Find the sweet spot between the two to make your dealership as profitable as possible, and retain/cultivate the best sales talent.…

When it comes to sales management training for vehicle sales, I’m reminded of a quote I recently read by John Wooden, “The best leadership tool you have is to lead by example.” Every day I see people bending the rules to fit their desires. For example, in my neighborhood I see people intentionally run stop signs. What bothers me is that many of these people…

It's understandable that customers often need our help to find closure on a specific vehicle. The most common and vague objection is agreeably "I want to think about it."

These are the five reasons why we believe the customer says that.

1. Uncomfortable with price issues

2. Uncomfortable with you or the other staff

3. Not…

Knowing all the facts about a buyer makes a desk manager's job much more effective. A more successful outcome can be engineered from discovering the customer's motivations, desires, and if there is much competition for a particular deal. Having your sales team implement the Customer Assistance Sheet in a comfortable and consistent way every time they speak with a…

Last year it was reported that the automotive industry would experience a shortage of 25,000 technicians in the coming months. This was based on a recent survey that showed the demand for auto mechanics is expected to increase by 9% within five years.

This shortage affects vehicle service operations across the board from boats and RVs to buses. Often dealers…

Make sure your salespeople stay on your customer’s radar through a scheduled follow-up plan. Don’t leave your monthly earnings up to chance by hoping for the best. Evaluate your current follow up process. Here is a sample schedule of what we’ve seen work well:

10 “Touches” Per Year

• Set up calendar…

Get potential customers to be less combative and more receptive to their trade-in value with a planned trade walk prior to serving them the proposal.

It’s said that around 65% of potential automobile customers have a trade-in to discuss, and most all of them have a higher price in mind that they want to get for that trade-in.

As we get into the…

While communicating through email is extremely commonplace, we want to highlight why the traditional phone call is still of immense value. The personal touch of a voice call shows customers that you care and connects them on a more personal level. Taking the time to make calls to your customers shows them that you place them before your lengthy to-do…

Prior to delivering the proposal, get your salespeople, especially your newer ones, to role play the figures with you as if you’re a customer. Everyone can benefit from having a rehearsal. With this strategy you can develop trust in your sales team through this verification process. You’ll be impressed with how this strategy can improve your closing ratios with just…

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4229265261108380418  

Karen Bradley Presents the '7 Habits of Highly Effective People FREE Webinar - April 18 - 1PM EST …

With email and texting being the dominant forms of communication these days, we must remember that a good old fashioned phone conversation can be much more effective, helpful and personal.

Some on your staff may suffer from being a bit phone-shy, but in an industry dependent on following up on sold and non-sold customers, preparation is…

Sometimes it may feel like an uphill battle to even the strongest of salespeople when customers bestow their unrealistic expectations, desires, and constant objections during the vehicle sales process. Once it's time to make the math work and a proposal is issued from the desk manager, often a salesperson's energy and enthusiasm is zapped.

It's at this…

Will provide training for the right person, relocation draw when you arrive, just as I did 6 weeks ago.  Under new ownership, about to launch new website, desperately in need of a full time tech to open the bottleneck in our service department. Our 40 years old parts and service clientele in Kingman AZ, a major hub between LA, Phoenix, Vegas with 40 percent of our population full timers and snowbirds.  The climate is great here and the new owner is a stand-up guy - we need a good man…

A 78 year old famous baseball couch filled the auditorium in 1996 at Chris Sperry’s first of many American Baseball Coaches Association conventions. What John Scolinos spoke about was more than baseball. For his whole speech Coach Scolinos wore a strung up home plate around his neck and after his lengthy introduction, dived into the meat of his speech. As he pointed…

photo credit

Newcomers to the sales team may often be steered off course by negative salespeople who perhaps are jaded from their many unsuccessful attempts in the field or…

Understanding the advantages of consumer leasing for your dealerships, sales team, and your customers if crucial for a successful and profitable increase in gross sales. While leasing is not for every customer, knowing when to confidently and professionally present consumer leasing as an option to customers will certainly maximize your selling potential.…

As negotiations are an expected part of the vehicle buying process, there are three strategies we advocate doing often and consistently to increase your sales gross and reduce many of deal-cutting concessions.

Depending on how you respond to a customer will determine if you get the deal and how comfortable the customer feels about their experience.

By…

Customer experience has become an industry “buzz term” of late when talking about customer acquisition and building loyalty. Most of the time, the focus is on the small things that turn a customer off -- attitudes, inefficient processes, or other such actions. But what happens when, well, everything goes wrong?

Imagine if a couple visited a showroom where…

My 13 year old son has not had the best relationship this year with math. In short, math has kicked his butt so much so that he's almost given up. Last night I saw him sitting on the couch just staring at his math worksheet. Watching him out of the corner of my eye, he kept staring at it, but never would put pencil to paper. Noticing this, I sat down beside…