Paul Sansone Jr., owner of Sansone Jr’s 66 Automall, saw a weakness in the automobile industry he was uncomfortable with and he designed a product to solve it.
“I am really making a very committed effort to change a little bit of the buying cycle at my store to be a friendlier experience for consumers because the current model we’re working under now is broken,” Sansone told attendees during a session titled, “How to Turn Social Feedback & Communities into Customers and Increased Spend,” at the 3rd Annual Engagement & Experience Expo, presented by Loyalty 360 – The Loyalty Marketer’s Association.
Sansone said the current model is broken because it’s too price-focused.
“It’s taking the sales man out of the equation,” he said. “To me, what’s lost in some of this equation is there’s an end consumer. It’s not just the survey studies. I know buying habits, and all the trends and all the analytical information is important, but what’s been taken out of it has been the sales person.”
Due to the Internet and price transparency, Sansone said it’s created a very untenable situation based purely on price negotiation.”
As a result, Sansone designed a referral program called the EZ Referral Network. The EZ Referral Network brings relationship selling back to the car sales process. The EZ Referral Network allows a dealer and its sales staff to easily bring in more repeats and referrals, and network to the people they know and prospect for more business. The use of smartphones and personalized websites, reporting and electronic payments via prepaid cards makes it easy for dealerships and their sales teams, Sansone said.
“We wanted to drive more leads in and close more business,” he said. “I wanted to make it a friendlier experience. It’s very much in tune with engaging the consumer.”
The EZ Referral Network lets you easily:
Log in to your personal website or smartphone application.
Enter your friend’s or relative’s contact information. Their information is sent directly to that dealership and to your salesperson friend.
Follow whether your friend purchased a vehicle or not.
Track the status of your referral fee
Get paid in one of three ways:
Electronically via a debit card.
Kept on account at the dealership for use for future parts, service, or sales.
Donate the money toward your favorite charity!
Sansone said to identify your best customers because they close at a higher percentage rate and a higher margin.
“It’s a relationship model,” he said.
Sansone said 60% of everyone who buys a car knows someone who is buying a car within the next 60 days.
“Wouldn’t it be low hanging fruit to ask for a referral?” Sansone said.
What’s more, 71% buy because they like the sales person, not just the price.
“What I’ve done is engage my sales staff,” he explained. “I’ve designed a mobile technology that allows my sales staff to easily do one thing: ask for a referral.”
The EZ Referral Network provides Sansone Jr’s 66 Automall (a Nissan and Kia dealer) with a way to measure and monetize its social media strategy and spend. Since a referral system is by definition social, it was easy to integrate it into its Facebook, Twitter, and overall marketing strategies. Sansone’s business has grown significantly since he launched the EZ Referral Network.
“I’m engaging my sales staff and empowering them,” Sansone said. “I am giving them the tools to be successful. The other thing is I’m incentivizing my consumers to send me business. I’ve automated the process of incentivizing and engaging my consumers. Get the sales man back into your game and referrals back into your network.”