by Chuck Morgan

 

I remember years ago hearing from Eric Malone, a phone trainer from Belgium, in his heavy French accent, "If you live off the floor, you'll die off the floor".  He was right. 

Fortunately, floor traffic is increasing moderately as we speak.  Campgrounds are filled to capacity this summer.  People will RV, and thank goodness there is nothing we can do to stop them.  Part of our problem today is that there is not a lot of them coming in the front door. Don't get, or stay, discouraged.  Remember the harder we work the luckier we'll get.  I know that the sales and money are available to us if we just know where to look. 

 

California is Gold Country and I enjoy prospecting as a hobby.  Unfortunately, I get to use the analogy more than I get to go out actually looking for gold anymore but...  Prospecting for gold is an art and a science, combined with hard work.  You could just pack up your shovel, pan, sluice box and a strong back, head into the hills or a river and start digging.  But more than likely you'll end up with a sore back and an empty pan.  Or you could do some reasearch first.  Discover where gold might actually be.  Understand what geological features of the land to look for.  Go where gold has already been found.  Listen to people who prospect. (Don't ask them where the gold is, they won't tell you. Just let them talk...there's a lesson there.) 

We do all this, before we even pick up the shovel.  You see, I don't mind getting dirty.  I just want to do it with a Purpose in mind and maximize my return.

 

So where is the "Gold" in the RV business.  Well, like prospectors during the gold rush, many times it's laying right at our feet.  3 key markets to look at are.

 

1.  Repeat Business

2.  Referral Business

3.  Service Drive

 

Let's look at the facts:

1. Repeat Business. 

Math doesn't lie.  If someone bought an RV, there is a good chance at some point they will buy another.  The average time for someone to trade in their RV is around 39 months depending on where you are.  If you're relatively new to the RV business and you have not built your customer base yet, there are still ways to tap this market.

If you have been in the RV business for a couple of years you should be taping this now.  If you have been in for several years you should be taking, (or waiting for), very few walk in customers.

Do your own math.  Find out how many RV's you have sold during your career.  Most sales people don't know.  After the deal rolls we maybe, maybe call the customer to make sure they are happy and that's about it.  I know as well as you do that it is all about "the deal today" but if I don't continue to stay in contact with my sold customers I have placed my own self imposed limits as to their value to me, and my income.  If we work smart, we "create" be backs, not hope we will get one.  Customers trading in quickly is not unusual.  I've seen it happen the same day.  I've seen customers buy and trade 3 units within 6 weeks!  Stop thinking that "you would never do that", "you" are not buying anything.  "They" are...let them.

 

Find out today how many RV's you have sold at your dealership.  Managers, get the sales people the info.  If you have been with your dealership for a few years you may be shocked to learn what that number is.  Say you sell 5 units a month.  That's 60 a year and you've been with your dealership for say, 4 years.  That's 240 sold customers.

240 buyers who liked you, believed you, listened to you, and trusted you.  Now ask yourself when was the last time you called any of them?  It's not about the floor traffic...it's about our attitude and work habits.

If you're new to RV sales, get a list of orphan owners.  Orphan owners are previously sold customers whos salesperson no longer works for the dealership.  How big is that list?  At one of my in house training dealers they estimated they had over 30,000.  Most with no salesperson attached to them.

You work hard for your deals.  How would you like to work half as hard for the next one, and make more money? 

 

How do you get referrals? ASK

Ask and ye shall receive.

Seek and ye shall find.

Knock and the door shall be answered.

 

I don't make this stuff up!  It never ceases to amaze me what people will do if you ask.

So who do you ask for referrals from? Everybody.

When do you ask for referrals? All the time.

 

I run a web video production company as well as my sales training company.

It started from me doing my own personal videos for training and marketing purposes.

A friend of mine in a different industry saw what I was doing and asked me to do some work for him.  Not only did I take the job, but I did it for free.  I owed this man, for many reasons.  He's one of my mentors.  Someone I would trust with anything or anyone.

This type of human association is worth more than all the gold in the world.  More on mentors another time but suffice to say this person did not come into my life by accident.

