Mastering Customer Acquisition in Sales!

In this episode of A Little Sales Training, hosts Dan Levy and automotive expert Dan Little Jr. tackle one of the biggest questions in the car sales world: Where do you find customers? Whether you’re new to sales or a seasoned pro, this episode breaks down 7 powerful customer sources—from walk-ins and phone-ups to equity mining, referrals, and social media. Learn actionable strategies to drive traffic, build relationships, and increase conversions in today’s digital-first marketplace.

0:00 Introduction

2:00 Walk-In Customers

4:26 Phone Ups

6:15 Internet Leads

9:36 Equity Mining

12:04 Approaching Service Customers

15:12 Referrals

18:55 Social Media and Self Promotion

26:12 Exit & Contact Info.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:00 Walk-In Customers
• 4:26 Phone Ups
• 6:15 Internet Leads
• 9:36 Equity Mining
• 12:04 Approaching Service Customers
• 15:12 Referrals
• 18:55 Social Media and Self Promotion
• 26:12 Exit & Contact Info.

Transcript

Dan Levy (00:00)
Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of a little sales training where we break down the art and science of sales into actionable insights you can use today. I'm your host Dan Levy, and I am beyond excited about today's episode because we're tackling one of the most fundamental questions in sales. Where can I find customers joining me today? My cohost, the automotive expert, Dan Little Jr. A true veteran in the car sales world.

And you know a little something about finding customers, right Dan?

Dan Little Jr (00:31)
yeah, I would say if you're not asking yourself this question on the daily, then you might have picked the wrong profession. Definitely customers are the lifeblood of this business. And if you don't know where to find them, you're going to have a really hard time succeeding.

Dan Levy (00:38)
BAAA

⁓ right on. And what I love about today's topic is that it's so relevant to everyone, whether you're just starting out or you've been in sales for decades. Dan, before we dive into the different customer acquisition channels, what's your philosophy on customer acquisition? What's the mindset salespeople should have when thinking about finding customers in every different spectrum of selling cars?

Dan Little Jr (01:09)
So it's a matter of making sure that you're using every avenue that you have coming. I believe a lot of sales reps focus on one or two of the more common customers, which would be like your walk-ins and your phone-ups, and they forget about all the other avenues that are there and available for them. And if you just focus on those few avenues, unfortunately, if business is a little slow on that side, it's gonna make it really tough for you to be able to make a living at what you're doing.

Dan Levy (01:36)
Which is a perfect segue into the deep dive for today. We're going to cover seven, seven different customer sources. Walk-ins, phone-ups, internet leads, equity mining, service customers, referrals, social media, self-promotion. Now, if you don't mind, let's jump right in. Let's start with what many consider the traditional source of customers. Walk-ins. Random people who physically come into your location without a prior appointment. Dan.

What is your take on walking customers in today's digital age?

Dan Little Jr (02:08)
Yep, everybody's favorite customer is the walk-in customer. Obviously, they're the most serious. They took time out of their day to come to the dealership and actually look at vehicles and engage with a salesperson. So those are the customers that most salespeople lean towards. And the biggest thing to know is just that majority of these customers have done a lot of research and you want to treat them as being educated individuals already on vehicles and not as someone just walking through the front door.

Dan Levy (02:39)
All right. So once they walk in that door, tell me about a good basic to try to get those guys to come in and do what you got to do. Because a lot of these guys, I've been one of those people before where you're like, I'm not really sure where to start this dealership was cool. And you seem like somebody I may or may not trust. How, what is the best way to kind of make somebody feel at ease? Like they're not just walking into a bunch of sharks looking at the bait.

Dan Little Jr (03:05)
Yeah, the best way is just a friendly greeting, engagement, a handshake, and start by asking questions as to what it was that brought them in the door. Most customers have a pretty good idea of what it is they want to see, so just treat them accordingly and let them guide the way for you.

Dan Levy (03:21)
Now this used to be the case for all dealerships from pretty much the beginning of time. Now we're in a weird digital age, which is now reducing the number of people that are just walking off the street and doing that. Is that true?

