Leaders lead. What does this mean? Do leaders lead or do they have LEAD and become the anchor? This is a serious unanswered phenom, in the car industry. Have you ever seen the series called Hogan’s Heroes?  The series was basically aimed to show a lack of intelligence on the German side during the World War II era. This was very funny…

For those of you who know me, you know how I love to keep an eye on others industries in hopes of bringing great technology and insight to the auto industry. That being said, I was doing some searches this morning as I was working on a new SEO strategy for the Fixed Ops side of the business for Dealer e Process and dealer websites, when I discovered something new AGAIN.

Above the Place Page Listings, there is now Related Searches broken down by Brands, Stores,…

Goal setting for Automotive Salespeople

All too often in the Automotive world, we let our salespeople fend for themselves every month. There are not enough dealerships,…

Have you ever really thought about what your doing as an automobile salesperson today?

Let's look at three area's (if you make it that far) that will help you determine what your really doing in this business.

A.Completely satisfying your customers needs.

    Today's salesperson must have total clarity in meeting every customers needs, everytime. If you believe this is your only purpose as a salesperson, stop reading this blog.

B.Working on the purpose of the…

No matter what we do as dealers, there is always one person that takes it upon himself to create a situation that I feel is a form of bulling - customers who threaten to 'Post, blog and Yelp' about their experience at a particular dealership until they get what they want no matter how unreasonable.

We are all very concerned about our ratings in one form or another and a ‘rouge’ customer can be very damaging.  We seem to have very little recourse in these events and…

Here is a post from a course I teach to prospective salespeople. Properly grounding newbies is important to starting them on the path to success. You may find parts of this useful when you begin to train new salespeople.

Why Become a Salesperson – Part Two

Here are some sales duties and responsibilities common to most organizations. Starting your new salespeople out with an understanding of these will help.

A. Deportment and Timeliness: You must be on time, all…

Buyers and the lies they tell:  Buyers are not all liars.  In fact, most will be straight up with you but often times we back them into corners and make it to where it will be easier for them if they lie (not that we condone that behavior, but it helps us understand them a little better).  Also, I think some customers believe it's okay to lie to us because we are salespeople so we MUST lie all the time.  Therefore…

As being a professional business consultant. I can't help to preach the importance of details to my children. Details on performing any assignment(s), chores, homework or even trying out for sports for their schools.  They must try 100% and not half way.  Marsh Buice wrote an article called "Salespeople Need To Be…

Does your Company have a selling plan for “Building Value”??

Your customers have come a long way.  Customers are more knowledgeable, proactive, and price conscious. They regularly scour the Internet for low prices and have come to expect much more for each dollar they spend.

So what is YOUR Company doing to sell…

What holds you from moving out of the shadows of success?

Almost all of us know a successful salesperson who works right in the store where we are. With success so close at hand, have you ever really taken the time to get to know that person and discover thier connection with success? Maybe when you began your career, you we're introduced to the "MM" at your store. MM stands for the Master of Mediocrity, You know the one who hits 12 units two times a year, then settles into his 6-8…

There's at least one angry car dealer that is fed up with OEM-mandated website companies. Approved website vendors help maintain the manufacturer's brand integrity and uniformity, but where does that leave you?

While the officially-mandated approach can be quite…

You Have Choices

When you’re dealing with something that can’t be changed, you have choices.

You can choose to struggle, battle, and cling, and remain stuck—

stuck in an…

Once again, another dealership ruins it for the rest of us.  Recently, a customer in Anchorage Alaska was the winner of a 2009 Nissan GT-R on eBay Motors with a bid of $55,100.  Now, the dealer (Honda of San Marcos) is refusing to sell the vehicle to them.  The bugaboo:  It was a No-Reserve Auction.

This is another shining example of how a dealership participates in a platform without knowledge, training, or guidance, and gives our industry a black-eye.  The dealership is…

"Compared with"

The simple word track, “Compared with” will help any Team Member overcome the Clients “too high” price objection.

In most scenarios, when your Team Member presents the initial pricing figures to your…

"TELL ME MORE"

The simple word track, “Tell me more” is one of the most powerful yet simple word tracks you can give to your team! This simple word track both builds rapport with the client AND defines exactly what the customer’s statement or…

As a sales rep, our day started with a quick twenty minute meeting at 9 am sharp. If you were late you missed the meeting and had a talk with the manager later.    

The F&I manager started off by thanking everyone for a good job and doing all the paper work correctly. If he needed any thing he would say it and we would do it. This took about two minutes.

The used car manager was next. He told us we are doing great . He told us what was new and what was…

While working with one of my clients covering a strategy on changing the price of a vehicle he had priced at $15,298, my first reaction was to tell him to reduce it down to $14,995 so he wouldn’t miss any searches done up to $15,000 because of his $298. Then it dawned on me, don’t even change it to $14,995 that might not work either. After the conversation, I come across a strategy that has changed the way I tell my dealers how to price a lot of their cars. It made me research all pricing…

My youngest sister was born premature and as a result had pulmonary problems as a child.  Because she suffered from chronic asthma, there was little expectation for her to be a strong and healthy child.  One of the therapies she was subjected to in an effort to strengthen her lungs, was swimming underwater.  I am sure this started out as a…