I have been rereading The Tipping Point.  Its an interesting book that discusses why something goes viral (which has nothing to do with this post.) In it Gladwell mentions some case studies on the power of nonverbal cues.  He mentions a study, which you can read about here, in which they tested students with headphones.  In a nutshell they told the students they were testing to see how well the headphones fit.  They were divided in two and one group listened to a message while shaking their heads.  The other group was told to nod as they listened to the message.   The group that was nodding their heads had a positive opinion of the message and the ones shaking had a negative.  The study found that the nodding or shaking didn't impact their opinion but reinforced it.  Richard Petty (no, not that one), co-author of the study said, "If we are nodding our heads up and down, we gain confidence in what we are thinking.  But w...

I've always called it passion.  Its the way a salesperson interacts with a guest and not what they say.  Its transferring their enthusiasm to their customers and explaining their knowledge in a fun and interactive way.  Seth Godin calls it Emotional Labor. Every salesperson should read Linchpin by Seth Godin.  I don't want this to sound like a book report but he writes about a topic that transfers perfectly to car sales.  Seth defines Emotional Labor this way: . . . .its work you do with your feeling, not your body. He states that emotional labor is what differentiates an artist from a painter.  In most occupations this emotional labor won't translate to a higher income.  It just makes a person indispensable.  But sales is different.  In sales its essential. I've met salespeople that know the product better than the engineers that designed it.  I've met salespeople that could quot...

One constant in this business is the poor communications between the manufacturer and the dealer.  My background was somewhat limited to Ford, Mazda, and Chrysler, but if my experiences are the norm there could be some definite improvements made.  The problem always seemed to be the reps.  If you couldn't get in touch with your rep you were out of luck.  It seems like an archaic way to handle things.  The contact info was always somewhat hard to find if you wanted to try and reach someone other than your rep. Another problem is the experience of the people representing the manufacturer.  Most of them have never sold a car or worked a service drive.  The cannot empathize with what dealers go through on a daily basis. The manufacture's customers are the dealers.  End of story.  There should be multiple channels of communication with the confidence that someone will pick up the phone, answer the email, etc.  What if the onl...

I just read a post on TechCrunch on the latest Fiesta experiment in social media.  You can read the article here.  We won't be able to see how effective the Fiesta Movement has been until the cars roll out this summer (more proof on social media being a long-term strategy) but we can't deny the buzz that has been created. The question is this:  Obviously this is a national campaign with the resources of Ford behind it, but how can dealerships get onboard and get some mileage out of this as well?  Are Ford dealers aware of this?  It appears the cars will be making stops at some universities but it doesn't mention if dealers can participate.  ...

I want to speculate for a moment, and I want you to know that I have zero knowledge of franchise agreements.  This is just an exercise in "what if?". The manufactures view dealerships as a burden.  We found that out after the government told Chrysler and GM to restructure and they decided to cut costs by cutting dealers.  But the manufacturers have always needed dealers to help them move their inventory. Ford is using social media to roll out and create buzz for their new Fiesta.  They are at the point right now where you can log on and reserve an allocation, and to help incentivize potential customers they are offering free Sync to those that register online and raise their hands.  The leads are then given to the closest dealership (unless a specific dealership is specified) and the customer is directed to go in and work out their price (please correct me if I'm off base).  Ford will then follow up with the guest and sen...

I started in the car business in the late 90's.  The majority of our traffic came from the lot or the phone.  The follow up cycle was pretty short.  We were taught that fresh ups would buy within 7 days.  One of the reasons probably had to do with our follow up system (or lack of).  The other reason was that we got involved toward the tail end of this buying cycle.

The dealership I worked at wasn't an early adopter of technology, and I can remember getting handed a fax they called an internet lead.  The process was to call and call.  I had several people get angry and tell me they wanted to be contacted by email.  I thought they were  nerds.

Fast forward to the present.  Dealerships are seeing a traffic shift where customers are moving online.  The internet gurus tell us that we should follow an internet customer for up to 120 days.  Today we have the tools to help us follow customers for that long and dealerships have email and call campaigns to actively follow the...

A recent blog post from Seth Godin echoes what I've been thinking about lately.  Here is my thought for the day: "People don't care what you want.  They care about what they want, and giving them what they want gets you what you want."  Get it?  Let me explain.

When we go out and greet a guest on the lot we have an agenda.  We know the steps to the sale, they don't.  Its tempting to want to control the customer and lead them where you want them to go.  Maybe this is why we forget their names (admit it).  We're too busy thinking about what we want to say next. 

We may even know what they are going to buy.  But that's the problem, they don't.  They are on the lot because they have a problem.  We gain trust by solving that problem, which requires us to talk about their problem.  Its a process.

Think like a customer.  How would you like to be sold?  Shop for a big ticket item and take note on what the salesperson did right and could do better.  Watch how often in a...

