I talk and write a LOT about Positivity, for me its so much more than a word or mood its actually a way of life. When I am speaking to my team about how Positivity can increase their sales it’s easy to sometimes diminish the power of Positivity by simply saying, “ok Mike, I need to be positive I get it. But how does being in a good mood make the difference?” The answer is usually more than the person asking ever bargained for as its more of a full scale lecture! The simply break down though is that Positivity in selling is more than just a ‘good mood’; it is about believing fully in yourself, your process and your product. When you do you project a confident, positive image to your customers and they feel good about working with you. A good deal is not a number; it never has been and never will be. A good deal is a feeling, as the great Joe Verde puts it; “A good deal is a car you like, bought from some one you feel like you can trust at a payment you feel is fair”. With Positivity the sale is just easier from start to finish, believe it or not. Yes, there will still be objections to overcome and yes you will even encounter the occasional alligator of a customer once in a while but those things shouldn’t sway you from staying positive. I read a great book some time ago from a trainer named Stephan Schiffman and in it he made a great reference to the Three C’s needed in sales; Confidence, Competence and Concern. I don’t remember his exact wording but I have shared his ideas and overtime enhanced the basic concept with my own input. I review the Three C's with many sales people when training them and its always great to review with even seasoned folks. With Positivity the Three C’s come naturally, here they are with description: Confidence. Confidence says you can do what you say you can do with a strong enough feeling behind it that your customer believes in you. When you say your product can some thing better than another, it’s believable. When you say you can deliver it’s easy for your customer to accept that you can however, its critical to separate confidence from over-confidence! Over-confidence can bury you, it says you cant really back up your commitment but you will try to cover for it by promising even more. Competence. Doing what you say you are going to do says you have competence. If you tell your customer you are going to get him floor mats next week, get him floor mats next week or you will appear incompetent. If you talk with a customer on the lot today and tell him you will call him tomorrow you have to do just that, if you call him the day after or even worse a few days later it just seems like you found someone more important to work with and your customer will turn off. Competence is following through on your commitments AND paying attention to the details. Concern. If you understand you customer’s needs its possible to you show him that you are putting them first. That doesn’t mean you forget who you work for, it means that you understand that the best deal is the one that is right for your customer, their needs and their budget. That doesn’t mean a small deal either. In order for you to show your customer that their needs are important you first have to KNOW their needs! A long time ago a manager told me that a customer will tell you exactly how to close them if you will just ask them. He always reminded me that we have two ears and one mouth and they should be used in that proportion; ask the right questions and really listen to your customer and you will know how to make the sale easily and with less grind. I could go on forever but the point really is simple, with Positivity the rest is easy! Have an awesome week ahead everyone and as always; Sell Something!
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When I started out on the line as a salesperson my personality and ability to work well with people helped me achieve what I felt was great success in sales numbers and I was sure making a lot more money that I had as a mechanic at the dealership! After a few months of being among the top sellers at the dealership became quite cocky and started breaking all the basic rules of sales; pre-qualifying customers, taking every short cut possible and even ‘brooming’ customer without management introduction. One of the drawbacks with my quick leap into sales was I though I had it figured out pretty well and blinded to my own shortcomings. It became more entertaining to engage in horseplay and practical joking than to spend my time working with those ‘jacks’ that always came on the lot just before the punch line of the joke I was telling! My numbers fell drastically however I refused to take any responsibility and continued to find all the wrong reasons for my sudden lack of sales. One of the Sales Managers of the dealership began to keep a close eye on me, luckily for me. The part that didn’t make any sense to me for many years was that he wasn’t even my own closer, and yet he helped me more than mine ever did. I was always told by my father that the likely hood of you doing the wrong thing depends greatly on the potential that you are being watched and sure enough it seemed like every time I wasn’t doing what I should have been doing this particular manager would be right there as I did it! Whether I was grabbing the keys to a vehicle on the lot to turn on the radio so I could listen while standing out on the point or playing some practical joke on a co-worker, once I looked around I would always see him looking at me with that same ‘tsk tsk tsk’ look on his face. He soon began calling me ‘Mikey Bad-Habits’ and it was a nick name I loathed! Each time he saw me he’d say “whats up Mikey Bad-Habits? When are you gonna get serious?” As he wasn’t my manager I would mostly blow him off and go about my day, usually ending up engaging in some time wasted antics that resulted in no car deals but kept me in the running as the lots ‘funnest guy to be around’! After an extremely disappointing check he saw me sitting in one of the booths, head in hands trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do and how I was ever going to pay my bills. In the booth he walked, sat down opposite me and asked me if I was far enough down on my ass and if I was ready? I felt pretty bad at that moment and asked him why he gave a shit about me, why wasn’t he worrying about his own team and he looked at me with a cold, hard stare that chilled me. He said, “nothing, and I mean nothing pisses me off more than wasted potential kid. You got a ton of potential but until you get over trying to be Mr Popular you wont ever reach your potential and that pisses me off.” I took a deep breath and said “ok, what can I do then, to get back in the game and sell cars again?” He told me to take out one of my cards and turn it over, on the blank back side he told me to write these words; Am I Doing the MOST Productive Thing Possible RIGHT NOW? If Not, WHY NOT? He then instructed me to put that card in my shirt pocket and to take it out and read it at LEAST 20 times a day. I wrote out my question of success and put it in my pocket, and at least a couple times a day he would ask to see it. At first I would look at it