We’ve all set goals based on our emotions- who hasn’t vowed a radical transformation at the dawn of a new year only to wind up reverting to our old selves weeks later?…

During a game, athletes don’t have time to get hung up on a good or bad play. Good players make plays-they may cause or recover a fumble; they may run an interception or return a punt for a touchdown. On the flip side, good players also make mistakes-they fumble the ball at critical times, throw an interception while scrambling to make a play or send the overtime…

There’s a proverbial saying that when it comes to the car business, “There is no tomorrow,” which means your best opportunity to make a sale is the customer seated in front of you, right now. I remember my first month in the business, I literally had a notebook full of names and notes of customers who promised me they would be back-15 years later,…

Some things in life don’t seem to make sense. If you’re caught in the ocean’s under-toe, don’t resist, but instead save yourself by swimming horizontally to the shore with the ocean’s pull. If you want to effectively snow ski down the side of a mountain, you must lean forward or if you ever find yourself in a skid, driving…

Your customer doesn't care how busy you are. It’s not their problem someone’s transmission went out, or that another will be there in 5 minutes despite that fact that you haven’t even gotten the car washed yet, nor the fact that yesterday’s “lick” (a.k.a. a customer that paid you a healthy commission) now wants to return the car. Customers aren't ignorant to…

Broke and in search for a new beginning, Swen Nater’s parents made the decision to leave Holland and start over in America. Unfortunately, not everybody was invited to make the trip. His parents made the grueling decision to only take his baby brother-leaving Swen and his sister behind to live in an orphanage.  Out of the 60 orphaned children, Swen’s parents were the…

Why does it take 7 positive surveys to overcome 1 negative one? After having one bad month, why does it take 3 months to get back on track?  Explain to me why I must work with 4, 5, even 8 prospects before finally making 1 sale?

Red ink doesn’t flow faster than black ink-it merely shows faster. The truth is we need red ink moments in life to quickly…

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The new 50^th anniversary Lamborghini Veneno carries a price tag of $3.9 million, making it one of the most expensive cars ever produced. It sits on a $400,000 chassis, is adorned with custom made aerodynamic panels, all cradled with a V12 engine that cranks out 750 horsepower-reaching 60 mph in less than 3 seconds and top speeds of 220 miles per hour (Just what we need to sleep in a little later). In spite of the millions of dollars poured into the…

The toughest test you face was not the month you just completed, but instead the one that lies ahead, because regardless of whether you had a good month or a bad month, it’s over. Depending on your month’s outcome, you become a can or will questioner. If you had a good month you question yourself, “Can I do it again,” but if you had a bad month,…

In life, as well as sales, you have to pick a side-the side of clarity or one of confusion. Legendary Green Bay Packers coach, Vince Lombardi used to say, “It’s hard to be aggressive when you are confused.” When you are playing in a state of confusion, you are playing with the mindset not to lose instead of aggressively playing to win. It’s no secret, that our industry can be chaotic. In the middle of a demonstration the check engine light comes on, breaking the rhythm of…

This is an actual email I received from a customer:

“I have been looking for a truck for a while now and happened by your lot at about 5 PM today to see if you had what I wanted. I drove through slowly, looking at both new and used. One of your salespeople - a lady - smelled blood in the water and started following my car on foot as I drove around.…

In sales, we’re always told, it’s just a numbers game-play the averages, grab more Ups and your sales career will be just fine. It’s during these times that Dr. Sales Manager quickly discerns that the sales patient is suffering from Up-tile dysfunction; the remedy to give a much needed “lift” back in the sales person’s career, is to simply grab more customers.…

The NFL draft just started, but for 254 young men, it happened long ago because it was what they did without, recovered from, and pushed through that got them to the position of where they are today. While the masses played, a select few practiced and perfected their craft- paying today’s admission of sacrifice for a ride on tomorrow’s abundance. Some needed a ticket…

 After watching back-to-back, lopsided losses, it’s safe to say that my 9-year-old son’s basketball team has plenty of room for improvement. From the opening tip off, the track race from one end of the court to the other began as my son’s team helplessly tried to keep up with their competitor. As I watched the game, I began to smirk-not because my son’s team was…

This day didn’t seem much different than the other 196 school days. I mindlessly walked my 5 year old daughter to class, stooped down to kiss her goodbye and turned to walk away until one of her classmates called out to me, “Look what I drew!” Toothlessly grinning from ear to ear, she proudly showed me her drawing- a drawing that only the artist could interpret its rendition. Giggling as I marveled at her masterpiece, with Ooo’s and Ah’s, Lacy proceeded to grab a clean…

It’s generally a pretty good indication, that if you’re read your Miranda Rights, your legal troubles may be just beginning. Your rights advise you that you have the choice to either remain silent or if you choose to speak, anything you say can and will be used against you. A confession inevitably leads to a prosecution-the question is what are you confessing…

Pancakes must have a low heat in order to cook evenly. If the fire is too hot, the outside may look golden, but the inside is still raw.

Learning the art of selling takes time-create your sales career evenly by learning everything about your product-as well as your competitors’ and be interested in others in order to be interesting to them.

When…

When’s the last time you got into a fight? If you work in the automotive industry, chances are you’re reading this in between rounds. In sales, every day we are enveloped in a triple-threat cage match-mentally beaten, battered, and bruised, only the strong survive to fight another day. Not only are we faced with the negative stigmas of our industry, but we also have…

Have you ever noticed when you only have 7 days left in the month, everything seems to matter? As the sands of the hourglass mark the passing of the remaining 168 hours, it is at that point that you miraculously can account for every one of your Ups, Demos, Write-ups, Sales, and Deliveries. First in, last to leave; fewer lunches; no more huddles-nothing…