Dan Little Jr (03:34)
Yes and no. The biggest thing about it is everybody starts their research online now. Years ago, a walk-in customer would be a couple that may just be touring the neighborhood and stopping dealer by dealer to look at a few car choices and see what all's out there and make a day is shopping on dealership lots. Nowadays, most people do their homework and they've already limited it to a few vehicles and a few dealerships that they plan on visiting.

Dan Levy (04:00)
Alright, so all good stuff, but are there any common mistakes to avoid with people walking in?

Dan Little Jr (04:07)
I would say the biggest mistake that salespeople make is assuming that the customer is not educated on the whole process. make sure that you're asking the questions and get an idea of what it is the customer is really there for and don't assume that you're starting at score one.

Dan Levy (04:23)
All right. And next, let me move on to segment two, phone-ups. Customers who call in with inquiries, how should salespeople handle these opportunities?

Dan Little Jr (04:35)
So a customer that calls in on an inquiry is almost at the same boat as to where a walk-in customer is. They were serious enough that they broke that wall and they actually reached out to a salesperson for additional information. And this is a customer looking to make sure that that vehicle is really on the lot and get a few questions answered prior to showing up to the dealership.

Dan Levy (04:58)
Now I've noticed a lot of salespeople try to answer detailed questions over the phone. Is that a mistake?

Dan Little Jr (05:04)
You want to be careful how much detail you give. Now, if a customer asks a question that needs a direct answer, then yes, you're going to go that way. But a big mistake that a lot of salespeople make is they give too much details to the point where they over engage a customer instead of letting the customer kind of direct things along the way.

Dan Levy (05:24)
What about call scripts?

Dan Little Jr (05:27)
I'm not a big fan of scripts. think that you, what you wanna do is have a plan of attack at all times. Reading off a script, the customer is gonna pick up on that right away and it makes you sound automated. Whereas if you know a selection of questions that you're gonna ask every customer, it makes that process go smoother and it shows that you're being engaged with the customer.

Dan Levy (05:49)
Dan, before we move on to the next topic, what are some common mistakes made by people in the phone conversation?

Dan Little Jr (05:58)
One of the biggest mistakes that a salesperson makes is they ask too quickly for an appointment. An easy appointment over the phone is more than likely an appointment that's not gonna show. You gotta make sure that you answer all the customer's questions and walk through to that appointment instead of jumping right to it right away.

Dan Levy (06:16)
Excellent. Now let's move on to the internet leads, which we are segment number three. These days, a huge portion of leads come through digital channels. Let's talk about internet leads, people who submit inquiries to websites, forums or email. You've been the other guy on the other side of that chat. What's your approach here?

Dan Little Jr (06:35)
So the biggest thing to keep in mind is this is gonna be a lead that's gonna take a lot more effort to get into the door. On average, a good dealership is closing between 10 to 12 % of these. A great dealership is closing between 15 and 18 % of these. So you need to go into it knowing that this is a long-term game and not a short-term game. Now sometimes you get lucky and a quick response will get you a customer in the door right away.

A good rule of thumb is under five minutes is a 90 % better success rate. Whereas if you go much longer than that, that's when you start to have a customer tail off. So a quick response, answering any questions that they threw in that inquiry, and start your process from there.

Dan Levy (07:18)
Whoa, that is a very narrow window to try to do that in just under five minutes. Any tips for managing that kind of response time?

Dan Little Jr (07:25)
So there's a couple ways you could do it. I've seen it done with having a manager involved, and the manager is doing the first text and email and phone call. And you could have templates set up that require minor editing, just to get those out right away within the five minute window. Another avenue that you could go with is there's plenty of AI tools out there that will actually get a response for you in under two minutes by text and email to a customer.

Dan Levy (07:52)
Interesting. What about the content of that first response? What works best?

Dan Little Jr (07:56)
So you want to keep it semi-simple. You want to mention the vehicle that they brought up, if it's a specific car, or mention the model that they discussed and just let them know that you're there to answer any questions they have or reassure them that that particular vehicle is available.

Dan Levy (08:12)
How many follow-up attempts do you recommend for internet leads that come that way?

