The Lost Art of Professionalism

I was just thinking about something that really amazed me about a month ago. I was out with a friend of mine at a mall doing some shopping. We were at Macy's and decided to take a look at their collection of sunglasses. Both my friend and I enjoy nice things and do not play around when it comes to sunglasses. In fact, I was wearing my $200 pair of Ray Ban glasses and he was wearing his $200 pair of Maui Jim glasses. We had bought our glasses a year ago at the Sunglass Hut. It turns out that this Macy's location had their own Sunglass Hut.

We walk into this section of the store and we are greeted by one of the two sales reps there. This rep was totally on his game. He made us feel like we were in a high end store (because we were) and like a guest (not a customer). The other rep was completely different and just did not focus on the job or us. The professional rep sees that we both have high end glasses and offers to clean them up for us free of charge. We gave them to him and within 5 minutes our pairs of sunglasses were both shiny and like brand new.

We were not in there to buy anything that day but we just explored. This rep would open the glass door so I could look at whatever pair I was interested while the other one just stood there. When it was time to for us to leave, he had started to ask about what we liked in the shop and what we were interested in. He even went as far to see how we like our sunglasses and to let us know about a fresh shipment of newer styles that were about to arrive. He shook our hands and we left.

My friend and I both being ex-car sales people were amazed at the quality of service. In fact, we were talking about how this guy would be an amazing car sales person. I said these words verbatim, "this guy should be selling BMWs and making $150k per year and if I was a car dealer I would have been offering him a job right now".

You are probably thinking, "Why do I care about Stan's experience at a Sunglass Hut on an automotive forum?"

Well before you lose interest quickly, please understand that my point is about to hit home really hard.

My point is simple. I have worked in auto dealerships for over 9 years as a sales person, manager, and now a trainer. I have worked at a few dealerships and have seen operations that were world class with true professionals as well as operations that were disasters when it came to professionalism. I am talking about pulling up to a dealership and seeing sales people toss a football around in the parking lot. Anyone ever walk into a dealership and get an improper greeting? Let's take it a step further. A sales person that does not take control of the situation and has to run around back and forth to answer a customer's question. And to take it even further I would like to add situations that include letting customers go on test drives by themselves (I am guilty of doing this too in the past when I did not know any better). Do you see where I am going with this?

We as an industry have been losing the lost art of professionalism. We have forgotten the basics or are not taught this art when getting involved in automotive sales and even business development roles. This is because the training that has been provided to new hires goes by fast where information is not retained. That is not the only reason why today's sales professional lacks professionalism on the job. This is because dealerships are getting more and more employees from the millennial generation that come with a different attitude. They are technologically savvy, can adjust to the internet and the way people shop for automobiles. They come with an attitude where they expect things to come to them and do not want to work too hard. In fact, if you let them make $40k per year they will be content. Is every millennial like that? No!!! Look at me. I am in that generation and I had a different upbringing. When most people my age were going to school, partying, and not worrying about the future I was in showrooms working and living in the real world. Some say I am a 42 year old in a 28 year old body. I was also raised differently by family and have worked since I was 15 years old.

What about the people that are leaving the automotive industry to either retire or change careers because the business has changed digitally and they feel that they cannot make money like they used to? The same people that were once great and professional that have become disgruntled by their lower income so they perform at a lower level then they did over 10 years ago. I am not even kidding, I had this discussion a year ago with a manager at a dealership that is my age. He was telling me how more managers around our age bracket move up and take jobs as sales managers and finance managers because we are happy making $120k per year as opposed to a 50 year old veteran looking to make over $200k when the business has changed radically in the last 4-5 years.

The reality is that the same success is still possible. Dealerships are lacking in training and motivation that needs to become a systematic part of their process to provide ongoing training on how to be the best professional out there. There will be people that leave and not want a part of it but there will be other hungry people that will see how successful a sales person that sells 30-40+ units per month. In a BDC environment, I always sell candidates on the fact that this position can lead to a very rewarding future if you study and learn your professional. If you enjoy what you do and be the best at it, you can move up and make a lot of money.

I want to end this article by reminding automotive professionals that it is important to be professional. If it means that you have to take a class on being professional or attend a workshop, do it! Invest in yourself and your career and you will be a success. If you are coffee clutching in the showroom and tossing a football, you need to think twice about how serious you are about your career. If you are yelling across the showroom to communicate and you use foul language in your statements, you need to check yourself and consider your actions. Customers can pick up on these things. Seriously, automobiles are expensive these days with the average new car being in the $20-30k range. If you are going to deal with big ticket items, learn how to be a professional.

I invite everyone reading this to share their thoughts and ideas...as always feel free to contact me.

http://dealeretraining.com/

http://www.facebook.com/dealeretraining

Stan Sher is the founder and President of Dealer eTraining, an automotive sales training company that specializes in sales, internet, BDC, and digital marketing strategy training. To learn more about Dealer eTraining, please visit http://dealeretraining.com/. He is also the Vice President of Millennium Business Solutions, a start up company designed to provide 24-7 business solutions to automotive dealerships. Stan can be contacted by email at Stan@dealeretraining.com.

16 members like this

Comment

You need to be a member of DealerELITE.net to add comments!

Join DealerELITE.net

Comment by Stan Sher on May 8, 2012 at 1:30pm: Thank you all so much for responding. I was looking for this post to be engaging and I accomplished just that. I think about how professionalism is neglected in all departments. I remember when I was a sales person I would sit with my customer waiting to bring them into the business office only to wait a long time because both finance managers decided to go outside and take a 10 minute smoke break. They would pass my desk since I sat at the back of the dealership where everyone goes to smoke. I wonder what the customer thought when they saw that same finance manager 10 minutes later. Think about the value? Maybe if the finance manager was more professional they would have picked up more gross profit on the deal because they would have built more rapport with the customer.

