Bridging the Gap: The Vendor Dealer Relationship

Sales is a people and relationship business. That is what we teach salespeople in dealerships and on the vendor side. Building a foundation by asking questions, showing genuine interest, being responsive and accurate to construct the relationship. As we take these steps, the conversation begins to build and you can learn more about the other person, their needs, their wants and what their goals may be. All salespeople are taught this.?

On the vendor side, many use both an inside and outside roll. The inside team is tasked with calling and emailing dealerships to begin this process, while the outside team is tasked with walking through the front door to build the rapport face to face. Seems simple enough, right? For vendors, the call after call, email after email monotony can be fairly thankless. Rarely does a dealer welcome the interruption in the day and we all know that emails don’t typically close deals. The interactions, initially can be combative, frustrating, and at times fruitless. The issue is not that sales can’t have its frustrating moments; the issue is that it can be a symbiotic relationship if it is allowed to be. Vendors feel (at least I hope) that their tool can absolutely help the dealers perform more efficiently, accurately, and with more gross, if only they would just take a look at what they are offering. Vendors don’t always understand why they can’t get even a small amount of? time from the dealership staff. In their best efforts, most vendors try to avoid end of month interruptions, while their upper management is still leering over them, expecting task completion and demanding results.??

After 26 years in retail, I know very well that a day in the life at the dealership can go from thoroughly planned out to completely hectic as business simply “gets in the way.” You walk in the door, ready to follow your agenda and then have to check staffing and get their day started; this can sometimes include unofficial one-on-one meetings to motivate and assure your team’s head is in the game - you’re answering questions and calls from staff and customers who need your immediate help and addressing heat cases. Next thing you know, you’re working car deals, appraising cars in service and creating plans of attack to get customers in the door, while staying on top of lead response time and watching the lot for ups. While you’re managing the showroom floor, you still have owners, upper management or OEM’s waiting on reports and your analysis of their contents. So, needless to say, most calls are screened by the gatekeeper receptionist or get sent to voicemail to sort later. When emails come in, many are simply deleted, or at best browsed if you know the person or company. And when a vendor walks in unannounced, it simply depends on what is going on at the time, but in an effort not to be rude,? a quick two minute conversation and exchange of cards and leave behinds may be the best you can offer.

On the dealer side, what causes the lack of interest in talking to a vendor? Here are some items I have gathered from personal experience and from talking with others:?

1. Vendors do not understand the business the way dealers do.?

2. Vendors have poor timing.?

3. We are happy with what we have - and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.?

4. We are loyal to the vendors we have.?

5. It is decided by someone else, and it is a waste of our time to even talk.

6. Vendors are great until the deal is signed, then the service drops off.?

Some of these or all of these are probably felt by most folks in dealerships. From the vendor perspective, why won’t dealers talk:

1. They don’t understand how important this tool can be for them.?

2. They think we’re all the same.?

3. They are too loyal to a company that we are better than.?

4. How can they not free up any time at all to talk to me? They can’t be that busy.?

So what can we do from here? How about a certain day of the week that we talk with and look at emails from vendors? If this is too frequent, maybe bi-monthly or monthly? Do we need to evaluate current vendors and competitors a couple of times a year?? Dealers owe it to themselves to make sure that the best service possible is happening and that the tools are being used at maximum capacity.??

?And what do vendors do? Continue to call, email, and drop in to push for meetings? Keep walking in the front door and leaving cards, brochures and adding the visits to the CRM so that the required KPI’s are hit?

From my point of view the current model is tough. Dealerships train their salespeople to follow up until “buy or die '' and those same folks won't return a call or respond to an email very often. Therefore, under the current model, vendors just keep hitting the dealership and hoping for a time that the dealer is frustrated enough with their current vendor that the door cracks open a bit, giving them the opportunity to pitch their product. But - what is the best way forward? How can we bridge the gap more??

In closing, it seems that many of the tools the vendors offer are needed and extremely helpful. CRM - DMS - Appraisal and Acquisition tools and the like, make the dealership’s job easier. They allow speed, efficiency and the ability to hold the team accountable. And just like the dealers, the vendors feel like their product is the best. Will anything change? Perhaps not. However, it behooves a dealer to make the time to see what these persistent vendors are offering,?as it may be an integral part of your business moving forward. You may find the next best tool by taking 15 minutes to talk to a vendor, that will save you countless hours in the long run. Knowing what the options are cannot be a bad thing.