If you are looking to get better and make changes in the areas that would make the biggest impact on your production and business. One of the keys that you must use to direct you – is to focus on what you have control over.

A lot of sales trainers and consultants that are putting content out specifically for the consumption of salespeople are talking about process topics. The challenge with that for salespeople is that in many cases they don’t have control over the sales process used. Even though in many situations, that sales process needs everything from a little tweaking to a total overhaul. If salespeople focus on the organizational process then it becomes exasperating and unproductive.

So … Let’s talk about something you have total control over and something that will make the difference between your success and failure.

When one of my daughters was in her mid-teens, believe it or not, she had a little attitude problem from time to time. We regularly had the discussion about the fact that her attitude was totally in her control. She alone made a decision about her attitude, daily and moment to moment. That decision was whether she was going to choose to have a good or bad attitude. She actually took a sticky note and put it on her mirror. She saw this note every day, the first thing in the morning. The note said “Attitude – Good or Bad – what do I choose?” Why was the type of attitude she had important? So that she would get along better with her parents? That was certainly a reason, but it was bigger than that. Her attitude mattered when it came to her relationships with friends and teachers, how she approached her schoolwork, how she dressed and how she talked. It effected everything about her.

We have that same decision to make every day. We choose whether or not to have a good or bad attitude.

Salespeople can’t afford to make the wrong decision. It is extremely vital to everything that you do. We’re more dependent upon our mindset than any other person in society.

Many people in different occupations, can go to work with a sour attitude, punch in and punch out and collect their next paycheck. For example, Jane Lunchbox is having a horrible morning in part due to a bad attitude or just a poor way of handling things that have happened and she has a job where she goes in, punches the clock, she carries that horrible attitude through the morning then continues with it throughout the day until she punches out at the end of the day. If that doesn’t happen every day she can get away with it and collect her check on payday.

As a salesperson, it doesn’t work that way for you and me. Because the basis of what we do is connecting with people to establish trust – a negative attitude or sour outlook will be like hitting a brick wall with our prospects and customers. What does it take for someone to connect with you? They have to be someone you want to connect with. if there is no smile, no enthusiasm or no sincere friendliness then you aren’t going to be open to connecting. And here is a warning – you can’t fake it! People will see through the insincerity quicker than you can imagine.

Again, if you are a salesperson, you can’t afford to make the wrong decision about what attitude you will have.

Zig Ziglar said “I’m not saying you can do everything with a good attitude. I’m just saying that you can do anything better with a good attitude than you can with a bad one.” He also said that on occasion, we all may need “A checkup from the neck up”.

Here are 4 steps you must take every day to ensure that you make the right decision about your attitude.

1. You must create a morning routine that puts you in a positive mindset. Tony Robbins talks about your “state”. Your mindset and state of mind are affected by your posture and your physical stance. Create a morning routine that puts you in a positive and winning state. This routine can consist of:
   Read something encouraging, motivational and upbeat
   Workout
   Nutrition
   Listen to good music
   Pay attention to your posture – stand strong
   Everyone is different, but you must create this routine – it will ensure that you start your day with a positive outlook.
2. You must review your goals daily and commit to a plan for the day that has those goals at the front of your mind. This will put you in a state of focus. That focus is on what you are wanting to accomplish. You envision your achievement of these goals which is positive and motivational for the day. If you truly want to achieve these goals, you know that you must carry a positive attitude into the day.
3. You make a daily commitment to focus on others and be intentional about it. Commit to making a positive impact on the people you come in contact with. Look for opportunities to perform acts of kindness.
4. Finally, you must make a commitment to yourself to constantly be aware of who you are listening to and hanging around with. Are they a positive influence? If not, you must cut them loose – you must not hang around or listen to people who don’t add value to your life and that create stumbling blocks to your achieving your goals.

The most important investment you can make in your day is to take this time each morning to intensely address your mindset for the day. Do it! Expect to Win!

If I ask you what is your profession?  What do you do?   What will you say ... Are you prepared?

Do you just come out and say I sell cars! How hard is it to chase them down after that?  Is it reasonable to assume that if you meet someone that you have never met before and they ask you what is your profession?  First of all, do you consider what you do to be a profession?  Either way, the best answer to the question is not "I sell cars"?  Your would-be customer's wall will rise.  Then their quick exit is next.

Face it, the public perception of car salespeople is tied to the professions of lawyers and politicians.  In case it needs clarification, that tie is not at the top of the list of professions, the tie is for the very b0ttom of the list. I could talk for hours about why that is not fair, but that perception is our reality.  So ... Mr. Carguy ... What is your profession?

Can you tell me in a concise, direct and clear way? And by concise I mean 30 seconds.

3 Principles That Lead To An Effective Initial Contact 

1) Clearly, understand how important a 1st impression is to the initial contact being effective. Ultimately, effective would mean that this contact would eventually lead to gaining a new customer.

