Have you ever run a red light? Did you do it by accident? Not paying attention? Did you need to because you were in a hurry? Or maybe you did because no one was around and you just felt like it. Could that have been it?
Inevitably, the law catches up with everyone that continues to break the rules of the road, whether it be a stiff warning, a few points on a license, or a citation and fine. You know it is wrong, so you are deterred from doing it again. In most cases, it is senseless rule breaking, or a careless oversight that should be prevented. You get busted for doing it once, reap the consequences, and stop running red lights.
No, this isn’t a driver’s education class, but minor infractions are being committed on your showroom floor, within your CRM every day, and no one is correcting the bad behavior. If you never stop someone from running red lights, they’ll continue to do it over and over. Eventually, a major accident or tragedy could occur. It is up to dealerships to elect a traffic cop in their CRM.
Whether your team are falsifying call logs/attempts with a simple “LM” note in the CRM (the most common culprit), or flipping active prospects to “Lost” far too early to avoid having to make follow-up, there are countless ways sales and BDC teams are getting away with wrongdoings. It isn’t their right to cost your dealership money if you’ve set forth rules for them to follow. But with no one to slap a wrist, issue a warning, or lay down the law, your CRM will be a cluttered intersection of wrecked opportunities.
Through our Performance Management tool, TaskTeacher, we monitor CRM activity and become a dealer’s watchful eye to ensure no task goes uncompleted, email unsent, appointment unconfirmed, and question not answered. This is integral for any BDC training to stick. It’s not just about finding the wrongdoings, but how we coach and alert management as to what is happening. Think of us as today’s “red light camera”. You don’t need a human body in the middle of the intersection, because our technology and team are sending out reports – and making the dealership (i.e. the government) money without costing yourself resources. If a salesperson knows you’re not watching (or doesn’t believe you care), they’ll continue this negative behavior. Not catching these sales misdemeanors as they take place is nothing short of burning your marketing and ad dollars.
You need a traffic cop. Someone who actually puts the “manage” in a manager title. Whether it is our technology, or an individual you select, we’ll tell you there is no better enhancement to your bottom line and lead metrics than actually ensuring no one is acting above the law.
Hold your people accountable. Demand they utilize your CRM and follow the processes as they’re designed. Employ a traffic cop and see how quickly you can drive profits safely.
If you don’t have someone pounding the pavement of your showroom, it’s time to do it through technology and call DealerKnows.
