I pulled up in front of an office building in a 2003 Toyota Camry XLE V6 right on time. Just an hour earlier, I had spoken with the Internet customer that said he didn’t have the time to come in and test drive. I took it upon myself to save him time, and I was bringing the vehicle to him. Out walked a mid-30’s man in a white shirt and striped tie, accompanied by two other coworkers. I knew I had sold the car before I shook his hand.

The first of his friends said “So… you’re finally getting rid of that piece of crap you’ve been driving.” The other chimed in, “It’s about time. Pretty sweet ride. Hope you can afford it.”  Corporate America busts chops just like we do in the car business.  Without seeming presumptuous, there was no way this guy wasn’t going to buy this car. Not after the verbal abuse from his friends.  He showed up that night after work and purchased the very same car.  This may have been inevitable, but I knew I did myself a favor by being proactive and bringing the vehicle to him.

To be successful in sales, we need to take our business over the curb. If the Internet has taught us anything over the last decade, it’s that consumers are visiting less dealerships than ever before and only showing up when they’re good and ready. Time is a commodity and there is no use stepping foot onto a showroom floor until they’ve made up their mind. They prefer to bask in the glow of a computer monitor or the blue light from a mobile device than to tan under the halogen lights of our dealerships. So we need to do business (and offer to do business) where they are most comfortable.

Bringing a vehicle to someone’s home or work is certainly not a novel concept. It isn’t new or revolutionary. Yet, we don’t do this near enough.  Bringing a vehicle to them, to experience it on their own terms, is often a deciding factor whatthey choose, who they choose to do business with, and when they choose to do it.  Quite frequently, just the OFFER to bring a vehicle is all the shopper needs to hear when deciding who is worthy of earning their business.

Tesla has shown us that consumers don’t mind an entirely digital transaction. Bringing a vehicle to a home is just a first step to over-the-curb selling. Your dealership needs to be fully capable (and promoting) over-the-curb shipping. Paperwork can be electronic, signatures can be scanned, and money can be instantly transferred.

The only reason I purchased my own vehicle from the individual I did was because he allowed me to bring the SUV to my home. My kids spent 20 minutes crawling around inside. My wife sat in its seat and played with its features. My family essentially gave me their seal of approval on the spot. (I couldn’t have brought them into the store conveniently so I brought the store to them.) I felt indebted (some could say, obligated) to purchase from this salesperson and dealership. It was my idea to drive the car home, not theirs, but they allowed it.

You need to actively promote doing business over the curb. Take the experience off of your lot and put it in the friendly confines of the client’s home. Bring your work to the shopper’s work, and see if their peers can help influence their buying decision. A new car always looks nicer than their used one.  Do business outside of the lot, and beyond the confines of your rooftop. Make transactions digital and then personal. You just might find it to be a simpler process for everyone involved.

I pulled up in front of an office building in a 2003 Toyota Camry XLE V6 right on time. Just an hour earlier, I had spoken with the Internet customer that said he didn’t have the time to come in and test drive. I took it upon myself to save him time, and I was bringing the vehicle to him. Out walked a mid-30’s man in a white shirt and striped tie, accompanied by two other coworkers. I knew I had sold the car before I shook his hand.

The first of his friends said “So… you’re finally getting rid of that piece of crap you’ve been driving.” The other chimed in, “It’s about time. Pretty sweet ride. Hope you can afford it.”  Corporate America busts chops just like we do in the car business.  Without seeming presumptuous, there was no way this guy wasn’t going to buy this car. Not after the verbal abuse from his friends.  He showed up that night after work and purchased the very same car.  This may have been inevitable, but I knew I did myself a favor by being proactive and bringing the vehicle to him.

To be successful in sales, we need to take our business over the curb. If the Internet has taught us anything over the last decade, it’s that consumers are visiting less dealerships than ever before and only showing up when they’re good and ready. Time is a commodity and there is no use stepping foot onto a showroom floor until they’ve made up their mind. They prefer to bask in the glow of a computer monitor or the blue light from a mobile device than to tan under the halogen lights of our dealerships. So we need to do business (and offer to do business) where they are most comfortable.

Bringing a vehicle to someone’s home or work is certainly not a novel concept. It isn’t new or revolutionary. Yet, we don’t do this near enough.  Bringing a vehicle to them, to experience it on their own terms, is often a deciding factor whatthey choose, who they choose to do business with, and when they choose to do it.  Quite frequently, just the OFFER to bring a vehicle is all the shopper needs to hear when deciding who is worthy of earning their business.

