The Importance Of Finding Out What Motivates You....
Motivation is that driving force which allows you to achieve your goals and go after what you want in life.Everything will be easier accomplished if you are properly motivated. How can you properly motivate your employees, coworkers or friends? How can we use this in a dealership to truly believe in our own abilities? So how can you develop motivation in life?
You can only be motivated for your business and sales once you fully own your own personal happiness and OWN your goals. One of the best ways I believe is to focus on one goal at a time, write them down in a goal diary. I write it down so that I have a visual representation rather than letting it all get lost in your head.Get rid of all the distractions which might prevent you from achieving your goals and dreams. Block out any negative influences, relationships or people - It never did me any good to listen or surround myself with any of that.
A goal doesn’t do you much good unless you are constantly thinking about it.Write down your goals and place it somewhere that you will see it at least 1-2 times a day. When you read your goals when you wake up you may begin to notice that you find yourself doing more each day to help you reach your goals.
Motivation is the fuel that you need to continue striving and wanting it more than anything else.It’s human nature to have days were you aren’t very motivated. However, if you continue to surround yourself with positive and motivational things those days become very few and a more rare occasion.
ONCE YOU OWN THIS I THINK YOUR MOTIVATION TOWARDS YOUR CAREER AND FINANCIAL GOALS ARE JUST THE NEXT NATURAL THING TO HAPPEN. - Just some thoughts - :-)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lizelle Landino on
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Thank you everyone for all the reply and input to my little observing statement, it really means so much to me that there are people just like me out there. Our life is set forth by the goals and dreams we DARE to accomplish and the people who DARE to jump on the train with us.
Finding people and a team to really understand the vision and the dream is the most important aspect to the success we DARE to have.
Thank you for the kind words and for the input to something that I hold dear and close to my heart!
Thank you friends :-)
CJ Romig said:How about this for motivation…I wanted to make sure I hit it home with my goal of losing 20 pounds (not that I need to..ya right)so I enlisted the help of about 60 salespeople and managers at my dealership's first general sales meeting of the year by announcing I would give anyone 50 dollars if anyone saw my putting money in a vending machine, eating any type of hamburger, eating pizza or drinking any soda through April 1st
Talk about motivation and a goal…I challenge everyone that is reading this post to make a super commitment to something and tie it into other people helping you. It’s very hard to let other people down…Try it, you might figure out that things aren’t as impossible as they seem.
We all live with some sort of pain in our lives…The pain of discipline or the pain of regret, the good news is that we get to choose.
I'll see ya all at Micky D's on April 1st!
Have a kick ass day!
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Thank you Joe, im not a veteran like most of you great car people but I appreciate the response. At the end of the day the drive for success and end goals should be clear to us...does not matter if you are selling cars or clothes. Thank you for your input as always Mr. Webb - :-)
Joe Webb said:h
Great article, Liz. Too many salespeople lack the personal motivation to strive for greater numbers and higher profits. They are perfectly happy coming in day in and day out, doing their 12 cars for the month, and going back home.
Beyond simply writing down the end goal, I think it is important for salespeople to track the numbers they have historically reached to know how to get there.
If a salesperson sells 12 cars - and they have tracked that they had 3 people in front of them each working day for the month (22 working days) then they know it takes all 66 people for that month to move 12 units. Simply put, if they want to be able to afford those Chicago Bears vs. Jets Super Bowl tickets (I can dream, can't I), then they'll need to sell another 6 cars. Mathematically, they can determine that getting on the phone, doing solid follow up, and upping just an additional 33 people for the month (come in on a couple of off days) and they'll reach their goal.
The Super Bowl can be their dominant, motivating factor, but some work must be recognized and performed to allow them understanding on how to reach that end goal.
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Joe,
I wanted to add something to this. I have actually been very aware and asking my dealers many questions about their sales people, the turn over on staff and or what they found motivated them. One answer I got was pretty funny. The dealers said, who ever sells the most amount of cars this month gets 10 cases of beer. The response was tremendous and they actual daily competition lifted the dealership. Previous month offered $500 for the sales person who did the most sales - response was not that great! So Hey, if 10 cases of beer motivates them like crazy then there you go... :-)I also noticed this with a few dealers and spoke with them regarding this. Once the sales person reached that initial sales on a consistent basis, some dealers actually really upped them in salary. This was actually very eye opening. They realize where their driven employees are and decide to compensate them really well. This not only sets the tone for any other sales people but seemingly the Sales mentality picks up about 200% and increases the way they treat customers.
