Sales Training:
Traditionally we train our salesmen to act on rather than act with the customer. Say the right lines, the the right word track, and the customer will buy. If the customer doesn't buy then we didn't say the
right thing. Right words, right outcome. I have been to numerous sales trainings over the years and usually it starts with loud music and a man yelling at the attendees trying to pump them up. Nothing wrong with building excitement and confidence, but the focus is not on the customer. I have always wanted to have a sales training  where I learn what it feels like to be a customer coming to a dealership--to empathize. If surrender is defined as going over to the winning side then I want to win by getting on the customer's side. A very experienced--old--car salesman once told me, "I don't listen to 'em any more." Not true. The experienced salesman didn't listen to their words. He listened to them.

Think Like A Customer:
The sales training I would like to see is a quiet person comes out on stage and with little or no explanation pulls a person out of the audience and makes him sing. No one is allowed to say anything. The saleman has to do something completely outside his comfort zone in front of a bunch of strangers. Like a customer does when he buys a car. Another exercise is to have a salesman stand on stage and have the audience look at him while he looks back not saying a word. Sales professionals, even experienced ones, could use a little training on when not to say anything. Words can't bludgeon a sale out of anyone, but empathizing with a customer will. My fantasy sales training may not be marketable, but that's not the point. The customer has to trust the salesman for a lot of reasons: CSI, referrals, and gross. Car manufacturers increasingly depend on CSI for individual, Sales Manager, and F&I bonuses which makes training cost effective by any standard.

 The Customer Serive Model:

The customer service paradigm has taken over as the dominant Internet commerce model. Amazon.com does not have a customer "sales" representative and it pays dividends to the dealer who understands and utilizes this model. Practically, sales training should include customer service training. Specifcially, customer service phone skills training.A 4-Square is great, but if they don't feel the salesman is listening they won't come in and all those great closing skills come to naught.

Active Not Passive:
It's not about being a passive, order-takers either. Once the salesman is on the side of the customer, the relationship will make the process fast, easy, and fun. The salesman is now in a partnership with the customer, and he is the senior partner. With empathy comes undertanding, with understanding trust. And when you've got trust, you're on the customer's side.

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