2) Create a strong and effective 30-second introduction of you and your product.   Remember the public perception of our profession while doing this.

3) You must have the confidence of a professional that comes from the expert knowledge of your product and how it benefits your customers.

A good exercise is to ask yourself:

1. What do YOU think about what you do?
2. What is your opinion of the value YOU bring to your clientele?
3. People have many choices, why should they choose you, your dealership and your product?
4. What excites you about what you do?

As the Business Development Director at a car dealership, I have a team of Business Development Coordinators and Sales Consultants. We talk to many people every day that knows what we do and while some appreciate us.  There are some that are absolutely shameful in the way they treat people they don't know other than that they work for a car dealership.   So we are very familiar with of the public perception of auto salespeople.  The commitment, dedication, and tenacity of auto sales professionals are incredible because of this negativity that they fight through every day to assist people.

So when asked, "What do you do?" What if this was our response:

"I am a sales consultant at Tom Light Chevrolet and I do whatever it takes every day to create the best, easiest and "no games" purchasing experience for the individuals, families, and businesses I assist in getting their next new or pre-owned vehicle.  The next time you or someone you know are in the market  give me a call and let me prove that to you."

That is less than 30 seconds and is straightforward, brings curiosity because everyone wants to avoid the games and have an easy experience.  This also does a great job of describing what a professional in the retail auto industry does every day.  When you are approached away from your place of business this is an example of introducing what you do as a profession and in a positive way - touching on the difference in the way you handle the areas of concern of 90% of your market.

Many salespeople have found that this is the missing piece of their puzzle to success.  Becoming intentional about and perfecting how they interact with prospects and what they say in the very beginning is that missing piece.  It's fundamental to all professional's success and that is the ability to describe what they do, in a concise way, that a stranger can relate to and understand.

What is your plan? What do you want the outcome to be from these encounters? An appointment for a test drive or product demonstration?  Are you going to meet at their home or office?  Is sending them some information an acceptable outcome?  This takes planning and practice to be ready.  A very successful 40 year veteran of the retail car business, engaged people everywhere he went and his plan was to gather their information and get them into his "Happy Birthday System".  When someone asked him, "How are you?" he would respond with "I would be much better if I knew someone that was needing a new or used vehicle, who do you know?"   This planning and intentional approach done consistently turned into 30 plus units sold per month for many years.

If you are satisfied with sitting and waiting for business to come to you, then ignore this post. However, if you want to become a massive success with a 6 figure + income, then perfect your answer to the question "what is your profession" or "what do you do for a living"?  This is vital and you must master it!

Think about this question - How many of these opportunities are you avoiding or blowing each month? 10, 20, 100?

Be Ready - it could be the difference in $75,000 income this year and $150,000 or more!

Expect to Win!

I have read many contributors to auto industry publications say that the Road to the Sale in the Retail Automobile Industry is out of date and ineffective. I said in Part 1 of this 2 part post, that I disagree. I have to say that I emphatically disagree. It is not now, nor has it ever been the road to the sale that is the problem. It is a fact that we have salespeople working with customers that haven't been trained well enough on this process and the other significant issue is the unwillingness of Dealers and General Managers to hold their sales managers and salespeople accountable to high ethical standards.

To one degree or another, every industry has a problem with untrained salespeople. The main reason for that is that job of a salesperson is to work with individuals and companies and each one is different. The product doesn't change but the past experiences of the prospects, the needs of the prospects and the personalities of these prospects are all different. It is impossible to train how to handle all of these differences. It doesn't matter whether you are selling shoes, houses, jewelry, industrial equipment or automobiles - all salespeople deal with this and there is no substitution for experience.

When we talk about the Road to the Sale, we are generally referring to the process that we go through when a customer actually comes to the dealership. It is understood that today much more of the process is being completed online or over the phone. However, these steps, no matter where they occur, are necessary to do the customer a great job.

