"Deliver on your ideas.  Nothing silences critics like success.  Raise the bar for yourself and project a greater vision for those around you.”  When Tony Paragas shared this statement with me, I felt challenged to seize the moment and share a sales performance training strategy for success that I have been undertaking now for over a decade.  Being authentic might not always be popular, but it has dramatically altered my personal and professional life for the better.  Hopefully what I have to share can impact your life as well.

Which is more important, being right or being real?  I see examples several times a day of individuals committed to being so right, that they lose sight of being real.  Losing sight of being real is a dangerous path.  Not being real becomes a downward spiral into a space that leaves you out of touch with reality.  How often do you see people so obsessed with “rightness;” having the “right” answer, doing the “right” thing, acting the “right” way, winning arguments to prove how “right” they are, etc. that they get side tracked from the real issue at hand.  It is not only impossible to be right all the time, it's exhausting, stressful and all around not fun for anyone involved.  Even an illusionist can have a hard time keeping up the illusion...just ask Houdini.

When you find yourself needing to be right, ask yourself what is really going on.  Check into your emotions.  Usually there is some level of being vulnerable that you are trying to avoid.  Being right seems like the easier path than being real.  You might discover when you self-investigate that being right is actually a roadblock on your pathway to success.  What do you gain by being right?  What are you losing by not being real?  How is being right leading you away from accomplishing what is really your goal?

Being authentic is where the magic is.  It gives you access to real power, freedom and connection in your life.  Those who interact with you will be able to tell the difference.  Individuals that you do business with, will find it less challenging to engage with you, giving you credibility and access to their trust and their interest in what you have to offer.  If we stay focused on being right all the time, we will win some and lose some, but ultimately will lack the ability to achieve beyond our expectations.  Being real verses being right is the difference between a professional and an amateur.

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

Sometimes our focus on growing profits can lead us to make decisions that have us working harder and not smarter. For example, cutting corners in regards to recruiting and training sales personnel. The fear of loss of investment if the employee leaves, can spiral into an evolving sales team in which more and more members lack the necessary skills to increase profits.

The best resource for improving your investment in personnel is a smart automotive sales staff recruiting coupled with a sales performance training program. Dealerships that have accepted that attrition is part of the retail sales process have developed a 90-day or more often if needed recruiting program. This program is designed to replace those salespeople who have left or are no longer productive. A recruiting campaign should be coupled with a fundamental sales training program. Automotive Fundamental Sales Training is not the end-all-be-all, but it should lay down a solid foundation for on-going development of salespeople to occur.

When recruiting salespeople, make sure you provide a clear and attractive pay plan. The motto “You Get What You Pay For” rings true when recruiting quality salespeople. If you want the best of the best, the fairly deserve from you the best of the best. In your job postings, proudly display the benefits of working with your organization along with expected income amounts. The little bit extra taken from profits to pay the people creating your profits, is dramatically cheaper than paying a price tag to recruit new people who have yet to affect your profit margins.

Sales teams need and deserve the opportunity for on-going training, even intensive programs from time to time. Keeping them up to date on policies and current best practices, will keep your staff fully equipped to increase profits, have strong customer service skills and maintain a positive work ethic. Unfortunately, the value of training on a regular basis is highly under-rated by most managers because it appears to be time consuming, but there are few things as demotivating to a salesperson than to be given a task and not have the right tools to produce the expected outcome. Would you expect your service department to be able to repair a car if you took away their tool boxes?

A sales team requires strong leadership to be successful. Evaluate your existing management to determine if your dealership profits are being driven by leaders or bosses (See The Difference Between a Boss and a Leader). Bosses should be replaced with leaders using a separate management recruitment program. Leaders are team players that form complementary roles with your sales team to deliver on the collective goals of your organization. Leaders should be evaluated to ensure they are provided reasonable expectations for the team that they lead. Expectations that your team should be doing more than they are reasonably required to perform over a long period of time will lead to upset. The game is not win at all cost, the game is to lead at all cost so that winning becomes a natural part of the culture.

Invest in your people and not only will you limit turn-over, but you will effectively influence your ROI and increase profit margins!

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

On August 28, 1963 in front of Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech that became a pivotal turning point in U.S. history.  What made Dr. King’s dream a reality was his literally devotion to being in action.  He acted despite adversity, ridicule and criticism.  His thoughts and opinions were not popular and were considered not acceptable at the time.  What would the face of America look like today if he had approached that podium and said, “I have a dream” and stopped right there?

Not all of us are great orators or inventors, but we all have the ability to mold our world.  Even Henry Ford was the product of those who came before him, those he encountered along the way and those whose life he touched.  Each person has a dream, but often we find it easier to keep that passion bottled up and hidden from those around us.  Yes, it takes imagination and inspiration to dream.  In our dreams, anything is possible.  The difficulty comes in bridging our dreams with reality.  Bringing a dream into the real world takes courage and faith.

Shifting our behavior patterns from being the tools of implementation for the policies and procedures assigned to us to being the change in the world around us, is our own access to progress.  The Manus Group has a dream that Dealerships Nationwide can shed the reputations of the past, by creating employment environments where everyone would want to become a car salesperson.  The Manus Group believes that one of the first steps is responsible automotive recruitment coupled with customer service focused sales performance training.

Everyone has a dream.  It is the person who gets up each day and risks humility and failure to show courage while being in action that will see their dreams become reality.  Only when you step up to the line and take the shot or attempt the goal or grasp the opportunity can you win.  Failure is not an option...it just happens.  Quitting is an option, as it is a choice.  The dash on a headstone represents the legacy that we leave behind, but sadly many humans will play it safe and be laid to rest along with their dreams.  I often wonder what the world would be like if we all had the opportunity to deliver our very own “I have a dream” speech.

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

There is no mystery in the concept that the happier employees are, the more productive they are, resulting in greater profits for your organization.   Read the below descriptions for a leader and a boss and determine what is the driving force in your dealership.  

Leaders are people that are responsible for inspiring, guiding and leading a group of people on a path for a common cause. A leader is responsible for commanding a group of people, as well as participates as a member of the team.  An effective leader protects his organization and its people from harm.  Leaders teach over tell and lead through example.  Real leaders are expected to govern themselves and their actions.  They are often active listeners who are strong without being strong-willed.  Their vision is usually driven my innovation, inspiration and integrity.  Effective leaders dismiss their own selfish agendas while doing what is right over what is best. A leader plays the game that you don’t win at all cost, but lead at all cost.

A boss is a person who is in charge of the work place. A boss is not expected to be a member of the team, but is someone each member of the team is expected to answer to.  Bosses are driven by monetary concerns and do not always care for the well-being of the people.  As a result, the culture of their organizations become about exploiting people for profit.  Bosses acquire authority and respect from fear and intimidation.  They give orders and demands, pushing people to work under them.  If something goes wrong, a boss will pass on the blame because they are not seen to be a member of the team.  Bosses often lack vision and live in moment, worrying about tomorrow when tomorrow comes.  The agendas of a boss are often self-serving and vary with the tides of the moment.  A boss plays the game of win at all cost.

A leader is considered to be more effective than a boss when creating happy, productive employees.  Therefore a leader and not a boss is the key to increasing profits in your organization.  If your organization is being driven my bosses, it is time to look towards Automotive Management Recruitment.

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.