23 is a big number for any experienced Sales Consultant, so how did Logan get there in his first month?

Here’s a recap of what I believe contributed to his success;

He’s Adaptable, not acting, but Adaptable

Based on past experience, I’ve seen Sales Consultants struggle to take their game to the next level simply because they aren’t able to adapt to their client. Their body language, tone of voice, presentation start to finish will be the same with a 25 year old single male looking for a jacked up truck as it is with a retired couple looking for a luxury sedan. These are 2 completely different clients, yet they receive the same presentation that the Sales Consultant gives to every other client that walks through the door. Logan was able to immediately relate to every client that came his way, opening the door for easier rapport building and gaining trust. It was a more enjoyable experience for the client, which in most cases is the differentiating factor between purchasing or not. Having the ability to adapt to the client’s mood, body language, style of buying, etc., are all valuable factors that get overlooked at most dealerships because the Sales Consultants there are generally trained the same way with traditional sales training techniques that are becoming less relevant and effective.

Work Ethic

To have this level of success in your first month, you must be willing to put the work and time in. This doesn’t mean overexerting yourself, it means being as productive as possible with the time you have at the office and away from the office. Logan figured out quickly when the best time of day was to reach someone. He would email first thing in the morning, call during coffee break time and lunch hours, and text periodically throughout the day but also in the evening to show that he was still putting the time in to accommodate his clients even though he was at home with his family. There is a skill to time management, and Logan appears to have a clear understanding of how to incorporate that skill into the Automotive Industry.

Confident but Realistic

Having the ability to control your emotions is a challenging skill to perfect, perhaps one that may not be mastered. However, progressing toward mastery will lead you to more success. Logan understands that it’s a real possibility that not every month will be like his first, but he’s also well aware that he had a great first month and it’s something that he can build on. We’ll be able to set this as a benchmark for him now and as a competitive person by nature, it will challenge him to continuously develop so that one day, he will consistently have the level of success he had last month.

Proactive

This is perhaps the most important skill of all. “Knowledge is not power, it is only potential power, EXECUTION is Power!” – Tony Robbins. Taking initiative and not being afraid to make mistakes is what confident people do. It’s what Leaders do. It’s what any successful person does. Logan never had a real set goal in mind for June, but he knew that he wanted to prove to himself that he was capable of excelling in his new career. Having the tenacity, grit, and confidence to take action when it comes to making calls, asking for the sale, sending emails, showing up early, staying late, asking for help, all led to a successful first month and will contribute to more success moving forward.

Enthusiasm

I often laugh when I hear someone say “a new month, a fresh start, time to hit the reset button, I had a bad month but this month will be better, etc.” because I’d rather do that on a daily or even hourly basis instead of a monthly basis. As strong of a month as Logan had, there were times of struggle where we didn’t think we were going to be able to close a sale and we did lose a couple during the month for various reasons. The ability to not take it personally and to learn from each sale is what leads to development. Unfortunately, a lot of Sales Consultants, especially seasoned ones, tend to pass the blame onto the market, the other deal, the economy, the client themselves, etc. rather than analyzing and determining where they could have done better. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be and that’s ok. Logan was able to let go of those deals virtually immediately and move onto the next client without skipping a beat. We often hear that success is moving from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm, and this is the trait that Logan has which I’m confident will provide him with continued success.

The exciting part is that these are skills that can be developed with the proper guidance and training to any Sales Consultant. I’d encourage dealers to take a step back from their traditional sales training programs and focus on these types of skills if they want to see more success out of their Sales Team.

Have you ever made a decision that made sense to you, but seemed completely backward or even controversial to friends, family, and the public? When you live in a small community, this seems to get amplified 100x. I wanted to take this opportunity to explain my situation in hopes that if anyone out there is going through a similar situation, or feels like they are holding themselves back from making a move that they need not worry or stress. We must transfer that negative energy into positive energy so we can inspire others to make these traditionally unconventional “brave” and “ballsy” moves.