1. Meet & Greet - are we going to discount the importance of professionally being friendly and welcoming to a guest of our dealership?
2. Qualify - are we going to do away with the need to know what the needs of our customers are? Each one is different and if we assume each one is the same, we really do them a disservice.
3. Product Selection - even after much research, most customers still have a question or questions about the product selection. Are we going to discount the role this step takes in making sure the customer has a great purchasing experience?
4. Product Presentation - yes customers are researching 12 -16 hours prior to going to a dealership. But, the ability of a salesperson to demonstrate the new technology and safety features are a key to the customer feeling confident in their decision. Our salespeople must be prepared to demonstrate all the features to that customer that has spent no time researching as well as the customer that has received their Ph.D. in automobile engineering.
5. Test Drive - I understand that there has been a survey that now says that over 50% of people surveyed said that they would buy a vehicle without driving it first. This test drive is an extension of the Product Presentation. I think it is a huge mistake to assume that a test drive is not important. When the customer chooses to take that test drive is up to them, but that needs to be their decision and not based on a survey that I have no idea what the context was or what the questions asked were.
6. Trial Close - I agree that the days of asking questions like "Is this the one you want to take home today" or "Can I earn your business on this one today?" are in the past. They are highly ineffective. However, it is very wise of a salesperson to find out from the customer, after they have seen a presentation and test driven a vehicle, how they are feeling about it and if they are ready to see a proposal that would show them what it would take financially to purchase the vehicle.
7. Write-up - Are we going to stop putting a proposal in front of our customer? The answer has to be no.
8. Negotiation - As much as customers say that they hate the negotiating component of the automobile purchasing experience. The fact is that as soon as we tell them that we are a one-price - no hassle - no haggle dealership, they immediately feel that we are hiding something and making more profit than they are comfortable with. Add to that the variable which is the value of the vehicle they are trading in and negotiation, in one form or another, is here to stay in the road to the sale. The key to reducing the stress involved with this step is training. Learning how to justify the reason for the offer we are making and how to do that professionally and respectfully is very important.
9. Delivery - We are not going to remove the involvement of the Business Office and the physical delivery of the vehicle. We do realize the customer dissatisfaction with the lack of speed and transparency with the finance step of the road to the sale. We must speed it up and recognize that everything we offer in the business office is available outside of it. Creating value in taking care of the financing and protection of their vehicle at the dealership, should be a focus. A superior business manager is very valuable to the dealership and to the sales consultant.

     The physical delivery should be the best the customer has ever received. It should take just the           right amount of time, be enjoyable and very informative.

 10.  Follow-up - The only way in any industry to alleviate a customer's perception that once they sign we wave goodbye forever, is to make sure that this perception is far from the truth when it comes to our treatment of our customers after the sale is made. In fact, this is not even part of my sales process, it is part of a salesperson's job requirement and that is to take care of their customers by adhering to our owner database followup and marketing process.

Again, to all of the people preaching that our Road to the Sale is out of date and needs to be thrown out. What do we remove? Here is the answer - Nothing. It doesn't matter how the customer engages the dealership, these steps must be followed. It is the ONLY way to ensure that the customer has an awesome purchasing experience. Frankly, the problem is training salespeople and holding sales managers accountable for the training and continuing to coach and lead with this road to the sale. When a salesperson understands each step and how it fits and how and when it is best to be flexible with any or all steps, they become very effective with creating an industry best experience for the customer. They can only do that if they have the training, then the backing and cooperation of a professional sales manager. The last thing I want to add is that the culture of the dealership must embrace the importance of being easy to work with. It must be easy for the customer to walk through these steps with the salesperson and it must be easy for the salesperson to take them through the road to the sale, no matter what the personality and demands of the customers are.

Let's quit listening to people who don't know what it takes to be successful in the retail automobile business and just make a 100% dedication to becoming better as salespeople, sales managers and dealers at taking our customer through the steps to the road to the sale in the easiest way possible.

Expect to Win!

One of the most popular discussions across showrooms, internet groups and forums, industry meetings and events, blog posts and articles written is that our old antiquated Road to the Sale must change.  It is looked at as out of touch and the reason for much of the retail automobile dealership's perception problems.  Many companies that make their revenue from the retail car business have full blown presentations that the biggest laugh lines and points of pain for the dealers is this horrible, ineffective and caveman like sales process.  I totally disagree.  The Road to the Sale is not the problem and never has been.  The problems have been and are, untrained salespeople, lack of accountability for salespeople and managers to ethical standards and the inability to adapt to each customer and their situation.  The way that the Road to the Sale is implemented depends upon the engagement of the consumer.  That fact hasn't changed since the first car dealership was established.  If the consumer called us first or sent in an internet inquiry, certainly some of the steps may have already been handled.  In this first post of several, I want to run through these 10 steps and as we go through them, let me know which ones need to be taken out.

The importance of a guest to our dealership being treated better than ever before by a professional who is better than good at taking a customer through this very effective process, is more vital today that ever before.  Think about it, the effectiveness of this sales process / Road to the Sale that I refer to is not about "holding gross" or "closing the deal" but mainly to create a fantastic customer experience.  

1.  Meet & Greet

It is always a key to any interaction that it begins well, so a perfected meet and greet is more important than ever to combat the public's negative perception of a car salesperson. 

2.  Qualify

3.  Product Selection

The qualifying & product selection steps are still very necessary but in some cases not to the extent it has been in the past and that is because of the enormous amount of information available to the consumer on the internet.  Our Sales Consultant must be trained on the right questions to ask and when.  I would prefer to see the customer's trade-in be addressed at this point.  In other words, let's find out if they have a trade, scan it in and get it to the appropriate person to evaluate while the sales consultant continues with the qualifying and product selection step.  Pacing the customer has always been a key.  Showing empathy and beginning to build some rapport are done here by listening to the customer and the sales consultant must also be very perceptive in the type of personality this customer has.

