The Cardone Group has always promoted the advantages of early management intervention (EMI) and yet it remains an area where many stores underperform. The phenomenon of managers making contact with clients early on in the process is very important, albeit underestimated. J.D. Power has used mystery shops and financial statistics on profitability to document this, basing results on actual experience as opposed to opinion surveys. When managers make contact with clients early on, not only do the clients enjoy a more consistent experience, but the salesperson’s process disciplines are better as well, and there is an improvement to the bottom line with profitability going up.
The Basic Concept
To ensure the effectiveness of EMI, a member from your management team should acknowledge each customer, taking a special interest in their buying experience, addressing their unique needs. The key elements to this practice are: developing specific points or time-frames to introduce management, the manager emphasizing treating the client in a special way, setting the client’s expectations for their visit, delivering an experience uniquely tailored to the client and introducing the client to a salesperson while recapping and outlining their special requests. J.D. Power compared and contrasted the results of top performing stores against stores performing below median profitability, uncovering some interesting statistics around EMI. In top performing stores, EMI takes place 20 percent to 30 percent more frequently. When EMI takes place, 91 percent of clients were offered a test drive and 84 percent of the clients were asked for the sale! Based on those observations it is easy to see that EMI improves a number of client categories in a dramatic way.
The Key Steps in EMI
The first key step in EMI is a manager greeting the client whenever possible and setting the customer’s expectations for the visit. The manager then introduces the client to a salesperson, recapping and outlining the specifics of the request the client made. EMI is required at appraisal drop of prior to selection when there is no trade.
During EMI, the manager delivers an information package that has been developed prior to EMI, an information package including the model, price and ‘why the client should buy here.’ The manager also provides bio-data on the specific salesperson. A ‘game plan’ has to be structured to determine what managers ought to say when they meet clients. For example, a manager could say, “Good morning, and welcome to (your store’s name). My name is (manager’s name) and here is my business card. I am a manager here and I would like to thank you for considering us today. On what vehicle can we provide you some information?” The manager then transitions to the salesperson. This can be done, to give an example, in the following way: “Let me introduce (salesperson’s name), who is one of our best product specialists.” The sales person can also turn over to the manager, in, for example, the following way, “(Client’s Name), this is my manager, (Manager’s Name). (Client’s Name) is looking at (what the client is looking at) and is not selling their vehicle to us today. I told (Client’s Name) I wanted to get their information in our system quickly so we can have all the information ready once we select a vehicle.”
Final Thoughts on EMI
In any store where there is a desire to make a dramatic, immediate change in store behavior EMI is the first management tool that needs to be considered. EMI puts your most highly trained, highly paid, most successful employees in direct contact with your stores most valuable asset your clients. This engagement early in the process truly changes the customer experience. If you need further information on Early Management Interaction don’t hesitate to reach out with questions. We discuss this and other key elements to having a successful weekend in our live show Automotive Fridays every Friday at 2 p.m. EST on The Cardone Group Facebook and Instagram pages and Grant Cardone’s YouTube channel.
