My first interview for a sales job in the car business was in 1979! WOW!!! Doesn't that seem sooooo long ago (well...it was). I was told by the sales manager conducting the interview that most jobs in this business were inherited or handed down to family or friends...along with a 20-25 yr customer list to start with!!! The average car salesman back then was making 30-35k a year....the good ones closer to 50k...the great ones over that. WOW!!!! Again....the economy sucked...gas prices were out of control...interest rates were at 19% (buy rate). My friends were all working city jobs or union jobs...whatever...making 15-20k. They busted their asses...wore work clothes and took the bus or train to work.  I put on a shirt and tie....never broke a sweat (unless the customer kept me on the lot too long)...and drove to work in my brand new demo!!! I had a day off during the week...according to what state you worked in...had Sunday off too!!!! I was the envy of my very lower middle class neighborhood! I was "SOMEBODY"..."I coulda been a contendah" as Brando so eloquently put it. I loved my job and every thing about selling cars!!! My dad was proud (he had low expectations..lol) Everytime our dealership ads would be on TV he would say "Dat's where my Kid works"!!! "He was TOP DOG deh last month"!!! And in my neighborhood in Brooklyn that mattered.

As the 80's came in and the economy got better..."The Reagan Years" WOW!!! Lee Iacocca and all the hoopla!!!! My income and my status went through the roof!!!! We had a license to kill...Now me and all my piers were the next managers in the car business...F@I...SM...Closers...GSM...the sky was the limit...We were breaking sales records!!! Toyota...Honda...Nissan...BMW....Jeeps...you couldn't keep the inventory ....the grosses were strong...I could not believe how fortunate I was...a juvenile delinquent from Brooklyn with no formal education...Making over 100k by 1986...driving whatever I wanted to....living the life!!!! AND THEN....I am not sure exactly when or where the Homicide/Suicide took place....it wasn't a mass murder by a serial killer...or was it???

I believe it was a very subtle...very insidious poisoning of all the major talent in the Auto Industry....and it took TIME...but very slowly GREED TOOK OVER!!!! GREED WAS THE KILLER HERE MY FRIENDS....and HE GOT AWAY WITH "MURDAH"(as they would say in my neighborhood!) The GREED of the Car Dealers...they slowly started to research ....going to these 20 groups...(I would cringe every time my boss would come back from a 20 Group meeting)(I never knew what the NEW PLAN was...OMG!!!) They had some rocket scientist...heart surgeon...DNA expert...tell them if you slowly "Take Away" all the little PERKS that your guys have...not your managers of course (we will wait a few years for that debacle) Just do it to your salespeople!!! LOW n BEHOLD...they did it!!! They took the Demo's....Then they took Insurance....then they took....and they took....and they took....ULTIMATELY THEY TOOK THAT WONDERFUL FEELING OF PRIDE AND FULL FILLMENT THAT I DESCRIBED EARLIER!!!!

The results didn't go away immediately...it was slow...like any great disease...it was very deliberate....it was very exact....it was very cunning....baffling...it even made you think things were getting BETTER AT FIRST!!!! Eventually we were all left with the mass exodus of great talent in the Auto Industry....and even worse than that...the inability to procure new talent!!! Now I know what most people are saying..."You are talking about things that we cannot change...You are talking about Negatives....You are talking about Taboo Topics...We are NOT SUPPOSED to TALK about those things...Its like Uncle Joe...or ...errrr...Aunt Jo...according to how much he/she had to drink....We DO NOT TALK ABOUT THE DIRTY SECRETS!!!! BULLSH%T ...I do....because maybe...just maybe...if we are very HONEST...the DEALERS...who really control this whole game...Don't they??? They will stop asking the same question over and over again..."Where do I find great Sales People"...or "They just aren't out there anymore" BS!!! Or..."We do not like to hire experienced sales people because they have bad habits????" DUH!!!! R U KIDDING ME????

What is wrong in the car business today and the solution to that is right in the MIRROR every morning!!!! If you are a Dealer/GM  and have the power to create cultural change in your organization...then START DOING IT NOW!!!! THERE ARE GREAT CANDIDATES OUT IN THE MARKET TODAY....SOME YOUNG...SOME OLDER...A LOT WITH BAD HABITS...N GOOD HABITS TOO!!!! Ask yourself MR. or Mrs. Car Dealer...Would YOU take a job in YOUR STORE TODAY...and Be HONEST!!!! These people can do better else where...it's that simple!!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU OFFERING???? Start thinking about giving your people a real reason to come to wrk with you...and "STAY" which is even more important. YOU KNOW THE ANSWER'S...THEY ARE AS PLAIN AS THE PAPER YOU WILL PUT THEM ON!!!! MAKE YOUR ORGANIZATION A PLACE THAT ATTRACTS MEGA PROS....AND START THINKING ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMERS TOO!!!! WHO DO YOU THINK THEY WANT TO DEAL WITH....SOME YOUNG GREEN PEA WHO KNOWS NOTHING AND IS TWITTING HIS LIFE AWAY....OR A PROFESSIONAL MAN/WOMAN WHO UNDERSTANDS THEIR NEEDS AND SITUATIONS....DUH!!!! THIS IS SO DAMN SIMPLE IT'S LUDICRIS....BUT I CANNOT MAKE THAT DECISION FOR YOU GUYS....IT"S YOUR CHECKBOOK....YOU HAVE TO SPEND A LITTLE TO MAKE A LOT!!!! DO NOT WAIT....BE THE LEADER AND START A TREND AT YOUR STORE....NOW!!!!

Successfully Yours,

Jeff Weaver