Dan Little Jr (08:16)
On average, you're looking at at least six to eight points of contact through the first week, even into the second week, After that period of time, you're gonna cut down a bit, but just know that on average, internet customer could take up to 90 days to pull the trigger on making a deal.

Dan Levy (08:32)
What are some common complaints that internet leads are? Just, tire kickers if you will.

Dan Little Jr (08:38)
That's the big part is since the closing ratio is so low on those, it's very easy to get discouraged and feel like you're wasting your time and or a K dealing with a tire kicker. But the biggest thing to know is at the end of the day, everybody needs a car. So eventually those are going to, blossom into slumping. And if you're not the one staying in contact with them, then you're losing them to another deal.

Dan Levy (09:01)
What are some more common mistakes to do when doing this method?

Dan Little Jr (09:05)
The biggest mistake that people make is assuming that they know the best way that a customer wants to be contacted. maybe your comfort zone is to be talking to a customer over the phone, but if this customer sent an email inquiry, it may take an email to get that response, or it may take a text message and meeting them in the middle. So the biggest objection is really trying to figure out what the best means of contact is for that customer. And once you do figure it out, continuing that cycle along the way until you

get them in for an appointment.

Dan Levy (09:35)
All right, then we move on to segment number four, equity mining. Let's talk about this, a source that I it's often underutilized, it's equity mining. For listeners who are not familiar, explain what that is.

Dan Little Jr (09:48)
many dealerships are going to have a CRM tool or maybe even an equity tool like Auto Alert or something along those lines. And what equity mining is, is taking your customer base and looking for a balance. ⁓ Say a customer's in a five-year loan, typically by two years to two and a half years into that loan, they may be in a situation where they're starting to get some equity. Or depending on their driving habits,

they could be coming up to the end of their warranty terms So equity mining gives you the ability to look at a customer's situation and compare it with another newer vehicle that's out there to see if we could transition that customer from their current vehicle to something newer, possibly with more equipment and keep their payments around the same.

Dan Levy (10:34)
Alright, so we're possibly talking about customers who already bought from you or your dealership previously,

Dan Little Jr (10:39)
Yeah, definitely. These are customers that have purchased from you in the past. So you're utilizing your own information and your own data to make sure that you got a fairly accurate point as to where the customer is in the buying process.

Dan Levy (10:52)
And how do you identify these opportunities?

Dan Little Jr (10:55)
The best way to look at it is look for somebody that's had at least a couple years in their loan. Maybe they put some money down if their miles are getting high, if their warranty's coming close to an end. These are the customers you wanna focus on because these are the ones that are gonna have to make a tough decision as to whether to spend some money on additional warranty or services or potentially flip into something a little newer and nicer.

Dan Levy (11:21)
What's your approach when contacting these customers?

Dan Little Jr (11:24)
The biggest thing is educating the customer and giving them an idea as to where they are and what the current market looks like and let the customer decide if it's something that makes sense for them or otherwise they thank you for your time and they hang up.

Dan Levy (11:37)
My lord. Well, what other mistakes do you want to avoid when doing this approach?

Dan Little Jr (11:43)
The biggest mistake is coming on too hard on a sale. Once again, just educate the customer as to where their current vehicle stands, and then let them make the decision. If you come across as being pushy with it, ultimately you end up upsetting a customer and you may cost yourself a deal in the future instead of helping you earn one now.

Dan Levy (12:03)
Excellent. Let's go on to number five. Let's move on to servicing customers. People who are already coming to your location for maintenance or repairs. How do you approach this opportunity, which is something I'm starting to learn a little about buddy.

Dan Little Jr (12:17)
So the service customer is my favorite one. I tell the salespeople all the time, the biggest thing you're trying to accomplish with a service customer is just to make a friend. the dealership I was at, we were averaging between 60 and 80 customers a day walking through the service department. And that's by far triple to quadruple the amount of customers that were walking through the front door. So you go back there and you just build a relationship.

you know, offer them a cup of coffee, sit there, have some conversation with them, and start the process in a friendly manner that way.

