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Every point on your scorecard is an appointment you could have set.
This is a real scorecard from one of our shops. We changed the names. Yours follows the same lead from first click to last follow-up, and shows you exactly where the appointment slipped away.
Jordan's scorecard
Internet lead + phone call · Customer: Dana, asking for the out-the-door price on an SUV, with a trade.
1 Your speed
Dana sent her lead at 3:25 PM on a Tuesday. The store was open until 7.
Coach's note: You called, texted and emailed inside six minutes, all in your own words. That's exactly the right instinct. Start that same burst in the first 15 minutes and you pick up all 20 points, and the customer hears from a human before she hears from three other stores.
2 What she asked, and what you sent back
- Named the vehicle in the subject line
- Introduced yourself and used her name
- Confirmed it's available
- Asked for a reply
- No thank you for the inquiry
- No price, which was her only question
- Asked about a trade she'd already submitted online
- Asked to confirm a number she'd already given
Coach's note: Customers who ask for a number and get one have a reason to reply. Holding the price "until we know about your trade" feels like a stall, even when you mean well. Give the number, say the trade will lower it, then ask for the appointment.
3 The phone call
Her husband called on day 3 and asked for the out-the-door price again.
- Found the vehicle fast from the stock number
- Repeated back what he needed
- Used his name
- Logged it in the CRM
- Promised a clear next step
- Answered with the store name only, no name, no thank you
- Never gave the price
- No reason to buy from this store
What happened next: the promised numbers never arrived. The next afternoon, Dana got a text saying the SUV had sold. She asked one question on Tuesday, asked again on Thursday, and on Friday learned the car was gone without ever seeing a price.
4 Not your fault, but it's costing you appointments
Some of what we find is bigger than you. Show this part to your manager.
Your store's numbers aren't labeled correctly.
When you call customers back, their phone shows a sister store's name, or a coworker's personal name, instead of your dealership. People don't answer calls they don't recognize, so your follow-up goes straight to voicemail. It's usually a quick fix with your phone carrier.
Your team isn't getting the most out of its AI.
The store's AI assistant answered in 6 minutes, but it didn't name the car or answer the question. Then the customer called asking for the AI by name, thinking it was a person. Set up right, the AI should answer the question and hand the customer to you, warm.
The trade form never reached you.
Dana submitted her trade four minutes after her lead. Your CRM didn't show it, so you asked her about it three times. Ask your manager to make sure trade submissions attach to the lead you're working.