As we reach the mid year time, many of us make decisions.  Some even make commitments to change certain aspects of their life and their profession.  Unfortunately, far too many change absolutely nothing because they believe that their career is subject to the mercy of the markets.  They boast about how they were a top producer during the market high points, and continue doing the same things they did when customers simply showed up with checkbooks in hand.

     Case in point.  A good friend of mine had divorced and wanted to sell a beautiful property that they owned outright.  It was an oceanfront home that was well worth over a million dollars prior to the last market turn down.  She decided there were too many bad memories in the property and just wanted it to be handled quickly.  In asking my advice, I shared that to move any property quickly; you must price it aggressively and find the right agent to handle qualified buyers.  Having been in the building profession, she had no illusions about inflating the price.

     She went in search of a Realtor who was a specialist in these types of homes and who knew how to market aggressively in the current conditions.  Unfortunately, all she found was a broker who had press clippings of days gone by.  She did list the property for 20% under market value so that it could sell quickly.  And, she even offered a bonus of up to $10,000 to the selling agent if the property closed by a specific date.  All of this she came up with on her own and merely fed the information to the broker for advertising and listing purposes.

     The broker suggested an agent open house to share the listing with as many area agents as possible.  When my friend spoke to me about this plan, I thought it would be a great idea.  Once other agents knew about the possibility of earning an extra $10,000 on top of what could be a sizable commission, I told her that she should be ready for offers.  Then, the reality of the state of agents hit.

     Even though the commission would be substantial and the bonus of an additional $10,000 was added, it was evidently not enough.  The broker called to ask my friend for $100 in cash.  She said that in order to entice other agents for showing up at this open house, it would be wise to offer a door prize of $100.  I was amazed.  The commission on this house would represent a substantial percentage of many agents total income and the only way to get them to see the property was to offer them a chance at $100 in cash.

     An isolated incident?   Not on your life.  Only in the Real Estate industry?  Wrong again.  After hearing this story, I went and visited several dealerships in two states.  I shared our recruiting/training program for sales people.  As a professional trainer who has worked with over 30,000 business professionals in my career, organizations that engage me see results almost immediately.  And, understanding the current sales and market conditions, I created a way for them to do so at an affordable investment.

     Here are the results of the offering.  Many felt that training during these times was just not practical.  The overwhelming opinion of the decision makers was, “Why should I spend money training people who may not be here next year?”  I can see why they are having trouble keeping good people.  The greatest investment any business can make is in its human real estate.

     What is really unfortunate about both examples is that the market and economy will be turning around.  It always has and probably always will.  And, these professionals may actually survive.  Then they will be working with unsuspecting people who deserve nothing less than the best people have to offer.  These people will be getting the same tired effort as before and those who are supposed to be the best, will continue riding the ups and downs of a market.

     In over 30 years of working with sales professionals, I have discovered that there will always be more amateurs than professionals in any industry.  The shame is, most of them could become pros with very little effort.  In fact, if they actually knew and understood the difference between the two, they would immediately work to become the latter.  The difference is this.

A professional is someone who knows when they need help and are willing to seek it for the benefit of everyone.  An amateur is convinced that they have the talent and the ability to do it all on their own and those around them suffer accordingly.

     Do yourself a favor and make this the year you turn professional.  Find someone who can help you in any area of improvement you’d like to make.  Most of all make a commitment to workwith people who have that same commitment to professional excellence.  All of your clients will benefit and so will you and your dealership.

John Fuhrman is the Senior National Trainer for Carolina Automotive Resource Services, a unit of The Dealer Resource Group.  His ten books have reached 1.5 million readers and he has trained sales professionals around the world.  John Fuhrman - Permission to reprint this post in its entirety, including contact information, is hereby granted.