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How many Internet sales reps should you have: How many leads do you get each month? How big is your dealership? Are you selling new and used online? What kind of traffic does your Web Site receive? These are factors that determine whether you need one or two people or an all out department. Many dealers started out with one person and evolved. The bottom line is that if you have hundreds of leads coming in monthly, the more reps working them the more cars you will sell. Do not expect one person to handle the entire program if you are receiving alot of traffic. They will sell cars, but not as many as several reps would and many leads will go unanswered. What type of skills should they have? Must know how to use a computer and Email programs. The main thing to stress is that traditional sales techniques do not work online. A common mistake at many dealers is to assign the Internet to a floor salesperson and then not train them properly. If you are selling cars online the traditional way, you are losing sales. Discard the traditional techniques when dealing with online shoppers. The internet buyer is in control and wants to stay that way. You want reps that are open minded, literate (most follow up is email), and have good follow up skills. They must be willing to work numerous leads without cherry picking, and be willing to go outside and shoot photos of your inventory to email back to online customers. If your dealership is just receiving leads and handing them out with no system, you will not succeed online. You want people that will set goals and reach them. Stability and in it for the long haul. You want to hire people that will be there for a long time. We have seen too many dealers invest time into their Internet program only to lose the Sales rep for many different reasons. Good people are hard to find and many dealers are now realizing the importance of the Internet and are stealing good reps from other dealerships. If you are an Internet Sales professional or are learning to be one it is very important that you choose a dealership that is seriously moving towards the Internet. If you get into a place where the Internet is just so much lip service, you may not get the cooperation and attention you need to succeed. There are now many dealers looking for good reps (we receive emails all of the time) so keep your eyes open. Those of you learning online skills stay with it, you are in great demand. Learn how to use email effectively and you will be very happy with the results. |