Bill and Mary aren’t here right now . . .

The hardest part of a Sales Professionals’ job is handling voicemail

One of the toughest parts of an Internet Coordinator or Internet Manager’s job is getting the prospect on the phone! Seriously, this may truly be the hardest part. Statistics show you will only reach between 11 to15 percent of people that you attempt to call.

Think about this in a different way. That means 85 to 89 percent of the attempts you make to prospects will not get answered, or the prospect will not have time to talk, or they bought elsewhere or changed their mind. The likeliest scenario is that you will get their voicemail. That’s right; the majority of the Internet Sales Professional’s job is leaving voice mail messages and a lot of them.

The problem here is that most dealerships never train on how to leave a great voice mail message so most sales people leave the same boring message every time. “Hi, this is Sean from ABC Motors please call me back at 555-1212”. Or they might say something like “Hi, this is Sean from ABC Motors, I have been trying to reach you to see if you are still interested in a car…”. Over and over again, just like Jim Carey from the “Cable Guy” movie. It becomes very annoying very fast. Please remember that the average buying cycle is between 45 to 90 days. That means your prospect is still looking for a car a couple of days after they sent you the Internet purchase request form.

Leaving a great voicemail message should be one of the critical skills that every sales professional has in their repertoire. Either it is just natural or it needs to be learned and cultivated. You have to leave great voicemail messages!

You really need to learn how to leave the most exciting, engaging, best voicemail messages on the planet. Let me throw one of these reality statistics at you. The average Internet customer researches or visits between five to nine other dealership websites besides yours! And remember that their buying cycle is between 45-90 days. Now, think about how many dealerships are calling them and leaving voicemail messages. Think about how many voicemail messages they are going to receive before they make their decision. Your message must stand out! If you leave the same boring, dreary, drab and annoying voicemail messages that the majority of your competitors are leaving you are done. Just write off that sale and resort to your alternative strategy . . . prayer. Yes, pray that all of your competitors screw up so you can make the sale. I think you get the picture now . . . it’s very important to leave a great voicemail message for your prospect.

Here are some tips to help you become the voicemail master:

• First and foremost, you want to create a library of voice mail scripts. That’s right a library, just like you should have a library of email templates.

• You want to make sure that you diversify your voicemail messages. I suggest coming up with about 20 to 30 different voice mail messages. Keep them exciting, relevant and memorable.

• Keep track of the effectiveness of these voicemail scripts by implementing a national call monitoring tracking numbers for each individual voicemail message.

• Using a unique toll free number for each voicemail script allows you to track the effectiveness of each script. You can now see per day, per week, per month, per quarter which script worked and at what time of day and which day of the week.

• Practice your scripts in front of co-workers to make sure they flow. You can also use friends and family to get their reaction.

• Be sure you have some compelling calls to action in each script. “. . . I know you called about the blue Mustang but we have four other comparable vehicles with rebates or incentives that can save you about $1000….” Not that will get their attention.

• Adjust the tonality of your voice throughout the message. By that I mean sound excited about your message. Be truthful, but get excited about the options you can offer them. How can they get excited if you aren’t emotional?

Put yourself in their shoes and try to figure out what going to motivate them. Again the goal is to get the appointment and meet with them face to face to personally help them meet their wants and needs. You can talk about favorable credit terms available in the message in case they are a payment buyer. Talk about the availability of the Certified Pre Owned units that come with a warranty to fully protect them during their ownership of the vehicle.

Apply the Ben Franklin principle, “Speak of what benefits others.” Share with them a few of the reasons they want to do business with your dealership and don’t resort to, “I have to sell three more units to make my bonus, so I can cut you a great deal.” They will buy for their reasons not yours.

Sean V. Bradley
You can reach Sean at seanb@dealersynergy.com or by calling 888-379-6374