned vehicle quality used? Okay, so he’s gon na be looking for something? That’s kind of low mileage, good shape, runs kind of nice, nice little overall good stylish used vehicle yeah.

You know just about everybody’s.
Looking for those.
Let me ask you, you know if we have something like that, come in say in the next couple months and they know he’s not looking for another four or five months, but someone comes in the next couple months.

Should I give you a call, or should I just hold off and wait till August to give you a call? Okay, give you a call yeah.
I will I’ll write that down now.
I would go ahead and contact you if we do find something like that.

Would you come in and be looking at it by yourself, or would you bring him in as well? Okay, all right! Well I’ll! Let you be the the communication between you and him and then we’ll just kind of go from there great, okay! Well, I’ll give you a little bit I’ll give you a call when we do find something, if not I’ll, give you a call closer to August when he is gon na be in the market for that used car, okay, great thanks and that’s it now.
Hopefully, we’ve got a prospect for either August or possibly a little bit earlier, so we’ve got ourself a prospect believe it or not.
We are gon na get past all this Corona stuff and you are going to want to paycheck this summer.

However, who knows maybe you’ll find a nice quality used car that comes in here soon, and maybe you can push this sale or pull the sale forward.

Tip number two: do a new vehicle, walk-around presentation, video for every one of the vehicles in your new car or new vehicle lineup.
What I want you to do is pick a new vehicle.

Every day study it drive it review it, go over it practice.
Your presentation walk around on that vehicle several times and then record that video recorded on your phone or, if you’ve, got a fancy camera.
That’s fine as well and put it up on YouTube, put it up on tik-tok or Facebook or one of those types of places.

But store it, you want to hang on to it, and this is going to help you in several ways.
The first way the video presentation is going to help you it’s going to give you a purpose and a feeling of control right now.

One of the things that’s bother most of us is that we feel like we’re, not in control.

So I think it’s a good idea to take a little bit of control back and I don’t minds they say: are the devil’s playground and waiting for guests to come in or someone to call can lead to a lot of negative thought and related negative self-talk.
The second reason why I think videos are a great tip and a great idea to do now or any time, but especially now would be the videos can help promote you, and they also can help you in e-commerce.
Right now you and probably every dealership out there is advertising that you can stay at home and you’ll deliver vehicles to their home you’ll, keep them safe, you’ll.

Never the step into the dealership.
Do the entire transaction in your pajamas.
Those are the types of things most dealerships are advertising right now and I think it’s a great idea.

However, we all know that 80 percent of the value is built during the presentation and demonstration phase, so you still want to do that.
Well, this video could be your e-commerce version of doing a in-person walk around and demonstration of that vehicle.
Let’s say during one of those prospecting: colors you were making from the first tip you find out that your guests, considering a new Ford Mustang well, because you’ve already got the video.

All you need to do is send them the video you could be providing them information that they didn’t have, of course, getting them excited about it.
What you also are doing is keeping yourself top of mind so when they are ready to purchase and look at a vehicle you’re, the one that they’re thinking of and lastly, who knows with the great incentives that the dealerships or the manufacturers are the one that actually Offering you might push this sale forward, they may say 0 % for eighty four months sounds like a pretty good deal.

It’s never a better time to go ahead and buy I’m gon na go ahead and move forward.

So you just never know a third great reason to do these.
Videos that I’m discussing is what about internet leads.
I don’t know how your store distributes.

The internet leads, but if you’ve already got a video created for a lead that comes in this morning, you might be the obvious choice to go ahead and be the person that works that lead.
So again, it might help you with business today.
The fourth reason why the video is our great idea: it’s going to help improve your presentations and walk around now and then in the future.

Naba Statistics, as we said, mentioned, that 80 % of the selling is done during the presentation and demonstration phase.
So this is a crucial part of the sale and it’s human nature that, when your performance is being recorded and being scrutinized that you’re going to be putting your best foot forward.
So it’s actually kind of serves as a informal or formal role play.

And it’s going to help bring out the best in you.
It’s going to give you confidence and when you do actually go to show that vehicle you’re going to be beaming and excited and ready to show that vehicle, like never before tip number three for surviving and thriving after this coronavirus pandemic is develop a real internet e-commerce Strategy, starting with the home delivery during these crazy times, I keep thinking about a quote from Napoleon Hill, and he says every adversity has the seed for an equal or greater benefit for those that maintain a positive attitude.

Maybe this crisis will force us dealers to actually walk the walk, that we’ve been likened to talk for so many years.

What do I mean well just about every dealership, I know for the past ten years or maybe even a little longer have been promising and touting and advertising buy a car from the comfort of your own home will bring it to you and shipped to you.
Never leave your house.
Take delivery right at home, never walk into the showroom floor and why some dealers actually live by those words, I found most dealerships it’s more of a marketing campaign or a me-too campaign that are really a solid, solid internet e-commerce strategy.

It’s 2020.
The paradigm shift was coming eventually, it was gon na happen, no matter what maybe this health crisis is.
The tipping point – maybe we’ll look back 20 30 years from now and say well that coronavirus forced us to figure out a real ecommerce strategy and I’m kind of glad it did because now look at us.

Well, there you have it my three tips on surviving and then hopefully thriving after this coronavirus is behind us.
However, I do know this: I don’t have the market on great ideas, there’s so many smart dealers, trainers and consultants out there, and I’ve already heard some tremendous fabulous ideas and best practices for keeping your attitude right and keeping business going during these trying times.
So with that being said, help each other out, let’s go ahead and lift each other up by sharing some of the best practices that you’re doing in the comments section, everyone would like to know and we’d all be better for.

Lastly, if you heard something on this video that you like drop me a like I’d appreciate it.

Finally, I’d like to just say this: stay healthy stay.
Well, wash your hands stay at home.

If you don’t have to, we will get through this, as Abraham Lincoln.
Once said, this too shall pass.
Thank you.

About Richie Bello

Richie Bello has a vast knowledge of the automotive industry, so most of his services are faced towards automotive dealerships. He couples all his skills with the power of the internet to render even remote services to clients in need of a little brushing

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