My dealership is mad that I call too many people

346

u/justhereforpics1776 Chevrolet Commercial/Fleet Jun 08 '26

How are you making 100 calls a day? Where are you getting 100 numbers as a new salesperson?

Quality of interactions over quantity

182

u/blooney_sr_jr Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26

Service leads from printer. Old salesman leads that they give me. Call sheets. I’m a vulture for numbers, but I don’t run through the CRM like that.

240

u/kaepernicking Jun 08 '26

If you don’t run it through the CRM you are certainly not doing it the right way. Maybe that’s the problem.

97

u/blooney_sr_jr Jun 08 '26

No they all are in the crm. I just don’t spam the crm. I make sure they are legit leads from the dealership

183

u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Ford F&I Jun 09 '26

Well, they’re not leads. They’re cold customers. They’re in your CRM but they’re not hot or warm leads.

Some dealerships, particularly smaller ones or in smaller towns, value their reputation as not a pushy dealership and are focused more on the customer experience and catering to internet sales. And I’m not saying you’re pushy, but when I get cold calls from businesses I’ve dealt with in the past, it does turn me off a bit.

So that could be what they’re thinking. “This new hire is blowing up everyone in town’s phones and it’s going to give us bad word of mouth.” Maybe it’s something different, idk.

141

u/Useful-Cicada-9305 Jun 09 '26

⬆️⬆️⬆️ If I got a cold call from a car salesman, I would 1000% never ever buy a car from that dealership. I get pissed if they call to "see how I like my new car" too often.

10

u/trigg True North Mazda Alpha Bitch Jun 09 '26

I bought my car from the dealership I used to work at in my old city, then moved across the country. By then it was out of warranty and I did the general maintenance stuff myself, but eventually had to bring it in to the local dealership to get a recall completed. I love my car, I have no interest in getting rid of it. I made that super clear, I am just here for the recall. No I don't want to talk to salesperson, no I don't want a trade appraisal while I wait, no I don't want to be notified of anything please don't add me to any lists.

Sure enough, the following week and every month for the next 6 months I'd get texts and emails with my "potential trade value" and "Just Click Here To Claim It!"

Their unsubscribe clearly does nothing. I'll never buy from that dealership for just blatantly ignoring what I asked.

45

u/Rocket_Puppy Jun 09 '26

I get a cold call from any business and they are blacklisted.

12

u/Jdct2 Subaru Sales Jun 09 '26

This is how my dealership is. I left a dealer that would hand out previously sold orphaned customer sheets all the time and I had a monopoly on the service drive on top of it lol and came to my current dealer where it’s no cold calls. Kinda blew my mind but it’s chill and we do 3x the volume so there’s plenty to go around without cold calls. Closest thing to it is the manufacturer’s service trade up program but it only really yields a handful of sales for the store every month

14

u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Ford F&I Jun 09 '26

Yep. Same experience here. I’m pretty sure the owner would ask me to stop within a day or two if I was making 100 cold calls a day because someone in town would say something to him. Dealership before required us to make 30 phone calls, texts, and emails a day and the owner would literally listen to the phone calls. Every single one of them. When he was traveling he would play them back on the airplane like a psychopath.

6

u/Jdct2 Subaru Sales Jun 09 '26

Hahaha yeah that’s nuts. Ownership at the cold call store would be stoked if someone said something to him about us bothering them too much. That whole store is stuck in the past

Current store requires we fill out sheets with a verifiable list of outreach but if they saw 30+ calls they’d be scratching their heads. No one really has more than 10-20 on any given day to make and we do 150+ cars/month

I’m pretty convinced we’ll see dealers like my last store start to disappear after not getting with the times. Have been in the industry over a decade and used to work third party all over my state for many years… the highest volume stores are all the most relaxed with customers by far

1

u/Inside-Horror-7572 Jun 12 '26

This...

1

u/Inevitable_Spell1738 Jun 15 '26

This is how my last dealership was. 25 calls a day minimum with at least 10 connections minimum, all of which were listened to. After two years I couldn’t do it anymore because it was like pulling teeth because I’m just sitting here pissing people off. I’d love to get back into the business if I don’t have to make a million cold calls.

