Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by NANCY SIMMONS on October 5, 2010 at 5:08pm

Wow Dennis...You are spot on! Sadly, Spot on! But there has to be something we can do! If they make money in spite of themselves, think about how much more they could make, if they added some humane caring, consideration and logic into the equation! Craig posted a great video today, "What's in it for the Salesperson?" .... Perhaps it needs to start here!!!!! Right here with people like you, me Craig and others...



Dennis M. Sims said:

Nancy,

You asked "What can we do to change the mindset of the dealers, GM's or decision-makers at the dealership level" in one of your comments.

It's my contention that there is NOTHING that can be done. The reason is these Dealers make money in "spite" of themselves, not "because of what they do".

To prove this out, run these thoughts by a "typical" Dealer or GM and see what their comments or insight is:
"Crystal Clear" Processes / Policies / Procedures
"Accountability Management"
Compensation Plans are meant to drive "behavior/results
Gross drives Volume, but Volume does NOT drive Gross
People who feel good about themselves produce good results (And vice versa)

I could add about 100 more. You get my point?

Have you ever heard a Dealer or GM make the statement, "I'm not going to invest in training them until I see how they're going to work out"? Now someone PLEASE explain the logic in that statement. It only goes to show you their mentality. "Shoot from the Hip"!

Permalink Reply by Dennis M. Sims on October 6, 2010 at 10:14am

I believe it should begin witht the Manufacturers. I'll give you an example. General Motors' new Ad Slogan is "May the Best Car Win". Absolutely "Wrong"! The Slogan should be "May the Best Salesperson Win". You see it's my contention that GM doesn't make a better car than Ford, and Ford doesn't make a better car than Toyota, and Toyota doesn't make a better car than Honda, and so forth and so forth.

Who is it that creates the "PERCEPTION" that either is the better car? It's the Salesperson.

Proof of this is if you've ever been to a zone sponsored "Ride & Drive" where they invite all the Salespeople and Managers of their Dealerships to "test" their product against compteting products. The Salespeople leave there thinking, "a Customer would be crazy to choose that over ours". Why? Because they "stack the deck" in favor of their products, in other words, do a better presentation pointing out all the "special features and benefits" that are in their favor, which all vehicles have.

Take part of the "Billions" of dollars Manufacturers spend on advertising and "Train the Salespeople" to "stack the deck" in favor of their vehicle, themselves, and the Dealership to inspire the Customer to want there car and want to do business with that Salesperson and that Dealership.

Our Salespeople are the MOST important people in the Dealership, yet get treated like a "necessary eveil", hired by having their pulse taken and if they're breathing, given no, or at best elementary training, then thrown to the wolves to succeed by "shooting from the hip". Sad Mentality!

Permalink Reply by Rachael Schulz Dunbar on October 6, 2010 at 1:06pm

Well thats easy to explain! As a previous exec assistant for multiple GM's & GSMs and of course just being an internet manager of whom everyone assumes knows everything about computers, I can say that anyone I have ever met in any dealership with such a position knows diddly squat about how to actually post a blog. Sure they read books or attend conferences and have a general knowledge but I would swear that some of them actually invest stocks in the Walkman or Tandy still. I think this is not a measure of ignorance, just a timing constraint. They are quite busy and often trust the internet professional to blog or research. Thier idea of "networking" is often quite different than ours is.
I still get paged daily to the bosses office to show him how to "reply" to emails so I certainly don't expect him to understand how this whole seperate level of networking works. When and if I have ever tried to use one of these discussions as a point of reference I just get shot down. It seems this type of information sharing is only respected by those of us involved.
It takes them a long time to catch up.
Heck, just yesterday they told me they wanted me to advertise a 55k vehicle on Craigslist...we all know thats not gonna help! When I explained that cheaper cars market better there he says those cars are already in the expensive newspaper advertisment...*sigh*. Sometimes, even for the dealers benifit, we just can't win without re-training all the bosses out there.



NANCY SIMMONS said:

Craig,

Thanks so much for your words of wisdom!

