In this post we want to take a closer look at some of the obvious and not-so-obvious reasons our dealers have chosen to use a desking tool to provide their customers with multi-payment presentation. We’ll also share some of the intriguing things that we have come to realize as a result of our customers successes.
Desking – The Obvious
We are all aware that we’re living in the information age, and consumers have access to far more information than they ever have before. Therefore, when customers arrive at your dealership they don’t want to feel as though you’re withholding information from them. If they do, they’re likely to immediately distrust you. Customers want their dealer to convince them that they’re in good hands, and too many trips back to the sales managers office to get payments quickly erodes their trust in you. Much to this same point, gone are the days of the “interview” stage in which salespeople take the time to help the customer pick the right vehicle. Most of today’s customers know, down to the model and trim, exactly which vehicle they are interested in. They want their dealers to be willing to move quickly through the sales process and provide them clear and concise purchase options.
Desking – The Not-So-Obvious
Even though customers have access to all the information as mentioned above, many still have a general misconception of payment based on price. All too often customers come in looking at a $35,000 vehicle thinking that they should be able to get it for 60 payments of about $400. The problem this presents is that when they ask for a 60 month finance payment with $0 down and you come back with $575 a month, they’re often shocked and need time to process a $175 a month increase in payment. Rarely do customers say things like: “Can you increase the term on that loan?” or “What about leasing, how much would that payment be?”. Their most common response to a payment that’s higher than they anticipated is: “Is that the best you can do?”. And so here is the trap with delivering a single or even just a couple payments; customers move almost immediately to price and often don’t buy in an effort to digest how far off they were on their payment expectations.
Desking – The Intriguing
Many of our Sales Managers have told us, that spending less time getting payments from a system designed to generate a single payment (like a DMS), has actually afforded them more time to coach salespeople. We’ve heard Sales Managers say things like “desking tools are for lazy sales managers” or “I don’t have time for another system”, however it’s been our experience that a great desking tool not only gives Sales Managers back time they need, but it let’s them use their time to focus on the things that make them successful.
The final thing that our customers tell us, is that even with very little focus, leasing penetration has gone up just by presenting lease payments every time. This might not come as a surprise to a lot of you, however the intriguing part for us about this statement is that if this is this case, then why isn’t EVERY dealer presenting lease payments to EVERY customer. We think the reason is that not all dealers are fortunate enough to have the right tools to do so.
There is no question we’re bias about this topic, one of the core products we build is a desking tool. That being said, we also know that our customers take their business very seriously, and that they depend on us to help make them stand out in the crowd. If your dealership is looking for a new edge this year, give us a call. Our goal is to make your team more successful!