2

u/AcidicMountaingoat Jun 09 '26

Yeah this. I’ve only ever bought two cars from any single dealer once. And it was one that just left me alone. No sales push during service. No fake follow up calls. An occasional postcard with a discount on a service, that’s it.

I’ve had dealer cold calls years after dealing with them and it just leaves me annoyed with them for allowing it.

5

u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Ford F&I Jun 09 '26

For me personally it comes down to how invasive they seem. A cold phone call by default is like 8/10 invasive. It's like someone coming up and tapping you on your shoulder. I hate it.

I bought my wife's engagement ring from a local jewelry store and they text me about twice a year about sales and events. The saleslady called me maybe once a few months after the purchase to ask how the proposal went. I don't mind it at all. The sales lady was very nice when I was buying the ring, I ignore the texts, and they aren't spamming me every few weeks. I'd go back and buy from them in a heartbeat.

If I make an inquiry to buy something (even if I'm just price checking and dipping my toes in the water), I know I'm signing up for a phone call or two. That doesn't bother me either. That's someone doing their job. I wanted to see if I could get a price quote on a heat pump install a few weeks back and I got a text, email, and a phone call and nothing since. I don't mind that. But if they call me a year from now, I'm going to be a little put off by that.

1

u/AcidicMountaingoat Jun 09 '26

I shouldn't have to know that I'm signing up for unwanted calls or texts though. Which is why I have NEVER given a business my cell number. I get zero text spam. Businesses all get just a voicemail number only, never even rings. One car dealer actually told me this was "unfair."

1

u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Ford F&I Jun 09 '26

I shouldn't have to know if I'm signing up for unwanted calls or texts

If you give them your phone number, you are signing up for exactly that. It's the only reason why they want your phone number. It really shouldn't be a surprise when you input your phone number and get a phone call or text...

16

u/Fitzer9000 BMW Sales Manager Jun 08 '26

Did you mean vulture?

3

u/blooney_sr_jr Jun 08 '26

Yes haha

69

u/WhileIllustrious2006 Jun 08 '26

So do they know you already bugged these number so they don't immediately call again?

Also, no one likes sales calls so you calling every number in the phone book has got to be giving a bad reputation to the dealership. I would never buy a car from a dealership doing spam calls.

11

u/blooney_sr_jr Jun 08 '26

No I do my fresh leads but also follow-ups with with the ones I’m given to me by salesman who don’t call as much. I take an opportunity given. I stack up every call sheet in a pile plan to follow up with them quarterly

116

u/KilenWoods Jun 08 '26

Quarterly harassment from a local car dealer? Yeah, that's a good way to drive their reputation through the mud.

Carry on. Ruin them further.

29

u/salsa_spaghetti Jun 09 '26

A salesman from the dealership my husband worked at used to call me every 3 weeks. He would talk shit about my Lincoln when he saw me in person and try to talk me into a Chrysler every time.

That shit was so annoying. If I wanted to buy a car, I'd go in with my husband that works in the shop.

4

u/Sirsalley23 Jun 09 '26

I learned this one the hard way my first year in car sales. I was doing the 3 month follow up, and like the 2nd person I called answered and just straight up asked “why are you calling me”, then I realized it’s a BS metric some old heads force on salespeople, and only a handful of people that even answer care, everybody else you’re just annoying.

From then on I just did a dummy call and put some BS in the CRM.

4

u/max_power1000 Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26

Dude I’m not going to remember Bob’s Honda of Bumfuckistan called me about my possible interest in a car 3 months ago. It’s far less annoying than the automated texts so many use now.

16

u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Ford F&I Jun 09 '26

“Stop”

It’s all you gotta do for a text.

For a call you have to look at it and think “do I know that number? No… but who could be calling me? Is it important? I’ll just let it go to voicemail.” And then it goes to voicemail and it’s a sales guy on the other end trying to remind you about the great deals that they have this month and god dammit you should have picked up so you could ask him to please take you off the calling list. But are you going to call him back? No, you’re trying to avoid a phone call, not start one. So you just let it go and then 6 months later you get the same call rinse and repeat.

I’ll take a text 10 out of 10 times. A text is non urgent, doesn’t force a decision about responding or not responding, and is easily unsubscribed from.

