Do you remember the ad you answered for your first sales job at a dealership?  What was the minimum education level they wanted?  PhD?  Masters?  Not likely.  Most have listed that you need a high school diploma for consideration.  And, as I recall, no one ever really checked.  If that's the minimum, what if they told you that to be really successful you'd need the equivalent of five college educations?  And what if they listed that, in the ad?  Would you even apply?

But, what if I told you there was a way to acquire that level of education and that you could do it before work, after work, at lunch or even between customers?  Suppose that you have access to that level of knowledge on a daily basis and you can get it almost at anytime of day or night.

There was an old commercial in the 60's about literacy.  The tag line sums up what I'm talking about.  Each commercial in the series ended with the words, "Read, brother, read!"  That's right.  I'm talking about reading.  Now, other than some of these posts and other articles, some of your people haven't read since they were in school.  It will be a difficult new habit to promote.  But the return on investment is incredibly high.

The average American buys one book a year.  That same person seldom read past the first chapter.  How enriched is their life?  The reality is, if you set aside just 15 minutes per day reading, in your lifetime you'll acquire the equivalent of five college educations.  15 minutes a day.  That's all it takes.  Reading books on leadership, personal development, biographies of successful people, or even books about overcoming your fears, can all help you at the dealership.

Many of my clients ask about the value of books on tape because they can listen while they drive.  My answer is simple.  Would you watch an exercise video and then brag abut getting in shape?  The physical part of picking up the book and turning the pages is an important part of the habit.  But, there is more too it than that.

When you hear a book on tape, the author, or whoever is reading the words, is telling you what to do.  Very few sales professionals enjoy being told what to do.  We want to figure it out for ourselves.  Reading a book, in a quiet place, puts the words in our voice.  We are telling ourselves what we're reading.  Our brain lets us choose what's important to us.  We get what we need out of the story or concept.

Now, for dealers, here is a great return on investment for the constantly shrinking training dollar.  Put your entire team on a book-of-the-month program.  For a very low investment, you can provide your people with substance they can feel and get through at their own pace.  Then, you can have meetings to discuss what was read, what benefits were gained, and how the individual may change to implement what they'e learned.  And, you can do this all for less than $20 per person per month.

That small investment will also go a long way to showing your people that they are important enough to you to make such an investment.  You'll see that turnover will be dramatically reduced and that other training will be more appreciated.

Over the years I've had literally hundreds of thousands of my books sent to people on book-of-the-month programs from their organizations.  Those organizations choose the books that fit topics they want to cover that particular month.  In some cases, those clients have been using my books for over 15 years.  The books don't have to be auto related.  (For information about how to get discounting from publishers or how to set up a book-of-the-month program, email m at thedealerresourcegroup@gmail.com and I'll send you what you need.) They can be about any aspect of business or personal development that you'd like to bring into your store.

For example, I think anyone in sales should read and reread "Think and Grow Rich," by Napolean Hill.  If you feel that overcoming a fear of failure and rejection might be an issue, "Reject Me - I Love It! - 21 Secrets for Turning Rejection into Direction," might be in order.  But, if you take the step, make sure you follow through and discuss the contents with each of your team.  Most important - you must read every book you select for the store.  If not, don't expect your people to do it either.

15 minutes a day and you're team will acquire the equivalent of five college educations.  How would the competition be able to stand up to that level of talent?

John Fuhrman is the Senior National Trainer for Carolina Automotive Resource Services, a unit of The Dealer Resource Group.  His ten books have reached 1.5 million readers and he has trained sales professionals around the world.  For more information on the new "eDirector" service and how it can work for you visit us at http://www.thedealerresourcegroup.webs.com.   Send your email and complete dealer contact info and we'll send you our top 10 list of things you can do to improve your web site.  You can also see the previous "Choosing" series and other articles.  (c)2011 by John Fuhrman - Permission to reprint this post in its entirety, including contact information, is hereby granted.