A friend of mine, who is a master salesperson, recently went shopping for a new car. He owns a sales training company serving the hospitality industry, as well as being a gifted professional speaker. Last night he faxed me a sales letter he received from a auto dealership he visited that might be the WORST sales letter I have ever read. The names have been changed to protect the innocent victim; I’m not sure why I shouldn’t mention the dealership, but I won’t.

“Dear (Customer):

As the General Manager of (Dealership) of (City), I wanted to thank you for recently visiting our dealership. However, I was concerned that we have still not been able to get you into your next vehicle. I need to know if I can personally be of assistance in this matter.

I would also like to reiterate some key points about this dealership that hopefully were explained to you by the sales and/or management staff:

• All new or used cars will be sold at a fair and and honest price.
• All service work will be done quickly, efficiently, economically and intelligently. We will do everything possible to fix it right the first time.
• Free shuttle service will always be available to you while your car is being serviced.
• I will personally be available and accessible to you for any questions or problems you may have with your car.

Again, the goal of this dealership is to earn your business by satisfying all of your automotive needs. If I can be of any help personally, please give me a call.

Sincerely,

General Manager”

What apparent problems do you see with this letter? Let me suggest a few, some of which are obvious, but some are not:

• The mail merge was entered wrong. The greeting only contains the customer’s last name (i.e.: Dear Smith)
• The “I Factor.” The GM uses the word “I” seven times.
• I cringe at the phraseology of “I was concerned that we have still not been able to get you into your next vehicle,” as opposed to wondering WHY he hadn’t bought.
• His bullet points talk down to the customer, as if he is saying, “In case you didn’t get this the first time…”
• The letter is totally focused on the needs of the dealership, not the customer.
• The letter contains several typos.

Let me make three simple points.

1. Your primary focus should always be about the customer. This dealership appears to be totally focused on just selling cars, not taking care of their customers.
2. What you distribute in the form of sales literature and customer correspondence speaks volumes about your commitment to sales and service excellence. If you can’t proof a letter, how can you possibly know the features of something as big and complicated as a car, much less know how to fix one!
3. If this guy is the GM, were I the owner I would be more than a little concerned about how he trains his people, since he is willing to sign a letter like this.

Everything is important. Keep your customer’s needs in mind at all times, and let everything you say, do, or send out reflect your commitment to excellence in serving your clientele.

Good selling!

Technorati Tags: sales training, professional speaker, sales letter, auto dealership, sales, customer correspondence, sales and service

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 3rd, 2007 at 9:38 am and is filed under Marketing Ideas, Sales Ideas, Sales Training. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.