In our last few articles, we’ve discussed how to train staff in your auto dealership to handle inbound sales calls effectively. We’ve offered tips for answering the call, understanding the caller’s needs, showing the value of your auto dealership, and building a relationship with the caller. There is one final component of effective call handling, and it’s a BIG one for auto dealers: setting appointments.
The goal of every sales call is to set an appointment for the caller to come into the dealership. However, research indicates that appointments are only set in 20 percent of inbound sales calls to dealerships. This means that 80 percent of the time, the caller leaves without a commitment to visit, and your dealership may lose the sales opportunity.
But it doesn’t have to be that way! With the training tips below, your staff will understand the importance of setting appointments and know specific techniques to improve their chances of doing so.
15 Tips for Setting Appointments with Callers
The goal of all sales calls that come into your auto dealership should be to set an appointment. However, asking for an appointment can feel awkward to untrained staff, especially if they are afraid of rejection. These tips for setting appointments will help your auto dealership employees develop the mindset and techniques they need to confidently ask for appointments with callers.
1. Make It a Requirement
Since setting appointments is the main goal for sales calls, you can prioritize it by making it a requirement. Thoroughly cover this topic in your call training program and emphasize the importance of asking for an appointment at the end of every call. If you use a VoIP cloud phone system like Clarity’s DealerPhones, you can even share call recordings demonstrating best practices in appointment setting.
2. Incentivize It
Since setting appointments is so important to securing sales, consider creating an incentive program around it. You may offer a bonus based on the number of appointments set or for hitting a certain call-to-appointment ratio. You can offer incentives based on individual or team performance.
3. Believe in the Appointment
This tip involves changing your employees’ mindset about asking for an appointment. When they believe that the appointment will help the customer and add value, then asking for appointments will be much easier. It’s up to leadership (the dealership owner, managers, etc.) to hold this mindset and pass it along to those they train.
4. Don’t Be Pushy
Train your auto dealership employees to be tactful when they ask for appointments. A pushy approach will make the customer uncomfortable, which means that they might not show up even if they agree to an appointment. When the employee believes in the value of the appointment (#3 above), they can approach the ask in a confident but not pushy way.
5. Don’t Take Objections/Rejection Personally
Asking for an appointment puts the employee in a delicate position where rejection is possible—and no one likes rejection. Employees should understand that while they are responsible for asking the question, they cannot control the caller’s answer and should not take it personally.
6. Have a Goal
Setting appointments is the goal of sales calls, but every appointment should have its purpose too. Why are you asking the caller to come in? To see and compare specific vehicles? To take a test drive? To get an appraisal on a trade? When the caller understands why they are being asked to come in (and the benefits of doing so), they’ll be more likely to say yes.
7. Make It Specific and Soon
“So, when do you want to come in?” Although this sounds like it’s asking for an appointment, it isn’t. Train your dealership staff to ask for a specific date and time and make sure it’s soon. ‘Sometime tomorrow’ is not an appointment. ‘Tomorrow at 9 am’ is.
8. Give Two Options
Another way to make appointment setting more specific while giving the caller flexibility is to provide two options. For example, “I’ve got an opening at 2:45 today or 10:15 tomorrow morning. Which works better for you?” Or you may ask the caller if mornings or afternoons work better, then provide two different time slots for their preference. Either way, providing two options helps the caller make a quick and effortless choice.
9. Select Times on the Quarter of the Hour
This technique is worth trying in your auto dealership because setting appointments is about perception. Offering appointment times such as 9:45 or 12:15 gives the appearance of a booked schedule. It suggests that you’re busy, your time is valuable, and they must arrive on time for the appointment.
10. Get/Confirm Contact Information
Caller information should be logged in the CRM. When setting the appointment, train staff to confirm any details they have on file (like phone number) and ask for extra information if there are gaps (for example, if you don’t have their email address).
11. Give Contact Information
Sharing contact details for the caller to reach that specific employee again directly is a great way to continue to build the relationship. Encourage the caller to reach out if they have questions, need to come in early, or are running late for the appointment.
12. Repeat the Details
Before hanging up, make sure to confirm the details about the appointment. This includes the date, time, location, and purpose of the visit.
13. Send an Immediate Follow-Up Confirmation
Even though you’ve just repeated the details on the call, it’s important to follow up in another manner. This confirms that it is a real appointment, and the caller is expected to show up. It also increases the chances of the person showing up on time and not forgetting. To confirm the appointment, you can send an email or even a text message using the SMS capabilities of your cloud phone system. Your confirmation can include the date, time, and even a map or directions to your dealership.
14. Other Follow-Ups as Needed
If the appointment is scheduled for more than one or two days in advance, a reminder email or text will help. You may also consider following up with other useful information, for example, a walk-around video of the vehicle, details about the specific features you discussed during the call, a list of items to bring to the dealership, or whatever else makes sense.
15. Monitor Performance and Track Success
Chances are your employees won’t be superstars in setting appointments overnight, but you can work with them to develop their skills and grow their confidence and effectiveness. Have a plan for monitoring performance (including recording and reviewing calls), and make sure to track and celebrate success individually and as a team.
Setting Appointments Is the Goal
Setting appointments is the goal for every inbound sales call, and you’re not going to get an appointment unless you ask for it. Use these tips to train your auto dealership staff and give them the mindset and techniques they need to succeed.
Of course, a lot goes on during the call before you get to the point where you can ask for an appointment. For our other call handling training tips, check out Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
