You have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to build or beautify your dealership.  Your advertising budget equals or exceeds that amount.  Your inventory has been posted online, and there are plenty of choices for potential customers to make a great selection.  CSI scores have never been higher at the dealership than they are right now!

So why are your salespeople standing around wondering why there are not any customers to sell a vehicle to?  Is there grumbling going on in the break room about how slow it is?  How many times have you heard about the staff complaining about their compensation?  You may not hear it directly, but you can tell by the hushed silence when you walk in the room and the evil smirks on their face that the subject matter was being discussed.

When you ask why their numbers are low, you find no shortage of excuses to justify the reason they missed your budget!

You don’t have to have a sales meeting to know why their numbers are low.  All you have to do is show up to the dealership in the morning and look at the floor or the closest office and you will hear about last night’s game.  You can wander back to the break room and see a couple of salespeople eating a late breakfast or an early lunch.  Even better, you can follow the smell of smoke and see salespeople trying to solve all of the problems our world has.  Some of their solutions might even work!

The top 10% of your sales staff do not have time to partake in hanging out with the “poor me crowed.”  They are reading articles like this to improve their sales.  They are busy calling their happy customers and building referrals.  They already have five to ten appointments set up for the day.

The bottom 10% will not be at your dealership for more than 90 days.  They will experience the same plight at the dealership next door or get out of the business altogether.

It is the 80% of the sales staff that you have to work on.  This is status quo for every business in existence.  Heck, if the 80% were all like you, then they would manage a dealership too.  These are individuals that you can direct to the top or bottom 10%.

What are you doing to coach up or coach out the 80% of the sales staff?  Do you have a guest speaker from the sales industry to speak to them once a quarter?  Success breeds success.  Have you ever brought in a successful entrepreneur or sports figure to share insights of success?  The same principles apply in anything you do.  What reading material have you assigned your sales staff?  Reading great articles and books on sound sales principles or positive experiences reiterate the message you are trying to convey.  How many team building events have you had this last year?  I’m not talking about the team building dinners where you reward the same top 10% of your sales staff.  I’m talking about the team building events where you create competition and teach the winning attitude!

A sale is an art form.  The customers have a need, and you have the product.  Customers want to buy from someone who is sincere and cares about them.  They want to buy from someone who is a professional.  You have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on making your dealership look great.  You have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on marketing and advertising.  How much have you spent in teaching the “art of the sale"?