I have spent more years than I would like to remember working in car dealerships. From starting as a sales person in a very large multi line store to running finance departments to a step or two backwards as an "internet manager" I have done most every job that a retail dealer can offer.

I have always been surprised at how blind and deaf some senior managers and owners can be. When the Internet first hit the scene, with it's different kind of advertising, pricing disclosure and…

OK.... here it is....  the vast majority (and I know you may be the exception!) of talented Sales Reps, and Sales Managers flat out suck on Sales Calls. Don't throw rocks at me yet....

The most common successful Sales Rep is a great influencer.... super at helping customers make good choices and delivering units. In fact, if it weren't for the common disease we seem to share (and I come from the floor), A.D.D., we would all be lawyers. If it weren't for our other…

Last week I was busy leading a class of new salespeople through our 21st Century Sales Program(c) and as with all of my classes, one or two students always emerge as leaders but, not always the ones you'd think.  There are the ones who are eager to participate, but they aren't necessarily the leaders.  Others seem to know the answers to all the questions, but that may not mean leadership.

The ones that stand out are often in the background.  But, if you recognize them, you…

Baseball is America’s game. It provides thrills, strategy, suspense, heroics and athleticism all in one.

As of the writing of this article, (September 22, 2011) the batting average for ALL Major League players stand at .255.

That translates into 255 hits for every 1000 at bats.

The player that has the highest batting…

 I am looking for the best products dealers are selling today as an upsale..In todays market we all need to sharpen our skills with customers. Does anyone still have a great aftermarket department ? Who trains the people to upsell ? Let me know ...

VinSolutions, a leading provider of automotive dealership software, is growing its Sales Team and needs a Territory Manager for the North East and Mid East regions of the United States. This is a great opportunity to put your sales and communication skills to work. Daily, you will be prospecting for new business and helping close sales with dealerships. Previous sales experience to automotive dealerships is highly desired or experience in the automotive industry is a plus. As the…

Facebook is an ever changing medium for social discourse with more than 750 million active users. On September 21st, the Facebook algorithm changed to no longer broadcast the most recent posts of friends and groups an individual is associated with. Instead Facebook now displays the most recent posts in response to an individuals search terms, interests and…

Are you familiar with this term:  "bottom right hand drawer syndrome"?  If you are not, it will likely create a major headache for you and cost you a good deal of money...

What is this syndrome?  In years past, before manufacturers started reducing the amount of time they would allow a claim to age, many warranty administrators would shuffle difficult claims to a "special" place so that they could "re-visit" it at a later date...often that hiding place was the lower right hand drawer…

We all see the end results... the last second, game winning shot... the fame ... the glory ... the trappings of success... BUT do we really want to go through what it takes.



What am I talking about? ... I'm talking about Success... How ever YOU define it for yourself. Do You Really Want to be Like Mike?

Lee Kemp, an…

If I wanted someone to just take my order and deliver, I would go to a fast food drive thru.  When I go to have my car serviced, I want service.  I believe that service advisors are more than just order takers or the message delivery system between a consumer and a technician.  Think about it?  An advisor according to …

I have trained this for years to salespeople new in the business as well as veterans and it is a great tool to bypass objections and help when a Manager or fellow salesperson takes a tun on a customer. Now before we go to far, this also is a way to make sure your process is streamlined and you don't have a rogue salesperson on you hands...you know the guy the manager asks " did you ask them about money down?" oh yeah boss they said no money down" then you go in and say we need $3000.00 down…

I had completed all of my interviews.  I had taken my Predictive Index and my Wunderlick Quiz, I had answered all the questions about why I wanted to be a car sales person, I had pitched the sales manager's pen to him, successfully selling him a 2-year old Mont Blanc that already belonged to him.  I had seen the pay plan and accepted the terms, shaken my sales managers hand and agreed to start on Friday, 2 days away. 

From the sales managers office, I called my mom and told her, "I am…

“Spread right, Trips Z-pass 90, X-36, 99 Max protections, Z-option…on two.”

Imagine the complexity of sitting in one of the huddles with of one of the top Quarterbacks in the country.  Imagine trying to decipher the pass route, protection and coverage for an option route.  Now, imagine doing all that without reading the playbook?

Sounds…

Are you trying to decide what your Social Media process should look like?

Are you trying to decide where to begin and what to do?

One of the easiest and most effective ways to use social media to enhance your dealership’s presence is to utilize video of your happy customers either taking delivery of their New or Pre-Owned vehicle, or video of their experience in your service department!

You first have to understand, social media is…

Why Ban Potential Selling Tools?

The point of restricting access to any website is to ensure your employees are spending their time wisely and getting work done. Why waste the effort of watching each employee’s every move if they aren’t having issues of productivity, especially when the most often restricted sites can be valuable…