I love reading books about the sales profession and topics that contribute to personal growth. Why I read personal growth books. If you are more aware of your personality and personal growth, you can know how to set expectations for yourself and modify your behavior...
Is greed in sales good? In the film "Wall Street," Gordon Gekko proclaims that "greed is good." Is it? Is answering that with a noncommittal answer of "kind-of" a copout? Let's explore that. Meriam Webster defines greed this way: A selfish and excessive desire for...
In sales, there are basically three types of salespeople. The Order Taker The Presenter The Closer Each is important in its own way, and most organizations have all three working in different departments throughout the business. While the definition of each may be...
Not having a backup plan is commonly considered the way to maintain laser focus. The prevailing wisdom is that you won't give it your all if you have a way out. "Having Laser-Focus Increases Your Odds Of Success" – Forbes Magazine, August 4, 2020 "Don't Make A Backup...
A myth is something that people believe, even if it's not true. The bigger the story, the less likely it is to be based on truth and the more likely it is to develop into a myth. The profession of sales is similar. In this article, I'll dispel the two top myths that...
First, you need to know that everyone has been there. If a salesperson tells you that they've never been in a slump, they either have a poor memory or lie outright. A sales slump is when you can't seem to make a sale, no matter how hard you try. Leads are down, the...
I have taken lessons from each of the following books to use as a Sales Manager. Some have given me a perspective on life that helps me see things differently from a personal point of view, while others contain sound business, sales, or management lessons that have...
I am reading Jordan B Peterson’s book 12 Rules for Life; in the chapter about discussing his Rule 4: “Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today,” there is a section where he, in his own insightful way of simplifying things, points...
Who is Pareto, And What Is He doing With Your Customers? Vilfredo Pareto was, among other things, an economist who pointed out that 80% of the property in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. Which, standing alone, isn’t all that noteworthy of an observation. He...
Would You Rather Be Right or Make The Sale? Sometimes it happens. The prospect has decided and drawn a line in the sand that they will not cross. Except, they’re wrong. And, you know it. (They may even know it too. But are unwilling to change their position regardless...
Your Perfect Plan As you plan your future, whether we’re talking about your monthly sales volume, income goals, personal goals, retirement goals, or long-term career goals, do you get stuck in the planning phase, or do you take action? "By this, I mean that a good...
Sales Skills Help You Earn More Money Initially, most people will assume that I am implying that you will make more sales with more skills, and your income will rise proportionately. That isn’t what I mean. I often write about the benefits of mastering a sales...
What Is The Ideal Sales Person? The ideal natural-born salesman has certain traits that I think we can all agree on: Gregarious Quick thinking Smooth talking Huge personality An outgoing personality In fact, according to the Dale Carnegie Training of West Virginia,...
The way most car dealerships set goals for their salespeople has no merit. First of all, many dealership managers do a horrible job of communicating goals! Dealership management knows how many vehicles need to be sold to generate revenue — Upper management has set...
A prospect decides to make a purchase when he realizes that there is more value in the product than there is in his money. At its core, that’s your job: Demonstrating the value of your product. Value is the reason people buy. That is true 100% of the time. Value is a...
It’s a well-established fact that people would prefer to do business with their friends. It should be no surprise to you that part of our sales training is building rapport and making friends. Learning to weave your needs assessment into your rapport building is a...
The first thing most customers want to talk about is price. But it is probably the last thing that matters. When I was early in my sales career, I was trained to ask the customer what their budget was. My manager instructed me to qualify the customer by saying...
If I could change only one thing in most dealerships, it would be salespeople’s habit to rush the sales process. The sales process should accomplish two things: Ensure that you have selected the best vehicle.The customer sees more value in the car they drove than the...
It’s well established that selling to repeat customers is significantly easier than selling to a fresh up or internet lead. Doing these five things after every sale will help fill your sales pipeline forever. If you’re an outstanding salesperson, your overall...