constantly to remind myself to stay focused and on track but soon it became a thought that constantly ran through my mind over and over as I worked through my day. That same manager lent me his own copies of many sales books and was the guy that later introduced me to the trainer that changed the whole game for me, Mark Tewart. Over the years I have told countless sales people to write out that phrase on a card and check them often as I was. It’s easy to get sidetracked by the many distractions that appear when you take your eyes off of your goals, and that in itself is the key. Keep your sights on your goal and the distractions fall to the wayside. As I write this I’m asking myself if it is the most productive thing possible and yeah, it is. Because I will look back over this one day and it will help remind me to stay focused and working hard to be the best I can be; the best manager, the best coach and the best leader. If you find yourself not being able to stay on track or getting distracted easily try it, write it down on the back of your card and look at it often. I hope it helps even just one person stay in the game and reach their goals! As always, Sell Something my friends :) Yesterday I had an eye (re)opening experience at an indoor go-kart track. I took my son and six of his buddies racing for his 11th birthday and wasn’t sure how it was going to go so I prepared for a really long, tense morning. I was convinced that the staff would probably groan with irritation when I walked in with seven overly hyped up boys that couldn’t wait for their chance behind the wheel. I could not have been more incorrect! The staff was more than incredibly polite and the amount of sincere patience they showed with the kids asking a never ending series of questions about how to drive, what to do when they crash and my favorite of the day; "can we drift?" was inspiring to a guy that has worked in retail for over 25 years now! After the first race they even complimented the kids on their on track behavior and for the second one they gave them a bit more speed on the karts! As we left after an absolutely amazing morning of fun the young man behind the counter THANKED US for being a great group, he stated that the kids were totally fun to work with and made sure to tell us to come back again soon. I came into work afterwards with a commitment burning in the back of my mind to jump online and shout about how awesome the day was on every site I could imagine and believe me when I say, I know of MANY sites! It felt really good to write out how much fun we had and how much I would recommend to EVERYONE to go to that racetrack for a day of fun at speed! I posted it along with pics of my son going full speed and I was not just happy to spread the word about them, I was OBLIGATED to. Now, what does this have to do with selling cars???? Yesterday I was a CUSTOMER, a customer who received some really outstanding customer service. Its kind of a sad statement of the world today that great customers service is so rare that it generates such excitement but the truth is that it IS indeed very rare! The good news is, with just a little effort, a little bit of pride and a commitment to selling cars as a career and not just a job we could all provide the same type of experience with every one of our customers every day. Imagine having the numbers of customers that we do at a car dealership all online shouting, er writing, as loudly as they can how awesome we are and telling everyone to come here and buy a car! When we take a step back, take a deep breath and remember that the customer isn’t looking for a number, they are looking for a feeling it becomes easier to focus on providing that awesome customer experience and truly earn their business AND their loyalty while at it. That’s the exact moment that we become professional Automotive Salesmen and take the step toward ultimate success! They say when you want some thing bad enough you find a way to get it, if you don’t truly want it you will find all the excuses that make it ok not to…. You have to ask yourself; do I want it? Car sales CAN be a career! The other day there was a humorous discussion about the old movie Glengarry Glen Ross and how the sales meeting scene was a fairly typical type of Friday morning sales meeting for many of us who have been at this for more than 15 years or so. After the conversation I started thinking about the people who have entered into the business in the last few years and the image of salespeople they were presented with in movies and TV shows and its really stopped me in my tracks. I have heard many complaints about the attitude and since of entitlement that today’s work force has but really; its not all their fault. Think about the last movie you saw that had a salesperson in it, more than likely the salesperson wasn't portrayed very nicely. TV shows the same, most salespeople are one of two stereotypes; greedy cutthroat slime balls or lazy ignorant losers. How can we expect a new generation of employees to be the professionals they can be if the only perceptions they have had of salespeople have been negative ones? As managers we know that the car business can in fact be a very rewarding and profitable career without sacrificing honor or integrity. Yes there have been a fair amount of folks working in car sales with questionable ethics but the same is true in many, many fields that aren't blanketly labeled as bad choices for work. As managers it is up to us to lead with integrity and provide the positive motivation that will inspires those coming in to the car business to continue the effort of raising the image and expectations of what it is that we do. Lets face it, few people started out wanting to be car salesmen but thousands and thousands of folks are. We work each day in one of the most important industries in the nation, in fact it was the auto industry that helped the most to turn the economy back in the right direction and as it has been said by many wise people; “nothing happens until a salesperson sells something!” I would advise you to start this year with a new approach, sit down with each of your salespeople and ask them to write out where they think they are now and where they would like to be in three and five years. In your talk try to find out their own feelings about what they do, if a person doesn't feel like they are working in alignment with their own value structure you have big problems as they are probably just hanging out until the opening becomes available at the truck driving school! Do your best to remind your staff, and also show them with your leadership that sales is not a job to be ashamed at working in, rather it can be a career to be proud of! Until next time, Sell Something :) |
Mike theCarGuy
Hey there, I'm Mike theCarGuy and here are some of my thoughts about cars, the car business and sales! Take a look around, maybe you will learn something or at the very least find your self smiling, and if you do... leave me a comment so I know I at least did something right! Thanks for stoppin by...
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March 2024
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