Tesla has shown us that consumers don’t mind an entirely digital transaction. Bringing a vehicle to a home is just a first step to over-the-curb selling. Your dealership needs to be fully capable (and promoting) over-the-curb shipping. Paperwork can be electronic, signatures can be scanned, and money can be instantly transferred.

The only reason I purchased my own vehicle from the individual I did was because he allowed me to bring the SUV to my home. My kids spent 20 minutes crawling around inside. My wife sat in its seat and played with its features. My family essentially gave me their seal of approval on the spot. (I couldn’t have brought them into the store conveniently so I brought the store to them.) I felt indebted (some could say, obligated) to purchase from this salesperson and dealership. It was my idea to drive the car home, not theirs, but they allowed it.

You need to actively promote doing business over the curb. Take the experience off of your lot and put it in the friendly confines of the client’s home. Bring your work to the shopper’s work, and see if their peers can help influence their buying decision. A new car always looks nicer than their used one.  Do business outside of the lot, and beyond the confines of your rooftop. Make transactions digital and then personal. You just might find it to be a simpler process for everyone involved.

Growing up a majority of my youth in Cincinnati, I was a big-time Bengals fan. We didn’t always have the money to attend the games, but on a few rare occasions, we got to experience the orange and black-striped gridiron battle of the Bengals in person.

Boomer Esiason was a force. He didn’t throw the ball the farthest. He didn’t have the best accuracy. He wouldn’t put up the most yards or scramble for the most first downs. But he was a leader of his team, he managed the game, he made big plays, and he pushed his team to win.  Boomer was consistent.

It was a major life event when my father took me down to Miami for the Super Bowl in ’89 where I dressed head to toe in Bengals gear and carried Who-Dey (Hudepohl) six packs for my father around a tailgating parking lot.  We made our way inside Joe Robbie Stadium and witnessed one of the best football games ever – Super Bowl XXIII. Now, the Bengals did lose… and I cried… but it was an experience. And I was a Boomer fan for life. Now, as an announcer, he doesn’t dispense wins. He dispenses wisdom. And a recent statement of his made me like him even more, when discussing the challenge of coaching today’s players.

In an interview with Chicago’s sports radio station, 670 the Score, Esiason said, “Yes you can teach an old dog new tricks if that old dog wants to buy in and become a great player. If that old dog doesn’t want to and is going to resist everything that is happening around him, well then you’re going to have a player that’s impossible to coach.”

As a trainer (read: coach) of players in dealerships, I can say firsthand that the oldest of dogs can learn the newest of tricks. The tenured, surly vet of the floor can continue to be a well-oiled, profit machine on the lot with the right coaching. There is only one caveat: They must be willing to learn. Without the willingness to improve their game, they’ll simply stay an aging quarterback forever. You can’t throw to the same receiver every time and always count on a completion. You can’t give the defense the same looks every time and expect to move the chains after each play. You need to mix up your game. You need to improve. Aging quarterbacks that are unwilling to learn new plays just don’t win games.

Boomer Esiason recognized this. However, he decided his “new plays” weren’t to be on the football field, but were in the commentator booth. He chose to learn new skills in an effort to stay relevant. He did what it took to elevate his game in another arena.  The same way the 25-year-in-the-business salesperson must understand the consumers’ Internet experience if they expect to rule the sales floor.  Or how the 10-year, 10-car-a-month salesperson must understand the store’s Internet technology if they expect to handle Internet leads.  It takes the willingness to learn new things.

It amazes me that more seasoned sales pros don’t peel off the pads, humble themselves, sit down with their coaches, watch some game tape, and listen with open ears on how to make their game better. It is possible. You just need to listen to the coaching.  You just need to be like Boomer.  
Much like DealerKnows, Boomer Esiason knows too.

Growing up a majority of my youth in Cincinnati, I was a big-time Bengals fan. We didn’t always have the money to attend the games, but on a few rare occasions, we got to experience the orange and black-striped gridiron battle of the Bengals in person.

Boomer Esiason was a force. He didn’t throw the ball the farthest. He didn’t have the best accuracy. He wouldn’t put up the most yards or scramble for the most first downs. But he was a leader of his team, he managed the game, he made big plays, and he pushed his team to win.  Boomer was consistent.