It felt good to repay his guidance with hard work, a good product and good service.

He has since sent so much business my way I can barely keep up.  He has put our business on the map.  Now the clients he has referred to us, have begun sending us referrals as well.

We don't have to look for any clients. We do good work, provide a good service, provide tremendous value, and they just keep coming.  I am a firm believer in referrals. 

I'm going to be speaking at RVDA this year, because of referrals.

 

You see it doesn't matter if your customer buys from you or not, or if they qualify or not. 

None of these have anything to do with asking for referrals. 

If they buy, tell them thank you, and ask them for referrals. 

If they don't buy, tell them thank you for coming, and ask for referrals.

If they can't buy, tell them your sorry, and ask for referrals.

 

I've been in the RV business for a long time so here's a little truth.

I don't care what other trainers have told you.

I remember going to classes and they would talk about asking for referrals and tell me most everyone would give me a referral. I remember thinking, what planet are you on?

Most people will not give you a referral. Get over it.

I come from the RV sales line and did very well and I know most people won't cough up a name and number, period.  Setting unrealistic and unachievable goals is foolish.

Your job is to ASK EVERYONE.  The right way.

Some will, some won't, so what, next.  The few you will get will be worth all the no's you will ever get. 

Referrals have a higher closing ratio ( 6 times the walk in customer ) and usually decent gross profits as well.  A warm relationship, an appointment coming in, beats a fresh up any day of the week.  It is usually not just an easier sale, but a more pleasant experience for you and the customer alike.

I personally know a salesperson who sells 5+ motorhomes per month without taking any ups because of repeat and referrals alone.  He got in one dealership and stayed there.

Check out our Phone Skills PowerPoint Video Training to get more repeat and referral customers with high quality phone skills.

 

 

This is an untaped gold mine. If you have a service department talk to your sales or service manager and ask how many customers come through the drive in a month.

Depending on the size of your dealership and how long the dealership has been in business, it is not unusual for me to hear numbers like 200-400 per month.  Yours maybe more or less but that is not the point.  The point is who is out there. Quaified buyers, that's who's out there. 

Figure out, realistically, how many customers you could touch in the service department per month.  As an individual salesperson, taking out the weekends, then your week days you are off.  You have about 2-3 days per week to do this.  Go meet 1-2 people each day.

You have the time. I know it, you know it.  Take action and watch what happens.

 

Let's say you meet 5 new people per week.  Remember, all you need to do is offer someone a cup of coffee and start a conversation with open ended questions.  That's 20 opportunities per month or 240 opportunities a year you got because you stayed away from the updesk, got off the internet, stopped texting your buddy (who doesn't pay your bills) etc.  If I gave you 240 more opportunities, qualified RV owners, do you think you would make a larger income?  The closing ratio on these types of customers is high but let's say that it was typical of a walk in customer, 10%. That's 24 deals per year.

Now you do the math. How much is your average voucher times 24? Probably between $8,000 and $25,000 per year.  And that is just the service drive.

We didn't even count the money from repeat and referral business.  We do this in our sales training classes in more detail

 

If you know what you are doing in RV sales you could make a living and rarely take an up.

Work smart and eliminate the frustration. The RV business, regardless of our present temporary economic condition, is a great business that will allow you to take care of yourself and your family, if you Sell On Purpose.  If you focus and take action, you just got a big raise. 

 

May the bottom of your pan.... always be yellow.

 

Now Go Sell Something!

 

Click here for a RVDA Convention discount coupon.  Expires 07/31/08

 

From best-selling author Lisa Jimenez.  The biggest barrier that most people have to overcome is fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of making decisions. Fear of change. Fear of confrontation. Fear of loss. Fear of failure. And of course the big one – fear of success! It is this fear (and all of its cousins like worry, anxiety, and self-doubt) that paralyzes you, and keeps you from succeeding. Click Here for more info.

 

 

Watch our newsletter in the future for harnessing the power of the internet and email to increase RV sales and customer loyalty.

 

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