Follow Up: To Change or Not to Change
Posted September 6, 2011 by adminWhat percent of people in America own a motorcycle? I ask many powersports dealerships this question and receive a wide variety of answers that usually fall somewhere between 15 and 50%. Their answers seem logical if you think of all the people that are out riding on a warm spring day. However, according to the latest Motorcycle Industry Council Statistics only *3% of people in America own a motorcycle. Upon learning this fact most people are very surprised.
The average closing ratio for a dealership is somewhere between 10 and 20%, usually closer to the 10% side. Most people within the powersports industry know this, but it seems that we never turn the equation around to make it say that 80 to 90% of the potential customers that walk in to a dealership leave without purchasing! The reason this is so important is that it proves that often times we are too focused on the smaller percentage that are buying, and not focused enough on following up with the 80% that are ‘just looking.’
Powersports dealerships are destination points that customers visit with intention. The intention is to see if a powersports product is something they’d like to own, or can even afford. The fact that a customer drives to a dealership usually indicates that they have some discretionary income, or believe that they do. If they didn’t, why would they come in? So, it is almost guaranteed that each customer is going to purchase something; it just seems that more times than not that discretionary income is spent in other industries. Instead, potential customers purchase bigger houses, new vehicles, vacation packages, plasma TVs, swimming pools, etc. This makes sense when we do the math: 8 out of 10 potential customers leave a dealership without purchasing and only 3% of people in America own a motorcycle. There would presumably be more than 3% of Americans riding if customers frequently bought from other dealerships.
Most of us in the industry know that powersports products are the most enjoyable products out there, but our potential customers forget. Remember the old saying, ‘Out of sight, out of mind?’ If we properly follow up with customers we can keep the joy of riding in the forefront of their mind and increase our sales. Here are a few tips for proper follow-up.
Call each customer within 24 – 48 hours. Once you have the customer on the phone always introduce yourself, verify they have a moment to speak and then state the reason for your call. Remember, you are their friend from the powersports dealership and not a telemarketer, but you should always have a reason for your call. Here are a few good reasons: rebates; special financing; additional model colors; a test ride, etc. At the end of every phone call ask them to come back into the dealership and set up an appointment. Offer a couple of days and times that you are available, and see which is best for them. Keep in mind that an appointment yields between a 50 and 70% closing ratio.
Another good idea is to mail a thank you card on the same day a customer came in and include a good review or article about the unit they were interested in. Write something on a post-it note like, ‘Thought you might like to see this,’ attach it to the review and place your business card inside.
Following up with potential customers is not difficult, but it is a choice. If we choose to remain the same and change nothing, ironically, nothing will change. Another option is to educate ourselves to perform more professional and consistent follow up so that we can compete with our competition in other industries. If we choose to improve we can grow this fun and exciting industry together, and more Americans will be riding across this great nation!
