So, You Think You Want To Sell Cars, eh?

(Revised) If you’re thinking about entering the car business (either as a permanent career move, or “just until something better comes along”) and you are a never-ever beginner, BEWARE.  You are in for a huge surprise.  Selling cars is not easy–its difficult.  Like Jeremy Cato of the Globe and Mail said, “This job is not for me or the faint at heart.” Professionals make it look easy.  During the several years I was a General Sales Manager, I had my fair share of resumes dropped on my desk for people who supposedly wanted to sell cars.  I estimate that only five (5%) percent were for female applicants looking for a job.  I know it may be hard for you to believe but I even hired my fair share of “new people” who just didn’t make it in the car business.  However, I became convinced that the best applicants for me to hire were those who had little, if any, sales experience (car sales or otherwise). Overall, the sales people I trained who have become successful in the car business are those folks that had zero sales experience. Therefore, they brought no bad habits to my dealership.  Trust me, there is major baggage normally attached to every applicant coming from another dealership.

It took awhile for me to figure out; what was it that made the difference for one seemingly intelligent person to fail in the car business and another to excel?  The people that truly excel in sales are those who already have a high degree of “practical intelligence,” or can learn it quickly.  What I mean by practical intelligence is not the IQ kind of general intelligence but the ability to read situations.  The ability to know or learn what to say to whom, when to say it, and knowing how to say it for maximum effect.  That is practical intelligence, and that is what makes the difference.  Practical intelligence is not in the genes, it is learned.  All you need to truly succeed in sales is just enough IQ (say average) and an ability learn, and use a high degree of practical intelligence in a persistent manner.  Learning practical intelligence explicity incorporates a constant commitment to practice.

If You Can Sell Cars, You Can Sell Anything:

So, here are a just a couple of free tips for those of you who are about to embark on the adventure of selling cars.  If you can learn to successfuly sell cars, I believe you can sell any product or service–provided you remain coachable.  First, you will need to understand selling cars (or trucks, RV’s, etc.) is extremely competitive.  No, I’m not referring here to the competition between brands and dealerships, I’m talking about the fierce competition between sales people at the dealership.  Let’s say you’re about to start your first week at the dealership.  Generally speaking, the other sales people on the floor regard you as a threat to their income.  They do not want you there, they do not want you to succeed and will definitely expend time and energy to contribute to you failure–quickly.  You may receive some warm smiles and handshakes–”welcome aboard” type stuff, but lookout–here it comes!  It is your peers’ intention to indoctrinate you to the ways of the “huddle” as quickly as possible.  The priority intention is to incorporate you as a member.  Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be writing about some of the things new sales people must be aware of.  The huddle is the informal parliament in the sales department of the dealership.  The huddle will often successfully create rules for you to follow.  It will directly or indirectly set the tone in the sales department, and decide whether you are “one-of-them,” or not.  The huddle is often subtle and quite tempting.  If you are the type of person who needs to feel welcome by other salespeople, or you have a need to chat with your peers a lot in order to feel welcome; you are a prime candidate for membership.  You do not want to join the huddle but if you’re not careful, you will quickly discover after a short time you have become a member without realizing it.  Membership in the huddle is comprised of beginners together with those salespeople that deliver a minimum acceptable number of cars per month to keep their jobs.  Here’s one example of the huddle at work which I observed on more than one occassion.  I’ve witnessed salespeople (members of the huddle) approach new hires who had not yet even started training.  The newly hired people were casually approached and told, “you can’t make any money here.”  ”It’s really slow in the car business now, hope you already have plenty of money.” You may think I’m kidding but I’m not–that’s the huddle at work even before the new person started. If you’re a never-ever beginner in the car business, ask your sales manager about the huddle and a few examples of how it works at your dealership.  If his or her response includes something similar to the tone of, “welcome to the car business,” or “it’s the car business,” you might very well be in trouble.

The exception is if your dealership has well-trained, professional sales people working there; if so, then you are not a threat at all.  Professional salespeople in the car business do not particularly care how many “new people” managment hires–their incomes are uneffected.  It’s the other salespeople (the majority in every dealership) who see you as a threat because they believe there will be less “opportunities” available.  Opportunities are what new potential customers are called the car business.  If you take an opportunity (also referre to as an “up”) then there’s one less opportunity for other salespeople.

Therefore, one of my first free tips for you is this.  Develop thick skin quickly.  You will need to shield yourself from the huddle, and you will need to protect your attitude from customers as well.  More on that later.  I hope you are at a dealership that recognizes the extreme importance of training and therefore you receive training quickly.  Most new hires in the car business need to make money rather quickly however, these people are often not advised of the true earning expectations during the first three to four months.  In order to make any money in the first few months in the car business, you must become trained quickly.  Stay away from the huddle and let me know if you need help.

If you’re in sales and you’re not making all the money you should be, then this post is for you.