4.  Product Presentation 

5.  Demo Ride

The presentation and demo ride are vital.  This is where the sales consultant sets themselves apart as a product specialist.  They are able to aim the presentation of features and benefits directly to what the consumer has voiced as important. This is really where the sales consultant builds rapport today.  They gain the trust of the customer through listening and being a real professional when it comes to the features and benefits of their product.  The sales consultant must be conscious at this time if the customer is needing to move slowly or quickly.  Not everyone is the same.  Again, it is very important that the sales consultant be trained on being able to recognize different types of people.

6.  Trial Close

The trial close should not be in the form of a question like " is this the car your want to own today?"(I hate that by the way).  But, it is an assumption that if they feel this vehicle is everything they thought it was, from their research, then they will be purchasing it today.  So after the demo ride, the question is - " Do you have any questions at this point?"  We then answer any and all questions and then simply say "Here is what I would like to do now, go inside and I will verify a some information real quick and then I want to put a proposal in front of you letting you know what it will take to purchase this car/truck/suv, if it all looks good - we can get it ready, get you through the business office and you can take it home today or If you decide that it would be better for you, you can take the details with you and consider it, you are in control.  Sound good?"

7.  Write Up

The write-up should be done quickly.  With technology, license scanning etc - we should have numbers and options to the customer very quickly.  I believe that as long as they are printed and the presentation of the numbers is on a proposal that is clean and professional, it can be a 4-square, 2 option or 15 option matrix, it really doesn't matter.  This is another area that the sales consultant must be trained very well, if they are going to be asked to present the proposal to the customer.

8.  Negotiation

Most negotiations today are overwhelmingly about the trade-in.  Transparency is important here, but trying to justify to a customer that book values are just a guide, and that the market is not based on the book is a battle that is constantly evolving.

9.  Delivery

The delivery involves the Business Office and the physical delivery of the vehicle.  The Business Office is one of the biggest concerns of the consumer.  What happens in there from presentation of the numbers in contract form to selling products makes the customer very nervous.  A superior business manager is very valuable to the dealership and to the sales consultant.  One of the very first things they should do is find out if there are any concerns from the customer that they want to make sure gets addressed while they are in the business office.  Before too much time passes, the business manager needs to acknowledge that all of the details the customer agreed to with the sales consultant are correct, and then go into the process they have been trained to do.

The physical delivery should be the best the customer has ever received.  It should take just the right amount of time, be enjoyable and very informative.

10.  Followup 

This step needs to be removed, because it is part of the Business Development strategy every sales consultant has and that is the owner database marketing process.  

Again, the key to any process working in any business or setting is the training and proficiency of those that carry it out.  Some of these steps will go very quickly with some customers depending upon how they have engaged the dealership to begin with.  Also, we may change the order from time to time because of how the customer wishes to do business, but I will assure you that 98% of the time, every one of these steps will be touched when a dealership sells a vehicle to a customer.  Please go down below and give me your comments.

Be watching for the next installment and I will talk about how these 10 steps become 3 steps to followup that works.

Expect to Win!

CULTURE - WHAT IS IT?

• Who is the person or persons who have the most influence on the dealership?  It may be the Dealer or the General Manager, but it may not be. Who influences whether people are hired or not? Who determines or has influence on how many salespeople or technicians you have?  Is everyone held accountable for doing their job or are some things or someones allowed to slide? Many questions must be asked and answered in order to determine "the who" is the most influential on the dealership.
• Most every business has a dominating belief and in most cases it comes from the person or persons who have the most influence.  That dominating belief is what they are committed to.  What is the overwhelming belief of your organization?  This is a question that is rarely asked.  Here is what is apparent so far:
  • The answer to who is the most influential person and what the dominate belief is, is what forms the vision that impacts the very direction of the business. There are many stories of people that took over influencing the people and processes of a business and then their beliefs permeated throughout and the business failed.  One example may be the 1st 2 tries Steve Jobs had at making it big, he didn't make it. His influence and beliefs led to him getting ousted.  However, he didn't stop.  He continued to push forward and I am sure that his influence because of his beliefs led to what we know now as Apple. 
  • What dominating beliefs does the business have toward customers?  Do the customers come first?  What are the beliefs about how employees are treated?  Are they believed to be assets or liabilities?  Is the belief that caring for others transcends profits or is it the opposite and that money comes first?  Is there an emphasis put on having a positive mindset towards one another, the business and life?  
• The next question is about what is the organization's behavior and how does it work?  We can 1st go and look at processes to determine how it is supposed to work or we can go directly and look at the dealership's reputation to get the truth about how  what it is doing and behaving is working. 
  • What is their reputation when it comes to how they treat customers and then also how they treat employees? 
  • When you look at the sources of business for the dealership, does sales have a lot of repeat and referral business?  The only way you will have people coming back and referring others, is if your reputation is good which means that the behavior and working of the organization serves customers well.  If the opposite is true, then that means that the behavior and working of the sales department is not appealing to customers and they choose not to come back or refer people to the dealership. 
  • The behavior and working can also be gauged by the tenure of the employees.  If you have people in leadership that have been around as long as the owner has that is one thing, but if you have salespeople and technicians and advisers and clerical people that have long tenure that is a sure sign that the behavior and the way the organization works is good towards its employees as well as customers.  Long tenured employees are normally your best at customers service and satisfaction.   If they weren't they wouldn't be around.

