What skill set makes a great Internet Sales Manager?
It’s not as easy of a question to answer as you may think regardless of where in your organization’s hierarchy you have this position. I’ve seen so many types of people in the Internet Sales Manager position and many that have failed. I’ve seen excellent salespeople “promoted” to the ISM position just to see them fall on their face and have that confidence and cockiness they had shattered and I’ve seen that person who couldn’t“close” a door, succeed beyond everyone’s expectations.
So, how exactly do you decide who the “right” person is to make your department successful?
Some dealerships choose their top salesperson with the thought that he/she can pump out even more units given more people.Some will actually put the person who’s NOT selling cars in there with the hopes of a turn-around. Some go the “experienced fleet manager”route. Some put their new (or green-pea) salesperson in there. For the most part, NONE of these are the “right” person for the job.
Am I a mystical guru that can foresee the future? No, of course not and my forthcoming opinions will certainly have exceptions. (Keep in mind that the ability to communicate and use a computer is assumed.)
The top five personality traits of successful Internet Sales Managers are as follows:
- Excellent phone skills
- Persistent
- Customer-Service Oriented
- Aggressive
- Organized
You notice I didn’t include “good sales talent”. There’s a reason for that. In this industry, everyone’s used to looking for that person who has sales talent – whether it’s as a liner or a closer. When looking for a good Internet Sales Manager, sales talent is certainly important but it’s not in my top 5.
Why?
What qualities does it take to get a person from an e-mail or phone call into your store?
Phone skills are a MUST. If they cannot talk on the phone, they should not be in your Internet Department. I would consider this to be THE most important attribute that an excellent ISM can have. If you have any call-monitoring services, you know who those people are. They’re the ones you are consistently letting your OTHER salespeople listen to as examples of how to properly make/receive a phone call.
You need someone who’s persistent and doesn’t give up on that lead that they’ve called 6 times and emailed 4 times who’s never responded. This happens way too much. Persistent is definitely a key to success. Do you have someone who always makes their phone calls and follow-up to the point that customers are calling you asking you to please have “Joe”stop calling me? That would be someone to start looking at.
You need a customer-service oriented person. You can’t stick your closer in there and label it as a promotion because they inevitably try to“close” the person over the phone and that will only alienate the customer. Remember,many customers have chosen to shop for a vehicle and/or gather information via the internet because they are intimidated by the retail sales process. By mimicking the retail sales process within your internet sales department, you will reinforce the experience that the customer is trying to avoid in the first place. You need someone with a pleasant phone voice that can transmit through phone lines sincerity and genuineness.
Of course you need an aggressive person. One of my “strategies” if you will (and I’m sure many salespeople also do this)is that I start making calls until I get that person whom I get a feeling I can sell a car to“soon”. I liken this to the fish nibbling at the bait. Once I get that nibble, I’ll work all day to “reel” in the fish,focusing on that one nibble to create a sense of urgency (“Hey fish, I have more worms in the boat.”). The “aggressiveness” that I am talking about here is the ability to know when there is genuine interest and being able to identify and cultivate a sense of urgency within a particular customer, not the ability to be pushy.
You definitely need someone organized, as they need to keep up with every lead and know what’s going on as they juggle replies and phone calls. It doesn’t matter how good your CRM is (assuming you have one), if your Internet Sales Manager cannot sound like they know that EXACT customer’s needs and wants when they do make contact, it will be that much harder to build rapport.
Sales skills are secondary to all of this because getting the customer into your store is their primary job.
Once the customer is in your store, you have a whole sales staff that can make sure they leave in a vehicle if your Internet Sales Manager cannot accomplish that.
Sales skills and processes can be trained, personality traits cannot.
Find that “eagle” with the above abilities and you have the makings of an excellent Internet Sales Manager.