If you are in sales, and you sell anything including motorcycles, RV’s, small trucks, big trucks, cars, boats, real estate, HVAC equipment and you hired me today to help you take your game to a higher level, which of the following skills would you say you need improvement on?

Basics, First impressions, Greeting, Building rapport, Interviewing, Presenting, Demonstrating, Front-seat closing, Controlling the process, Getting minor commitments, Selling used, Selling new, Getting the Now commitment, Selling on payment, Getting off price on new, Attacking price on used, Objections, Clarifying, Rephrasing, Closing on objections, Handling buying objections, Up-selling, Asking for the order, Cross selling, Controlling the negotiation, Selling for MSRP, Setting up the negotiation, Tracking, Follow-up by phone, Goal setting, Achieving goals, Closing, Internet leads, Incoming calls, Setting appointments, Follow-up by mail, Follow-up by email, Prospecting by mail, Delivery techniques, Referrals, Service customers, Leasing, Time management, Prospecting in person, Customer Service Index, Management turnover, Business office turnover, Payment questions, Building added value, Personal development, Handling the down-time, Handling the huddle, Service walk, Acquiring customer loyalty, Evidence manuals, Using twitter, Using social networks,  . . . Did I miss anything?  Oh, yeah–Getting things done, Using a personal brochure, Creating a personal contract, Using the personal contract.

Put these skills on a piece of paper and rate yourself on a scale of 1-10.  For each skill that you need improvement with, write a sentence or two describing why you believe that is the case.  Then for each skill you are not at the 10 level, ask yourself the following questions.

If I raised my ___________________ skill by 1 or 2 levels, I could sell __________ more units per month.

If I raised my ____________________________ skill by 1 or 2 levels, I could truly increase my monthly income by $ ______________.

Can you afford not to get better?  How much money are you leaving on the table each month because of a personal failure to get better?  If you’re not getting better, making more money and having more fun it is a direct result of not acquiring sufficient practical intelligence and/or a failure to apply and/or practice the PI.  What will you do to get better at each skill set?  Put the results in an email and send it to me.  I will keep it confidential and I will personally respond.  Send it to: roland@rolandsalestraining.com

There are many aspects of sales that people are afraid of.

This post identifies a few reasons why sales people, and people in general, are afraid of sales.  Secondly, I offer constructs on how to conquer some of that fear.

If you’re in sales and have no fear–good for you; however, most people in sales have some fear associated with the various aspects of the job.  If you are suffering fear in dealing with prospects (or customers), the news for you is that you are definitely not alone–no doubt you have plenty of company.  With that said, you should also realize that a little fear can be a good thing.  For example, you might be suffering a little fear of doing some part your job and that fear brought you here.  In other words, you might be here because you need assistance i.e., something to help you overcome.  On the other hand, you might be in a sales management position and suffering a little fear of loosing your job unless you can increase your staff’s performance.  In the latter case, I suppose the first question you have is:  “Can this guy actually help me, or my sales staff, do a better job, make more sales, make more money, and deliver long term results?”  If I can convince you the answer is “Yes,” then you will gladly pay me to do what I do!  Fair enough, because the answer is; “Yes, I can help you or your staff make more sales, more money, and deliver better long term results.”

There’s plenty of fear to go around.  Fear of rejection is huge.  There’s fear of judgment; fear of failure; and fear of what other’s will think is also a big one.  Perhaps the most difficult to recognize is the fear of success.  One or more of these fears create behavioral umbrellas which will affect success in sales.  Although I have always enjoyed a phrase I first heard on a Joyce Meyer audio cassette years ago: ”Recognize the (your) fear–and then do it anyway,” I’m thinking most people reading this would like more than a single axiom.  In reference to the negative aspects of fear in sales, you can and must become fearless.  To become fearless you need to PACE yourself.  PACE is (P) Personal Development; (A) Attitude of Success; (C) Competency; and (E) Enthusiasm.  All four components of PACE are intimately interrelated.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Success in sales is about positive personal development.  Overcoming fear is also about positive personal development.  Positive personal development is a combination of process, application, and practice.  First, you must be honest with self as to who and where you are versus where and whom you want to be.  What kind of person are you now, and is that the person you want to always be?  You can develop positively or negatively.  Let me give you an example.  If in your psyche you deep down have always believed that sales people are: slick, smooth, liars, con-artists, crooks, not-to-be trusted people and now you are in a sales position–you have a cognitive choice to make.   Either you have to admit that your past beliefs were incorrect or you might have to convince yourself that you will be a different kind of sales person.  Lastly, if you hold those beliefs to be true and you do not choose to be different at all cost, by default, you are convincing your psyche to become a smooth talking, cool walking, liar and cheat.  Get the picture.  There will be some form of personal development in play.