Dan Levy (12:53)
Interesting, interesting. So they come in for service, not to buy. Isn't there a risk of the annoying part of them? mean, I know you want to kind of, like you said, just kind of make a friend out of it, but there's a thin line between, A, I could tell this guy's trying to get me to buy a car or anything of that nature. There's, we're always, anybody who's walking in like myself always has horns up like, all right, who's trying to rope me into something I don't want to do today.

Dan Little Jr (13:16)
Yep, and that's the biggest thing is you're back there and you're just engaging in conversation. If anything, you could bring up the fact that we're doing complimentary appraisals since their vehicles there. Many customers like being educated as to what the current value is of their vehicle, whether they plan on making a move on it or not. You know, it's always nice to know kind of like scratching a lottery ticket. You know, you bought that dollar lottery ticket. You want to see if you won the 500 or if you're throwing away the ticket.

Dan Levy (13:43)
I that. I can see that. All right. So any specific types of service customers that tend to be more receptive? Is there a way to kind of spot out who exactly is more receiving exactly what it is that you're trying to deal out to them?

Dan Little Jr (13:57)
The best way to look at it is like you do at Equity Mining. Look for someone that's coming close to a contract end or warranty end, but also pair up with your service department because many times there's customers that are in with unexpected repairs and maybe they're gonna be battling a two to $3,000 repair bill and didn't even think about the idea that they could possibly trade that vehicle in without having to take any money out of their bank account and get into a new vehicle.

So pay good attention to what's going on in service. Know what some of the big ticket service items are that are coming through and look at the customer's profile to see if it makes sense to be offering them something new or better. in the end, we're trying to do what's right for the customer.

Dan Levy (14:40)
Interesting. Any other things to avoid in terms of any pitfalls when approaching this kind of way of, ⁓ see if they want to buy a car.

Dan Little Jr (14:49)
Just make sure to not be too aggressive. If you go back there with a mindset that you have to sell a car and you push too hard, you're just gonna end up costing yourself customers and upsetting people along the way. So keep this as a friendly approach and you'll succeed very well back there.

Dan Levy (15:07)
Excellent. Now here's one that should be a layup for everybody, let's dive into this one. Referrals. Everyone's favorite customer source. Why are referrals so valuable in sales?

Dan Little Jr (15:19)
So there's no customer more valuable than a referral customer. And the main reason being is because somebody already did the hard work of telling this customer that you're the right person to do business with. Now your reputation is key and if you do a good job with your customers to the point where they're sending people your way, you're gonna see your business flourish very quickly.

Dan Levy (15:41)
Interesting. So many salespeople don't have a consistent referral strategy. Why do you think that is?

Dan Little Jr (15:50)
It all comes down to the process. Whenever you're dealing with referrals, you really need to start pitching the fact of customers referring people to you right from the point that they purchase their vehicle. There's no better time than when there engaged and happy with what's going on with their purchase that you start asking the question of who's next.

Dan Levy (16:12)
Excellent. is that basically your way of generating referrals consistently?

Dan Little Jr (16:16)
Well, you start with that. I always had a good follow up process with all my customers. If you purchase a vehicle, I was reaching out to you right around the time of that first oil change to make sure you made your appointment, see how things are going with your car. Anniversaries are important. You know, that six month, the year, the two years. So the more that you factor that into your process and the more that you keep engaged with your previous customers, the more referrals you're going to get.

the customer's on the phone with you, you're talking about their vehicle. Next thing you know, he's saying, hey, it's a good thing you called me because, my daughter just turned 16, gonna be looking for a vehicle for her to be driving. And next thing you know, you got a customer coming in the door.

Dan Levy (16:59)
Interesting, interesting. What about referral incentives? Giving people something, little something, something if they send you somebody your way. Do those work?

Dan Little Jr (17:09)
I believe they work. most dealerships are going to offer an incentive or referral or they'll call it a bird dog. I've seen it as low as $50. Some dealerships are a couple hundred. Some of the better salesmen, yeah, yeah. Some of the better salesmen will put stuff like that together on their own

Dan Levy (17:21)
Whoa, where's that one?

