"I will persist until I succeed."

That was the first line in the Scroll Marked lll in Og Mandino's classic, "The Greatest Salesman In The World."  Having had the privilege of being able to spend time in his NH home, I can honestly say, I have witnessed persistence like no other.  Og Mandino spent his writing life with one goal - change lives!  Simply stated but difficult to accomplish.  is writing and speeches are a large part of what inspired me to write adn travel the world…

Here's a question: Which four U.S. market brands are tied for the longest consecutive streak of monthly year-over-year sales increases? The streak now stands at 20 months.

 It's a great question and the answer is probably not the brands you think. I wish I was clever enough to have asked the question, but I'm not. Eric Mayne, senior news operations editor at WardsAuto.com posed the question today in his blog,…

UN's

If your career has been thwarted quicker than Paris Hilton’s acting ambitions, consider the words that you are speaking. We’ve allowed the un’s to stunt our growth; we’ve mistakenly allowed words such as until, unbelievable, unfair, unfit, and unable to become barriers to reaching our potential. When the prefix un is attached to the proceeding word, it negates…

Fixed operations, has been the great denominator, in our mathematical equation. It is an absolute must to grow this department, in double digit increases, year over year. The service drive, must be that, a driving force behind our businesses. Our total service team, must have incredible selling skills, be great multi-taskers, love to work with people. The technicians, must be great closers. That's RIGHT, closers. Our writers, explain work orders, to our customers. If needed, we walk…

One thing I learned during the 30 minutes of training that I received before hitting the floor, that still holds true today is repeat and referral customers are golden, they sell easier and you usually make a higher…

If someone takes five customers in a day and doesn't close a deal, what happens?

When a salesperson, makes 15 calls in a day and doesn't make an appointment, what happens?

When a salesperson, is putting in extra effort, working his day off, and has an 8 car month, what happens?

Remember, enthusiasm comes from within someone’s true feelings for life. Effort, and…

No, No it doesn't.

I was going to start a poll and say "Does your sales technique need some work?" just to see where everyone thought their skills were. But, I wanted to hop right into the part where I do a lot of typing. Predictable, right?

Anyway, my post title may be a bit of a stretch. But, if you use one sales technique over and over again, it's not going to work every single time. No matter what your individual approach is, "Relating to the customer",…

It’s odd how, in the fortnight that passes between these lite essays, the theme for the next one always appears out of recent dealer visits.  For example, if I write about lead response times it’s because, unexplainably, LRT became an issue multiple times in my visits during the two weeks prior. 

The issue that revealed itself this time is Over-Thinking The Lead.  I had some poor mystery shops, and from stores that should know better and do better.  When we looked for a…

I’ll bet you when you got into sales, you didn’t think of yourself as a prostitute nor a jaywalker. I don’t remember putting the word “prostitute” as the position I was applying for. Morally, we are neither one; but professionally, we have characteristics of both. See if your recognize yourself:

• Prostitutes: Prostitutes are waiters; they wait for something happen. Normally prostitutes hang out with other prostitutes on the corner and are unwilling to look…

When business is just excellent, do we give big incentives to employees, have big parties, talk how great everything is going? Do we spend plenty of money on advertising, training, upgrades to our businesses? 

Do we have the attitude, "We can conquer the world"?  We know we will do just awesome, by trying, paying attention to detail, pumping up our staff, going strong,  all day long. We will make it happen!!!  The throttle is wide open, nothing will be acceptable outside of…

One of the biggest challenges that the automotive industry has faced over the past few years has been the ebb and flow of sales. Nobody's buying, then everyone's buying, then...

Between natural disasters, recalls, lawsuits, and bailouts, the past 4 years have been a roller coaster ride of epic proportions. Still, things seem to be looking up. For many, they're looking up in a big way. Take a look at this infographic by TK Carsites for a recap of where we've been and where we are.…

The US Department of Labor (DOL) recentlely released a new smart phone applicant that provides workers the ability to track their hours and calculate OT.  This is just another sign of an increased focus on wage and hour matters.  On May 9, 2011, the DOL announced the launch of its first application for the iPhone smartphones, described as “a timesheet to help employees independently track the hours they work and determine the wages they are owed.”  Available in English and Spanish, workers…

May Sales Drop – A Blip or a Trend?

Just when we were beginning to feel good about the auto industry following eight months of sales growing by percentages in the double digits, sales plunged in May, down 4% from May of last year.

The question is whether the drop will be a trend the rest of the year or a “minor” disruption for a couple of months. The major challenge is lack of inventory resulting from the earthquake in Japan earlier this year. The lack of inventory has led to…

(originally published 6/3/2011 on Dealer magazine)

The other day, I started thinking about all the friends I’ve made that I met because they bought a car from me. I’m not talking about acquaintance-type friends, I’m talking about people that are involved in my life, and have been for a long…

As an invited guest to the NAS Pensacola National Naval Aviation Museum, I had the honor of attending the "winging" of a group of young aviators.  Rear Admiral Mark Vance was the guest speaker to address this assembly of recently graduated Navy and Marine aviators with a welcome to the fleet speech.  I found myself feeling like I too was being given a "charge to order on the tip of the spear".  The…

The struggle for a competitive edge requires skill enhancement.  The techniques of yesterday are no longer acceptable tools.  Knowledge of products, technology and problem solving all take on new meaning while working with today’s customer.

Customers no longer accept mediocre presentations, canned closing questions and product demonstrations that lack…

I am calling you to get the customer to commit, or guide me with this deal. My customer has bought 3 SUVs’ here, but will not commit. He is not satisfied with this last vehicle. He explained to me it cost him 5500, in repairs from the 80,000 mile to the present which is 130,000 miles. I know he is going to buy a seven passenger vehicle. He loved our seven passenger, but says he has reservations, about the product. He also has been an owner of our product for 19 years. He explained to me, the…