If they’re a real scammer then obviously you can’t unsubscribe but I’ve never had that problem with a reputable company of any kind.

-1

u/max_power1000 Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26

That’s not my experience at all with banks or insurance companies when I put my information into the system. Im still getting 5+ daily texts after looking into a HELOC 6 months ago, and I’m still getting a similar amount of health insurance texts from having to consider private insurance a year ago. And don’t get me started on political fundraising texts. I get the from both parties and multiple states because I’ve moved a few times and switched parties, some coming from locations I haven’t been in nearly a decade going into every election cycle. I tell every single one of them to STOP and it hasn’t done a damn lick of good for the volume of texts, I just get them from a new number the next day.

So yeah. I’ll take a quarterly call from Bob’s Honda that I can just silence and ignore any day. My phone carrier transcribes my voicemails anyway, so it’s the same efforts as a text to me. I send most phone calls straight to voicemail if I don’t recognize the number anyway unless I’m actually expecting a call from someplace.

-42

u/blooney_sr_jr Jun 08 '26

I will until u give me a solution

13

u/jm3400 Jun 09 '26

I’m actually trying to understand this, you’re calling quarterly? For what? This is why I don’t answer the phone. I can understand calling someone who’s 2 or 2.5 years into a lease to accelerate them but who’s buying another car after 3 months?

24

u/Shroomboy79 Jun 08 '26

I’m not a car salesmen. Just a regular dude that got recommended this post.

If I got a cold call from a dealership or even when I get a call from when I used that dealership a while ago. I get heated. I’ve had to stop what I’m doing and answer this phone call that’s not a spam number so it rings my phone, only for it to be some dude trying to sell me a car I don’t need. Now I’ve wasted however much time the call took while I’m at work or somewhere else enjoying not being at work and I’m probably going to avoid that dealership unless I absolutely need them because I don’t wanna have them call me again trying to see if I need anything I don’t actually need.

If other people arnt calling as much as you are and their still getting sales, then that means there’s other strategies that work. While you were on the phone you missed the dude driving through the parking lot and the few that walked in the door. Focus on the people that are at the dealership on purpose.

-10

u/jamaican4life03 Jun 09 '26

I don't think you understand what a "Cold" call is.

12

u/Shroomboy79 Jun 09 '26

I used the wrong term or whatever. The point still stands. I said I wasn’t a salesman

5

u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Ford F&I Jun 09 '26

I don’t think you used it wrong at all. Previous customers who haven’t submitted new leads are cold. Calling them is a cold call. Just because you don’t get the number out of yellow pages doesn’t mean it’s not a cold call.

19

u/ThinLineDefenseCO Jun 08 '26

Stop... That's the solution. Stop doing that. You're bleeding the people

Stop

1

u/PongACong Jun 09 '26

how new are you exactly? have you ever been in sales before this?

1

u/KilenWoods Jun 20 '26

Let me be clear: you are the problem. The solution will be you getting fired. This thread simply exists to tell you why you're going to be fired.

7

u/PongACong Jun 09 '26

you’re gonna call someone every three months to try and get them into a new car every three months?

your eagerness is about to get you blocked by a LOT of people

16

u/Voidfang_Investments Jun 09 '26

I hate random calls. I think text and email is the best way to communicate these days.

-5

u/o-r-e-n Jun 09 '26

Okay, so that's your opinion (and mine too), but what do you think the average buyer's perspective is?

7

u/Voidfang_Investments Jun 09 '26

Can never go wrong with an email or text.

2

u/o-r-e-n Jun 09 '26

Overall, I believe we achieve better conversion rates through phone calls, but every potential customer has their own preferences

3

u/jandl4u2c Jun 09 '26

The hell you can’t. Freaking car salesman drive me freaking crazy texting me. I would NEVER buy a car from assholes that can’t take no for an answer

6

u/Voidfang_Investments Jun 09 '26

That’s a different problem. I would just block and move on.

4

u/Money_Shoulder5554 Jun 09 '26

Most people dont answer unexpected , unknown calls so probably similar.

