Creating an Appointment Culture – Part 7


Creating an Appointment Culture – Part 7

TRANSCRIPT: How do you make a thousand quality outbound calls? I am not talking about speaking to a thousand people. I am saying maybe talking to a hundred people. Then, you may set appointments with fifty of those, and when those fifty show, you close them at sixty percent. That is thirty units sold. What I am really talking about is leaving nine hundred quality voicemails. Quality voicemails that are compelling, that make the customer want to call back, and make them want to set an appointment. That is what I am talking about.

We are going to talk about different processes throughout and how to change those processes in order to create an appointment driven culture in your dealership. So how does the call go? When you make a call to an internet prospect, it should go something like this: “Hi Bob, this is Steve Stauning calling from Century Toyota. Did I catch you at a bad time?” Let’s stop right there for a minute. Your sales team does not agree with this. They do not want to say that. They would rather ask if it is a good time to call because they want to be respectful of Bob’s time. This is an internet order, right? It is not a “lead”, but an “order”. You want to know if you caught them at a bad time, and you want them to say, “Yes, it is a bad time.” Then you can continue on to say, “Hey, great listen, I understand. I’m just calling to schedule your priority test drive on the 2014 Toyota Camry you inquired about. We’ve got a couple of openings this evening; one at 5:45 and another at 6:15. Which one of those times works for you?” See, then I shut-up and wait. Notice I did not say, “Hi Bob, Steve Stauning from Century Toyota. Home of the lifetime oil changes, family owned and operated in your area for eighty-two years.” See, this is not the time to try to build value in the dealership. You have one goal for your phone calls, and that is to schedule an appointment that shows. That is it.

That is my only goal.

Notice too, that when Bob said, “This is not a good time. I am going into surgery in five minutes.” He really isn’t. He answered the phone, so it is not a bad time. Plus, it takes just as much time to say, “Oh, I’m sorry. Is there a better day or time to reach you?… Ok, so tomorrow?… Oh, next week?… Tuesday at ten thirty at this number? Ok, great. Thanks, Bob. Bye.” See that is what your sales teams do today. That conversation takes just as long as asking for the appointment. More than anything else, it is important to understand that Bob is not going to take your appointment next Tuesday at ten thirty. He is just trying to get rid of you. Your goal is an appointment that shows.

Having someone give you a time to call back does not get you closer to your goal. In fact, it takes you further away from your goal, but your sales team thinks they have done something. They think they have worked, and they didn’t. Once you have a prospect on the phone, you have one goal: An appointment that shows.