Dan Little Jr (17:29)
In some sales people's mind, if volume is your key and you want to grow yourself in the future, and actually give a couple hundred dollars out of their own pocket, even though the deal may not make that kind of money, just to build that rapport and that following. Because in the end, it's going to equate to something much bigger and better.

Dan Levy (17:47)
Very cool. What are some mistakes and what can people avoid with this method?

Dan Little Jr (17:53)
I think the biggest mistake that they make is not asking. It's a tough question. Sometimes you fear that you're going to upset a customer by trying to push them for details like that. But unfortunately, if you don't ask the question, you don't get the answers. Years ago when I got into the industry, it used to be required that you gave a customer a sheet that had 10 names on it. And they're supposed to put in the 10 names of the next 10 people that they thought may buy a car.

If you have any experience with timeshares, timeshares, they do the same thing. You go, you do the whole sales pitch with a timeshare person and then they ask you who's the next few. And as uncomfortable as that may feel, most people do put those down. And many times a good percentage of those customers are in the process of doing research at least towards a purchase. So there are opportunities there and you're giving yourself that chance to shine.

Dan Levy (18:49)
These are all good stuff.

Excellent. All right. So for the final one that we're going to give out to you guys, number seven, social media and self-promotion. Let's talk about social media and self-promotion. How should salespeople be using these channels?

Dan Little Jr (19:06)
So social media is probably the biggest thing for anyone. The younger generation lives on social media. Anyone with kids could vouch for that. Most of the kids nowadays could work phones and tablets better than the adults can. So it's very important to make sure that you brand yourself that way. Good ways of doing it is to have a deal of the day. Pick a vehicle every day to go out and offer up to customers to keep them in front of you. I always did a Friday lot walk.

I'd go and I just do a quick video of the whole inventory and post it. And the biggest thing it does is it just keeps you in front of everybody so that when they are ready, they remember, hey, Dan's here, you know, and another good way. And this is huge with customers. And it's also going to help your referrals is make sure to take pictures with your customers when you do your delivery. Nothing gets more attention than a customer that's happy in front of their brand new vehicle.

you'd be amazed how many comments, likes, and followers you end up getting off of things like that. So it's a great way to build your social media presence and build a reputation for yourself as a sales professional.

Dan Levy (20:15)
Interesting. All right. As far as platforms, what do you recommend salespeople focus on?

Dan Little Jr (20:21)
In a perfect world, you like to be part of everything, but focus on at least one, maybe two that you could really master. So if your big spot is Facebook and that's where your following is, focus on Facebook. If Twitter's your big following, focus on Twitter. ⁓ You'll find that if it's something you're comfortable with doing and it's a platform that you're comfortable with, you're more likely to go out there and do it on the daily than blow it off.

Dan Levy (20:48)
Is it worth it for somebody to use their personal profiles on these social medias or should they make a new one? So that way people know what that is and they're not being constantly annoyed by their friends that are doing that way. What's the best way to, should somebody make a business profile or just make it personal stuff?

Dan Little Jr (21:04)
So it's really up to your personal preference. Some people don't like mixing personal and business. I always felt that if you really wanted your customers to get to know you, they need to see the personal side of you too. So with me, I've always had my page attached to my business page or the company page, but I also promote myself on there as well. Other people will take the approach of building ⁓ a special file. Maybe you want to be a...

Dan's your man at ⁓ Chevy or you you could pick whatever you want to go with if you want to run it that way. But I believe that the personal touch is going to get you a little further along. But once again, it's all about what's comfortable for you. I'd rather you're doing something under a business profile page and not doing anything at all.

Dan Levy (21:51)
What kind of content works best for salespeople on social media?

Dan Little Jr (21:55)
So you gotta have a good mix of content. You can't have everything be all sales related. A good rule of thumb is one in four could be sales related. The rest of it should be something, maybe events that are going on at the dealership or like I said, happy customers with their vehicle or a service coupon. Be careful of pushing too much. It's all sales, sales, sales because all it's gonna do is have people stop engaging with your page.