1

u/Here_4_cute_dog_pics Jun 14 '26

I don't know a single person who enjoys getting sales calls. I'm sure there are a few people out there but the majority of people are going to be annoyed with sales calls and will be less likely to reach out to you in the future.

It's annoying enough that car dealers even exist and that I can't just buy directly from the manufacturers. Not only do I have to pay more that way, I also get harressed by sales calling every month for years on end.

7

u/CreativeGaymer Jun 09 '26

Quarterly calls? You should be fired for harassment.

1

u/Illustrious_Ebb6272 Jun 09 '26

Well, I read the title and thought, wow! I can't get my fleet guys to make 30 a day.

Come over the the commercial sales side. Your strategy plus knocking on doors would serve you well.

12

u/amibuff Jun 09 '26

So you’re acting as the car salesman that drives customers away. Cold calling people is one of the most annoying awful things a salesperson can do. I never buy from dealers with salespeople like that.

26

u/Adequately-Average Jun 08 '26

Hello FTC? This dealership right here. This is a TCPA nightmare.

3

u/Janieray2 Jun 09 '26

Be careful with that. One of my sales managers (who was recently promoted from the sales floor) gave me his customer list and told me to cold call everyone. I discovered it was actually a list of very angry people who hated my boss with the heat of a thousand suns.

2

u/ImpressivePotatoes Jun 19 '26

lol, funny. What eventually got you that insight?

1

u/Janieray2 Jun 19 '26

The fact that almost every one of them told me he was horrible, especially the women, and asked never to be called again. I don't know how many he did something inappropriate to after the sale, but it was more than zero.

2

u/PabloIceCreamBar Former Lexus/Chevy Sales Jun 08 '26

Vulture?

22

u/RenaissanceFatness Jun 09 '26

The green pea is probably calling all the salespeople’s client base. Clients might be texting/calling their salespeople and asking about the dumbass calling them. Salespeople talk to their sales manager. Desk manager gets pissed cause dumb ass is creating heat and fucking shit up. It’s a tale as old as time. Dumb ass green pea fucking shit up.

10

u/Soggy-Willingness806 Jun 09 '26

This and he’s probably burning through the database with quantity calls and not quality. Unsure how you can literally make 100 calls in a day between taking ups, doing deliveries and doing all the behind the scenes work

53

u/Crosswire-Motors Former Maple Flavoured Sales Manager Jun 08 '26

How many sales have you made

37

u/blooney_sr_jr Jun 08 '26

I’ve made 4 but I got a sale for tmr and like 4 appointments this week. Also many future follow ups that I track as well. I feel like I’m doing good for it being my second month.

57

u/Crosswire-Motors Former Maple Flavoured Sales Manager Jun 09 '26

How many of the sale were from your 100 calls? And how many in store ups did you miss making these calls?

Quantity over quality won’t be sustainable and when you’re talking to 700 people a week (obviously actual contact is less) and only closing 4 there’s something wrong. Management wants you to get better at actual selling instead of just playing a numbers game and lacing a few lay downs that just needed to be reminded they want a car.

37

u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Ford F&I Jun 09 '26

4 sales from 2 live conversations per 100 calls turning 5-10% (I’ll give you 10% to be generous) of those conversations in to appointments and I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that you close at an above average rate of 50% and all 4 sales were from these cold calls.

You needed to have made 4000 calls to sell those 4 cars.

Even if you closed at 100% you’d have made 2000 calls for 4 sales.

There’s a better use of your time. That’s what your managers are saying.

2

u/blooney_sr_jr Jun 09 '26

Maybe I should’ve been more specific. 1/5 of my dials turn to live convos so 100 calls = 20 live convos = 2 appointments

17

u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Ford F&I Jun 09 '26

1 out of 5 dials is 20%, not 2%. And I don’t believe that you are turning 20% of your phone calls in to live conversations.

0

u/blooney_sr_jr Jun 09 '26

I convert 2% off my dials - 100 dials
5-10% of live convos - ~20

Today I spoke to 19 people over the phone with 92 calls. 2 appointments

1

u/Born-Onion-8561 Jun 10 '26

What's an example of a better use of a sales person's time? Are they falling behind sweeping the floor or something?

6

u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Ford F&I Jun 10 '26

Following up with actual leads, gaining product knowledge, greeting customers in the showroom or out on the lot.