You are correct... As a Comptroller for a Dealership with over 30+ years experience, I am bewildered that I do not see a lot of involvement from dealer principals or GM's on these sites. This is their business, their capital, time, sweat, and energy is invested in their business and some of the information found here on these sites, could make or break their business. Cries from sales people and managers are made each day appealing for change, with more training and revamped compensation plans. I wrote a discussion on Nothing but Net about a month ago asking if it was time to look at sales consultant's compensation plans again, with really very little response from anyone... The 5 or 6 of us who are in accordance could talk about this until we are blue in the face, but it is not going to change anything unless the players read and buy into it! What can we do to capture the attention of those in the field?





Craig Lockerd said:

My dad told me 40 years ago"Craig this business is to bad to get into and to go to get out of".....40 years later.....

Like best/....The people, I don't know of any industry that the people are more passionate, resilient and positive.
Yes we need change.
More passionate,resilient,and positive people coming into our industry!
AND MORE TRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...!!!!
You know what I would really like to see,to hear...to see here on dealerELITE? Stories from Owners, Principles about there first day/days/months in the business ...what the owners like the best,and what changes they would like to see happen.
Maybe most are ok with the status quo?????

Permalink Reply by NANCY SIMMONS on October 6, 2010 at 2:18pm

Rachael!
Once again...You are spot on! I think our biggest challenge these days is not getting the clients to "buy in" but the guy/gal who signs our paychecks to "buy in"! Sounds a little strong and I, as always, am not speaking about every dealer, but here is how you prove this is happening! Go on facebook and review as many dealer group pages and fan pages and see what most are doing... marketing their automobiles!!!! They should be marketing themselves, the character of their dealerships and highlight the staff with whom the clients will be doing face to face business! It is sad, because it is costing them hidden loss dollars that will never be documented, recorded on a log, or factored into an ROI... Just one big fat missed opportunity after another!



Rachael Schulz Dunbar said:

Well thats easy to explain! As a previous exec assistant for multiple GM's & GSMs and of course just being an internet manager of whom everyone assumes knows everything about computers, I can say that anyone I have ever met in any dealership with such a position knows diddly squat about how to actually post a blog. Sure they read books or attend conferences and have a general knowledge but I would swear that some of them actually invest stocks in the Walkman or Tandy still. I think this is not a measure of ignorance, just a timing constraint. They are quite busy and often trust the internet professional to blog or research. Thier idea of "networking" is often quite different than ours is.
I still get paged daily to the bosses office to show him how to "reply" to emails so I certainly don't expect him to understand how this whole seperate level of networking works. When and if I have ever tried to use one of these discussions as a point of reference I just get shot down. It seems this type of information sharing is only respected by those of us involved.
It takes them a long time to catch up.
Heck, just yesterday they told me they wanted me to advertise a 55k vehicle on Craigslist...we all know thats not gonna help! When I explained that cheaper cars market better there he says those cars are already in the expensive newspaper advertisment...*sigh*. Sometimes, even for the dealers benifit, we just can't win without re-training all the bosses out there.



NANCY SIMMONS said:

Craig,

Thanks so much for your words of wisdom!

You are correct... As a Comptroller for a Dealership with over 30+ years experience, I am bewildered that I do not see a lot of involvement from dealer principals or GM's on these sites. This is their business, their capital, time, sweat, and energy is invested in their business and some of the information found here on these sites, could make or break their business. Cries from sales people and managers are made each day appealing for change, with more training and revamped compensation plans. I wrote a discussion on Nothing but Net about a month ago asking if it was time to look at sales consultant's compensation plans again, with really very little response from anyone... The 5 or 6 of us who are in accordance could talk about this until we are blue in the face, but it is not going to change anything unless the players read and buy into it! What can we do to capture the attention of those in the field?





Craig Lockerd said:

My dad told me 40 years ago"Craig this business is to bad to get into and to go to get out of".....40 years later.....

Like best/....The people, I don't know of any industry that the people are more passionate, resilient and positive.
Yes we need change.
More passionate,resilient,and positive people coming into our industry!
AND MORE TRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...!!!!
You know what I would really like to see,to hear...to see here on dealerELITE? Stories from Owners, Principles about there first day/days/months in the business ...what the owners like the best,and what changes they would like to see happen.
Maybe most are ok with the status quo?????

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