Good morning busy automotive sales professionals…  Have you ever stopped to think why some advertisements work and yet the salespeople who see those resulting clients usually fail? There is a correlation worth examination.

When the factory advertises a vehicle, they usually display one with all the options (that’s even in the small print) but the advertised price or payment is from a vehicle without the options shown in the advert. It’s also the same when a dealer advertises as well but even worse. So keep this in-mind and I’ll get back to this in a moment.

Have you ever wondered why a brand new (greenpea) salesperson can out-sell an experienced & well trained veteran? Think about it for a second… The brand new salesperson has no idea what he/she is doing.  He or she is polite and hungry and probably just happy to have the job.  I’d like to take a moment and examine the effects of that “hopeful” attitude… Read more…

For Managers, For Salespeople, Sales Process attitude, automotive advertising, factory, hiring, sales training, salespeople

I run into people all the time who proudly proclaim they “used to sell cars”. If I were a dentist, or a doctor or an attorney, I wonder if I would run into as many people so proud of no longer practicing the profession.  Obviously , a large part of this phenomenon is the checkered past of the car business. Many people aren’t proud to tell others that they’re even IN the car business, much less on the “sales” side of the business.

Except for the successful ones…  When they’re successful, they tell everyone they know. Read more…

For Managers hiring, published value, steps to a sale, successful, training

When I’m not conducting a seminar or at a dealership closing deals, I call at least 20-30 new car dealerships every day.  I am astounded how most dealerships answer the phone.

Sorry to go on a rant here, but it seems a warm, courteous and positively infectious greeting and routing of a phone call  is too much to ask for.  More often than not, I get a receptionist who seems “inconvenienced” by having to answer the phone or (even worse), I get the automated “Press 1 for…” greeting.  Not a big fan of the computerized receptionist.  They’re cheap and never call in sick, but there are too many down sides.

Automated greetings are fine for overflow, but a machine left to handle the dealership’s only chance for a first impression does not leave me with the warm and fuzzy feeling that would make me want to drive across town to buy a car.  Neither does a receptionist who seems hurried or bothered by having to stop that game of Solitaire to answer what is a very important call. Read more…

For Managers, The Business Apathy, CSI, customer service, dealership receptionist, phone skills

Call it book smart vs. street smart, theory vs. practice, analytical vs. creative thinking, or right brain vs. left brain… Testing or quizzing salespeople has always been an exercise in futility. Largely because the methods used to test and score a car salesperson share little in common with reality.

Salespeople don’t close real deals with essay or multiple-choice answers.  What looks great on paper, might not play well with a real customer.  Traditional testing can test a salesperson’s knowledge, but reveals little about how he or she will react, in certain situations, with real customers.  Testing may have its place, but roleplaying and practicing is the key to the automotive sales professional’s confidence and competence.  A comfortable and confident salesperson will put customers at ease and will sell more cars. Read more…

For Managers, For Salespeople automotive sales training, role play, roleplay, sales practice, sales training accountability, salespeople, salesperson testing