It was a major life event when my father took me down to Miami for the Super Bowl in ’89 where I dressed head to toe in Bengals gear and carried Who-Dey (Hudepohl) six packs for my father around a tailgating parking lot.  We made our way inside Joe Robbie Stadium and witnessed one of the best football games ever – Super Bowl XXIII. Now, the Bengals did lose… and I cried… but it was an experience. And I was a Boomer fan for life. Now, as an announcer, he doesn’t dispense wins. He dispenses wisdom. And a recent statement of his made me like him even more, when discussing the challenge of coaching today’s players.

In an interview with Chicago’s sports radio station, 670 the Score, Esiason said, “Yes you can teach an old dog new tricks if that old dog wants to buy in and become a great player. If that old dog doesn’t want to and is going to resist everything that is happening around him, well then you’re going to have a player that’s impossible to coach.”

As a trainer (read: coach) of players in dealerships, I can say firsthand that the oldest of dogs can learn the newest of tricks. The tenured, surly vet of the floor can continue to be a well-oiled, profit machine on the lot with the right coaching. There is only one caveat: They must be willing to learn. Without the willingness to improve their game, they’ll simply stay an aging quarterback forever. You can’t throw to the same receiver every time and always count on a completion. You can’t give the defense the same looks every time and expect to move the chains after each play. You need to mix up your game. You need to improve. Aging quarterbacks that are unwilling to learn new plays just don’t win games.

Boomer Esiason recognized this. However, he decided his “new plays” weren’t to be on the football field, but were in the commentator booth. He chose to learn new skills in an effort to stay relevant. He did what it took to elevate his game in another arena.  The same way the 25-year-in-the-business salesperson must understand the consumers’ Internet experience if they expect to rule the sales floor.  Or how the 10-year, 10-car-a-month salesperson must understand the store’s Internet technology if they expect to handle Internet leads.  It takes the willingness to learn new things.

It amazes me that more seasoned sales pros don’t peel off the pads, humble themselves, sit down with their coaches, watch some game tape, and listen with open ears on how to make their game better. It is possible. You just need to listen to the coaching.  You just need to be like Boomer.  
Much like DealerKnows, Boomer Esiason knows too.

The music industry lost a great artist when the Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch succumbed to cancer last month. Growing up, the group was one of my early favorites and, unlike many rap acts from the mid 80’s, they actually evolved their music over the years to stay edgy. They stayed ahead of the curve. Dealers can learn a great deal about staying progressive by being a Beastie Boy.

Recognize first that your primary market area is not just your backyard. It isn’t the twenty miles around your store, despite what the third-party lead providers say. Your business is Intergalactic. It is far-reaching and widespread. You must be doing everything to focus your search advertisements locally and down-funnel, but marketing your brand globally. You must be your own Paul Revere. You must storm around your area and alert those nearby of your presence, but you must be shouting your brand. your people, your value proposition, your history, and your voice with digital assets.

How else can you have a pervasive influence? Start by embracing the power of online word of mouth. You need to Pass the Mic to your loyal customers and realize that it cannot just be your owner singing your praises, but those that actually frequent your dealership. As Google continues to grow their focus on Google Places/Google Plus Pages and the reviews they generate, your consumers will be driven either to or from your store. Consider this The New Style of compelling customers to choose you over your competition.

Now here is something that affects DealerKnows personally. I find it shocking that a dealership manager or employee can be shown something that is proven to make them more money and yet they will do everything in their power to Sabotage the new agenda. They actually turn down the opportunity to make more money because it either isn’ttheir idea or they simply don’t want to look wrong as it opposes their personal misguided beliefs. You need to Check Your Head and make sure that your management team is not trying to undo the forward movement that you are trying to instill in your dealership.  Training is a Sure Shot to guarantee your team has the Skills to Pay the Bills, and it shouldn’t challenged and led to Instant Death. If you are paying for Internet sales training, make sure your entire team is embracing it.

So What’cha Want? You want to grow your online presence and Internet sales, correct? Then you have to Make Some Noise to brand your dealership far and wide, get your Body Movin’, Fight for Your Right to garner Google Reviews, not let any Tough Guy manager get in the way of promoting new digital tactics, and you have to do it Right Right Now Now. In the meantime, RIP Adam Yauch and do what it takes to Be a Beastie Boy.