Comment by Leonard Buchholz on May 8, 2012 at 1:19pm: Professionalism never grows old and never goes stale. Nice post Stan.

Comment by Daryl Fawler on May 8, 2012 at 12:51pm: It's so refreshing to see how many people get this. We've all had bad service experiences. I believe in most cases, the person is doing something they don't enjoy, which can be for many reasons. Sometimes they're just having a bad day. (unfortunately I'm guilty of that one) Most times they are in the wrong job. At least a bad day is short term and hopefully rare. With encouragement, guidance and training, bad days should be even more rare. True professionalism is working through those times. I've been selling cars for 14 years and I think I keep improving with ongoing training and good old experience. My co-workers and customers can give a more accurate endorsement. The simple act of wearing a suit and tie makes me feel better about myself allowing me to stand out in the crowd. To me proper attire is a sign of respect to our customers whether they're buying a second hand car as a student or a new vehicle for <100 K. I do my best to stay positive every day, ignoring the complaining and bad attitudes. Over the years I've found it actually pays to be postive and can cost a lot of money to be negative or indifferent. When everyone can figure that out, our business will improve dramatically. I hope lots of people read Stan's message and especially the replies.

Comment by Larry Bonorato on May 8, 2012 at 12:09pm: Stan:

This is an excellent post for Sales Consultants. However, Professionalism is absolutely critical for Managers and for Business Owners. You cannot expect professional processes and behaviors from team members when the leadership of an organization treats them and their customers as second class citizens. All to often, team members are disrespected, maltreated, and ostracized...then the leadership wants to know why their is no courteous, helpful, caring, and professional service provided to customers. WAKE UP!!! As Dave Anderson continually points out a fish rots from the head down...not from the tail up!

Comment by Kurtis Smith on May 8, 2012 at 10:48am: Erica, good for you... I am encouraged, good for you...

Comment by Erica Grossman on May 8, 2012 at 10:43am: As a young person, I feel that it is important to set myself apart from others my age because of their lack of integrity, motivation, as well as professionalism. I worked at a private country club prior to working at the dealership and it was a great experience for me to rub elbows with prestigious people in the community as well as prove myself as a young professional. There are, believe it or not, some young professionals still out there who are motivated and eager to learn. It's tough to be professional in a society that is constantly becoming more and more casual and allows certain behaviors to become part of the "norm." I pay attention to the way I carry and present myself to others not because I necessarily worry about what they think of me, but to create opportunities for myself as a young individual. People take note of those who present themselves well and have a professional demeanor. I agree with you in the fact that many people have just become comfortable and complacent, which leads to laziness. I can only hope that this article creates a movement in which managers and "higher-ups" strive to motivate their employees and set an example of professionalism as well as lay out expectations that lead to greatness. Great article, Stan. Your article was a great reminder for all.

Comment by Sally Whitesell on May 8, 2012 at 10:06am: I couldn't agree more! Although I focus on fixed ops, I get to spend a lot of time observing sales teams.I recently witnessed a car salesman approaching a guest with a pudding cup in his hand.

When go to a place of business and experience exceptional service, as you did, I am shocked and amazed. I will buy things I don't really need because someone took the time to master the craft of selling. I have found that our present generation of sales people are under the impression that being casual and laid back without really ever asking for the sale is the approach customers want. They do not understand that people who enter any retail facility want information and guidance that is delivered with knowledge, respect and confidence. Great article!

Comment by Kurtis Smith on May 8, 2012 at 8:45am: Great post Stan!

The challenge & the opportunity that I see however is that you cannot lose something that you never had! With that being said, before I get crucified let me explain. The industry that we have now and the one that existed as early as 10 years ago is completely different. In 1989 the internet provided choice to the buying public & customer expectations shifted so much and so quickly that due to the public out cry regarding the car buying experience, the industry were literally forced to define what good service actually meant. For the first time business owners and manufacturers were literally forced to include CSI as part of the business development strategy because competition for the consumers business was no longer limited to the few square miles around the dealership, but as far as they were willing to travel. The quality of the buying experience was now a important factor in the consumers decision making process, the business model had changed.

Which brings me to why your article is so important, I have a saying that goes like this,"what you cannot define you cannot reproduce; what you cannot reproduce you cannot measure; and what you cannot measure, you cannot control or manage" and in this case for many in our business professionalism has never been defined in away that their effectiveness at being a professional could be coached for improvement. Your article should be a wake up call and a call to action for managers and leaders to define for their team the behavior & expectations that constitutes what it means to be a true selling professional in the form of an action plan, not just words.

Good post Stan!

Comment by Glenn Pasch on May 8, 2012 at 6:24am: Great post Stan. I agree. Real Customer Service stands out and almost shocks you. People have gotten used to mediocre service which is a shame. So for all dealers, if you understand this fact, think of the advantage you have.

Comment by Ralph Paglia on May 7, 2012 at 11:50pm: Stan, thank you for getting all who read your article to think about the topic of "professionalism" in the auto industry... What really struck home to me is the inane practice you briefly call out that involves sales people running back and forth between the customer and a "manager". Although this may be necessary under certain circumstances, I have actually visited dealerships where customers looking at used cars who ask "how much is this one?" are met with a salesperson saying something like "let me go ask my sales manager what today's price is for this vehicle..." only to then jog into the showroom where a desk manager peers out the showroom glass, visually sizing up the customer's appearance, which is then used to determine a price quote based on how much he thinks the customer will tolerate... THAT type of un-professional shenanigans in the auto industry need to go away and be replaced with more consistent management leadership and better, yes more professional, business practices.