Should A Manager Do Research In The CRM Before Splitting Deals? Do not let a salesperson tell a manager to split a deal, take another salesperson off a deal or merge a deal without doing research. One way to check this is to not accept any new deal without looking it up first in the CRM. Unfortunately, there are some sales staff that make a living by stealing deals from other salespeople.
"Open the CRM every time and search the name, email or phone number. Look for duplicate leads."
Most dealerships have a very clear rule "If it is not in the CRM it does not exist." Yet there are sales staff that will get a lead realize it is someone else's customer and start working it from their cell phone or a different email to keep it out of the CRM. Their plan is to develop a relationship with the customer or set an appointment to somehow steal a whole deal or get on a 1/2 deal from an unsuspecting salesperson. This usually happens to the new guys.
"Most dealerships have a very clear rule - If it is not in the CRM it does not exist."
The Sales Managers Can Stop CRM Cheating With A Little Research. Open the CRM every time and search the name, email or phone number. See if there are more than one lead. Look closely to see what happened before you agree to the split. Interview the customer, talk to both salespeople and hear both side and then run it by another manager to get a 2nd opinion.
"There was a salesperson that was an expert at stealing deals from the new sales people"
There Was A Salesperson That Was An Expert At Stealing Deals. This infuriated the other sales staff. He wanted to be put on the deal, yet there were no notes, no calls, no emails from the cheating salesperson because he was operating outside of the CRM. Yet because he was a top sales person he bullied his way onto deals from unsuspecting managers and new sales people. When he was caught, he always said "They asked for me." How did they ask for you when there are no notes, no emails, no phone calls in the CRM? Yet there are all kinds of notes, phone calls etc from the other sales person?
"You must stop this type of stealing if you want peace among the sales staff. Do not let a bully rule the sales floor."
Should I Actively Look For CRM Cheaters? I worked with a manager that had worked at a dealership for three years and be totally surprised when it was pointed out to him that this certain sales people was doing this. Yet I figured out that this salesperson was cheating the CRM within just a few days, by checking every split request, before I split any deal. When I denied a request, the salesperson would go to a different manager and cry until my decision was overruled.
Are you kidding me? You must stop this type of stealing if you want peace among the sales staff. Do not let a bully rule the sales floor.
"Check all the sold units, then merge all the duplicate leads to reduce your Internet close ratio."
How Can I Catch A CRM Cheater? An easy way to catch CRM cheaters is to research each sold unit. Pull up the name, email and phone number to see if there are any other leads. You will often see some one working an Internet lead and then the customer comes on the lot and the sales person will create a different profile based on a lot up for the same customer by accident or on purpose. This is also a great way to find duplicate leads. If you find multiple leads check to see who was working the leads, it becomes very clear if two people were working the same lead. Try to merge all the duplicate leads to reduce your close ratio.
Do you need help with cleaning up your CRM, or using your CRM to generate more in market customers? Call Vincent Hoss Digital Marketing Manager - BDC Manager