When I talk about personal development in training sessions, I’m referring to the gamut of how you walk, talk, think, and act to yourself and others.  You must first become “self aware” in virtually every aspect of your life and personality. I suggest to you that you can “memorize” how to be successful in sales from various books, compact discs, and other resources found on the internet etc., but, until you make up your mind to “personally develop” the memorization of technique will likely feign over time and/or not sustain you in difficult situations or times. Associate your mind to instructive knowledge.  Associate yourself to successful people or success minded people.  Stay away from all negative microcosms.  Every new sales person that I have trained has gone through a substantive lecture on the importance of personal development as it relates to big-time success in sales.  A person’s success in sales is absolutely directly correlated to their personal development.  From point A, to point B.  Do I teach specifics?  Of course I do.  Simple examples here are as follows.  One person may dress sloppy (loose, and/or badly knotted tie for example).  Another person may dress ostentatiously–too much jewelry as one example.  A person constantly spews negative comments or seems unable to leave his or her personal challenges at home.  Another person hasn’t ever read a self-help book.  Someone else has a fish-like handshake.  There are innumerable examples.  Training is a integral part of personal development.  Personal development overcomes fear!

ATTITUDE

Who can guess the number of books or articles written on attitude?  I’m saying thousands.  Volumes are written about why a person needs the proper attitude in order to be successful in any endeavor.  Obviously, a sales person’s attitude is critical.  However, in training I normally do not find it necessary to repeat the sermons.  However, what I do in training is look for the evidence of a need for attitude adjustment.  My training emphasis on attitude is more subtle than one might expect.  Often examples are the best form of explanation.  Imagine that you’re a car sales person and you are outside on the lot.  You spot a “human being” walking around the inventory looking in the windows of various cars on the lot.  If your reaction (action) is to sort of sneak up on (stealth like movement) the human cautiously (fearfully?) so as to not scare him or her away, I would say there is a strong need for attitude adjustment here.  Your behavior, mannerisms, and body language are tells.  By tells I mean those unconscious behaviors that betray your attempted deception which are in fact indicative of your attitude.  This is but one of many examples of poor attitude in sales that are explored in my sales training.  This one example is not an attitude of professionalism, success, or confidence.  On the contrary, it is indicative of fear, weakness, and possibly even a deceptive mind-set.  Training develops the proper attitude.  The proper attitude kicks sand in the face of fear!

COMPETENCY

Nothing breeds confidence more than competency.  The more competent you are in every aspect of a sales process, the more confident you are.  The more properly confident you are, the more fearless you become.  The more fearless you are become, the more successful you are likely to be.   There is a caveat here.   I have seen many bold and fearless sales people fall flat on their face in terms of performance.  Do not misconstrue what I am saying.  It is not simply enough to be “confident” per se.  Your confidence must be grounded in competency, personal development, and a proper attitude in order to stick.  Over and over, I personally observed phenomenal results from the evolution of an incompetent sales person becoming a competent thus confident sales person.   Competency comes from an in-depth training program.  Competency is a result of a true understanding of the buyer, the process, the product, and a result of hours and hours of practice–with the correct attitude.  Once a sales person is competent–he or she automatically becomes positively confident.  If you’re in sales and not confident; it is likely because you are not yet competent.  Competency expels fear on all levels!

ENTHUSIASM

Enthusiasm displaces fear.  I find it most difficult to imagine a sales situation where there is enthusiasm and fear present at the same time.  True enthusiasm is relatively easy to exude when backed up by personal development, a strong positive attitude, and competency (resulting in confidence).  ”Enthusiasm sells!” Rare that a person would disagree with that statement. I have witnessed the truth of that statement time and time again.  Years ago, I owned a small chain of camera stores.  Many times I watched how enthusiasm contributed to the success of many sales events in my stores.  Enthusiasm actually begat buying frenzies.  Enthusiasm created initial sales during any particular sales event.  The more sales that took place, the easier it became for sales people to land the next sale.  After awhile, everyone in the store seemed to be buying something–often spending more than they originally intended.  Enthusiasm can actually create buying/selling sequences.  When you are enthusiastic, it can often be contagious towards the customer.  People enjoy enthusiasm and thus, love to buy from enthusiastic sales people.  It is often said, “if you’re not enthusiastic about your product or service; how do you expect the customer to be enthusiastic?”   The true professional sales person creates a sale in which the customer leaves the store with a smile on their face!  It’s hard for a customer to be leaving the store with a smile unless there is enthusiasm present.  Some people can fake enthusiasm, for awhile.  Only real enthusiasm is lasting enthusiasm.

The more trained a sales person is the more personal development they have experienced.  On-going personal development creates a lasting success attitude.  The improvement of attitude is also a direct reflection of their competency.  Competency, the right confidence, and attitude all work together.  If you believe enthusiasm is an integral part of being a sales success then you necessarily agree that personal development, attitude, and competency are the prerequisites for enthusiasm.  Just remember one thing, enthusiasm is not enough!  What I demonstrate and coach in my training sessions is how to act (behave) with a controlled enthusiasm which results in more sales.

Get training — PACE yourself.