Dealers Not Answering The Phone

[CAORYAN]

So, recently I have been bumping into A LOT of dealers not answering during peak hours. As a matter of fact I have called two dealers main numbers today and both went to voice mail long after I would have hung up if I wasn't selling something.

Is your dealership not answering the phone? I always tell GM's when I come across great receptionist. They are rare.

 

[Ryan Thompson]

Even better when they want you to enter the parties extension. Hard to do if you have never visited the dealership.

 

[merritt]

I blame the vuvuzelas

 

[danoneil]

It is a problem with some dealerships.

I heard that Mazda is developing a new vehicle model called the vuvuzelas

Vu Vu Vu....

 

[DrewAment]

IMO - Prompted phone lines are the way to go (press 1 for sales, 2 for parts, etc) then ring to the direct department. If no one picks up it should ALWAYS ring back to the receptionist. The receptionist is the only one in the dealership that should be able to put someone to a voice mail.

 

[stevenc317]

This also goes for not checking their emails. It is amazing to me how many dealers I know that do not check their email on a regular basis. I talk to them on the phone and tell them you have X unread messages, most of which are new customer inquiries asking about cars. The funny thing is, the same dealers that aren't checking their emails are the same ones that tell me the market is slow and they just cannot sell cars. Maybe there is a reason why you aren't selling cars!

On the other side, I have many dealers that check their email multiple times per hour and contact each lead within minutes of their email coming in. It is these dealers that tell me they are doing better than they have done in years.

 

[Brent Palen]

I handle the dealer trades for our dealership so I get to call a lot of other dealers. To me, the absolute worst thing a dealer can do is set up their phone system with a dead end. In other words a system where the receptionist might answer and then transfer you to an extension. If they don't pick up then it sends you to voice mail with no option to go to another extension. That's a dead end I don't want my customers running in to for sure.

 

[stevenc317]

Brent,

I have heard of systems that phone systems that handle that situation by ringing the person on his cell phone, home phone, office phone, etc. and wherever he is at the moment he answers. But in practice I haven't found a system that works the way I like it.

Do you have any suggestions?

 

[Brent Palen]

Brent,

I have heard of systems that phone systems that handle that situation by ringing the person on his cell phone, home phone, office phone, etc. and wherever he is at the moment he answers. But in practice I haven't found a system that works the way I like it.

Do you have any suggestions?

ADP presented a system like you are talking about. I really like the idea of their phone system and the way it works with their CRM but I hate the idea of going to ADP's CRM just for the fact that I have heard WAY to many bad comments about it. (I should qualify that since I am not sure if those remarks are about the old ADP CRM or the new one.)

Our process would not be the answer for everyone since we are not a huge store by any means. Our receptionist handles all incoming calls and we page whoever the call is for why the customer waits. It takes a good receptionist to handle all of that while making sure the customer doesn't wait too long. It's old school, but it works.

 

[DrewAment]

I have heard of systems that phone systems that handle that situation by ringing the person on his cell phone, home phone, office phone, etc. and wherever he is at the moment he answers. But in practice I haven't found a system that works the way I like it.

These are called SimulCall or RingNext - depending on what you want it to do. Google Voice is a good example of the ability to do SimulCall. It rings ALL your phones - and only if you don't pick up at any of them does it go to your voice mail. RingNext is a rollover to another number if no answer, rings a few times, then rolls to next, etc, etc.

Our CallFocus product has the ability to do both these (your choice) on your sales leads.

ANY modern phone system should be able to do either of these options with no problem. Talk to your system provider.

I also agree with "dead ends", if a customer does hit voice mail, they should always have the options to press "0" to go back to the operator, and you should announce this option in your message. Of course, like mentioned prior - only the operator should be able to send someone to a voice mail.