My First Business Role Model

First off, I think it is very important to have a role model, someone to look up to, someone to emulate. When I played hockey, I wanted to be like Scott Stevens, when I played Soccer, I wanted to be like the great Gazza, and when I moved into my Business Carreer, I wanted to be like Harvey MacKay.

I've never been very big on the 'I gotta read every new business book' out there, don't get me wrong, I am sure you could take something away from every book, but that's just not what I'm about. When I was 17, (man, that's 19 years ago!), I read two books that literally changed my life. It was the book below, "Swim with the Sharks and Survive" followed by the book below that "Beware of the Naked Man who offers you his Shirt". These books are extremely well written, short, precise chapters (I hate wordy explainations) with examples of how they worked, and with a ton of USABLE knowledge. I won't go any further, I don't want to spoil it for you.

Every year, I pick up these books and give them a read, they are simple ideas that work. I hope by passing these two books as recommended reading they help you out.
Here is Harvey MacKay's website, so you can see for yourself what I mean before you buy the books.

http://www.harveymackay.com/

What Are the Things That Make a Car Salesperson Good OR Bad?

Found this article that I think some of you might fing a good read, and by the way, I can't stand pictures like this one ....
The men and woman who sell cars across this country get a bad rap. The butt of many a joke, the profession as a whole has been dragged down by more than its fair share of people who should have never been salespeople to begin with.

The fact is, a good salesperson can make a great income selling cars. The successful ones treat it as a career striving to learn the products and understanding the premise behind customer service as they strive to serve their customers and their needs.

But what is it that makes a salesperson successful?

I have bought more than my fair share of cars throughout the years, and I like most of you have had both good and bad experiences.

For me there have been 2 salespeople who not only went above and beyond, but have continued to do so multiple times earning the Holy Grail of cars sales, a repeat customer.

Knowing and understanding the needs of the customer has to be #1 in my opinion when it comes to sales. Several years ago I was looking to buy a new car and my wife and I were having a bit of trouble coming to an agreement as to which of 2 almost identical cars to buy. As we left the dealer I told the sales guy to prep the car I wanted stating I would be back tomorrow to buy it, however he knew that my wife and her opinion would prevail and he went ahead and actually prepped the other car.

The following day I called the dealer and told the salesperson that we had decided to choose the other car. He chuckled telling me he thought that as well and he had gone ahead and prepped the car and that it was waiting on the showroom floor.

He has since assisted in 2 other vehicle purchases including my current car. His approach is low key and low pressure allowing customers to make the decision serving more as a source of information than a shark looking for the next kill. The ability to listen and learn the needs of the customer is paramount in earning the respect and eventual business, fundamentals which apply across the board.

Of course we don't make a big fuss when we receive lousy service at other places, it is almost expected when venturing into a big box store. What makes car sales special is the fact that it is not an everyday occasion. Most people only buy a car every couple of years, and given that fact when a good or bad experience occurs we are quick to tell our friends.

So how about you? What things do you look for when buying a car?

What are some of the good or bad experiences you have had when buying a car?

And is there a person you return to based on the quality of service received?

And since we know there are a few car sales people on here, why not share some of your secrets to success with the rest of us.

I'll leave you with this...

A couple of years ago I went with my brother in law to buy his first car. We had spent the weekend looking and he decided he was going to buy a Ford Focus SVT. As this was his first new car purchase, he was obviously excited and honestly probably would have signed his name to just about any deal presented. The sales guy could smell the score.

After literally dragging him off the Ford lot, we went to my house and did some research as to invoice, dealer hold backs and interest rates. Ford was running a lot of 0% rates, however the sales person told us the SVT products weren't eligible for the 0% rates.

He was lying.

I put together some numbers including the monthly payment and said this is what the car should cost you. The following afternoon we returned to the dealer, the salesperson figured he had baited the hook and reeled in the score. We went to his cubicle and he immediately went for a credit application to which I told him that prior to that we needed to negotiate the price.

He agreed and was presented with the purchase price along with payments on the sheet I had written up for my brother in law. The salesperson laughed and said that there was no way he could do that deal.

I thanked him for his time, nudged my brother in law and proceeded to get up and started to leave. He was surprised and insisted that he be allowed to try to make that deal.

He took the sheet and disappeared for a few minutes returning again stating that there was no way they could do the deal.

Again thanking him for his time, we got up and left the dealership.

We drove 5 miles to the next Ford dealer, and there parked right out front was the same exact Focus SVT. Of course we weren't even out of the car before having a salesperson on us, I told him that my brother in law would purchase the Focus SVT parked in front of th dealership if they would do the deal I had written out. Looking at the sheet of paper, he asked for 5 minutes and disappeared to a back office.

While he was gone, we took note of the fact that the car they had actually had more equipment than the car we were looking at at the other Ford dealer. Within a few minutes the salesperson returned and stated that they would do the deal.

It took about an hour and a half to complete the deal and prep the car, but my brother in law drove away in the car he wanted with a deal that was great for him.

