WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. -

CallSource, a call tracking, marketing analysis and sales improvement firm, announced a new partnership this week to offer onsite and online call management and phone skills training for the company’s automotive retail clients.  

CallSource is joining forces with eXtéresEDU, a division of eXtéres Corp., which will provide initial hands-on, onsite training sessions that many automotive retailers use to launch their training.

Meanwhile, CallSource will provide an array of online training tools that can be customized to meet the needs of the individual dealership. Additional performance-based training can then be assigned to individual sales personnel and accessed via CallSource.com, the company said.

"Many of our automotive retail clients expressed an interest in having their entire sales teams go through call management training," said Andrew Price, president of CallSource Automotive.

"Partnering with eXtéresEDU gives us nationwide capability to provide onsite training and give our clients a base on which to build their team's skills," he said. "Once a sales team has gone through the initial wave of training, we can continue to work on specific skill sets with individual sales people by offering tailored training through our online modules."

Five specific areas of training in handling incoming calls have been identified by CallSource, including proper greeting and obtaining prospect's name; conducting a needs analysis; getting contact information; setting an appointment; and ensuring the prospect keeps the appointment.

The company monitors incoming telephone calls to identify when individual salespeople are not handling each area appropriately, and can develop an individually tailored training program to shore up weaknesses.   

"We look forward to working with CallSource to help provide automotive retailers with valuable telephone call management training," said Richard Winch, chief executive officer of eXtéres Corp.

"The on-site training provided by the eXtéresEDU team is the perfect complement to the existing online training tools provided by CallSource. Our combined offerings give automotive retailers everything they need to maximize the profitability of their call management systems," he said.  

CallSource noted that the link between retail sales success and the handling of incoming phone calls, reporting that up to 75 percent of all customers who purchase a vehicle contact a dealership by telephone at some point throughout the sales process.

Customers who call to inquire about a vehicle typically make a purchase in seven to 10 days, the company said.
 

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