How to Start the New Sales Month

Every month it’s the same old thing- scratch, claw and scramble to hit the numbers; rush around like maniacs trying to complete dealer trades, send drivers to customer’s homes to get contracts signed, and burn out the F&I managers with an over-promised delivery schedule. The dust finally settles on the closed month, usually a few business days into the next month, and the sales staff tries to rest up to get ready for the new month, which, like an interrupted television show, is “already in progress!” Here are some strategies to get your new month off to a smoother start:

• Start the new month sooner by closing the old one! Almost sounds too simple, doesn’t it? If the last calendar day of the month falls on a business day, that’s it. If it falls on a Sunday or holiday, the next business day will do, but no more than that. Painful at first, but do it and stick to it. Swaps, paperwork, contracts, deliveries, etc must be completed no later than the following business day. Don’t steal future business to put into the prior month- it will all wash out if you close the month properly on a consistent basis.
• Bury the bad (results, deals, attitudes) quickly. MOVE ON! Learn from lost deals and other mistakes, but do not dwell on that which smells!
• Get the closed month’s stats STAT! Managers and salespeople need this information quickly to set new goals. It is really hard to believe that each salesperson wouldn’t know exactly how many units they sold and delivered for the month. Each salesperson knows where they stand (units) - put it all together and you have the dealership total for talking purposes. Your accounting department will verify everything later.
• Have tracking in place ( daily ups, demo rides, presentations, etc) Can’t improve what we can’t measure. Every salesperson needs to know how much “raw material” and activities are needed to produce sales.
• Salespeople must have a daily work goal, (i.e. ups, follow-up, mailers, presentations, etc) not just a unit goal for the month. The new month starts on day one- not the following week. Daily goals mean just that.
• Each salesperson should analyze their best success deal from the prior month and find a way to emulate it for the new month. The feelings of satisfaction or accomplishment from a good sale can be used to “jump-start” a salesperson’s attitude and enthusiasm for facing the new month.
• Managers could put on a spiff for first fresh deal written or delivered, along with other “fast start” bonuses such as for the highest total of deals or deliveries at end of first week.
• Schedule mailers and promotions for earlier in the month as opposed to later. This will allow more time to sell, deliver and follow-up additional unsold traffic and really turn the sales event into plus business instead of relying on it to carry the month. A side benefit- less pressure and mistakes later in the month

Make it a champion day!

“SALES TRAINING MATTERS”