Forget the CSI score. Forget the TO to your manager. A 5-Star delivery will help you sell each customer more cars! These 5 steps will get you there. How many cars do you want to sell to each customer? Statistics say that the average person will own about nine vehicles...
Work hard to make friends, and you won’t have to work very hard to do business with your friends. It’s common knowledge that people would prefer to do business with their friends. People like having “a guy” or “a girl.” As much as you want to build relationships with...
Every salesperson ever has wondered what the best closing question is. The secret to closing is really no secret at all. Everything you do, say, and ask will lead to a sale. I’m sure it’s disappointing that there isn’t one simple question that you can use to close the...
Scenario: You’re trying to help a customer buy a car. Your customer has brought along one or more people who’ve been given the responsibility to provide your customer advice and try to keep you from being a pushy salesperson and talking the customer into making a bad...
6 Tips to Overcome Price Objections in Car Sales When you’re in the middle of making a car sale, there are countless reasons why the deal could fall through. Maybe the customer found another price online, perhaps they’re just not sure if they can afford it yet, or...
One Year of Text Follow-up I saw this Facebook post and engaged the author in hopes of giving him a few pointers on customer follow-up, only to be reminded that many car salespeople are poorly trained. Here is the exchange that took place Post by Author: When you text...
This Facebook post in a dealership group got me thinking about what kinds of attitudes salespeople might have toward the ownership or management team. This poster wrote: "So, my fellow car sales people, I got fired this week for as best that could be explained to me,...
In sales, there are three types of salespeople. The Order TakerThe PresenterThe Closer Each is important, and most organizations have all three working in different departments throughout the business. While the definition of each may be somewhat self-explanatory,...
In sales of any kind, you will go through a period where everything you do works well and then another period where you feel like you’ve lost the magic. That’s why it’s essential to be a student of sales and have more than one or two closes in your pocket. Here are...
How many objections are there? In my opinion, there is only one. When the fluff is stripped away from any objection, what the customer is really saying is: “You haven’t provided me with enough information to give me a reason to buy from you.” The moment when a...
Every salesperson is looking for the magic words to say to put a magic spell over their prospect that makes them pull out their credit card and buy what you’re selling. Unfortunately, there’s no practical way to take shortcuts and still be an effective salesperson....
It feels like begging, doesn’t it? You just spent an hour or two with this customer, and now you’re about to send them on their way in their new car. You know you need to ask. You know it’s going to be awkward. You know you’ll both squirm in your seats a little. You...
Closing is anything you do that moves the sale along the sales process. So, closing a car sale starts with the first question you ask the customer. A question that helps you get beyond "just looking" and into the needs discovery/rapport building part of the sales...
Let’s be upfront about this: If not done well, negotiating is confrontational and uncomfortable for both you and your customer. If only you could read your customer’s mind and know how to make it easier! The most important thing to understand about negotiating is...
The first thing I need to establish before you read on is what closing is. Many salespeople, even experienced ones, think of closing as a set of words that happen after you’ve presented the price and you want to get your prospect to say “Yes, I’ll take it!” and sign...
What does A Car Salesperson Earn? With few exceptions, car salespeople are paid on commission. Anyone with any amount of time in sales knows this, but if you’re just getting to the business, you may be unfamiliar with the idea of getting paid solely on your success....
When you get started in a dealership as a new salesperson you’re quickly introduced to words and phrases that are likely very unfamiliar to you. Every industry has jargon, (special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are...
Have you made any resolutions for the new year? If you’re like the majority of people, you might need some help keeping those commitments. Studies show that while 40% of Americans make new year’s resolutions, only 8% of Americans wind up keeping them. In other words,...
Goodbye cool weather, hello sweltering heat! The warmest months of the year are finally here, but how will your vehicle fare under the hot temperatures of the season? We all hate getting into a hot car. In 90 degree weather, the inside of your car can heat up to over...