Don't tell me that you aren't afraid of anything, because you and I know that isn't the truth. 

The question is "Fear of What"? 

That's a very interesting question - Let's take look at 3 different people in 3 different positions to get the answer to this question in each of their specific situations.

1. Sales Consultant:  This sales consultant is suffering in his career.  He knows what to do.  So why doesn't he increase his activity so that he produces more and earns more?
2. Sales Manager:  The sales manager hires a new sales consultant and he wants this hire to be different than the last few, because they all left soon after getting started.  He knew the reason they left so soon was that he basically said, "here is the website to learn the product and then shadow Fred and you are ready to go."  So why doesn't he spend more time with this new sales consultant and train him thoroughly?
3. General Manager:  He knows that the dealership is underachieving and that in order to reach the company's potential he must change the culture of the dealership.    He sees the untrained salespeople, he is very aware that the marketing has been in place for a long time and is now ineffective, he hears of the bad attitudes caused by management's style of motivation by intimidation, he gets feedback that the sales process is still dealership focused and not customer focused,  and it drives him crazy that the sales consultants still just sit and wait on prospects.  So why doesn't he lead his team and take action to change?

I believe with all certainty that the reason for "why doesn't he?" in each situation is FEAR -  Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of what others will think, fear driven by a lack of belief in their individual ability to change and execute, fear driven by a lack of belief in the value of the product and service provided.

These are 3 individuals in familiar positions in a car dealership.  They represent 3 situations that are very common and therefore you can rightfully surmise that this fear is pervasive throughout this and many other dealerships.  And even more critical than the fear itself is the lack of dealing with it.  In fact, the biggest obstacle to the change we need in the car business is the unwillingness to acknowledge this fear and deal with it.

Suggesting to that sales consultant that the reason for his/her lack of activity is a fear of rejection or a fear of not being able to produce, will bring about a very defensive response and they will take that as an attack on them personally.

Asking the Sales Manager for the reason he doesn't follow through on his plans to change how he on boards a new sales consultant and then bringing up the idea that it might be the fear of not being effective in training and ultimately feeling responsible when the sales consultant fails, will bring a defensive and possible hostile response.

If you share with that GM that it appears that the only reason he wouldn't carry through on making the changes that so need to be made for his dealership to reach it's potential, is a fear of not being able to execute on so many changes and be successful.  You will surely be met with disagreement. 

So what is the solution to the problem?  Is it really fear?  And if so, if the expected response to someone being accused of being fearful is denial, then what can be done?  The solutions is very simple but far from easy to accomplish.  Here are the simple facts:  The opposite of Fear is Faith.  Faith is based upon Belief.  Belief is fed by knowledge, skill and confidence.  So let's look at these 3 examples above - what are they missing?

1. The Sales Consultant knows that in order to produce more and earn more, something has got to change.  So, he determines that what he needs to do to produce or sell more and that is going to require him to talk to more people.  In very simple terms he must increase his activity.  Now, he stresses about it, worries about it, but he doesn't change anything and heads make out to the point to take as many ups as he can today, just as he has done everyday for as long as he can remember.  He even talks to the BDC manager about getting some orphan customers to start calling and he will schedule some appointments.  The BDC manager says great, lets get started right now.  The sales consultant resists that because he didn't have that in his daily plan, so he decides to start tomorrow.  He then he stresses and worries about it and he doesn't start tomorrow and it just doesn't happen.  Why?  Fear creeps in, the what-ifs are eating him up.  Here comes the justification for the fear and doubt:

• What if I make all those calls and get nothing and while I'm doing that someone catches that up and sells them?
• Of course, yesterday that car drove up and the "what if" was - What if they have bad credit and or is severely upside down? So instead of taking that customer he quickly excused himself to go make a call.
• What if that customer is qualified in every way, but wants to think about it?

 Is he dealing with something different than any other sales professional has or does?  Is this a unique challenge?  Absolutely not.  In fact, it drives good people from a career in professional sales everyday.  This consultant needs to be led and coached through this.  The problem with that is his sales manager came through the same organization and was never trained, taught and led to recognize when this career threatening situation is going on.  