The music industry lost a great artist when the Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch succumbed to cancer last month. Growing up, the group was one of my early favorites and, unlike many rap acts from the mid 80’s, they actually evolved their music over the years to stay edgy. They stayed ahead of the curve. Dealers can learn a great deal about staying progressive by being a Beastie Boy.

Recognize first that your primary market area is not just your backyard. It isn’t the twenty miles around your store, despite what the third-party lead providers say. Your business is Intergalactic. It is far-reaching and widespread. You must be doing everything to focus your search advertisements locally and down-funnel, but marketing your brand globally. You must be your own Paul Revere. You must storm around your area and alert those nearby of your presence, but you must be shouting your brand. your people, your value proposition, your history, and your voice with digital assets.

How else can you have a pervasive influence? Start by embracing the power of online word of mouth. You need to Pass the Mic to your loyal customers and realize that it cannot just be your owner singing your praises, but those that actually frequent your dealership. As Google continues to grow their focus on Google Places/Google Plus Pages and the reviews they generate, your consumers will be driven either to or from your store. Consider this The New Style of compelling customers to choose you over your competition.

Now here is something that affects DealerKnows personally. I find it shocking that a dealership manager or employee can be shown something that is proven to make them more money and yet they will do everything in their power to Sabotage the new agenda. They actually turn down the opportunity to make more money because it either isn’ttheir idea or they simply don’t want to look wrong as it opposes their personal misguided beliefs. You need to Check Your Head and make sure that your management team is not trying to undo the forward movement that you are trying to instill in your dealership.  Training is a Sure Shot to guarantee your team has the Skills to Pay the Bills, and it shouldn’t challenged and led to Instant Death. If you are paying for Internet sales training, make sure your entire team is embracing it.

So What’cha Want? You want to grow your online presence and Internet sales, correct? Then you have to Make Some Noise to brand your dealership far and wide, get your Body Movin’, Fight for Your Right to garner Google Reviews, not let any Tough Guy manager get in the way of promoting new digital tactics, and you have to do it Right Right Now Now. In the meantime, RIP Adam Yauch and do what it takes to Be a Beastie Boy.

Stuck in the middle.  It’s the worst place to be as a dealership and as a dealership employee.  Yet, it happens more than it ever should.  The phrase “Don’t kill the messenger” exists because, far too often, it is the messenger that gets in trouble…whether it is their fault or not.  This is the life of an Internet Sales Director when stuck in the middle of a vendor circle jerk.

While on-site training a new client, we discovered an issue with their inbound lead submissions.  Both sales and service leads were being sent in from their website provider under the same email address into a CRM that differentiates leads based on inbound email address.  In other words, whether it be a sales or service customer, it comes into a system as leads@abcmotors.com. The CRM reads it only as a new sales lead, and pushes it to the ISM instead of to a more appropriate party.  When asking the CRM to find a new way to differentiate where the leads are funneled, they said “Talk to the web provider and tell them to submit it under a new email address such as serviceleads@abcmotors.com”.  When reaching out to the web provider, they tell the dealer, “reach out to the CRM company instead and tell them to look for the keyword ‘service’ in the lead comments.”  And so begins the vendor circle jerk.

Internet Sales Managers and Directors are forced to be the middle men (or women) when communication needs to occur between two pieces of software.  This has to stop.  It should not be the responsibility of the Internet Sales Manager to figure out why a feed from the Inventory management tool isn’t directing all data into a inventory listing lead provider.  It isn’t their job to have to pass messages from one entity to the other.  The dealership employee doesn’t have the time. 

Vendors are paid, not just for their technology, but for their continued support and service.  I believe that a committed vendor should take it upon themselves to contact the other company’s representative and sort it out.  Do you remember being in school and playing the chain message game where you tell a phrase or two to the first child, ask them to pass it along, and by the time the message gets to the 10^th and final child, it is completely different.  Messages get lost in translation.  Problems will not get solved using a third party messenger.  We need to instruct our vendors to communicate between themselves without putting us in the middle of a vendor circle jerk.  ‘He says, she says’ is not the way to get anything done quickly.  Vendors, stop relying on the dealership team to do your communication for you.  Be proactive and solve it.