I just heard a quote from the Mike Singletary press conference yesterday and I thought it applied to the auto industry right now.  If you want to read the whole transcript you can find it here.  If you're not a die-hard San Francisco 49ers fan here is the quote I latched on to:

When you walk on that field you have to know, this is my game. When you start thinking like that and you start acting like that, when things go bad on the field you are able to take a step back and go, ‘We are going to make this happen, it is not going to be like it was before. We are going to take that step and we are going to go to the next step. We are going to win this game. We are going to get over this, we are going to around it, we are going to go under it. Whatever it is, we are going to win this game.' When you start thinking like that, that's when you start winning those kinds of games we played in yesterday. . . .

This reminded me of this post from Brian Pasch, and I would like to take his a...

I just read this blog post from Seth Godin, and immediately my thoughts turned to selling cars. Seth is basically stating that too much emphasis is placed on the end of the process and not enough on the beginning.

Look at your sales process. In my mind successful car salespeople always spent more time outside (on the lot) than inside (presenting the numbers). If a sale is set up correctly, on the right car, the close is so much easier. I know that there may be unforeseeable circumstances (upside down on the trade, for example) but a salesperson should never hold their breath hoping that a payment will sell a car. It doesn’t happen. How many times have you gotten a hug after presenting a trade number?

How much of your sales process takes place before you even greet the guest? Think about it. Once, while training a new sales consultant, we watched another salesman take an up. The body language was begrudging at best. He walked up with his hands in his pockets and greeted the cust...

I wanted to take a minute and give you my philosophy on split deals. I do this because I think it represents an overall management philosophy that others don't subscribe to. Here it is: We have too many rules that get in the way. Regarding split deals, I feel we should have 3, maybe 4 concrete rules and let the floor govern themselves.
I am very passionate about processes. I would define a process as steps that lead to an end result. Each store has a sales process that, if followed, make it easier to achieve the goal of selling a vehicle. Your store may have a process for capturing customer information. You may have a follow up process, or a process for handling internet leads. These are necessary. A rule, on the other hand, could be defined as an action with consequences if disobeyed. Some rules are necessary. Too often I feel they actually get in the way of selling cars.
When you implement a rule with consequences you are drawing a line in the sand. Do this or else. W...

Imagine that you are a mechanic. In order to do your job correctly you would need to purchase specific tools. These tools are designed to help you effective complete specific jobs. For example, there is a certain wrench to remove a certain bolt on the front of a certain engine.
What if you ignored your tools and tried to fix everything with a pair of channel locks and a hammer? Not only would the job not get done correctly, it wouldn’t be a very effective use of your time.
As salespeople we have a number of tools at our disposal. I want to use one as an example because I see its misuse quite often. This tool is your dealership’s CRM.
Back in the day each salesperson kept track of their prospects with an archaic filing system, maybe 3 X 5 cards. The quality of the pre-sale and post-sale follow up would depend on the quality of the notes. Lose a card and you would lose a guest. Misfile a card and the customer would receive no follow up. I have even seen Post-it notes use...

My apologies. I know my posts are Sales 101. You probably aren’t going to receive that gem of knowledge that will transform you or your staff into Super Salespeople. For that I am sorry. It’s just that I have realized that no magic potion is out there. Instead we need to be reminded of the basics. Little things add up to big things.

I also want to apologize to Detroit Lions fans, but when you’re team goes 0-16 you deserve it.

What separates the Lions from the Super Bowl Champion Steelers? Some would say talent but I disagree. I believe both teams have elite talent. Also, because of the salary cap both teams also have the same funds to spend. Why did one team lose every game and another win the title? What does this have to do with selling cars?

I believe it comes down to three things: Process, Support, and Professionalism.

Process – The Steelers have a great system. They know what players fit that system and draft accordingly. That is why they can plu...

Have you ever said or been told to “get control of your guest”? You usually hear this when there is a problem with the deal. But think about this for a second. Dictionary.com defines Control as “to exercise restraint or direction over; dominate; command”. How many customers you know who will let you dominate them?

In today’s marketplace the customer has so much control. There is an abundant supply of the product. In many cases they know, or at least think they know, what you paid for it. They don’t need it right now.

So how are we supposed to get control of our guests? Simple. Get control of yourself. Rather than push the guest where you want them to go, lead them to where you want them to go.

If you look around your dealership to the top salespeople I bet you would agree that they don’t have problems controlling their guests. They have mastered the following things:

1. Control your attitude. Often we have decided before we open our mouths whether ...

Look at the sales process you have in your store. If you were asked to rank the steps in order of importance what would be at the top of the list? Now, if I asked you to rank them in order based on execution what would be at the top. In other words, what steps do you do well and which steps not so much?

I feel that the most important sales steps are the needs analysis, or fact-finding step and the walkaround. However, it is my experience that these are also the steps that are skipped the most. Why are they skipped? That is a topic for another post. The fact is we need these two steps more now than ever.