2.The Sales Manager that has just hired a brand new sales consultant with no sales experience, but he sees something in him that he liked and he hired him.  And he has great plans to change how he brings him on-board.  He is going to do it right.  1.  Orientation to the dealership 2.  Broad overview of the product line-up  3.  Introduce him to the Sales Process and why each step is important and briefly explains how exactly it works.  4.  Talk about the CRM and business development and what is expected.  5.  Go over all log-in credentials and websites they need to be familiar.  Also, phone apps they need to download.    

This is a really new thing for him.  As the time approaches he stresses and worries about it.  Why?  He is fearful?  He has a lot of experience with hiring new sales consultants.  But, he doesn't have faith in his ability to perform.  Ultimately, this new person has to produce to support this family. So, fear and doubt creeps in and the what-ifs eat him up.  What he needs is leadership from someone who recognizes this situation and leads and assists him in handling it. Unfortunately, the GM brought him into the business and he doesn't recognize the fear that is dominating himself.

3. The General Manager knows down deep that the culture must change for growth to happen and for the  dealership to reach it's potential.  He has identified the moves that need to be made now. 

1. Implement a training program for sales consultants and then inspect regularly to make sure that the managers are carrying through and making sure the program is being completed. 
2. Marketing dollars have got to be reviewed consistently for effectiveness.  Changing from conventional to digital and being sure to analyze and review to make sure the dollars are invested in the right places. 
3. Stop the culture of making people do things and constantly threatening.  Learn what moves each individual on the team to take action. Then motivate each team member personally to reach their own goals. 
4. The antiquated sales process has got to be changed.  It must become flexible to account for the different types of consumers that the sales consultants deal with everyday.  The key to this is to be training this process and what is flexible and what is not.  This training must be done everyday and someone needs to be held accountable for that.
5. The work ethic in the sales department must change.  Sales Consultants allowed to sit around and wait hour after hour, day after day, month after month is not a work ethic that will win.  Business Development and effective prospecting activity comes in many different ways and requires moment to moment coaching from sales managers.  This GM must establish some KPIs that are non-negotiables and then hold the sales managers accountable for getting them done.  

All of these are keys to success, so why doesn't the GM execute?  The worry and stress sets in because this is different and the fear coming from doubt and a lack of faith leads to the desire to just go back to what is comfortable and just do it the same old way.

This fear, from no faith, lack of belief and low confidence runs through the organization without anyone having the skills to overcome it.  So let's face it, one of the problems is that many of the people in management positions in car dealerships don't study leadership and make learning a priority.  If they are even spending time studying their business, this study usually consists of manufacturer related subjects or learning the new marketing landscape. Both of those are important, but do they even matter until the Fear,  that is organization wide, gets eradicated? Remember, that the opposite of fear is faith.  In order to overcome this fear that is stopping these changes from being made by these 3 people is being caused by a lack of belief in themselves and their skills and abilities. 

That is enough time spent on the challenges, let's solve them.  Here is the proven and guaranteed solution.  Here are the 3 steps to defeating this fear that is crippling any sales organization specifically today's car dealership.

1. Identify the processes that need to be changed ASAP.  This can be done on a individual basis by a sales consultant or for an entire department.  Is it the sales process put in place to take care of a customer when they come to the dealership or is it the individual process of getting appointments by a sales consultant?  You are looking for a process that is critical to success and growth.  Is it ineffective and not bringing the results necessary?  Is it because the process needs to be changed or does training just need to be done and then people held accountable to follow it?  Maybe you are spending money on a lead source that is not working, what is the process for working that lead source? Spend whatever time is necessary to find what needs to be changed.  If it makes you uncomfortable thinking about it, you really need to consider it.  
2. What skills are necessary to build confidence that the change can be accomplished?  You need to be taking steps to become an expert in your area of responsibility.  How can these skills be acquired? 
   • There is so much free training on almost every subject and skill on YouTube.  If you haven't searched YouTube for successful people doing and teaching how to accomplish specific goals, you must do that now!  I don't care if you are a Sales Consultant wanting to learn better presentation skills or a Sales Manager or Business Manager wanting to become more effective, or a General Manager wanting a new and powerful perspective on leadership. Find someone you trust and look at and obsessively watch their YouTube content.  It will be life changing for you.  Some skills may take a little more research. 
   • There is an enormous amount of information available from experts in each area of operation and for every position in the dealership.  Be obsessive in seeking out the experts, reading their articles, subscribing to their newsletters and asking them questions.  If you are wanting to revamp your entire sales process, study to bring your skills to an expertise level as soon as you can.  Approach it as an urgent issue and get it done now. Spend time early and late to get it done.  If you are trying to learn enough about digital marketing to at least have an intelligent conversation with your ad agency, then you can get that done.  But, again you have got to approach it with the attitude that you are going to become an expert in as short a period of time as possible.  

This expertise brings confidence and drives belief in your competence.  That confidence in yourself and your process brings faith and that is the opposite of fear.  Both cannot exist together.  Drive the fear out with faith and then watch the productivity explode.