Dan Levy (22:24)
Gotcha. ⁓ any kind of content that works is pretty much good for everybody, but how do you turn that social media engagement into actual sales opportunities?

Dan Little Jr (22:33)
So that's where you want to make sure that you stick into anyone that's making comments or liking. Be sure to reach out to them individually and just thank them for liking your post and let them know that you're there to help them along the way if they need it. As long as you're engaged and customers could see that there's back and forth communication on social and it's not a one-way road, you'll see that that'll start to flourish in the sales for you. And the greatest part about it is social media is 100 % free.

Even if it takes a while to get those deals, one deal is still more than paid for your time.

Dan Levy (23:06)
Excellent. And just for the sake of it, what about self-promotion outside of social media?

Dan Little Jr (23:12)
So there's a lot of individuals I know that are towards a higher echelon of sales that took their business to the next level with self-promotion outside of a dealership. I know of salespeople that are top producers that even went as far as like sponsoring events or sponsoring local youth sports teams. I even heard of a story of one guy that actually went to the local police department and rented out a donut truck.

and for four hours was in front of a police department, free donuts to all the workers and staff and everything. And he was just there shaking hands and introducing himself to people. And even though that didn't equate to a deal right away that day, he had multiple people that came to the dealership to talk to him and thank him for what he did for the police. And they ended up turning the car deals down the road. the more that you get yourself known as that expert, not only in the dealership realm, but in the community.

the bigger you can make your business.

Dan Levy (24:10)
So what you're saying is food trucks that go to police officers, the key to that kind of outside promotion. Wow. Okay. You've got one in my pocket for later. Not bad. What mistakes and what are some things that people should avoid, especially in the digital age and self-promotion where we've heard of a lot of things can go awry. What are some things that people can avoid just on the top?

Dan Little Jr (24:18)
Yeah.

I would say the biggest thing to avoid is just to make sure not to go 100 % sales pitch. Do the best you can to keep a good variety of content going, but keep it to the point where customers want to engage and don't feel like it's constantly being pushed down their throats.

Dan Levy (24:54)
I'll add a few for you just because I know how the social media kind of thing routes. But if you are going to use your account to talk business and do things that nature, try to skew away from anything political and try to skew away from anything that would divide your audience. Again, if you're going to start to promote your own business and start to introduce people to where you work, you are then, even though you may say you're not speaking on behalf of your place of business, but you are. And people would be associating your business.

with your opinions and your ethics. And if you choose to share that, just know that could possibly be a giant red flag for you. Dan, this has been incredibly insightful. Before we wrap it up, if you had to give sales people just one piece of advice about finding customers, what would it be?

Dan Little Jr (25:37)
make sure that you're fishing in all your ponds. we went over seven different areas where you could get traffic. So don't let the downfall of walk-in traffic being slow keep you from working the phone or working internet leads. And don't let a slow month on the internet side keep you from walking through the service department and finding a deal there. If you make it a habit to touch on all seven of these points every single day, you're gonna see your success grow.

And you're also gonna be able to keep a more positive attitude throughout the day. So I hope this was beneficial.

Dan Levy (26:11)
Fantastic. And that brings us to the end of today's episode. And just for the sake of it, before we finally give a bow out for listeners who want to dive deeper into these strategies, where should they find you, Dan?

Dan Little Jr (26:23)
Well there's plenty of ways to find me. You can look me up on LinkedIn. You can visit my website, alittltraining.com. I have an app, A Little Training, that's got plenty of tips and tricks for you. Or go the old school way and pick up the phone, give me a call at 708-969-2799.

Dan Levy (26:42)
All right, and that's going to wrap it up for this episode of the sales lounge. want to thank Dan Little Jr. for sharing his expertise on finding customers. And if you enjoy the episode, please subscribe, leave a review and share with a friend who might benefit from these insights. And join us next week when we'll be discussing utilizing video in the auto industry, another critical skill for sales success. Until then, keep closing. This is Dan Levy alongside Dan Little Jr. Have a great one. We're signing off. We'll talk to you soon.

Take care everybody.