Perhaps it was the fact that the salesperson at the first Ford dealership laughed at the proposed deal, but we drove back to the first dealership and told the salesperson we got the deal we wanted.

He was shocked and in disbelief.

It took showing him the bill of sale to make him believe we got what we wanted.

Laughing at a customer probably isn't a great idea, and in this case it lost a sale that was his to lose.

In preparing for this story, Agent 001 reminded me, "...buyers are liars and sellers are storytellers."

There is a lot of truth to that statement, it is the true salesperson who is able to weed through to get to the truth.

So go ahead, have some fun and tell some of your stories making sure to tell the good and bad you've experienced.

Here's the source of the article, it's intersting to read some of the comments too;
http://www.autospies.com/news/The-SPIES-Want-to-Know-What-Are-the-Things-That-Make-a-Car-Salesperson-Good-OR-Bad-39136/

Have Fun

In today’s world we work longer and harder than any other generation before us, so you’d think it would be nice to have a little fun spending that hard-earned money. Instead, so many people come in the dealership as if buying a car is such a chore.

Think about it-think about what is perceived as the biggest expense you’ll incur in your lifetime, what comes to mind? For most people, a house is the first thing that pops into mind. Think about how fun it is to go house hunting, you’re imagining how a house will look with personal touches, ‘ooh, the curtains would go here’ or ‘ah, the garage will be built here’. It can be exciting! Now, I can make a case of how vehicles in general will be the biggest expense you will incur in a lifetime; the car’s themselves, the insurance, the gas, the oil changes, the insurance claim deductible(s?), the depreciation when trading it in, and so on. So, with this being such a major expense in our lifetime, why can’t it be just as exciting as buying a new house? We work hard enough for it. Don’t get me wrong, some people have figured this out already, but they appear to be the minority.

It’s not the customer who is at fault for this reaction, it is the salesperson’s. A person’s experience is only going to be as exciting as the salesperson lets it be and a salesperson is only going to be as successful as they let it be.

Smile, have some fun, make it fun, don’t be a joker or a clown, but get enthusiastic about what you are selling! Smile a lot and don’t be afraid to laugh.

Welcome to the Salespersons Quarterback

Well, I think that I have enough time to contribute to this blog on a somewhat regular basis (I expect to post once every 3 or 4 days to start). If there is anything that you'd like to see posted sales tip related, please let me know via comments or email which is located on the right hand side of this blog 'contact me'.

Positive Mental Attitude

The most basic element to any outlook in life, not just sales. In sales we have to stay positive, because we can deal with alot of rejection. Keeping positive will allow you to see things in a different light. Instead of seeing an issue as a problem, you can look at it as an opportunity to 'fix' something.

I find that there is a direct relation to the level of positive thinking to my level of confidence, and patience level. Let's face it, at times in sales we have to be patient, whether you are showing the benefits of your product or just waiting for someone to get back to you on their final decision.

To stay positive, I take the thought that no matter what happen, I will ALWAYS 'land on my feet.' I actually take great comfort in that fact. I think about my past success's and don't dwell on my failures. I also find that having a positive attitude allows me to take a failure and turn it into a learning experience. Cutting down on making a failure twice increases my success rate.

One such example is as follows;

I sell cars in Canada. The Canadian dollar is worth more than the US dollar as I speak. This also makes some cars cheaper in the US, some by $11,000! Did I mention that I live in a city close to the border and a US town with a dealer that sells the same product as me? Anyway, at the beginning of the month, I was helping people out to my fullest ability in hopes of earning their business, only to see a few of the people go down across the border and buy the very same car that I councilled them on. After losing out a few times to this, I started feeling negative and started taking a negative approach. I was starting to go as far to say "If you are just here for me to show you the car with the intention of buying it in the US, then, do me a favour and go to the US and make the dealer who is going to get your business, earn it." Never won a sale after that one, in fact, I turned the people off of me more than anything. I sat back and analyzed what I was doing and I could either let the news reports of people going south of the border get me down, or I could look for a solution. I decided that I should look at the US dealer, just as another competitor, and came up with a sheet on the benefits of buying Canadian that I go over with people who express interest in buying in the US. I even go as far to say that "even if you are going to buy the car in the US, I am going to help you out!" They may not buy a car from me now, but I am in this for the long haul, there is a good chance that they will be in the market sometime again, and if I turn them off of me now, I'll turn them off forever. Good news travels fast, bad news travels faster and farther. I find that I feel alot better about the situation and my results have really picked up on the back half of this month.

Expect a negative result - you get a negative result, expect a positive result - you get a positive result.

Smile!

Smile. Smile and make eye contact. It's so simple. It's amazing how contagious it is too! The best time to smile is at the introduction, get it out right off the bat. It sets the tone to a positive dealing.

Smile when you are on the phone, it's funny but people can hear your smile.

Anytime i've fallen into a 'slump', i've reviewed where I am going wrong and it's always the basic's, and one of the most overlooked basic is the smile.