ANAHEIM, Calif. -

The Next Up — an electronic system designed to manage the sales activity of dealership sales teams — recently reached a new threshold of store adoption.

Company officials indicated 100 stores are using the system nationwide, including rooftops from every major brand and some of the largest groups in the country.

In what executives from The Next Up called “a real pain point for dealers,” they insist their system found most stores lack correct information about how many customers are truly coming on the lot. They also discovered that on average, salespeople are only entering about 60 percent of the data into the CRM.

The company said that The Next Up can integrate with all CRMs and provide an accurate customer count by ensuring that 100 percent of the dealership’s “ups” are accounted for and logged into the CRM.

The Next Up contends dealers using the system uniformly see an immediate increase in CRM input, an increase in appointments set and a minimum increase in sales of 12 percent.

The Next Up elaborated about how its system is intended to operate for maximum efficiency.

—Upon arrival, each salesperson logs onto The Next Up system and is automatically entered onto the up list.

—The salesperson can then go to their desk and work on customer follow-up and appointment setting, knowing he will be instantly notified when it is his time to manage “the point.”

“Enabling a consistent system of follow-up and appointment setting produces higher closing ratios,” The Next Up declared.

“The average close rate for a customer with a set appointment is considerably higher than that for a fresh up,” the company continued. “The system also helps to instill a better sales process and a return to basics by helping to slow down the sales process. The sales person can do a standard sales job, test drive the vehicle and really spend the time needed to fully close the customer in front of them.”

To back up these processes, the company noted that the system can provide in-depth management reports. The reports are geared to incorporate a complete and accurate overview of all the key points in the sales process — from the moment the customer enters the dealership to the point they leave.

“Management and the sales teams can use these reports to gain an immediate overview of what is happening at any point in the sales cycle,” The Next Up suggested.

“The reports can also drill down per sales person, pinpoint areas of strength and weakness and be used to help tweak the sales process as needed, thus increasing sales force efficiency, productivity and closing ratios,” the company went on to say.

Scott Brewer serves as general sales manager at Pohanka Lexus in Chantilly, Va., and installed the system back in 2007. Brewer contends his dealership has essentially doubled its standings in the country, leaping from 13th in new-vehicle sales and the top five in used to third in the country in new and remaining in top five for used.

Brewer also said the dealership’s close rate for fresh ups is about 10 percent above the industry average at 30 percent, and the total dealership closing ratio — including appointments — has risen to 40 percent.

“Before we installed The Next Up, our salespeople would stand in a collective group, mentally noting who was up first,” Brewer shared. “It was so inefficient to have about 9 sales guys standing outside, and intimidating to the customer. The system has made us a lot more efficient and ensures accountability. Now we know with 100 percent accuracy how many customers our salespeople are really talking to and so hold them accountable for their closing percentage.

“With The Next Up we now have two to three people up and everyone else at their desks doing follow-up,” Brewer explained “Every morning, I run the ‘up report’ and can see how many people each person talked to, any problems with closing ratios and test drives, and can spend more time coaching salespeople on any weak areas. As a result our closing rate has dramatically increased.”

Now with 100 dealers using the system, Clint Burns, The Next Up chief executive officer and chairman, described more growth possibilities.

“We are currently adding about 10 dealerships per month and are particularly proud of our growth as it has been completely organic based upon word-of-mouth from satisfied dealers and as yet no formal marketing,” Burns noted.

“We do not lock our dealers into long-term contracts but operate month-to-month,” he continued. “In today’s economy, our dealers would not be continuing were they not seeing a significant return on their investment.”

For more information, visit www.TheNextUp.com.