  3.  Continue to learn and lead.  Continue to study to become expert in all areas         of your business specific to your position. Then this cycle of fear and doubt         gets broken.  You will be aware of the fear problem and will be able to see it         in your colleagues and those that you lead.  You will be able to lead and                 teach how to overcome.  You will be able to teach how to identify the areas           of concern quickly and then lead on how and where to go to develop the               skills to build the confidence and become an expert.  That expert                             competency then builds the belief in potential which creates faith and                   defeats fear.

The Fear that stops action is 99% caused by a lack of knowledge and expertise.  It doesn't matter what your field is, it certainly is not limited to the car business.  It is a challenge in medicine, engineering, law, professional sports, etc.  If you are finding fear is stopping you from taking action, it comes from a lack of faith stemming from a lack of belief in yourself and your product or service.  

The GOOD NEWS is conquering this fear is totally in your control.  

Expect to Win!

Today's car dealership is changing rapidly.  

The new technology in the vehicles, the more and more complicated manufacturer incentives, the new marketing world and the consumer has and is changing.  These changes are effecting everyone and has brought on a bigger need for leadership than ever, specifically from the sales managers.

• The new technology in the vehicles brings a need for constantly adapting and understanding connectivity and how these new features benefit the consumer.  This requires a desire for learning and training by the sales consultants that has never existed in the car dealership.  The only way that this changes is with leadership from the sales managers.  They dig in daily and learn the technology, teach what they have learned to the consultants and then lead by doing 2 things. 
  1. Be consistent with the learning and teaching.  It can not be a typical dealership idea that gets barely started and then stops because we get back to same old, I work your deals attitude from the sales manager and the non existent learning and teaching culture. 
  2. Get up and out and lead the way by making presentations of the product for customers while the consultant watches and learns.
• The more complicated manufacturer incentives makes it harder daily for the sales consultants to battle the pricing and value issue with the consumer.  Many customers want to discuss the amount of rebates that they can qualify for. It is hard to understand for us and we work with it everyday, so it can be an exasperating experience for the consumer.  This is all while the sales manager is telling the consultant to get them off of price.  Build value in the vehicle.  Here is a great time for the sales managers to dig in and learn the incentives and then teach the sales consultants how these can best benefit the consumer.  When the incentives are explained with confidence and enthusiasm, it inspires trust and ultimately opens the door to continue to create value in the product and not a focus on the price and incentives.  Then the sales managers must lead in this area by being consistent with their teaching and then lead by getting out there with the consumer and explaining the incentives to the consumer with the consultant listening and learning how to inspire trust from the consumer by being effective with their knowledge and ability to explain the benefits of the incentives.
• The consumer has and is changing with the knowledge they have and the experience they expect from the consultant and the dealership.  In the past the consumer relied on the dealership for information, research information etc.  Today this same consumer is researching 16 hours on 5 websites prior to coming into the dealership.  What challenges does this present today's consultants?  Can you believe that in many dealerships sales consultants are being trained to do the same things they were taught 10-15 years ago?  That is because of lazy and unprofessional sales managers.  That is just a fact.  They are sending the consultants out there with the consumer untrained but also the training they have received is absolutely ineffective.  I see a lot of people talking about the importance of hiring the right people, however the right person will not tolerate this inadequate training and non existent leadership.  They will be gone so quick and the sales manager will say what happened?? I can't believe I wasted my time on them.

Sales managers must study the new consumer expectations and behaviors. They have to learn the best strategies and processes for creating the best purchasing experience possible.  They then have to consistently and regularly teach what they have learned.  They must master the skills necessary to be successful today.  They then by showing the sales consultant how it is done, by being involved through the entire process and coach them on the most effective engagement and communication with the consumer.

We don't need our sales managers spending their time today learning SEO and SEM, we need them to learn and master the leadership skills required to be successful at leading a team of people in this changing world we live in daily. Whether our consultants are engaging the customer face to face, on the phone, over the internet, by email, text message or social media - they don't need to be alone.  They need a leader that insures they have the very best chance of succeeding by leading the way.

Learn - Teach - Lead       Expect to Win!

I am always searching for ideas and best practices.  They only way to prevent wasting time on mistakes is to learn from others that have already made the journey and made and corrected the mistakes on the way to creating a best practice.  I find these ideas and best practices from meetings, webinars, videos and reading articles.  

We all go to meetings.  Most of us in the car business attend at least 1 sales meeting per week.  We attend webinars and watch videos. We have access to ideas from people that are killing it in what they do.  Don't waste that time.  