First of all, I’m extremely grateful and blessed to have the opportunity to not only Partner into a multi-million dollar Auto Dealership by the age of 28, but to also have owned the Majority of the company at age 31. That’s all with spending a little over 9 years in the industry to that point. Some people aspire to be in that situation their whole life and never get there, others get a smaller piece of the pie while some buy into the dealership quicker and at a younger age than I did. Perhaps the part that I’m most proud of is the fact that I never grew up in the industry, I’m not a “Car guy”, and my parents never owned a dealership. My mom still works at a grocery store in our small hometown. It was their work ethic, support, and love that really structured my character into what helped me get to where I am today. However, the largest contributor to my success is undoubtedly my best friend and wife of 9 years, along with our 2 kids. They are what give me purpose, and they are who I want to leave a lasting legacy for.

Most people out there who know my situation with Woodworth question the move from Kenton, Manitoba to Kelowna, BC. And I can understand why, after all, I’m moving in a month and will be buying out the rest of the company on October 1st. They ask questions like How? Why? I don’t understand? What I’ve come to find is that it’s not my job to explain it to them in detail, it’s my job to explain it in detail to our team because if they understand, then that’s ultimately what matters. They trust the decision, they trust the process, our systems, and our culture. If they understand, the clients coming through the door will soon understand to that depth as well, it may take time, but they will come to understand.

From a Business perspective, we’ve made progress in our systems that will help control a lot of what “micro-managers” like to oversee. For example, instead of paying our Service and Parts Managers on a Salary, we’ve adjusted their pay so that they are incentivized on the performance of their departments. What’s great about this structure is that we must all work together in order for every department to have success. What’ I’ve noticed thus far is morale has increased, stress has decreased, the relationships have become stronger and sales have increased. Our vision is to be the dealership that clients drive 100 miles to come and deal with which we currently have on a regular basis. It’s a matter of maintaining and growing that database. We spend a fraction of the money our “competitors” do on advertising, and yet we’ve had 18% year over year Sales Volume growth over the last 4 years. Our customer acquisition costs are extremely low and our retention rate is through the roof. We have employees that have been with us for anywhere from 4 years to 32 years and have virtually no turnover.

When you structure your business around the people, vision, and systems, my job becomes less relevant to physically be there. What I’m able to do now that is extremely valuable is look at the company from the outside in. I was listening to a Less Brown Audiobook the other day on the plane and he said “You can’t see the frame by being in the picture”, and that resonated so much with me. Having the ability now to look at Woodworth from the outside in will help us elevate our game to another level. I’ll be able to focus more in depth on Tracking and Measuring, Advertising and Marketing, Systems, Ideas, Culture, etc.

By putting my ego aside and giving our employees more freedom, time, money, opportunity, and ownership has led to more of all of that for me and my family. It’s a win/win. If you’ve ever read Stephen R. Covey’s – 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, you’ll understand the value in Win/Win situations and that’s what we’ve created. It wasn’t an easy decision at first, having majority shares in a multi-million dollar company with multiple locations, but it’s proving to be a great business decision.

Now my family and I are able to enjoy a warmer climate, nicer views, hiking, biking, skiing, etc., on a daily basis because I’ll have the flexibility to do so, whereas if I stayed here, I’d feel physically obligated to be at the dealership every day.

If you’re in a similar situation, I hope you can come up with a strategy that will allow you to have the flexibility on time the way that I have now. After all, as you know, time is our most valuable asset.

The problem with most sales training is that it teaches the same tactics for the most part and tends to focus on the transactional sales techniques when the future of sales is going to be based on the client experience. We’re headed in a direction where experiences won’t just sell the products, the experience will be the product to which we’re selling. Clients are walking into the door more prepared to buy now more than ever. It’s up to us to create the experience they’re wanting. We don’t sell cars, we sell ourselves and the experience. 

In order to sell ourselves effectively, build a quality relationship with your client, and truly separate yourself from the competition, it starts with being in the right place mentally. If you don't have the right first impression with your client, or don't come across as genuine, you're fighting a losing battle. Things brings to question, should Dealerships be setting up their Sales Team with Life Coaches more than Sales Trainers? Or is it possible to have both? As Managers and Owners know, a top Sales Consultant is invaluable to the company. We must invest in them so they can reach their full potential. Plus, the more we invest in them, the more they'll willingly give back. A return on investment that is everlasting and contagious throughout the dealership. 

I believe that the majority of dealerships overlook this area.  Remember, the better questions you ask yourself, the better answers you get and the better you become in all areas of your life.