What The Heck Is "Old School" Anyway?
Yes the curriculum being taught in schools has changed over the years, and yes we have discovered the world is not flat, and the indians [Native Americans] probably should have negotiated a better deal for Manhattan.
Am I missing something?
Sell Yourself
Meet and Greet a client, don't lose the control they have given us when they left their home to buy a vehicle and came and saw us.
Find out their needs and wants through a conversation, not an interrogation.
Select a vehicle and show features,tell benefits and use closing tie downs to sell each feature.
World Class Demo drive, to highten the clients emotions.
Ask them to own it, when their feelings and emotions are at the highest possible peak.
Show them our service area, selling the entire dealership.
Get a structured proposal[numbers] from management and present with enthusiasm.
Close or gain legit offer.
Get cash investment,paperwork,F&I.get ready,ask for referrals, spot it!
Follow up sold and unsold.
Client development [prospecting]
Our goal here would be the highest possible gross profit, with a volume of clients and strong,legit customer satisfaction.
...Is this "other school" I hear about have the same goals?
Does having new technology mean we now need to make less money to have satisfied customers?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Abe Hopper on
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Old school is a positive term referring to the time when things weren't flashy. Things were basic and tasks were done by hard work and required real skill. So if the "other school" is internet marketing and selling ... do we make less. No ... I do not make less. I maintain a base of happy and satisfied customers. The "other school" is connecting me with people I have not met before ... meeting new people on roads not explored in the past.
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Permalink Reply by Rick Bryant on
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To me OLD SCHOOL is the high pressure 4 square close, old school was very high on intimidation making the buyer choose to buy instead of fight. New school, ie the Internet customers come in armed with information, several sites, Edmunds.com, msn.com, many others, give the customers how much the invoice on any vehicle, as well as the dealer hold back. They give instruction on how to negociate with the dealer. Kelly Blue book tells them what the value of their trade in is worth.
Back to Craig's remark "you have to sell yourself" to even have any a chance to take a offer to the sales desks. -
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Permalink Reply by Joseph M Bonincontri on
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To me "Old School" means back to bacis. Doing the proper things
The 10 step process. Following the rules, no short cuts, just doing
things the right way. Process, process, process -
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Permalink Reply by Craig Lockerd on
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I agree Joe Joseph M Bonincontri said:To me "Old School" means back to bacis. Doing the proper things
The 10 step process. Following the rules, no short cuts, just doing
things the right way. Process, process, process -
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Permalink Reply by Craig Lockerd on
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Good stuff Abe Abe Hopper said:Old school is a positive term referring to the time when things weren't flashy. Things were basic and tasks were done by hard work and required real skill. So if the "other school" is internet marketing and selling ... do we make less. No ... I do not make less. I maintain a base of happy and satisfied customers. The "other school" is connecting me with people I have not met before ... meeting new people on roads not explored in the past. -
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Permalink Reply by Craig Lockerd on
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salesperson will always need to sell themselves
Rick Bryant said:To me OLD SCHOOL is the high pressure 4 square close, old school was very high on intimidation making the buyer choose to buy instead of fight. New school, ie the Internet customers come in armed with information, several sites, Edmunds.com, msn.com, many others, give the customers how much the invoice on any vehicle, as well as the dealer hold back. They give instruction on how to negociate with the dealer. Kelly Blue book tells them what the value of their trade in is worth.
Back to Craig's remark "you have to sell yourself" to even have any a chance to take a offer to the sales desks. -
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Permalink Reply by Paul Hardy on
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Old school is simple, sell yourself, the house and the product!You get them to fall in love.
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Permalink Reply by aaron kominsky on
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Old school is real selling except using the 4 sq selling system which I totally despise it has caused many heated discussions so I will drop it anyway OLD SCHOOL is a term that was somehow brought into the fold because of Internet Marketing VS the Traditional way of Face to Face selling which is now dwindling to a test drive and paperwork
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Permalink Reply by MANNY LUNA on
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A+ To me "Old School" means back to bacis. Doing the proper things
The 10 step process. Following the rules, no short cuts, just doing
things the right way. Process, process, process
Joseph M Bonincontri said:To me "Old School" means back to bacis. Doing the proper things
The 10 step process. Following the rules, no short cuts, just doing
things the right way. Process, process, process -
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Permalink Reply by MANNY LUNA on
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AA++To me "Old School" means back to bacis. Doing the proper things
The 10 step process. Following the rules, no short cuts, just doing
things the right way. Process, process, process
Joseph M Bonincontri said:To me "Old School" means back to bacis. Doing the proper things
The 10 step process. Following the rules, no short cuts, just doing
things the right way. Process, process, process -
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Permalink Reply by MANNY LUNA on
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The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee; and I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun.
---John D. Rockefeller
This is what it means to me Craig:)
The American Ice Industry was a thriving industry in the late 1800’s. Outlined in the book, “Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation,” by James Utterback, the story is fascinating.
