How to Generate Sales and Income When Floor Traffic is Down - Part2
I remember years ago hearing from 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. 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.
Diggin' for Gold. 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 research 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?
2. Referral Business. 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 spoke at the RV Dealers Association Convention 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.
3. Service Drive This is an untapped 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. Qualified 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. (That means filled with gold for you city folk
Now Go Sell Something!
About the Author
Chuck Morgan has 18 years of experience in RV sales and management. He currently services over 70 dealers throughout the US and Canada through in house sales and management training, dealership consultation and training products. His company website is http://www.rvsalestraining.com. The toll free number is 1-888-338-7355
RVs are the most comfortable and luxurious vehicles specially made for long vacations with the feel of home inside by giving all the facilities which we look for. It is often full time living in vehicle and is well known as Mobile Homes. Recreational vehicles for sale are rented in most of the places for tourists areas. Nowadays, they are used for mobile offices for many business travelers with upgrading technology like a generator, satellite internet and necessary things which are required for the business purposes. They are often serving as permanent traveling homes for many people across the world.
There are several types of RVs like Class A Motorhomes, Bus conversion, Diesel Pusher, Class B campervan, Class C Motorhomes, Truck camper, Popup camper, Travel trailer eardrop trailer, Hybrid trailer ,Fifth-wheel trailer, Park model (Vacation/Resort Cottage),Tote home and Toy hauler. The Lifestyle of RVs is for those who are fond of traveling and camping from one location to another location. The Prominent manufactures for Recreational vehicles for sale are Airstream, Fleetwood, Jayco, Keystones, Triple E Recreational vehicles, Hymer, etc.
Following are the best and leading Recreational vehicles for sale :-
Airstream RVs :- They are loved by the people for its well equipped features, like it has got more durable nature. The effective mechanism is awesome so that the whole journey will be smooth and enjoyable. It gives you all the features which Recreational vehicles for sale should possess. They are more comfortable so no matter till long time you travel. Though, it has not much space but you will love to enjoy while driving. Due to the less space you can find anything if you have lost in the Recreational Vehicles. Similarly, cleaning the Recreational Vehicles will take less time. Traveling in Airstreams Recreational Vehicles is a wonderful experience. It includes small kitchen, a bathroom, small living room along with bed attached to it so that you can just pull out when you want to.
Keystones RVs :- They are one of the prominent manufacture in Recreational vehicles for sale and are divided in to travel trailers, toy haulers , light in weight and fifth wheels. They are also available with 30 different models besides different classes. The price of Used Keystones RVs range from $ 10k to $ 100k, in which The Bullet Recreational Vehicle is cheapest one. The Big Sky is one of the expensive Recreational Vehicles manufacture by Keystones which is amazing. The beautiful exteriors and interiors of this model will catch your eye, a sit includes LCD TV, audio video systems, kitchen, a living room, a bedroom and a bathroom along with additional facilities like a refrigerator, a table along with chairs, a desktop, AC, wood cabinets, well furnished floors, king sized beds and still leaving ample amount of space for storage. It has a supplementary feature like sofa attached to the wall for the guest if arrived in middle while traveling. If you find this Keystone RVs quite expensive, there are other Rvs manufacture by the Keystones which will be available at all travel dealers across the country.
If you want to add more accessories to your Recreational vehicles for sale, there are various options available like you can put curtains to the windows of the RVs, attached frames on walls, photos of your loved one, advanced stereo system so that you will have fun while traveling in the RVs for long time. You will come across many dealers in your locality or across the country. Proper research will help you in finding the best Recreational Vehicles so that traveling will be a fun and you will discover new roads for new city.
About the Author
We at usedrvlisting.com consider factors like quality and price which can allow making correct purchases of Recreational Vehicles for sale. Our main aim is customer satisfaction and to attain that our team is working very hard.
Owning a generator for your home means you might be interested in transfer switches. The following questions and answers should provide you with some key knowledge on the subject.
What are transfer switches?
Simply put, a transfer switch is an electrical switch that will redirect your power from the primary source to a backup source. These are often installed in conjunction with backup generators in homes or businesses.
What is the difference between automatic and manual transfer switches?
Well, as the name implies, a manual transfer switch requires that you physically transfer your power source. On the other hand, the automatic transfer switches do it for you. The benefit of going with the automatic is obvious—if your power goes out, you'll go to generator power almost immediately. This will significantly cut down the time you go without power, as well as the hassle that goes along with it.
Can I install my own transfer switches?
Installing transfer switches can be tricky business. If done incorrectly, they may not work properly and may even be dangerous. If you look around online, you might be able to find some directions for installation of transfer switches. But realistically, you'd be wise to hire a professional, licensed electrician to do it for you. That way you can rest assured that the job was done safely and correctly. You might consider getting it inspected as well.
Where can I purchase transfer switches?
Typically you can find transfer switches through a generator supplier. Your best bet is to look online. Shopping online has a variety of benefits including:
• Convenience-your purchase only requires you to sit down at your computer with your credit card.
• Choices-when you shop online, you have a wide variety of choices. Brands, suppliers-the ball is in your court.
• Fair pricing-the sheer number of online suppliers make it easy for you to compare prices. That means you can get a better deal than if you go searching for generator transfer switches in stores.
What brand of transfer switches should I choose?
There are all sorts of brands out there. Generally, it's a good idea to match the brand of your generator with your transfer switch. For example, if you have a Generac generator, go with Generac transfer switches. Or if you have a Guardian generator, stick with them for the transfer switch.
How much should I expect to spend on transfer switches?
Price depends on a few things. First of all, brand can play a factor. For example, you may pay a bit more for a Generac transfer switch than some off brand that you've never heard of. Also, an automatic transfer switch will likely run you more than a manual one. And of course there are other features that can raise prices as well. So while it's hard to give a straight answer to this question, you'll probably find generator transfer switches starting at around 250 dollars and going up into the thousands.
If you use a generator as a backup power supply for your home or business, consider looking into transfer switches now.
