Appointment-Driven Communications – Part 17

Appointment-Driven Communications – Part 17

TRANSCRIPT: Before we wrap up this ‘Appointment-Driven Communications’ class, I want to make sure that you understand something. I said earlier that I hate phone training. The reason that I hate phone training is you leave phone training sites and then you never change a thing. I don’t want that to happen with this. This wasn’t just a specific phone training class. We talked about appointment-driven communication. We talked about the perfect appointment. We talked about the ‘why’ and the ‘how’, not just the ‘what’, right?

The ‘what’ is what a typical phone training class is all about. Remember your goal. But, here’s the key: I need you to start reinforcing today’s training right now. You need to start, today, doing things the right way. Here’s what’s going to happen if you don’t: if you think, “Hey, this is great. Tomorrow is when I’ll start doing this”, you’re going to get up from your desk, you’ll catch some Up, you’ll get a phone call or make a phone call to a prospect and they are going to give you an objection that you hadn’t heard before; that we didn’t discuss in this training and you’re going to go right back to doing things the way you always did, and you’re not going to sell any more cars. So, start today.

I had a very wise owner of a couple of Nissan stores tell me this and I’m going to tell it to you. There are two best times to plant a tree. The first best time was twenty years ago and the second best time is today. Today is the second best time to get going forward with using the proper talk tracks, but more than that, having the discipline. Knowing not just ‘what’ to say, but knowing ‘how’ and ‘why’ to say it.

If you want to reinforce today’s training, don’t allow yourself to freelance. Stick to the talk tracks as they’re written. Now, once you get good with these talk tracks, then you can begin to incorporate things in your own personality and change them up to try and sell more cars, but measure as you’re saying these things.

Another way to reinforce today’s training is roll play. Roll play every day. Roll play with your kids, your wife, and your co-workers. Have them say some of the objections that we went through today, right? Have them say, “I’m not coming in til you tell me what my 2008 Taurus is worth.”, and then have that response ready.

Remember the goal. The goal is an appointment that shows if you have them on the phone. The goal is a call back if you are reaching them by voicemail or email. And, be selfish. That’s part of the goal. If your goal is to make money for yourself, which is what it should be, in the automotive industry, be selfish. If you’re selfish, you will make more money for your dealer. You really will. If you’re selfish, you will make your customers buy more cars with better experiences than they are getting today. The VIP treatment isn’t just words. The true perfect appointment is a real VIP treatment and customers love it. If you start doing the perfect appointment, customers will actually come to you. They’ll walk right up to your desk (I’ve seen it), and they will tell the sales manager, “My gosh, this is the very best experience I’ve ever had buying a car”. So, be selfish. When you are selfish, everybody wins.

Remember this saying, “I don’t get paid for information”. Keep telling yourself that. “I don’t get paid for information. I don’t get paid to build rapport on the phone. I don’t get paid to touch base. I get paid for appointments that show and buy.”

Finally, the best way to reinforce today’s training, beyond everything we’ve talked about, is let’s make discipline a game. What do I mean by that? When you’re talking to someone on the phone, and you’re trying to set an appointment, and you say, “I have two test drives on that Camry today. I’ve got a 5:15 and a 5:45, which one works better for you?” be ready for an objection. Assume they aren’t going to pick one of those times, and, then you make it a game. So, whatever their objection is, “No problem”, and then you end with “Well, I have two…appraisals open today, I have a 5:15 and a 5:45. Which one works better for you?”

If you can make discipline a game, discipline becomes easier. You become better at the talk track. Eventually, you are setting appointments that show at nearly 100% and you are closing at well above 80%. That’s what living in an appointment culture feels like.