People simply cut ice from frozen lakes, and sold it to customers around the world. Shipping and ice melting, as you might imagine were the biggest problems. Eventually, other companies invented ice making machines, eliminating shipping and melting problems, and at the same time, eliminating the ice harvesters.
Then, other companies created refrigeration, which put the ice makers out of business. Funny thing, the ice harvesters bought newer saws, came up with new ways to store ice, and tried to improve shipping. The ice makers, failing to see how their new technology had ended the ice harvesting industry, would not adapt to embrace the new idea of refrigeration, so they kept improving their ice makers, as they went slowly out of business. Neither group could see the advantage of change. They simply kept doing more of what was no longer working. They simply kept doing more of what was no longer working.
For those who are saying, “How does this relate to the car business,” you might want to skip this article and go to the ad about the newest take on the push, pull and drag sale.
The ice industry in America relates to the car industry in America in this way: there is old school and new school. Old schoolers have an extremely difficult time letting go of what does not work.
Since it is easier to keep doing what does not work, because they don’t have to learn anything new, old schoolers just keep on in the same old rut. It is comfortable, feels good, and even if it keeps losing money year after year, at least it has a familiar feel.
New schoolers are willing to learn, grow and change with the constantly changing customer base. They are willing to learn new things, in order to keep up with the customer. But the most important thing that new schoolers are doing is letting go of the things that do not work.
Somewhere along the road, we have come to believe that the car business is different, that the thought process can be suspended, as long as we are moving metal. And so, the hard sell technique became the norm, and high pressure became synonymous with the car business. Newspaper advertising became a mainstay while high sales-person turnover became a watchword. The new word in selling cars – “the mini-deal” is now beginning to define the month for many salespeople.
The internet, as great a tool as it is purported to be, is fast on it’s way to being synonymous with lower than showroom pricing and very low profit. “Contact management” is now the buzzword, as we pay $300 for a lead which nets us $200 under invoice. We’re not making much money, but we sure can track our follow up system. Baby, even with the new technology, that is old school thinking. Add it all up, and we get the stoopid saying: “Nice guys finish last.” No, belay that, the new truth is, “Old schoolers finish last.”
“Nice” needs to return to the car business. The new breed of customers can stand on your showroom floor and call any dealer in the country and “get it for 100 dollars less.” But new schoolers know that customers do not leave over 100 dollars. They leave because the salesperson, or the manager, or the dealership is not nice.
Customers more than ever before, want “Nice.” They do not want hard sell, high pressure, new closes, more manipulation, they just want nice. They want to be treated with respect, with fairness, with honesty, with integrity, and by a salesperson they recognize when they enter the showroom.
All we need to do is think about how we like to be treated when we go to buy something. We want the same thing our customers want, honesty, fairness and integrity. We want and expect to be treated “nice.”
Funny thing, if a sales trainer, trying to sell training to a car dealer, starts with control, manipulation, fast talking and close after high pressure close, he will be shown the door so fast his head will spin. Yet that owner or GM will go right back into the showroom and expect salespeople and managers to control, pressure, manipulate and talk customers into buying.
Nice dealerships are hard to find. Nice owners, nice managers and nice salespeople are hard to find. But the fact of life in the changing car business today is that customers will drive to another STATE to find a dealership that will be nice to them.
John D. Rockefeller said it best a hundred years ago: the ability to deal with people is important. It can be found and purchased. We can hire nice people. But to recognize a nice person who will be nice in the sales process, takes a manager or owner who knows and appreciates “nice.” “Nice” rises and falls on leadership.
Customers want to be treated nice. They do not like high pressure, hard closes, tricks and manipulations. This is not rocket science.
Old schoolers are constantly realigning the customer traffic to new school dealerships. And about the only difference between the two is that “the people are nicer over there, and that’s why I bought a car there.”
Go visit ten dealerships. See how you are treated. Realize how you feel when a salesperson, manager or dealership simply sees you as just another “up.” Notice the immediate change in the dealership atmosphere when they find out that you are not going to buy today. Remember how it makes you feel, then go back to your dealership and see if that is what your managers and salespeople are doing to those precious, loyal customers of yours.
Customers want nice. Nice guys and gals finish first because they treat the customer the way they want to be treated. “Not- nice” guys and gals finish last because nine out of ten customers will keep shopping until they find someone who treats them like they want to be treated.
Nice guys and gals know that people skills are not as important as selling skills, they are more important than selling skills.
Great people skills with average selling skills will always sell more than average people skills with great selling skills.
Nice guys finish first, with the best grosses. Old schoolers are finding out the hard way that mini deals and 200 under invoice are a very poor excuse for not knowing how to treat the customer.
Customers want nice, on the lot, on the showroom, on the telephone and on the internet. If we give them nice, they will not leave over 100 or 200 or 300 dollars. They will enjoy and participate in the sales process, and they will pay more when they are greeted and treated with sincerity, honesty, kindness, and integrity. About all we have to do is just be nice to them. The selling is secondary. -
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Permalink Reply by arthur bush on
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Old school is the original language that has been taken out of context,and in most cases polluted by those incapable of living up to it's purity in requirements.So therefore they renamed it new school.
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