Walks in · The Showroom Floor

From Greet to Taillight

The walk of a showroom guest, from the front door to the parking lot.

The sequence is Todd's, unchanged — a manager at the door, the drive rated by a manager, numbers built while they drive, four questions before the desk. Two things are added: what gets written down at each step, and what happens after the 62% who do not buy today drive away. Version 1 ended at the objection. Most of the money is past that point.

The four promises — the floor runs on them Every guest, every time: (1) we get you all the information, (2) we make sure the vehicle is absolutely perfect for you, (3) YOU make every decision, (4) we take as much or as little time as it takes. They are stated at the greet and used to close — and they are the same four the manager repeats on the follow-up call.

The floor, step by step

The greet

The sales manager greets at the front and introduces the customer to the salesperson by name — "one of our best." The four promises are stated here.

CapturedThat a manager met them, and who owns the guest.

The intel

The salesperson gathers why they are shopping, what they want to accomplish and why, the specific vehicle and why, and their current vehicle. And — moved up from the desk — is everyone who decides here today? Asked now, while it can still be fixed.

CapturedWhy shopping · what they want to accomplish · vehicle of interest · decision-makers. Four of the twelve, before anyone walks to a car.

Lands in → the Opportunity Review's 12 confirmations

The trade

The appraising manager is introduced to the customer in person — the second manager they meet.

CapturedTrade vehicle, kilometres, condition, appraisal — or an explicit "no trade." Silence is not a trade; write which one it is.

The selection

Customer and salesperson select the vehicle together, against the non-negotiables from the intel.

CapturedThe unit, and the non-negotiables it satisfies.

The drive

The test drive — and the rating expectation is set BEFORE they pull out: "when we get back I'm going to ask you to rate it 1 to 10." The desk builds numbers while they are out. No dead time.

CapturedThat the drive happened.

The rating

On return, the MANAGER asks for the in-store test-drive rating, 1–10 — not the salesperson, and not later.

CapturedThe number itself ("ITDR 8/10") and what would have made it a 10. A rating captured at the moment is worth more than any comment written after.

The gate

Four questions from the manager before the salesperson goes to the desk: is the info in the CRM · is everyone who decides here · what is the rating · what are you going to say.

CapturedThe gate is the audit: if the answer to "is the info in the CRM" is "not yet," it goes in now, not tonight.

Lands in → the 8:00 Meeting's opening question

The present

The salesperson presents the deal and why the time is right. The manager is listening, ready to jump in.

CapturedNumbers presented — ZMOT. A guest who has driven it and heard real numbers is the store's strongest position of the day.

The turnover new

If it stalls, the manager stops listening and ENGAGES — in person, by name. Not a hovering presence: a conversation. And the objection gets named honestly. "They need to talk to their spouse" and "thinking it over" are process steps, NOT objections. The objection is one of three things: the vehicle, the numbers, or us.

CapturedTO logged, and the real objection in plain words.

Lands in → the manager-contact standard the review inspects

The taillight new

They leave without buying. The process is not over — this is where it starts. Before the end of the day: the case is entered, a NEXT MOVE is set with a named owner and a time, and the guest gets a promise-shaped follow-up — an owed thing with a clock ("I'll have it detailed and ready for you Saturday"), not a check-in.

CapturedThe case, the owner, the by-when, and the promise made. Tomorrow morning the board asks whether it was kept.

Lands in → the Store Board's morning commitments

What changed from Version 1 — and why

The process now has an ending 38% of showroom guests buy at the visit. Version 1 stopped at the objection — which means it covered the 38% and said nothing about the other 62%, who are most of the people who walk in. Those guests still close 13–15% within 60 days, and every be-back that closed did it in 5 or 6 days. The first week after the visit decides; the process has to reach into it.

A promise, not a follow-up Be-backs who got a promise-shaped follow-up within 48 hours sold at 50%, against 15% for generic contact. Small sample so far (6 against 26) — treat it as a signal, not proof; it is being measured properly now. But the difference between "I'll have it detailed for Saturday" and "just checking in" costs nothing to apply today.

Capture is not paperwork — it is the next conversation A guest who drove it and heard real numbers (ITDR + ZMOT documented) is a deal the store expects to close around 80% of the time. If it is not written down, tomorrow's manager cannot work it, and the review cannot see it. Each captured item above is one of the twelve confirmations the Opportunity Review already inspects.

Decision-makers moved from the desk to the intel Discovering at the desk that the spouse is not here is discovering it too late — numbers are already built and the close is already dead. Asked at the intel, it is a scheduling question instead.

The turnover became a step Version 1 had the manager "listening, ready to jump in." Ready is not a step and cannot be inspected. A manager who personally engages a stalled deal is the store standard at proposal — and the review flags its absence.

How we will know if this is right

Every step above lands somewhere the system can already see. Taillight adherence — the case entered the same day — went from 0% in January to 90% in August; that is measured, per store. The commitments set at the morning meeting are measured too, and the first honest number is not flattering: of 195 commitments set across the group, 95 were answered for by the next morning, and 27 were never touched at all. That is the number this process is trying to move.

The showroom evidence here is Clark Hyundai's and the sample on the promise finding is small — where the Canadian stores' own data says something different in 90 days, this document changes. Teach, do, measure, coach — applied to our own playbook first.