Here are 5 things to do to make sure that your ideas are put into actionL

1. Find the idea and best practice.  Watch a minimum of 15 minutes per day of good video instruction or read 15 minutes of good written material.  You are looking for ways to improve your skills in all areas  - building relationships, marketing, prospecting, product knowledge etc.
2. Always have a notepad (electronic or written) with you.  Take it to every meeting you attend, video or webinar you watch or article you read.  Take all notes - anything that is interesting, get it down for later reference.
3. Always have post-it notes in addition to the notepad.  Seperate from your notes on your notepad - put your action items on a post-it note.  As you are taking notes, there will no doubt be ideas and best practices that you want to implement - take action on.  You want to get to work on these things ASAG.  These are things from the meeting or video or article that you JUST CAN'T AFFORD TO FORGET!                      
4. Immediately after the meeting, video or reading time - file the notes - I use Evernote as my electronic filing cabinet.  
5. The most important Action Step is to take the Post-It notes and get them on your calendar - Make the Plan to take action NOW!

Expect To Win!

--Jim

Do you think that "lifers" in the car business love or hate the down time?  

Because it just doesn't matter where you go - Standing Around or Sitting Around is an acquired habit in most dealerships throughout the country.  Dealers do it, Managers do it, Technicians do it and Salespeople excel in it.  

I guess that I have always been a little different - ok, not a little, a whole lot different.  Down time drives me bat - s#%t CRAZY!!!!  

What would happen, if we embraced this in the car business.                         

When you look at your day, whether proactive by filling your schedule or reflective my looking at what you did  -  what do you see?  Here is what you should remember always.

“There is no return on wasted time.”

• What % of the activities on your schedule are income producing? (IPA)
• How much white space or blank spots are on your schedule?
• Do you plan your day ahead of time?
• Do you take control of your day or does your day control you?

Again, our time is our most important investment. Focus on that when you ask these 4 questions

Wasted Time - Never Let It Happen.  

Teach it, Coach it, Lead it - make it the culture.  Make it count.

We just witnessed perhaps the best Super Bowl every played.  We watched 2 teams battle to the end.  What we saw was players on both sides "leave it all on the field".   When we come to work and look back at the end of the day, did we "leave it all on the field" or did we have a lot of wasted time that we will get no ROI on and we can't get it back?  NEVER LET IT HAPPEN!  Leave it all on the field!

This year of 2017, is the prime time for sales pros to not just survive but thrive!  

              Your customers need you more than ever.  

It will require effort, planning and an understanding that today, the consumer is able to acquire information on the company and product in an instant through the internet, Google etc.  In many cases they feel that they don't need to rely on salespeople for anything.  They are able to find direct and 3rd party information on company products, uses, specifications, availability, competition, pricing, etc.  The importance of the salesperson and bringing familiarity, rapport and credibility to the table is not a perceived need.  Certainly they don't perceive a need for a full presentation of the product.  Depending on the product and industry all they need in their minds is to have someone negotiate price and facilitate shipping and delivery.

                         If you commit yourself to acquiring and consistently maintaining

                          the 2 following skills as the foundation of your business - you

                            will achieve great success in 2017 and beyond.

To all Dealer Principals, General Managers, General Sales Managers, Sales Managers. BDC Managers and Finance Managers - these are skills you should be perfecting and teaching. You are in positions of leadership, leading these sales professionals and assisting them in acquiring these 2 skills. Don't fail them!

2 skills that are required of salespeople today:

1. Confidence / Expert Status -  A superior knowledge of the product being sold.  With stories to illustrate use and effectiveness.  It must be assumed that every consumer has a massive amount of knowledge about the product or service they are wanting to buy.  This makes it imperative that a salesperson is extremely knowledgeable about their product, its specifications, availability, the competition etc.  They also must be enthusiastically confident in the product or service.  This confidence and expertise is what the consumer wants in order to begin the rapport building and credibility that will allow a relationship to build and the consumer will then feel the need for the salesperson. This requires the salesperson to be a student of their industry.  It takes not only the information provided by the company, but it necessitates the salesperson going the extra mile on their own.  This takes time and effort on a daily basis.  Schedule this time with no end, because the product and industry are changing. If you are a pro you will be in the know and on the cutting edge at all times. This confidence drives skill #2.
2. Persistence / Determination / Tenacity / Flexibility in contacting and engaging the consumer.  Because of the easy access to information and the perceived lack of need of a salesperson or consultant, it takes a determined individual to contact and engage the consumer.  Through phone, email, text, social media etc it is a persistent person that makes contact.  Today, it takes 7-8 attempts to engage the consumer in many cases.  It takes a massive amount of activity in order to be successful. The use of technology and all available forms of communication is very important. Embracing these avenues of communication is a must.  The old saying "you can't sell anything over the phone or internet or email or text message" must be erased from your vocabulary. If you don't communicate with the prospect the way they want to communicate, they will find someone that will.  Remember, they don't think that you add any value to the situation. Use of videos, FaceTime, Skype and webinars/screen sharing should be a part of every sales person's repertoire.  The confidence gained by your expertise drives your belief in the value you bring and that fuels the skill of persistence and determination.

A confident and persistent sales professional is invaluable to their company or dealership. They are also the key component to our success - don't doubt that and don't forget it.