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Automotive Internet Sales Training Articles

Preparing to Deliver

As a General Manager, you will find that expanding your Internet department can be as tricky a feat as any growth strategy you'll implement within the dealership. Since the Internet department requires specialized training for the sales people that are in it, the ramp up time required in getting two or three new people up and running can be a challenge. Then, of course, there will be other issues to tackle such as generating more sales leads, new vendor deals, computer systems, additional lead management accounts, networking, and so on.

With the orchestration of details required to expand your Internet department being a potential challenge, the best thing you can do to avoid any pitfalls or premature disappointments is to be conservative in estimating your ramp-up time.

Hiring an Internet Sales Manager for the future

Hiring the right Internet Sales Manger or properly training the one you have is something that cannot be stressed enough. When you hire an Internet Sales Manager to fulfill a role that may eventually include working with you to expand the Internet department, I would recommend that you hire an individual who you feel could be groomed as a Sales Manager over time.

The reason I draw this parallel is because over the past four years the 20 or 30 most competent Internet Sales Managers I have worked with are either currently employed or have been offered a position as G.S.M or G.M. within their respective dealerships.

Your Internet Sales Manager will be responsible for a wide variety of tasks including dealing with vendors, submitting reports to your General Manager and Dealer Principal and interviewing potential new hires as the department expands.

He or She will also be charged with the responsibility of ensuring that all your systems are running and operating efficiently, ie: your dealership's corporate and factory websites and internal network systems. If that's not challenging enough, you will also be single-handedly responsible for keeping the entire organization up to speed on the latest Internet technologies and opportunities. This means it's your job to see to it that every staff member in your organization shares your up-to-date reality regarding the retail automotive industry and the Internet as it exists today.

To make matters more challenging most Internet Sales Managers are responsible for fielding sales leads, communicating with customers and actually selling and delivering cars.

Skills of The Internet Sales Manager

The first rule of thumb I use when recruiting new Internet sales people is to aggressively seek out individuals that are naturally effective on the phone. Considering the fact that the goal of the Internet sales person is to convert the customer from an Internet prospect to a phone prospect, phone sales skills rank as one of the most valuable assets an Internet sales person can have. Finding an Internet Sales Manager who is effective on the phone can be like striking oil in the desert.

Eddie Coleman

C.E.O.

Hyperdrive Technologies Inc.

www.MasteringTheArt.com