I am having some trouble trying to track sales from the phone ups generated by our website. They currently ring to the receptionist and then are handed out to the entire sales team...not my internet team. We don't have a dedicated BDC, I have an Internet Manager at each rooftop. Should I push for all of the phone calls to be directed to him? I'm not sure if I want to do that either as I don't want a voicemail to pick up if for some reason he can't get to the phone. Any suggestions?
Where do your phone ups go?
- Thread starter ajholland
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- Apr 28, 2009
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- Jerry
As your resident phone expert, I'll gladly offer you my advice.
Let's start with this:
I would suggest that when the operator gets a sales phone call, she should keep a log of what time the call came in and who she gave it to. So instead of just saying, "sales line 1." She would say, "would any available sales agent please call the operator." She then tells that first rep who called her that she is going to transfer the customer to them. At the end of the day or during the course of the day, you collect that list from her and make sure each of your phone-ups have been logged in your CRM properly. You'll then be able to track your phone sales closing ratio. When looking at that report your jaw will drop and you'll realize that you're going to need to hire me to come in and train your sales reps on how to properly handle a phone-up. Don't worry it's not to expensive and you'll easily recoup the cost with the additional sales being made from phone-ups.
Your other option is to use a call tracking service which I would do regardless. Since not all calls would come in on the 800 numbers, you would still have your operators track the sales calls.
That is exactly why you would not want to do that. If the call comes in and goes to voice mail, you risk that customer not leaving a message and you may never hear from them again. Having listened to thousands and thousands of calls, I would bet that customers leave a voice mail less than 50% of the time.
If you have any further questions I am here to help. I am also available by phone.
Let's start with this:
I would suggest that when the operator gets a sales phone call, she should keep a log of what time the call came in and who she gave it to. So instead of just saying, "sales line 1." She would say, "would any available sales agent please call the operator." She then tells that first rep who called her that she is going to transfer the customer to them. At the end of the day or during the course of the day, you collect that list from her and make sure each of your phone-ups have been logged in your CRM properly. You'll then be able to track your phone sales closing ratio. When looking at that report your jaw will drop and you'll realize that you're going to need to hire me to come in and train your sales reps on how to properly handle a phone-up. Don't worry it's not to expensive and you'll easily recoup the cost with the additional sales being made from phone-ups.
Your other option is to use a call tracking service which I would do regardless. Since not all calls would come in on the 800 numbers, you would still have your operators track the sales calls.
That is exactly why you would not want to do that. If the call comes in and goes to voice mail, you risk that customer not leaving a message and you may never hear from them again. Having listened to thousands and thousands of calls, I would bet that customers leave a voice mail less than 50% of the time.
If you have any further questions I am here to help. I am also available by phone.
Phone ups and Floor ups - the two things a dealer has a hard time tracking for sourcing, but phones should actually be one of the easiest!
I am personally against the operator idea. Calls, IMO, should go straight to the person/department they are meant for.
My recommendation is to have a phone bank, 4-5 (or whatever number you want to handle your sales staff) phones around a table or cubicle style set-up. Make sure management can monitor/see the area. ALL your sales calls should come into these phones. Website, AutoTrader.com, Craigslist, Print, etc.
IMO - there are a few tricks to make sure this works.
1. Make sitting at the phone bank a privilege (and what salesperson would not want to answer sales calls). I have seen dealers do things like: must have 2 confirmed appts, must have all your CRM tasks complete, must be on track for XX units, must have been phone "trained", etc.
2. Make sure you use inbound call tracking, and turn on the "Whisper" for the calls. If you don't know, whisper allows you to record a small "the following call is from your dealership website", "the following call is from Cars.com", "the following call is from your Newspaper ad" etc...turning on whisper will allow your salespeople to accurately input the customers into the CRM with no mistakes - they now KNOW where the customer saw the ad...and you don't have to ask them.
3. EVERY inbound sales call is to be logged in the CRM, your call tracking log should almost match the CRM logged phone calls. Check this daily, and if very different find out why.
Email or call with any questions.
--Drew
I am personally against the operator idea. Calls, IMO, should go straight to the person/department they are meant for.
My recommendation is to have a phone bank, 4-5 (or whatever number you want to handle your sales staff) phones around a table or cubicle style set-up. Make sure management can monitor/see the area. ALL your sales calls should come into these phones. Website, AutoTrader.com, Craigslist, Print, etc.
IMO - there are a few tricks to make sure this works.
1. Make sitting at the phone bank a privilege (and what salesperson would not want to answer sales calls). I have seen dealers do things like: must have 2 confirmed appts, must have all your CRM tasks complete, must be on track for XX units, must have been phone "trained", etc.
2. Make sure you use inbound call tracking, and turn on the "Whisper" for the calls. If you don't know, whisper allows you to record a small "the following call is from your dealership website", "the following call is from Cars.com", "the following call is from your Newspaper ad" etc...turning on whisper will allow your salespeople to accurately input the customers into the CRM with no mistakes - they now KNOW where the customer saw the ad...and you don't have to ask them.
3. EVERY inbound sales call is to be logged in the CRM, your call tracking log should almost match the CRM logged phone calls. Check this daily, and if very different find out why.