I must admit… sometimes dealers do this to themselves.  They put themselves in the middle of the circle jerk because they are control freaks and want to see it through.  Sometimes, they even include others into the mix. Quite often, we at DealerKnows are the messengers for our clients.  It is frequent we receive an email stating “Can you pass this along to (vendor name) so they can put this up on our website?”  While we always serve our clients to the fullest, adding an extra person into the mix is just going to disrupt the message rather than sending it on directly.  In the end, even we are trapped in the vendor circle jerk, hearing it from both sides.  “Tell them this.”  “They should be doing that.”  “This isn’t right…it’s supposed to do this instead.”  Vendors… do your clients a favor, take the reins on these issues, glitches, and changes and contact the other vendor directly.  Work together and get to the bottom of the issue. 

So listen up, CRM companies, inventory management software corporations, website providers, Craigslist pushers, DMS solutions and the lot… Keeping the dealer out of the vendor circle jerk will make them happier and make you look less like a jerk.  Isn’t that what we all want

Stuck in the middle.  It’s the worst place to be as a dealership and as a dealership employee.  Yet, it happens more than it ever should.  The phrase “Don’t kill the messenger” exists because, far too often, it is the messenger that gets in trouble…whether it is their fault or not.  This is the life of an Internet Sales Director when stuck in the middle of a vendor circle jerk.

While on-site training a new client, we discovered an issue with their inbound lead submissions.  Both sales and service leads were being sent in from their website provider under the same email address into a CRM that differentiates leads based on inbound email address.  In other words, whether it be a sales or service customer, it comes into a system as leads@abcmotors.com. The CRM reads it only as a new sales lead, and pushes it to the ISM instead of to a more appropriate party.  When asking the CRM to find a new way to differentiate where the leads are funneled, they said “Talk to the web provider and tell them to submit it under a new email address such as serviceleads@abcmotors.com”.  When reaching out to the web provider, they tell the dealer, “reach out to the CRM company instead and tell them to look for the keyword ‘service’ in the lead comments.”  And so begins the vendor circle jerk.

Internet Sales Managers and Directors are forced to be the middle men (or women) when communication needs to occur between two pieces of software.  This has to stop.  It should not be the responsibility of the Internet Sales Manager to figure out why a feed from the Inventory management tool isn’t directing all data into a inventory listing lead provider.  It isn’t their job to have to pass messages from one entity to the other.  The dealership employee doesn’t have the time. 

Vendors are paid, not just for their technology, but for their continued support and service.  I believe that a committed vendor should take it upon themselves to contact the other company’s representative and sort it out.  Do you remember being in school and playing the chain message game where you tell a phrase or two to the first child, ask them to pass it along, and by the time the message gets to the 10^th and final child, it is completely different.  Messages get lost in translation.  Problems will not get solved using a third party messenger.  We need to instruct our vendors to communicate between themselves without putting us in the middle of a vendor circle jerk.  ‘He says, she says’ is not the way to get anything done quickly.  Vendors, stop relying on the dealership team to do your communication for you.  Be proactive and solve it.

I must admit… sometimes dealers do this to themselves.  They put themselves in the middle of the circle jerk because they are control freaks and want to see it through.  Sometimes, they even include others into the mix. Quite often, we at DealerKnows are the messengers for our clients.  It is frequent we receive an email stating “Can you pass this along to (vendor name) so they can put this up on our website?”  While we always serve our clients to the fullest, adding an extra person into the mix is just going to disrupt the message rather than sending it on directly.  In the end, even we are trapped in the vendor circle jerk, hearing it from both sides.  “Tell them this.”  “They should be doing that.”  “This isn’t right…it’s supposed to do this instead.”  Vendors… do your clients a favor, take the reins on these issues, glitches, and changes and contact the other vendor directly.  Work together and get to the bottom of the issue. 

So listen up, CRM companies, inventory management software corporations, website providers, Craigslist pushers, DMS solutions and the lot… Keeping the dealer out of the vendor circle jerk will make them happier and make you look less like a jerk.  Isn’t that what we all want

The Meet and Greet.  The Needs Assessment.  Getting to know them on the test drive.  Making friends while waiting for figures from the manager.  All of these are associated with the idea that building rapport is the key to selling cars.  Well, building rapport is OUT!  It is no longer a determining factor for many customers when buying a new vehicle.

We all have countless sales stories from our retail days (those of us who’ve done retail at least) of instances where finding a common ground with customers has helped us sell them a car.  It still can go a long way in creating a more comfortable sales experience.  However, I will say it again… “building rapport” is out.

