• Authentic Helpfulness: Customer Service Beyond the Ordinary

    by Kathi Kruse

    automotive-social-media-marketing-consulting-trainingAfter all the fluff, spam and noise that bombards your customers has been seen, heard and ignored, what you have left is the potential for meaningful engagement. How you approach that matters. Online or off, every sale starts with a conversation.

    I had the pleasure recently of hearing Mark Schaefer (www.businessesgrow.com) speak on the state of Social Media today. Mark wrote the Tao of Twitter and Return on Influence, and I consider him a friend. In his presentation, he talked about how business leaders can improve customer experience by incorporating a new way of thinking. This mindset in marketing your business today is made up of 3 core components:

    1. Meaningful content.
    2. Targeted connections.
    3. Authentic helpfulness.

    The term “Authentic helpfulness” struck a chord with me. From a customer’s perspective, if you’re seen as a business that’s truly authentic in your intention to help people make their purchase decision, there’s a good chance they’ll consider you first. This can happen at the store level and employee level. Each customer will let their friends and family know about their experience. The potential is huge and what’s great about it is that it feels natural to help others.

    This week, I got my new eBook “Dealership Facebook Marketing Made Easy” up on my site. It’s free. I do this because I’m driven to inspire, nurture and develop others who want to succeed in Social Media marketing and I’d like to connect with more of you. The process is simple: you go to my site, you encounter a completely tolerable popup offering the eBook in exchange for your email address. You get the eBook with all my secrets. I get to keep in touch with you to further inspire, nurture and help you DO Social Media marketing. It’s a win for everyone.

    What would happen if auto dealers started offering the same type of content? There is absolutely no reason your dealership shouldn’t do this! Customers are hungry for good quality, trustworthy information. I can’t tell you how many people who know I used to manage dealerships, ask me for help with their purchase. There’s a huge need out there and you can put yourself in the spotlight by fulfilling it. Dealerships can produce content around the sales process, the financing process, and the service and parts process. Everyone has questions about these areas and you can look like a hero to them!

    There will be issues. Anything challenging the status quo is guaranteed to cause disruption:

    • Members of the management team think it’s stupid
    • Employees say, “That’s not my job.”
    • Lack of motivation from the team
    • General negativity within the ranks

    There are a million reasons not to take action. But the fact is this: People are sick of being sold. They won’t spend 30 seconds with your ad but they will spend 30 minutes with your story.

    Throughout history, the business that delivers the most value, wins the customer. Differentiate your store with authentic helpfulness. Make your eBook, blog post and/or white paper compelling. So compelling that people would pay for it…and then give it away for free. I don’t see many dealerships doing this and it’s a shame. Quality content is a fantastic conversation starter.

    I’m not going to lie, one of the biggest challenges in auto retail today is this the idea of content marketing and shifting the operations to accomodate for it. You have to be a publisher these days to differentiate your business and create visibility for leads and sales. Don’t waste time convincing yourself of all the reasons not to do it. Get your staff involved and define a content marketing strategy that will deliver on your credo of authentic helpfulness. Initiate the conversations by giving people something they’re really happy to get – peace of mind.

     

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    Does Social Selling Matter? The Numbers Don’t Lie

    by Kathi Kruse

    automotive-social-media-training-consultingDoes Social Media factor in the sales process? If you talk to the many naysayers, the answer is no. However, there were two major studies published just this week that show all points leading to Social Media as a crucial factor in prospecting and cultivating leads and sales.

    EBay Motors published their study showing that 9 out of 10 Millennials turn to the Internet when shopping for a car. Millennials skip the showroom and ask their Social Media network for advice. In fact, the majority of buyers now go online to begin the purchase process.

    Is your business equipped to handle this type of communication with your potential buyers?

    With more and more data showing that Social really does drive sales, it’s especially true for salespeople, according to this 2nd new report. Jim Keenan, (asalesguy.com) published his company’s report, Social Media and Sales Quota, showing that salespeople who use Social Media, outsell their peers.

    79% of salespeople who used Social Media as a selling tool outperformed those who didn’t.

    I’ve seen evidence of this in my daily communication with savvy dealership salespeople. Many of them reach out to me saying their boss forbids them to use Social at work and thinks it’s stupid. The numbers don’t lie, baby. It’s time to embrace Social Media and take advantage of the value (read “sales”) it delivers.

    Get ready for this one: Social sellers were 23% more successful in exceeding their sales quotas by more than 10% compared to their non-social peers, as pictured below. That’s quite an achievement for something that many dealers still show disdain for.

    automotive-social-media-marketing-consulting

    So, if the numbers don’t lie, why aren’t more dealers and salespeople welcoming Social Media with open arms?

    22% of salespeople stated that they don’t use Social Media as part of the selling process. Those respondents were asked, “Why aren’t you using Social Media?”

    • 45% of those salespeople stated the reason was “I don’t understand it.”
    • 19% said they “Don’t see the value in investing sales energy in Social.”
    • 17% said, “It doesn’t work for my business.”

    automotive-social-media-sales-training

     

    The study suggests (and I concur) that the lack of investment in formalized training is the root cause of these issues. The more you know about Social, the more valuable it becomes. The numbers of this study do not surprise me at all. I’ve witnessed and been a part of Social Media working for many. Isn’t it time to get it working for you and your team?

    Jim’s findings bring up a number of challenges to the daily operation of a car dealership (or any business for that matter).

    Everyone wonders where Social Media makes a difference, where is it most effective? Those respondents who do practice Social selling were asked “What do you use Social Media for?” Not surprisingly, networking and prospecting are the two most common uses of Social Media for salespeople. Developing a trusted network of friends, family and prospects can become a bone of contention when your employee terminates his/her employment.

    With solid training and/or coaching in place, you must also provide specific guidelines to your employees. Outline how employees should create Social profiles for themselves, what can be said, what happens when something goes wrong and how you want things handled if they should decide to leave. A solid Social Media policy will always serve you when these unique and new situations arise.

    Social Media is not only a factor in the sales process, it can be the reason for the sale. We’ve seen the numbers and they all point up. It’s up to you to hit the launch button.

     

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    What is the Yin-Yang of Social Media Marketing?

    Social Media marketing is a delicate balance of well-conceived content, interaction with your intended audience, clear objectives and careful measurement, all of which ultimately produce leads and sales. Yin-Yang is a fundamental concept in Chinese philosophy where seemingly opposite or contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent on each other. These forces give rise to each [...]

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