(Please read Part 1 if you missed it)

Retention is critical for increasing your sales and continued sales growth. First, one of the important factors is designing a program (payplan) that will support a new hire for the first 90-120 days as this is the most critical time of their employment.

Remember the Kenny Rogers (okay you probably have to be over 35 or 40) song “The Gambler”, you got to know when to hold'em, know when to fold'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run....” If the person has potential and is worth keeping & developing , it's usually better and more cost effective to “hold'em” than to “fold'em” and “walk away” and help develop them into top producers. Increasing retention will increase repeat and referral business and is a crucial piece of the puzzle to doubling your sales.

Hiring the right people who have potential to become top producers:

There are 4 very distinct personality or behavioral types for every person on this planet, each representing about 25% of the population. Each person will usually be dominate (high) in 1 or 2 behavioral types and regressive (low) in 2 or 3. Each have a specific, unique, and predetermined behavioral pattern. Once understood, all customers (and sales people) with the same profile, act almost the same way, talk the same (emotional or analytical verbiage), have the same body language, the same behavior, and even have the same basic objections. To keep it simple, I'll refer to each as Type “A”, “B”, “C”, and “D” and there is a pattern combination I'll recommend that has proven to be the most productive and consistent top producers, month after month, year after year.

The Type “A” is the direct, decisive, aggressive, bottom-line, “Alpha” person. The Type “B” which friendly, sociable, emotional, competitive, and impulsive person. The Type “C” or reserved, timid, shy, introverted, indecisive, and the “thinker” personality, and the Type “D” or anal, organized, factual, analytical, researcher, and structured person. All 4 think, process information, act, and behave differently; therefore for maximum high closure results, they must be sold differently. Learning the behavioral and control techniques for each type can double your closing ratio which will double your sales. Types “A” and “C” are complete opposites and the “B” and “D” are complete opposites.

The main reason the “average” closing ratio is around 20% (from the survey, Part 1, 1 out of 4 Types and 1 that can't buy because of trade or credit etc) is that our sales people meet customers that are the same personality type as themselves, they instantly gain rapport (they behave, think, act, and process information the same as the customer), and generally the sales person can close this customer. Once all personality types are fully understood by the sales person and they learn how to act, think, and behave like the other 3 personality types, sell from the customer's profile type vs their own personality type (vs strictly a “one-way” selling process), a sales person can easily close over 50% of their customers.

This technique is commonly known as “matching and mirroring” and has been implemented by Fortune 500 companies and the corporate world in general for over thirty years. If utilized correctly, the techniques have a proven track record of success. Just a reminder, the chemistry, or lack of it, was the #1 reason given by the customer in the independent survey as the reason the customer did not buy the car from the sales person and your dealership. Traditional training usually only focuses on selling the customer ONE way, and does not address how to effectively communicate and sell to each individual personality type. One way to meet & greet, one way to fact find, one way to do a walk-a-round, one way to demo, one way to close, etc., will rarely achieve the higher (50% +) closing ratios.

Let's discuss 2 of the 4 personality types. The Type “A” being very direct, aggressive, decisive, often abrasive, fast moving, and to the point will usually make statements like: “Look, I know what I want (I want A,B,C,D,E,F,G.....), I don’t want the run-around, I want your bottom-line, and you only have 30 minutes to sell me a car…”. Type “A” people generally will only work with people like themselves (or perceived like them) or they often become confrontational quickly- they want someone direct and to the point, bottom-line- not indecisive, indirect, or slow.

In response to their comment, you would say, “I understand, no problem. Here’s what I’m going to do. I will get you the vehicle you want, I’ll get you the best bottom-line price, and I’ll get you out of the dealership fast. Follow me.....” Now execute, and remember, ALWAYS tell them what you CAN DO for them, NOT what you CAN’T DO. (i.e. “Mr. Smith, I CAN'T sell you a car in 30 minutes. When could we get together when you have more time?”) This is the worst response for this personality type yet it's often said as a rebuttals among many sales people.) The close is direct, bottom-line, and fast. The standard selling “process” does not work effectively on the majority of these Type “A” customers and Type “C” and “D” sales people usually have a challenge with this customer as it's their complete "Type" opposite. (if you hire a lot of Type "C" or "D" sales people and the dealership is in a high level corporate demographic with a large number of Type "A" customers/executives/business owners, you may be losing a lot of sales and not realize it- chemistry, or lack of it, is the #1 reason given by customers as the reason they did or did not buy from your dealership)

Next Blog, the opposite of the Type “A” and the “Type combination” that usually produces the best short and long term results.