The new focus should be “Fostering Relationships”.  I know many of you are saying “splitting hairs” or “semantics”, but I don’t believe these two phrases mean the same thing.   Building rapport is looking for some mutual understanding or trying to find ways to align yourself with the individual person.  

 involves the development of trust before the handshake, during the interaction, and long after the customer leaves the store.

Building rapport happens mostly in person and occasionally on the phone and email.  Fostering relationships is peer to peer.  It involves creating an evidence of honesty in your interactions with other customers.  It relies on developing ways to grow your relationship further.  It carries with it the idea that a relationship should develop after the sale opposed to just prior to the sale.

I will not tell you to do away with the “Where did you go to school?” or “Where do you work? questions.  I won’t ask you to cease the “How do you use your current car?” inquisitions or the “Yeah, my sister lives in that town” scenarios.

Instead, I’d like you to think of ways to engage the customer before you are engaged.  Reviews, testimonials, video bios and more are all ways to start fostering a relationship with customers before first contact.  What is the difference between building rapport in person or fostering a relationship in person?  The former is asking questions, looking for commonalities.  The latter is discussing how you will serve them and continue to earn their business long after the sale.  (Think “new owner clinic discussions” and “loyalty program talks”.)

Put a strategy into place today (whether it is in your service department, your social media calendar, your CRM follow-up, or your post-sale deliverables) that will allow you to truly foster a relationship with this customer.  In the days of multiple mediums to communicate (especially social platforms), it is more important than ever to maximize your connection with your customers.  This connection shouldn’t just be between the customer, the salesperson and their church, but instead, how your entire organization serves the church, the community, and the individual customer with your personal services.

Stop thinking that building rapport is all you need to sell a vehicle in a 2012 world.  Building rapport is all about completing a short-term action while fostering relationships are about implementing long-term strategies.  You must foster relationships before, during and after, if you truly want to develop ongoing customer satisfaction.

The Meet and Greet.  The Needs Assessment.  Getting to know them on the test drive.  Making friends while waiting for figures from the manager.  All of these are associated with the idea that building rapport is the key to selling cars.  Well, building rapport is OUT!  It is no longer a determining factor for many customers when buying a new vehicle.

We all have countless sales stories from our retail days (those of us who’ve done retail at least) of instances where finding a common ground with customers has helped us sell them a car.  It still can go a long way in creating a more comfortable sales experience.  However, I will say it again… “building rapport” is out.

The new focus should be “Fostering Relationships”.  I know many of you are saying “splitting hairs” or “semantics”, but I don’t believe these two phrases mean the same thing.   Building rapport is looking for some mutual understanding or trying to find ways to align yourself with the individual person.  

 involves the development of trust before the handshake, during the interaction, and long after the customer leaves the store.

Building rapport happens mostly in person and occasionally on the phone and email.  Fostering relationships is peer to peer.  It involves creating an evidence of honesty in your interactions with other customers.  It relies on developing ways to grow your relationship further.  It carries with it the idea that a relationship should develop after the sale opposed to just prior to the sale.

I will not tell you to do away with the “Where did you go to school?” or “Where do you work? questions.  I won’t ask you to cease the “How do you use your current car?” inquisitions or the “Yeah, my sister lives in that town” scenarios.

Instead, I’d like you to think of ways to engage the customer before you are engaged.  Reviews, testimonials, video bios and more are all ways to start fostering a relationship with customers before first contact.  What is the difference between building rapport in person or fostering a relationship in person?  The former is asking questions, looking for commonalities.  The latter is discussing how you will serve them and continue to earn their business long after the sale.  (Think “new owner clinic discussions” and “loyalty program talks”.)

Put a strategy into place today (whether it is in your service department, your social media calendar, your CRM follow-up, or your post-sale deliverables) that will allow you to truly foster a relationship with this customer.  In the days of multiple mediums to communicate (especially social platforms), it is more important than ever to maximize your connection with your customers.  This connection shouldn’t just be between the customer, the salesperson and their church, but instead, how your entire organization serves the church, the community, and the individual customer with your personal services.

Stop thinking that building rapport is all you need to sell a vehicle in a 2012 world.  Building rapport is all about completing a short-term action while fostering relationships are about implementing long-term strategies.  You must foster relationships before, during and after, if you truly want to develop ongoing customer satisfaction.