The average automobile salesperson wage was (As of Jan 10, 2020) in the United States is $42,950 a year [sourced from Salary.com].  I personally know several car salesmen that made over $300,000 in 2019. How can the compensation swing so far from each other, it’s the same job category?

Here are a couple things I noticed between the superstars and the “average Joe’s”:

I am going to go with the assumption that you desire to be a Superstar, and most of the items above you can start doing today.  The hardest one will be “Works by appointment only”.  Do you know why that is the hardest one?  It requires traffic in the form of calls/texts, emails and walk ins that will be the result of doing the first 4 things noted.  This is a great introduction for how to set appointments so that they have a better chance of showing up. 

Have you ever told a phone prospect that you will be at the dealership until closing, so “just come in and can you ask for me when you arrive”?  How did that work out for you?  Here is something that must be absorbed and internalized; your time is VALUABLE.  I know that there are times especially in the beginning of your sales career that you won’t agree with that statement.  Once you decide that your time is worth more than you are giving it credit for right now, then you can make the shift to utilizing your time effectively.

THE FINISH LINE:
Finish this statement for me:   In 5 years I will have learned enough that I will easily make $___,_____.00 per year in this business.  Now take that number and divide it by 2,080.  That is the average number of hours an employee works in a year.  What was that dollar per hour calculation?  $_____.___ / Hour.  Since everyone of us will have a different vision of our 5-year income, I will use $100,000.00 per year.  That equate out (after dividing by 2,080) to be $48.08/hour.  What if it was $200k/year – you are making just under $100/hr.  The reason I am asking you to do this math with me is so you can start acting like your time is worth your 5 years from now hourly wage.  The only way to get to that 5-year hourly wage is to act like your current hourly wage is equal to that. 

QUESTION FOR YOU:
Would you let a prospective buyer “just come in when they feel like it” knowing that every hour you wait is costing you $33 ($48/hr. - $15/hr. – current min wage)? 

No, you wouldn’t, so start acting like your time is worth it.

Summary:
Treat your time like it is valuable, and the prospect will treat YOU and your time with value!