Easy does it: How Sales Enablement helped Babbitt’s sell more with less effort AND improved the experience for their customers.

If a CRM is hard to use … no-one’s going to use it.

Babbitt’s Sports Center had a 21st-century business that was hamstrung by some 20th-century processes.

First, some background: Babbitt’s has two very different segments of their business. They have a significant online business selling OEM parts world-wide and they have a traditional power sports dealership that helps local customers enjoy the great outdoors on motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs, snowmobiles, watercraft and more. As Babbitt’s e-commerce sales have grown, consumer awareness of the dealership has grown significantly.While awareness and interest increased, Babbitt’s Sports Center had almost no CRM. That is, they had a CRM, but it was so cumbersome and complicated that the sales team simply didn’t use it. Instead, during the sales process team members would jot some details down on a sheet of paper, hand the paper to Dave in Finance and say, “I just sold something, and here’s the info.” Unfortunately, the slip of paper was often missing critical information, and Dave or someone from the Finance department would have to go back to the Sales Rep to get the missing details.

Not surprisingly, this slowed down the sales process significantly. Not only was the old CRM hard to use, it didn’t provide insight into all of the activity that Babbitt’s excellent Sales team was generating.Sales Enablement services to the rescue.

As Babbitt’s Sports Center’s digital marketing agency / growth partner for the last 15 years (and a HubSpot Platinum Partner), we saw a fantastic opportunity to leverage HubSpot as a part of our Sales Enablement services. We sat down with the dealership’s ownership and management to understand their sales process, looking for opportunities to simplify and speed up the process. Most importantly, we looked at what data was needed for each step so we could be sure the improved process would capture only the data required to move the deal to the next stage. Not too much information, but the RIGHT information.

Like most businesses, Babbitt’s has many sources driving leads. We automated the process of bringing those leads into HubSpot Sales Pro and as leads roll in, the sales manager, Randy, is notified. He evaluates each lead and assigns them based on which sales rep is best-equipped to serve the customer. This step is crucial because Babbitt’s sells many brands, each with many models. The sales rep needs to have an in-depth knowledge of the model to best serve the customer.

After the lead is assigned, the automation kicks in to keep everyone moving forward. Reps get reminders about next steps, and the Sales Manager gets notified if a deal isn’t moving forward at the proper pace. Working with Babbitt’s, we identified four deal stages and created sequences for each one. For example, if a prospect is interested in a vehicle but doesn’t intended for buy for 90 days, the customer receives an email thanking them for their interest and additional follow-up messages at appropriate times to ensure Babbitt’s stays top of mind. Those extra touch points are especially beneficial to Babbitt’s if the customer is considering a competitor. In addition, the system creates tasks for the sales rep to follow up at the appropriate time.

This approach gives the power to the consumer, shows them the sales rep didn’t forget, and eliminates follow-ups that can feel like unwanted pressure to buy. Automation lets the sales rep do what they do best — help prospects find their perfect vehicle.

At each stage of the deal, the rep is prompted for any new information required for that stage. This way, the customer who’s “just browsing” doesn’t have to answer questions that are only needed during financing. The opposite is also true: if a customer is ready to sign and finance a new vehicle, the system ensures that all of the information needed for financing is complete— such as VIN, final price, and credit info — which avoids disappointment and delays at the close of the sale.

“It’s the first CRM in my 20 plus years as a sales manager that a sales team has embraced and stuck with.”

– Randy Vandenberg, Sales Manager | Babbitt’s Sports Center

So easy to use that people actually use it.

Like any forward-thinking company, Babbitt’s Sports Center had used CRM software in the past. In fact, the dealership has had numerous CRMs (Customer Relationship Management system). But this time, they’re actually using it. They love the workflows, which include automated emails and tasks that allow them to use their time more efficiently. In fact, Randy says, “It’s the first CRM in my 20 plus years as a sales manager that a sales team has embraced and stuck with.”

The quality and quantity of insights are up — just like sales.

So the sales team loves — and actually uses — the CRM. But leadership loves it even more. As CEO Eddie Babbitt says, “Finally, we can connect e-commerce behavior to in-store sales by reviewing our prospect’s behavior on site.” This means the sales team can more effectively up-sell and cross-sell. Sales Manager Randy Vandenberg says he likes the new process because “more information is available more quickly” and “fewer things fall through the cracks.” Since working with MINDSCAPE and our Sales Enablement services, Babbitt’s Sports Center says that reporting is much better, providing not only more granular data but far more insight than was possible before.

Happy customers are repeat customers.

“Customer Experience” is very much a marketing buzzword, but Babbitt’s has always focused on giving customers a great experience. Their e-commerce site is fantastic (we should know, we’ve been working on it for the last 15 years or so!), their showroom is gorgeous, and the sales team is fantastic. We use HubSpot Marketing and Sales to tie all these together — the insights from consumer behavior on the website provide insight to the sales team, who can capture data and feed it to the CRM. With this connection of online and offline experience, customers never feel badgered or pressured, and they only get marketing and sales messages that are relevant to their situation. The bottom line is a what Jeff, our Chief Operating Officer calls “E3” — a superior end-to-end experience.

The numbers are up and down — and that’s a good thing.

One of the most important metrics of success is the number that’s getting smaller — the number of leads lost. Through automated reminders and tasks for reps, automated communication to prospects, and progressive data gathering, Babbitt’s Sports Center can act on more leads more quickly while also reducing the time required inside the dealership for the customers to finalize their purchase.

Don’t take our word for this; take Randy’s.

Has it made a difference? You bet it has. We asked Randy Vandenberg for his feedback regarding the impact our Sales Enablement service has had on the dealership.

Maybe it’s your turn.

Babbitt’s Sports Center success is impressive, but it’s not unique. If you’d like to improve your sales process and improve the end-to-end customer experience, check out our upcoming event, Hubspot on Tap!