Are you familiar with the Seven Car Club theory?
A recent Dealer Marketing article summarizes it pretty well. The idea is that, at every car dealership, there are basically three types of sales representatives. First, there are the overachievers—the people who really go all out to sell 10 vehicles or more each month. On the flipside, there are underachievers, who are either newbies or are simply burned out, and usually just sell a couple of cars monthly.
Then there are those in the middle—people who belong to the Seven Car Club. They sell, on average, just seven vehicles per month—but can never seem to break out of that pattern and do better.
Why the Seven Car Club Matters for Your Used Car Dealership
Now, obviously, having a dealership staffed by Seven Car Club members is preferable to having all underachievers! Even so, many dealerships wonder what they can do to push the seven Car Clubbers to the next level.
Realizing that you’re stuck in the Seven Car Club is the first step, and allows for a clean reset of sales expectations. With that said, how can you strive to move beyond the Seven Car Club at your dealership?
Make Your Dealership Better Than Average
There are a few ways to make that happen.
One thing your dealership can do to take its sales from good to great is to improve your response time. Notice that this doesn’t necessarily mean making your response time faster; rather, it means hitting the sweet spot. Studies confirm that the dealerships that close the most sales are the ones that respond to new leads within 16 to 30 minutes. Those that respond either faster or slower tend not to do as well.
Dealer Marketing finds, for example, that the fastest lead responders actually don’t do very well; though they may be quick, their responses can be poorly written or lacking in critical information.
That brings us to the next point—four crucial elements that every lead response needs. Including multiple vehicle options is recommended. Personalization is key, as well. Third-party references—such as reviews or awards—go a long way toward building trust. Finally, pushing phone calls over in-person visits helps ease the lead through the sales funnel.
A final consideration for dealerships looking to boost their sales: Appointment confirmation. As Dealer Marketing reveals, the sales teams with the best records don’t just set appointments, but actually go the extra mile to confirm them.
“Dealers with strong appointment-confirmation processes average more than 150 percent more appointments per month, which leads to more sales and lower flooring costs,” says the article.
Break Out of the Seven Car Club
These three simple tweaks may be just what it takes to help your sales team move forward—and get out of the Seven Car Club. To learn more about how you can boost your dealership sales numbers, reach out to Get My Auto today.
