The Last Frontier for Process Improvement: Separating Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing come naturally to operators in the automotive industry. Independent dealers increasingly use data to inform financial, accounting, underwriting, and marketing decisions. As data plays a more significant role in even the smallest operations, the next frontier for sustainable success relies on creating and documenting processes. The quantitative and compliance aspects of the business lend themselves more to creating consistent processes. In marketing and sales, the crux of where numbers meet human interaction, we often see process improvement needs to catch up to other areas in the business.

What makes a good salesperson? What makes a good marketing plan? Does a car salesperson need to be charismatic, an extravert, and gifted with a flair for small talk? Sometimes, managers and operators think they have to allow deviation from processes among sales teams to give the ideal sales personality the space it needs to work its magic. Implementing CRM software to gather more information about customer behavior and lead-handling metrics can be a prolonged and painful process where managers view sales and marketing as innate talents rather than a skill achievable by any personality type. Most commonly, dealership branding gets relegated to individual salespeople to selfpromote on social media, in local markets, etc. Nothing can risk your dealership’s marketing potential like a commissiondriven salesperson ill-equipped for properly selling on social platforms.

In Daniel Pink’s book, “To Sell is Human,” he investigates the heart of selling and how it is innate to all humans, regardless of personality type. He cites several researchers and their studies of sales performance where the correlation between extraversion and sales is “essentially nonexistent.” What does this mean for the independent dealer? Prioritize your sales and marketing process for efficiency and a better work culture without fear of failure.

Sales and marketing are siblings, not twins. When a manager demands its salespeople to self-generate leads, the unintended consequence is that valuable customer information will escape the dealership. It won’t get entered into a CRM, which leaves the dealership without a customer base for follow-up. Side conversations on personal messages can lead to side deals that hurt the dealership. Bad individual relationships can tarnish the dealership’s reputation. And more. The potential for things to go wrong outweighs the potential for things to go right when the dealership leaves marketing in the hands of the salespeople. These problems are very familiar to independent operators. But what are you doing to improve it?

It’s time to tackle the last frontier in operational improvement for the independent dealer: separating sales and marketing. Marketing aligns more with your business model than with the sales team. Here is a quick guide to knowing if you are dealing with marketing or sales.

1. Is the role transactional? If the personis closing the deal, you are dealing withsales. Find someone who is a team player with a positive attitude and is willing to use a CRM to track details. Details are more important than personality. You can teach someone how to ask for the sale and close the deal. You can’t teach someone how to be willing to learn and embrace the process. You can create an environment that incentivizes and encourages it (and you should), but attitude is not a learned skill.
2. Does their role require communicating directly with new, unconverted leads? If yes, then the position is under sales. You don’t need a marketer if you are looking for someone to represent your dealership at a table at an event. You need sales. They may not transact, but each person approaching your table is a lead. Your dealership’s representative should be able to communicate the value proposition to the potential customer, enter their information into the dealer’s database, and proceed with a follow-up process.
3. Are you looking for a way to reach or bring more customers to your online or real-life business? You are looking for a marketer. The marketer communicates the benefits of your product or service by crafting communication for various channels to trigger the emotions that make that customer convert to a lead. The marketer tells a story.
4. Does their role require the interpretation of data analytics? Leave data analysis and market research to the marketer. The marketer should have a close understanding of your business model and your brand. Their role requires interpreting data to ensure it aligns with the business objectives.

Is your dealership too small to separate sales and marketing? Absolutely not. There has never been an easier time to outsource specific skills efficiently. Vertical integration, where you keep all skillsets in-house, can be part of your growth plan. However, if you want to optimize for efficiency, start with these priorities:

1. Create and guard your dealership’s brand value and reputation. You don’t have to be on every platform at the same time. The more you advertise without overseeing performance metrics, the more likely you are to waste money. Focus on your owned media, like your website, social platforms, search engine listings, and email marketing to your customer database. Put someone in charge who is not motivated by commission or wearing other hats.
2. Control and own your data. Data is quickly becoming currency, so treat it as such. There is an affordable solution for every size operation to consolidate customer data. Track your website analytics using your Google Analytics account and control its access wisely.
3. Hire a teachable sales team that will abide by your processes. Dr. Atul Gawande runs a unique physician practice in New Jersey, where finding talent is challenging. I’m not likening the automotive industry to healthcare. However, each retailer must set itself apart in a sea of competition. Your dealership is unique, just as Dr. Gawande’s practice is unique. When asked how he fills the necessary positions in his practice, he says, “We recruit for attitude and train for skill.”

The separation of sales and marketing forces you to define roles and processes in these areas. When you manage your customer data, you will improve your sales and marketing performance, resulting in efficient spending and better decisionmaking regarding advertising. 

Sources: 1) Pink, Daniel H. (2012). To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others. Riverhead Books. 2) Taylor, B. (2014, July 23). Hire for attitude, train for skill. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://hbr.org/2011/02/hire-for-attitude-train-for-sk