Stay Away From The Fried Twinkies!

Stay Away From The Fried Twinkies!

By: Alan Ram

Quit comparing yourself to the mediocre masses! It seems that so many managers have an attitude like “yeah we’re bad, but we’re really no worse than the rest”. That’s the equivalent of going to the state fair and comparing your fitness level to the people standing in line waiting for fried Twinkies and chocolate-dipped bacon. Step up your game! Start measuring your performance and results against the best performing dealerships in the industry. You get out of this what you put into it. And as long as I’m talking about fitness, this is right on point!

As the owner of an automotive telephone, management, Internet, and BDC training company, I think that there are a lot of parallels to owning a gym. I’ve had a lot of friends that were in health club management and we’ve discussed the four types of members at their gyms. Member number one signs up and goes to the gym six days a week. They take spin classes, aerobics classes, wear out the free weight area and attend every social event. You know that they’re going to get great results because they are capitalizing on their personal investment. The second member is the one that goes three times a week, works out hard when they’re there and still gets good results; maybe not as good as the six-day a week person, but still good. The third type of member shows up a couple times a week, chit chats for 45 minutes at the snack bar and then rides the recumbent bike for 20 minutes at 55 RPM while talking about a lost Malaysian airliner… I guess that’s a little bit better than nothing, but not by much. The fourth type is the mystery. They came in, signed up for the gym and then they never go. Months go by as they continue to have their checking account zapped for $80 a month for a membership they never use. It’s a great gym, in the perfect location, with wonderful equipment and the best trainers but one day they get sick of paying because they’re not using it anyway and they quit the gym. But the bottom line is that at the end of that day, they’re still out of shape. Quitting the gym didn’t solve their problem. But I guess when they keep comparing themselves to the 70% of Americans that don’t exercise and are out of shape, the problem doesn’t seem all that bad. If you want to sell more cars and count yourselves amongst the top performing dealerships you need to at least train and work as hard as the first two gym members that I described. Do not allow yourself to fall into the 70% of Americans that don’t “exercise”. It’s time for you to take responsibility and get good at your job. Remember for something to work, it has to resemble work!

For more information on Alan Ram’s Proactive Training Solutions and the services we offer please call us at (866) 996-4665 or visit us at www.alanram.com.

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Comment by Brian Bennington on May 29, 2014 at 8:03pm: After viewing and commenting on your really excellent March 17 "Saturday Morning Sales Meeting" video, I put you on my very short list of DE members I wanted to follow. Seeing your name on this post, I "knocked off" from a project I was working on (a real "bitch" of an assignment that I probably wanted to be distracted from anyway) to read you. However, after two reads and some contemplation, I'm having a hard time seeing the point of it.

Initially, I really don't believe any manager I've met would say, or even think to himself, that "Yeah, we're bad, but we're really no worse than the rest." It just isn't in their makeup. Most I've met haven't been great salespeople to begin with, but they are exceptional at finding that "sweet spot" between impressing their senior manager that they're smart enough to do the job, but not smart enough to threaten the job of that senior manager.

And, what's waiting in line to eat fried twinkies have to do with it. I've worked at dozens of state and local fairs, and the reason most people stand in line to eat them is because a fair or the like is the only place you can get them. (Personally, I always looked forward to fried ice cream.) Really, you could have started the first paragraph with the "Step up your game" statement and it would have worked fine.

Then, you went into the parallels of operating your company to running a gym. As one of those 70% of "gym failures," I can guarantee you I never compared myself to anyone other than a younger, and in much better shape, version of me. And really, Alan. Is it absolutely necessary to beat that well-worn "train and work as hard as you can" drum, utilizing some form of comparison to "jock" activities? (What ever happened to "Work smart, not hard"?) I'd think you'd want to move in a different direction, as damned near every trainer uses quotes from some football coach. Finally, that last "Remember for something to work, it has to resemble work" ain't that true. The pros in life are good at making what they do seem natural and easy, with the exceptions, of course, being various "jock" activities. (Did Napoleon Hill ever use a sporting analogy?)

Your "Saturday Morning" video was strong enough that I'll keep looking for you, but if I had to recommend a form of sales training to a novice, I'd tell them to watch a good non-denominational preacher deliver a strong enough promise (and there is none bigger than life everlasting) that everyone listening opens their wallets, based on that promise alone. The "blue skies" aspect of selling is sorely missing in every aspect of auto sales training I've witnessed, and that's terribly unfortunate. I thank the heavens I spent my pre-auto sales career selling a high dollar, high mark-up product that was completely unnecessary, except for the promises it held. As to your promoting your business, I totally endorse it! And, this is a great place to do it! (I only hope you don't think I'm a bigger jerk than I actually am–which is plenty big–for my comments.)