We have been recruiting for a new Account Director and have seen some great candidates. Part of the interview process included the shortlist giving us a presentation on the importance of the telephone in lead follow-up. The word that kept coming up was ‘transparency’, or more accurately, the lack of it – in other words, clarity for all parties over what actually occurs.
It’s not only that car manufacturers don’t understand or have visibility of the dealer sales process, it is just as true to say that dealers don’t always have complete visibility of their own sales process. Follow-up calls are typically allocated to individual sales staff. The sales manager and probably also the dealer principal rely that sales person to make those calls quickly and effectively. But how do they know how many times the sales person tried to call, if at all; How quickly they made their calls after they received the lead; and ultimately what was said when contact was established. The truth is they don’t. Without proof, they simply have to accept the word of their staff.
It is this lack of transparency that has always been the problem with improving lead follow-up. Finally TrackBack delivers that transparency. All parties know objectively and in real-time the status of every lead follow-up without relying on a manual update by a salesman trying to impress his superiors. It is this transparency that has allowed a major client to increase their lead follow-up where 60% of their leads are now being contacted within an hour of their being issued. It used to take several days for only a minority of the leads to be even attempted. Sales staff can’t hide – as with TrackBack, both the manufacturer and, perhaps more importantly, the Dealer is watching.