Thursday, November 29, 2007

Cold Calling Orphan Owners

Let me start out by stating something. I HATE COLD CALLING! I hate it with a passion. When I'm home from work, I don't want to be bothered--do you? I'm on the "Do Not Call List" and so are about 75% of the people out there. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!

Unless...

Unless it is cold calling orphan owners that is.

An orphan owner is a customer who was previously sold at your dealership by someone who is no longer there. They actually need you to call them because if you don't, there is a good chance that they will buy someone else. If you do call them and they come up and visit you at the dealership, you will have a whopping 70-80% closing ratio with them! I know what you're thinking--you can always send out letters to them and yes, you will get some response but if you talk to them on the phone, your response rate will be even higher. You know what? Lets combine the two!

Step 1: Over come your fear of cold calling. Someone cannot beat you up over the phone and if they start yelling at you, just hang up on them in the middle of a sentence so they think they got cut off.

Step 2: Get a list of orphans from your manager. No one else will ask for them so there is a good chance that you will be given a big stack. Promise that you will call each one of them and your manager will do 2 things--he will think that that's great and he will take credit for getting you to do it!

Step 3: Have a game plan (we'll get to that in a second)

Step 4: Obey the rules of the "Do Not Call Registry" Check to see if they are on the list and if they are, you cannot call them (I think) unless they have done business with your dealership in the last 18 months. There is a $10K fine if you do and get busted. (My disclaimer: I am not giving any legal advice and I may be wrong with the above stuff so check with your lawyer to be sure...)

Step 5: Have a good script. Here is a bad scripts. Mr. Customer? I just wanted to see if you, or someone you know is in the market for a car. That is not a good script since 100% of the time, the person will answer "no." By the way--I never ask them, "Did I get you at a bad time?" or "Do you have a few minutes?" It's always a bad time to bother someone at home and people never have a few minutes for a salesperson! If they say it's not a bad time or that they do have a few minutes, they are probably being nice to you--at least before they hang up on you. So why ask? Just assume you're bothering them and move on.

Here is a good script: Mr. Customer? This is Biff from ABC Motors. The reason I'm calling is because you bought a Chevrolet Impala from us in the past and they person who sold it to you is no longer with us. I just wanted to give you this courtesy call to give you my name and number just in case you ever needed anything up here like service or anything else because it's always good to have someone to contact at a dealership. Do you have a pen and piece of paper handy?

Yes. (They get the pen and paper)

OK--my name is spelled B-I-F-F and my number is 555-1212. Please call me if you ever need anything or if anyone in the family needs a new car or truck, OK?

OK.

Thanks--have a good evening.


You know what happens next? They hang up and forget all about you which leads us to step 6...

Step 6: Send them a simple thank you letter. Dear Mr. Customer--I just wanted to thank you for talking to me on the phone today. Please contact me if you ever need to service your car or if you and your family ever need a good deal on a new one. I look forward to hearing from you!

Best regards,
Biff Jones

P.S. Here's a business card--please don't forget to call me if you ever need anything.

You know what? You have now reinforced your name with them and you now are building a relationship.

Step 7: Buy a good follow up program like Car Sales Assistant 2007. You'll need it.

Step 8: Call them back in a few weeks. Mr. Customer, this is Biff at ABC Motors. I talked to you on the phone the other day. I was just wondering--did you get my business card in the mail?

Yes.

Great! I just needed a few minutes to update our records. Are you still driving the Chevrolet Impala?

Yes.

OK. What other vehicles are there in your family?

Uh--my daughter also has a Pontiac G6 and my wife has a Corvette.

OK. Out of those, which one will you be replacing next?

My daughter's G6.

Pretty soon or down the road?

Her lease is up in 3 months.

OK. What will she be replacing it with?

Probably a Malibu.

OK. Do you mind if I call you in 2-3 months when the deals are great on Malibus?

Not at all.

Great--thanks and I promise that I will call you when the deals are great on Malibus. And if you daughter decides she wants one a little sooner, let me know. We have a lease pull ahead going on.

OK--I will.

Have a good night, Mr. Customer.


Step 9: Put all that information into Car Sales Assistant and set an appointment to call them in a couple of months.

Step 10: move on to the next orphan owner.

I will guarantee you this right now. Right now, there is a husband and wife sitting at their kitchen table talking about buying a car. They have probably never been contacted from a car salesperson after the sale so if you call them, they will say to themselves--Wow! What a coincidence!

Let me guarantee you something else right now. It is brutal out there--it is a dog eat dog world, the economy sucks, customers aren't as loyal as they used to be and there is always someone out there willing to cut your price and steal a deal from you. You need to do something extra to be very successful in this business. Not to pat myself on the back, but using my car sales assistant software is a great first step but calling orphan owners is a fantastic second step. It is very easy in car sales to be an underachiever and still make more money than you can ever believe but if you do a little extra like the steps above, you can be rich.

Thanks and I welcome responses to any of my posts.


1 comment:

Knight1716 said...

Marv, I'm new at car sales, been in it about a month now, I have been reading all your blogs for the past two days, and jsut wanted to thank you for taking the time to do this for people they really inspire me to do much better in this business, and it's also alot of great advice.... I am very surprised these blogs are not more popular, thanks again

Alex