jeff_kershner
10-19-2005, 01:47 PM
Several weeks ago I decided to refinance my house due the attractive rates and sudden increase in the local housing market. Pay off some debt and get some things done around the house that have been well over due.
I decided to click over to Lending Tree after seeing a banner ad and one of their TV commercials. I figured why not, let's see what this Lending Tree is all about. Within minutes my inbox was filled up with auto responses (none too impressive either). Within hours I was getting phone calls from several different banks quoting me rates, terms and fees. After a phone call from the seventh bank, I was lost in a pool of information. It quickly became very overwhelming.
If anyone has been in the automotive dealership business long enough, you then know that the last thing you have is time. I didn't have the time to sit down and go over all the terms, rates and fees that had been quoted from all the different banks. And though it was something that I wanted to do, it just seemed as if time was not allowing me to pick up the phone and make the call back to the banks.
Throughout the weeks I continued to receive phone calls and emails from two of the banks. Both banks had aggressive rates but the bank that received my business was the bank that kept touching base via phone and email. They kept the process simple and kept in touch, and were not pushy.
After the process was over, I was thinking that many of our customers are taking steps as I did for their car shopping. They want a product, competitive price, simple process and great service. Today's generation consists of busy people and families, both parents working to hold down the fort. During all of their daily routines, they are also shopping for their next vehicle. They don't have the time to drive around dealer to dealer. They use the Internet and make their first contact via email or phone, just as I did with Lending Tree. The difference between the bank that earned my business and the others was the consistent FOLLOW-UP. They never gave up!
So when you wonder why that customer has not called you back or responded to your email; call them, and then call them again and again (rotate your call times from morning to afternoon and evening). Follow-up each time with a "just tried to call you" email until you get some type of communication from the customer. Create some urgency, schedule the appointment, confirm the appointment and make the sale.
Jeff Kershner
Automotive Internet Sales and Marketing Professional
www.dealerrefresh.com (http://www.dealerrefresh.com/)
I decided to click over to Lending Tree after seeing a banner ad and one of their TV commercials. I figured why not, let's see what this Lending Tree is all about. Within minutes my inbox was filled up with auto responses (none too impressive either). Within hours I was getting phone calls from several different banks quoting me rates, terms and fees. After a phone call from the seventh bank, I was lost in a pool of information. It quickly became very overwhelming.
If anyone has been in the automotive dealership business long enough, you then know that the last thing you have is time. I didn't have the time to sit down and go over all the terms, rates and fees that had been quoted from all the different banks. And though it was something that I wanted to do, it just seemed as if time was not allowing me to pick up the phone and make the call back to the banks.
Throughout the weeks I continued to receive phone calls and emails from two of the banks. Both banks had aggressive rates but the bank that received my business was the bank that kept touching base via phone and email. They kept the process simple and kept in touch, and were not pushy.
After the process was over, I was thinking that many of our customers are taking steps as I did for their car shopping. They want a product, competitive price, simple process and great service. Today's generation consists of busy people and families, both parents working to hold down the fort. During all of their daily routines, they are also shopping for their next vehicle. They don't have the time to drive around dealer to dealer. They use the Internet and make their first contact via email or phone, just as I did with Lending Tree. The difference between the bank that earned my business and the others was the consistent FOLLOW-UP. They never gave up!
So when you wonder why that customer has not called you back or responded to your email; call them, and then call them again and again (rotate your call times from morning to afternoon and evening). Follow-up each time with a "just tried to call you" email until you get some type of communication from the customer. Create some urgency, schedule the appointment, confirm the appointment and make the sale.
Jeff Kershner
Automotive Internet Sales and Marketing Professional
www.dealerrefresh.com (http://www.dealerrefresh.com/)