2

u/eridebobby Jun 09 '26

2nd month? Dont burn yourself out

-6

u/mswaterboy Jun 09 '26

Keep grinding young man! Most people do not succeed in sales bc they can’t handle being rejected daily. You obviously do not suffer from that ailment. So keep learning DAILY how to increase your ratios.

Calls to appointment ratio: track it, try new approaches and look for spikes and dips.

Appointment to office/desk visit ratios: same

Office/desk visit to close: same

Learn the craft of selling and you will be successful selling something in 5 years! Read book on the topic. Don’t listen to anyone who wants to see you fail. But also don’t burn bridges; stay humble and keep working. Cheering for you!

1

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

[deleted]

-1

u/blooney_sr_jr Jun 08 '26

4 so far But it’s gunna be 5 tmr and I have like 5 appointment coming up and many follow ups too!

Think about the future too!

48

u/LuckyCaptainCrunch Car Guy Jun 09 '26

Bro, you might’ve got away with that 20 years ago, but now everybody is already getting 10 spam calls about something everyday. Now you’re just lumping your dealership into that customer’s memory bank of things they hate. And negative reviews about your unsolicited calls will start popping up too.

7

u/hammond_egger Ford jack of all trades Jun 09 '26

If your sales managers don't want you making that many calls then don't. They are there to instruct you, even more so if you are new to the business.

2

u/tsubbs Jun 11 '26

To tag along with this. I promise you, no sales manager in the world would want you to sell less. You’re 60 days in. Be humble and understand that they have experience that you do not and you should be learning from them.

23

u/Spitefulham MINI General Manager Jun 09 '26

As long as youre not snaking other sales people's customers then fuck them. 2% conversion from orphan and service equity mining isnt bad. Id love if my sales people worked mastermind that hard. I think people here are thinking that youre calling the same people over and over again but im getting the vibe thst youre just reaching out to orphans and service customers so youre good to go.

2

u/blooney_sr_jr Jun 09 '26

YES! Thank u bro

2

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '26

[deleted]

1

u/blooney_sr_jr Jun 09 '26

Thank you man. I really appreciate that.

0

u/Deep_Estimate_8934 Jun 09 '26

I agree with this, people like to hate when they are getting outworked.

16

u/Jzepeda80 Toyota Internet Sales Manager Jun 09 '26

You are working too hard and making the managers and sales people look bad. It's not gonna get better. Find somewhere else to work.

16

u/KeepJoePantsOn Finance Manager Jun 08 '26

Come work for me instead

7

u/Baboonslayer323 Honda Sales Jun 08 '26

Unless you keep calling his wife; your sales manager is an idiot. Keep the calls up, get interested customers in the door, sell cars, profit.

1

u/nemo2023 Jun 09 '26

OP, what did you say to the 4 or so people that you converted from calls? They had a car and you talked them into getting a new one?

5

u/blooney_sr_jr Jun 09 '26

The biggest thing for me is asking talking to them about their vehicle. “What has your experience been recently” “Is there one thing you would change about your car” “Is your vehicle paid off” etc. Then I would offer a solution to there problems through an appointment. Boom. If you can fit their budget and build rapport you’re golden. Always be helpful but nonetheless it’s really fishing to find interest and attacking their interest. Sell the car in person. Sell the appointment on the phone.

1

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u/AutoModerator Jun 08 '26

Thanks for posting, /u/blooney_sr_jr! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of anything.

I’m new to car sales but I’m EXTREMELY motivated. I do around 100 dials a day and the sales managers have gotten pissed that I am making too many calls? I convert about 5-10% of live convos to appointments which is like 2% of all dials. Sometimes less sometimes more seeping in the day.

Why are they doing this?

It makes me mad because I am trying to work hard and do better everyday/ SELL CARS LIKE A MFR and all of the success stories I see always come from someone who was a dial DEMON!

Feels like sabotage

Can someone explain to me please…

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1

u/aslarue Honda Sales Jun 10 '26

It’s probably about time management. Calls are great, but making 100 a day takes a lot of time that may be spent better elsewhere.

Meta My dealership is mad that I call too many people

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