Post by Paul Rogers
This Internet department structure model is most common within Toyota in the Northeastern part of the US (the Boston and New York Regions). The Appointment Setter model entails hiring people to make all of the initial responses, and sometimes the ongoing follow-up, to incoming Internet leads and phone calls. It has several advantages – and a few disadvantages, as well.
Everyone agrees that hiring, training and keeping an excellent automotive salesperson is a very difficult task. And then when you find someone that can close a sale effectively, to ask them to be great on the phone, on email and to stick with an incoming Internet lead until the customer is ready to buy (90 days) is extremely difficult. So, why not hire someone for the specific skills that you need? Hire and train people that are great with follow-up but don’t need to be able to close – then keep your closers busy with appointments!
One of the exceptional benefits of this process revolves around response time. In the B2E model, no one is responding to incoming leads when your salespeople are busy selling cars. Since the Appointment Setter is almost always right in front of the computer and the telephone, response time should be much lower, on average. And one of the constants for Internet in automotive sales seems to be that “Response Time = Closing Ratio” (meaning the lower your response time is; the higher your closing ratio is).
However, there are two caveats to the Appointment Setter model. First, there MUST be some continuity from the Appointment Setter’s conversations with the buyer and the salesperson that will be selling the car. The Appointment Setter needs to make notes about the client and pass that information along to the salesperson before they show up. The client does NOT want to feel like everything they said in email or on the phone went to ‘deaf ears’ and they have to start over from scratch! If that happens, what was their benefit in going online in the first place?
Second, the Leadership Team of the dealership needs to watch expenses carefully – specifically the compensation. With the Appointment Setter model you will, in essence, be paying two people to sell one car. Improved closing ratio and higher volume can take care of this issue, but it needs to be watched carefully.
We would recommend the Appointment Setter model specifically if your dealership has an established sales force, with tenured salespeople and little turnover. It may not work as well if you have a lot of new salespeople with little product knowledge, experience or closing skills.
This Internet department structure model is most common within Toyota in the Northeastern part of the US (the Boston and New York Regions). The Appointment Setter model entails hiring people to make all of the initial responses, and sometimes the ongoing follow-up, to incoming Internet leads and phone calls. It has several advantages – and a few disadvantages, as well.
Everyone agrees that hiring, training and keeping an excellent automotive salesperson is a very difficult task. And then when you find someone that can close a sale effectively, to ask them to be great on the phone, on email and to stick with an incoming Internet lead until the customer is ready to buy (90 days) is extremely difficult. So, why not hire someone for the specific skills that you need? Hire and train people that are great with follow-up but don’t need to be able to close – then keep your closers busy with appointments!
One of the exceptional benefits of this process revolves around response time. In the B2E model, no one is responding to incoming leads when your salespeople are busy selling cars. Since the Appointment Setter is almost always right in front of the computer and the telephone, response time should be much lower, on average. And one of the constants for Internet in automotive sales seems to be that “Response Time = Closing Ratio” (meaning the lower your response time is; the higher your closing ratio is).
However, there are two caveats to the Appointment Setter model. First, there MUST be some continuity from the Appointment Setter’s conversations with the buyer and the salesperson that will be selling the car. The Appointment Setter needs to make notes about the client and pass that information along to the salesperson before they show up. The client does NOT want to feel like everything they said in email or on the phone went to ‘deaf ears’ and they have to start over from scratch! If that happens, what was their benefit in going online in the first place?
Second, the Leadership Team of the dealership needs to watch expenses carefully – specifically the compensation. With the Appointment Setter model you will, in essence, be paying two people to sell one car. Improved closing ratio and higher volume can take care of this issue, but it needs to be watched carefully.
We would recommend the Appointment Setter model specifically if your dealership has an established sales force, with tenured salespeople and little turnover. It may not work as well if you have a lot of new salespeople with little product knowledge, experience or closing skills.
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