As Elmer Wheeler once said, we need to “sell the sizzle, not the steak”. The customers may have more information than ever before, but so do salespeople (hopefully). Our cars and trucks have more bells and whistles then they every have.

When a guest first walks on your lot, how do you think they view your product? More often than not their research has all been...

If you want to lose weight you have to step on the scale. Common sense, right? I have worked in dealerships that believe in this and some that don't.

As a sales manager, I found that one-on-ones were virtually impossible without data. Not only were they impossible they were useless. How do you coach an individual to success if you don’t know why they are failing?

Sports are always compared to sales. Imagine a professional sports franchise that didn’t keep stats. What if a basketball team did not keep track of free throw percentage? How successful would they be if all that was tracked was the final score? Common sense, right?

One big difference between sports and sales is the audience. In most cases, there are spectators watching that basketball game. A salesperson can talk to a customer and in some cases no one will know. What will determine if they log that guest?

It is human nature to take the path of least resistance. As a salesperson, if my sales manager ...

Quick. Name this product: "Set it and forget it!"

I think we can learn a lot about sales from infomercials. But first, look at what they are up against. Now, I’m sure they have done market research that tells them who their buyer is, and they advertise on channels that reach that demographic, but they don’t truly know who will be watching. With all of the choices on TV they have to captivate their audience quickly so that they can deliver their message. The customer can’t touch, smell, hear, or demo their products. Imagine trying to sell a car like that!

So how do they do it? Ron Popeil (Ronco) has generated 2 billion dollars in sales by infomercial. How does Ronco get people to drop $160 on a product they have never touched? I think these are some of the keys to an infomercial.

First, I see a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Some of the commercials accomplish this by yelling at you. (I don’t recommend this with your customers.) Others do it with a studio au...

When I was managing salespeople in a dealership there was always a fair amount of emphasis on follow up. As we got better at tracking this part of the sales process through better CRM’s we realized how often the call didn’t happen. Or, if the call did happen, they found out nothing new. Often they couldn’t get their guests to pick up the phone at all.

Initially, a good follow up call is set up before the guest leaves the dealership. If they decide not to buy on the first visit, finding out what the customer is thinking and making sure no stone is left unturned is the best way to make sure the guest picks up the phone. Also, set a time for the follow up call, get the best number to contact them, and then ask for another number

When talking about before-the-sale follow up, there is one rule that must always be followed. Focus on what has changed. What has changed on your end? What has changed for the customer?

Some of the obvious changes for the salesperson are inv...

I just finished a book titled, The Progress Paradox by Gregg Easterbrook. Mr. Easterbrook writes that we as a society have never had it better in terms of income, education rates, and even life expectancy. Even though we have never had it better, in surveys we say that our parents and grandparents had a better lifestyle. Mr. Easterbrook goes on to theorize that one reason this is the case is because we aren’t grateful for what we have. He also blames the media for our current level of unhappiness, but that’s another post.

Lets talk about how this relates to the car business. In 1908, when the Model T came out, it was $850. Factor in inflation, a dollar in 1908 is worth $23.20 today. That means if the Model T was released tomorrow it would cost $19,754!

For $850 you got front and rear live axles, hand operated band brakes, artillery wheels, and 20 horsepower. Think about what $19,754 will get you today.

Let’s get our heads in the game! Use this analogy: You are c...

All of the guests that visit your dealership looking for a vehicle have something in common. Each one has a problem.

Their vehicle is either too small or too big. It is too old or maybe it gets bad gas mileage. It won’t tow their boat or carry their family. It may be costing them a fortune in upkeep. They all have a problem. That’s why they are in your dealership in the first place.

There are many benefits to finding out what their problem is. First, the need is stated, not implied. Call it “commitment and consistency.” Once committed, people will remain consistent to the commitment. If I tell you I like red, I won’t come back later and tell you I hate red.

Second, there is some trust between you and the guest. Not marry-my-daughter trust, but trust nonetheless. “We will solve this. Let’s fix this.” Everyone knows the importance of gaining trust.

Third, from a needs standpoint, is there any better closing tool than solving a problem? What is t...

A great exercise for a sales meeting is to look at the differences between order takers and salespeople.

When I think “order taker” I think fast food. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but think about their agenda. They are there to give the customer what they ask for and move them down the line. Their fact-finding is usually limited to “do you want fries with that.”

Contrast that with a salesperson. A salesperson is not there to give the customer what they ask for, but rather give them what they need. A good salesperson separates “needs” from “wants”. A good salesperson builds value in their product and ties these needs to what they have. When is the last time you heard an order taker explain the features, advantages, and benefits of their cheeseburger? A good salesperson looks at objections as opportunities to sell.

We could go on and on, but here is the problem: We have order takers pretending to be salespeople. They are talking to our ...