Comment

Comment by Scott Hengtgen on December 21, 2011 at 10:21am

David,

Maybe 8 to 10 cars are all they expect. I have been in countless dealerships that have such a low expectation and are afraid to raise the bar and hold people accountable. Managers are afraid to change processes because one might upset the sacred cows of the sales floor. The best steps to the sale are the one's that work and that is different for everyone. We as an industry need to get out of the box and be different. Spend more time training on how to communicate and listen to the customer. If I have told one salesperson I have told a thousand, it's not about you, it's about the customer. Sell accordingly.

Comment by Stanley Esposito on December 21, 2011 at 9:44am

David,

You are right our industry is resistant to change. How many times has the pay plan for salesman inproved over the last 32 years?

The salesman works a couple of twelve hour shifts a week and every Saturday and if he does not sell enough cars he owes the dealership money.
The Salesman takes on all jobs in the dealership that have come available since they cut back and fired everyone who drew a salary all for free.
The Salesman gets blamed for not setting up the back end when the business manager does not sell anything.
The Salesman travels to the customers house or place of business to get the signature someone forgot.
The Salesman drives to a dealer 50 miles away for a dealer trade.
The Salesman does not get paid until everyone else does.
The Salesman learns most of the policies of a dealership after the fact.

Then if that guy who sells 8 to 10 a month hangs around long enough he gets promoted to management.They can't afford to take the few good ones off the floor.

A Salesman is a professional. The good ones expect to be and are treated as such.

Comment by Chris Saraceno on December 20, 2011 at 8:41pm

Thanks for the Video Dave, Great information for our dE Members

Comment by Jeff Nabel on December 20, 2011 at 6:47pm

Everyone’s comments have elements of why sale people only achieve 8 to 10 sales per month, or is the word “achieve’ a little strong?  Maybe not if 8 – 10 sales are our expectations.  Of course setting expectations is reinforcing a direction to achieve, but does the math work?  What are your dealership expectations for monthly sales? What are the dealerships expectations for delivery percentages? Are we following an old formula of “want 200 cars, hire 21 sales people” does that even make sense for the amount of traffic?  Let’s start with a selling philosophy that if your dealership was in the middle of the Sahara desert with a ten foot wall around it, how would your sales people sell 8-10 cars?

Well considering that the internet has now taking on those selling steps to the sale, and the consumer has already had an introduction through sites like “Dealer rater” and a product, feature, benefit qualification of needs and wants  through 18 hours of on line research.  Sounds like the only thing left is a demo?  Well of course we need to understand that while those steps have been completed by the consumer that a proper personal introduction, gaining common ground, building a relationship immediately, a service department walk through, reinforcement of why a consumer selected your car out of thousand on the internet may be reliant on people skills, listening skills, and asking for the sale selling skills.  Oh the same skills if the customer has never seen a computer.

Does your dealership have an accountable traffic control system? What are your expectations of demo rides in terms of percentages? Write-ups as percentage of ups, work sheets, customer offers etc.   Do you inspire your sales people or do you just throw out spiffs and call it inspiration? I’ve inspired sales people and management by building self-esteem and pride in a selling career and without spending a dollar on spiffs, or is that called selling to?

In some dealerships there are more than one manager that sees the entire scope of what and how to sell cars, others may have one or none.  One manager may be at the bottom of his or her barrel, while another finds another barrel, which one are you?  When you mix intelligence, attitude, intensity, and a quality wealth of knowledge of our business together, then you will have an incredible sales team lead by an incredible management team.

You can learn this from outside teachers, quality years of successful experience is better, ether you have it or you don’t yet.  Find this person in your store and support the drive to win if that person exists in your store, if not hire that roll up the sleeves type of quality experienced person or as David said the definition of insanity is?

Comment by Mike Warwick on December 20, 2011 at 4:23pm

Great stuff David. From my perspective, the major problem with car salespeople is that none of them want to sell cars as a career.  The ones that sell 8-10 cars are generally treading water until another opportunity in another field comes along.  The high achievers all want to become Sales Managers and an increasing number think that they should have a clear path to becoming a GM in 2-4 months : )

The number of high performers who actually want to remain salespeople seems to be dwindling.  We all know that it takes 3-5 years to build up a book of repeat and referral business.  Many of the new salespeople seem unwilling to dedicate that kind of time.  As an industry, we need to do a better job of convincing salespeople to invest in a dealership and make a career for themselves.  The constant bouncing around from dealership to dealership guarantees one thing - you'll be starting from scratch each time.

Comment by David Lewis on December 20, 2011 at 4:04pm

Thanks Rob....and don't worry we are to strong as a group to let one company control our destiny.

Comment by David Lewis on December 20, 2011 at 4:03pm

Guy...thanks for your honest feedback.  I will continue to share my ideas, but in this video time only permitted me to speak about my thoughts on WHY the average Salesperson only sells 8 - 10 cars per month.  In future videos I will get into more detail on how to increase that number.

Comment by Rob Fontano on December 20, 2011 at 4:01pm

David, You hit the nail on the head! We need to evolve as sales people in order to avoid the need for the TrueCars of the world from stuffing us in a locker and strolling off with our lunch money. Great job!

Comment by Guy Manasse on December 20, 2011 at 3:57pm

David,

This is such a broad overview that I do not really think you accomplished anything. There is nothing here that makes me better or gives me examples of better practices like you usually share.

1st part of saying the customer knows the game or process and this puts the Dealer or Salesperson at a disadvantage? I completely disagree, The customer comes in with certain expectations and if you change that up they will become uneasy and distrust you. Remember to exceed there expectations, tell them up front how you do business and make sure it is in agreement, and move forward.

2nd in regards to the way we have done things for years has evolved, but most Dealers refuse to evolve, The reality is only a small percentage of Sales people in any field will ever exceed average. 8 to 10 cars a month is what an average guy will do when as an industry we load a floor to maintain that average and not expect more. You are correct that we could make our sales people better by teaching them more and expecting more out of ourselves and our people.

3rd: Follow-up is a huge one, and I do agree with you here. I think people continue to train based on how they were trained. People in the Auto industry really need to look at Insurance Sales as a great example of nurturing a client base. Follow-up will not happen unless your people decide they want the Auto Industry as a true career. If it is your life, you will follow-up and nurture what will pay you dividends for years. Get your young people to understand the nurturing concept and it will pay dividends for you and your employees. As a Dealer what are you doing to nurture your clients? Every Dealer should have processes that create loyalty and continually give them reasons to recommend or return.

Comment by David Lewis on December 20, 2011 at 3:49pm

Thanks Jim....have a  great holiday.  FYI....still looking for trainers if you are interested.  David

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