Do we still care about sales appointments?

[Alex Snyder]

I spent years chasing this metric and working to make it top of mind for every person involved in the sales departments across my dealer group. I then took it to be a central next step movement in a CRM I helped build. But don't you dare call me Mr. Appointment because I'm now second guessing whether it is that necessary any more?

 

[flosho]

Well we work only by appointment. So it's pretty critical to our business...

 

[Alex Snyder]

Well we work only by appointment. So it's pretty critical to our business...

Prove to me why this makes sense.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Are you asking if the appointment is important or tracking the appointment?

 

[Alex Snyder]

Are you asking if the appointment is important or tracking the appointment?

Yes

 

[Alex Snyder]

I am wondering if our obsession with pushing sales people, Internet managers, and BDC people to schedule the appointment; followed by manager confirmations, really is getting customers to show up more often? I understand the need to give our employees a carrot to run after, but I'm wondering if this is the right carrot?

Is this dimensioning the customer experience because most of our employees push the appointment in an awkward fashion?

Because a consumer chooses to make contact with 1 dealership after hours of online research is that appointment push really necessary?

 

[Steve Stauning]

I like what the data shows at the dealerships I work with:

Dealers who follow The Perfect Appointment see 80%+ Show Rates (with most of these showing within 10 minutes of the scheduled time) and 80%+ Close Rates. Traditional Ups still close in the 20-30% range (when we're honest about tracking Ups).

Additionally, appointments done right take about 90 minutes or less to complete (including F&I). Most Ups that close are still in the 3-hour+ range.

Dealers make higher front and back grosses on their appointments; and enjoy perfect CSI when they follow The Perfect Appointment.

Finally, given that the average buyer visits fewer than 2 lots before they buy, would you rather be first in line with a firm appointment or hopeful they'll put you in their consideration set somewhere above the third position?

I think the biggest problem with our lack of faith in appointments is that most appointments set in dealerships today aren't real. They're just a box-checking exercise, so the data almost shows it's better just to hope for Ups. (almost)

 

[Alex Snyder]

Dealers who follow The Perfect Appointment

I get what you're saying Steve....all the way. And I like your point about being first on the list of visits. But what is "The Perfect Appointment?"

 

[Jeff Kershner]

In general it's a stupid question to an obvious answer, HOWEVER... The importance of scheduling the appointment has only increased over the last few years and as communication technologies have changed. Rather eliminating the need for appointments, technology has transformed an appointment from a "calendar reminder" into a continuity bridge between a customer’s online research and their in-store experience.

Across industry benchmarks, the closing rate on a scheduled appointment that actually shows up sits around 50% to 80%, compared to roughly 20% for a traditional walk-in ("up").

A scheduled appointment represents a buyer who has already moved past early research and is actively looking to make a decision.

"Modern buyers" value speed and seamlessness. When a customer schedules an appointment today, their implicit expectation is:

• The vehicle is pulled up, cleaned, and key-in-hand. (often forgotten about)
• The sales rep already knows what trade-in or financing steps were completed online.
• They won't have to repeat questions they answered in a chat or web form.

If a dealership treats an appointment like a casual heads-up rather than a prepared VIP experience, they lose the exact advantage instant gratification was supposed to create.

While buyers can research, appraise trades, and pre-qualify for financing online...

...the ONE THING THAT HAS NEVER CHANGED: OVER 90% of buyers still want to drive the car and complete the transaction in person.

Communication technology didn't destroy the appointment - it destroyed the sloppy, slow appointment-setting process.

Sales professionals who view appointments as a structured, value-added experience (rather than a sales trap) will consistently outperform reps who rely strictly on foot traffic or endless text banter without driving toward a clear, prepared visit. I'm not sure if you have noticed, but customer SERVICE and customer SUPPORT has gone in the SHIT'R over the last few years - ACROSS ALL INDUSTRIES!!

Does anyone DISAGREE?

​

 

[KennySmithAutoUnite]

I spent years chasing this metric and working to make it top of mind for every person involved in the sales departments across my dealer group. I then took it to be a central next step movement in a CRM I helped build. But don't you dare call me Mr. Appointment because I'm now second guessing whether it is that necessary any more?

Alex, I still think appointments matter. The problem is we made the appointment count the goal instead of the next step.


If the customer agreed to a real time, the vehicle is there and ready, and somebody owns the visit, that’s an appointment.


If they said, “I might stop by Saturday,” and we put it in the CRM so the board looks better, that’s not an appointment.


I’d still track set, show and sold. I’d just rather have 10 real appointments than 25 pencil-whipped ones.


Mr. Appointment can stay. He just has to stop counting maybes.