Email or call with any questions.
--Drew
be aware that you're talking about a ton of phone calls.. the other sales people will get cranky if you give it to only the internet team 
be aware that you're talking about a ton of phone calls.. the other sales people will get cranky if you give it to only the internet team
Agreed, thats why it should be availible for ALL your salespeople to sit at the phone bank. Not just internet.
- Apr 28, 2009
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- Jerry
Drew, Your suggestion is a good one, however it's got it's flaws.
- Space is not always available to create what you've suggested.
- Dealer has to drop phone lines and then install multiple phones.
- Would need to be staffed with more than one person since multiple calls could come in. I've seen this built before and salespeople don't like having to be glued to a phone-up table for any length of time. They're often afraid they'll miss a good up.
- Dealership would need to have a phone system capable of receiving a direct dial calls to multiple phones. In my travels as a former CRM trainer, I found that only about one third of the dealers had this type of phone system.
- Apr 28, 2009
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- Jerry
Taking a phone-up should be a privilege. When I start training with a dealership, I inform the sales reps that they are all going to have an equal chance to receive phone-ups. I tell them they have two months to get on board with the program. As I listen to and coach recorded calls, I am able to identify those individuals who have no plans of improving. I then let the dealer know who is certified and who isn't. So then in the third month, the operators will page for an available sales rep and only those who are certified are allowed to take the call. Non certified reps only get the call if nobody else is available. Thus they can earn their certification.
If a rep wants to give himself/herself a raise, he/she needs to take phone-ups seriously. A lot of people start their shopping experience off on the phone. If I were to go back to work in a dealership today and I was given a choice between Internet, Phone-up and Walk-in, I'd take phone-up all day long. Those customers are normally very serious and closer to a decision.
be aware that you're talking about a ton of phone calls.. the other sales people will get cranky if you give it to only the internet team
That is exactly what happened which is why I am now searching for a new solution. Since the internet does all of the work on the site...shouldn't they get the phone up?
- Apr 28, 2009
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- 363
- First Name
- Jerry
Not all phone-ups are generated by your website. Some customers will just open the phone book or find your number online and make the call. If you're Internet team is doing a lot of work on the web to make the phone ring, then perhaps they should have a first shot at those calls. If you were to use an 800 tracking service, you could have your Internet team place those numbers online and have your operator direct any 800 call to the internet team. She would know it was an 800 number with the whisper turned on. All other calls go to the sales floor. Since you only have one Internet rep under each rooftop, directing those sales calls to that person is going to be difficult since they will not always be available.
I clearly understand the issues you face and will share my take on the matter. To me the Internet Rep is a cut above your average sales person. It's a position that most salespeople should be striving to achieve. With that added responsibility, Internet Reps should understand they play a greater role in helping drive traffic to the dealership. Not just for themselves, but for everyone. Since they can't do everything and be everywhere at once, they need to realize that a lot of those calls are going to have to be handled by other reps. Now you know your store better than I do and it's your decision to make. I know you want to make your troops happy, but working in a dealership is not a democracy! Sometimes you need to make tough decisions and not everyone is going to be okay with those decisions. The people who normally quit are the ones who we'd probably get rid of anyways. I want those people working for my competitor.
My choice, I would open the phones up to everyone and try to figure out who your better phone handlers are by tracking appointment rates, show rates and sold. After you have a better picture of who is doing a better job, you pick those people to be your first wave phone handlers.
I hope that helps.
I clearly understand the issues you face and will share my take on the matter. To me the Internet Rep is a cut above your average sales person. It's a position that most salespeople should be striving to achieve. With that added responsibility, Internet Reps should understand they play a greater role in helping drive traffic to the dealership. Not just for themselves, but for everyone. Since they can't do everything and be everywhere at once, they need to realize that a lot of those calls are going to have to be handled by other reps. Now you know your store better than I do and it's your decision to make. I know you want to make your troops happy, but working in a dealership is not a democracy! Sometimes you need to make tough decisions and not everyone is going to be okay with those decisions. The people who normally quit are the ones who we'd probably get rid of anyways. I want those people working for my competitor.
My choice, I would open the phones up to everyone and try to figure out who your better phone handlers are by tracking appointment rates, show rates and sold. After you have a better picture of who is doing a better job, you pick those people to be your first wave phone handlers.
I hope that helps.
Our Honda store has a open phone up system in place.Whoever gets it, works it. It's been like this for a long time and all calls are recorded. However, there is always room for improvement. We happen to have many experienced sales people ( over 6 years with company) on the floor.
The last dealership I worked for filtered all the phone calls through the internet department. Phone calls are being handled by people who do not have training or driven the vehicle they were talking about. At the dealership,salespeople would be on the floor and 1 sales call would come in during a 12 hour shift. In my opinion, it was completely wrong and screwed up. I left that company.
The last dealership I worked for filtered all the phone calls through the internet department. Phone calls are being handled by people who do not have training or driven the vehicle they were talking about. At the dealership,salespeople would be on the floor and 1 sales call would come in during a 12 hour shift. In my opinion, it was completely wrong and screwed up. I left that company.