Magazine serving the bus and rail transit & motorcoach operations since 1904
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showing up with an ice cream truck after lunch and talking with the teachers about places to go. We strengthened our solid business relationship for the entire school year over an ice cream cone." While school-based customers can be price-sensitive due to budgets, and easily swayed over a cheaper price, Stancil says, that resistance went away because "they knew we were spending our time there with them." "Getting customers engaged with us was our focus this past year, and we've seen an increase in sales," Stancil says. like a used car salesman. "Tat's one thing that we need to work on," Bast says. "[Among] a lot of other motorcoach operators we know, that's the part that everyone needs to work on." Feedback is also crucial to improving the sales process, Bast says. To supply this, Go Riteway uses a call recording system as a sales training and coaching tool. About twice a month, managers listen to employees' calls with them and give them feedback. "When they hear themselves sell to the customer, it made a big impression," he adds. "You can hear improvement [after] reviewing the calls. Tey remember, 'this is how I close a sale.'" SALES PROCESS The sales process is simple but critical, Dipert Brown says, yet most people don't ask for the business. "If at the end of the call, you don't say, 'Can I book that for you now?' you're losing a lot of sales," Dipert Brown says. "It's a [matter] of using the sales process, closing the deal, making sure you get as many leads as you can and then working those leads." GO Riteway is focusing on training operators on the sales process to raise quote-to-close ratios, Bast says. He admits that while GO Riteway's sales staf is customer service-focused and friendly, asking for the order is the part of the call that can be challenging. "We give them the amenities, but the most crucial thing we don't ask for is the sale," he says. While it may sound simple, he adds, asking 'May I book that for you?' makes some staf think they sound 4. APRIL 2013 mETRO mAGAZINE > 43