Just saying :-)
Joe Webb said:
Great article, Liz. Too many salespeople lack the personal motivation to strive for greater numbers and higher profits. They are perfectly happy coming in day in and day out, doing their 12 cars for the month, and going back home.
Beyond simply writing down the end goal, I think it is important for salespeople to track the numbers they have historically reached to know how to get there.
If a salesperson sells 12 cars - and they have tracked that they had 3 people in front of them each working day for the month (22 working days) then they know it takes all 66 people for that month to move 12 units. Simply put, if they want to be able to afford those Chicago Bears vs. Jets Super Bowl tickets (I can dream, can't I), then they'll need to sell another 6 cars. Mathematically, they can determine that getting on the phone, doing solid follow up, and upping just an additional 33 people for the month (come in on a couple of off days) and they'll reach their goal.
The Super Bowl can be their dominant, motivating factor, but some work must be recognized and performed to allow them understanding on how to reach that end goal.
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Craig! Amen - I love that! It so very true and if you do your daily goals, one day at a time, one day you realize that you are way closer to your dream already :-)
Craig Lockerd said:
You will achieve grand dream, a day at a time, so set goals for each day / not long and difficult projects, but chores that will take you, step by step, toward your rainbow. Write them down, if you must, but limit your list so that you won't have to drag today's undone matters into tomorrow. Remember that you cannot build your pyramid in twenty-four hours. Be patient. Never allow your day to become so cluttered that you neglect your most important goal / to do the best you can, enjoy this day, and rest satisfied with what you have accomplished.”
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Scot, what a great reply :-) I have to say that I am truly blessed to have met such great friends through my job. You are one of a kind and I truly have to say many thanks:-) Yes, I believe we all stop somewhere and ask for Guidance and as life, work and goals change, so does the path. Guidance and advise is something I strongly believe in! I love asking people questions on how they achieved something or what they did to obtain something. Great thing is that every person will give you great advice on how they accomplished things. I see that as a true blessing to be able to learn and see how and what people did or what their thought process is on obtaining that end goal.I have been very blessed to have some great mentors to look up too and most of them was not their choice :-). I chose them and I follow them and harass them :-)
Besides all of that I believe if your passionate and career driven then very few things will stop you. Normally the only person that will stop us is ourselves. Im glad you joined Scot!
Scot Orzillo said:Great post Lizelle.
Having limited experience of 3-4 years in the dealer environment I still have the ability to view the industry as an outsider, with a fly on the wall perspective.
Of all the people (vendors, suppliers, advertisers, sales people, managers) I have had the good fortune of meeting, you have stood out among the pack, conveying all the essential components of an individual who knows where they are going, directly or otherwise, and has the drive, motivation, passion and interpersonal integrities to get there. I am honored to call you my friend first and a happy customer second ( although the former would never have occurred without my having had the opportunity of being a very happy and satisfied customer).
You made promises and delivered. You said your product would help and it did, beyond what I or the owners I was purchasing for ever could have expected. You helped me to open their eyes to their need, when you and I knew it but they could not see the forest beyond the trees in front of them. Thank you my friend.
Reflecting on the concept of your post, the best analogy I can recall that clarifies the essential necessity of having written goals (assuming you want to get somewhere other than where you are), is the following:
If you were about to take a long journey to a place you had never visited, would you just jump in the car without a map, printed directions or navigation? I’m sure if you possess some internal sense of direction and don’t mind stopping at several points to ask for guidance you will eventually find your destination, (assuming the people you ask along the way know how to get you where you are going) but given defined time periods to “arrive”, it is unlikely you would even consider it.
Without written, DEFINITIVE goals, your mind has no idea where to take you. It will by default, lead you somewhere you just might not like the neighborhood (income, job, relationship) you land in. Beyond the need to commit them to writing, again, they must be definitive.
If I were going to drive from New York City to Las Vegas, Nevada, I would not by any means enter “Nevada” into my navigation. My goal is Vegas. I may have a chance of my eye catching the bright lights Vegas from a distance once I arrive in the state of Nevada, but what are the odds of that happening?
As opposed to being a wandering generality, define exactly what it is you want. “More money” is not a definitive goal, nor is selling “more cars”. How will you ever know when you reach that arbitrary destination? If you made $1200.00 last week and $1212.50, did you reach your goal? Your guess is as good as mine.
Again, this all assumes that you possess the other key components Lizelle has referenced in her post. If you cannot look yourself in the mirror and see the reflection of someone who is genuinely motivated (through either inspiration or desperation) staring back at you, it doesn’t make you a bad person; it just means you will continue being a wandering generality, a rudderless ship directed by the ebb and flow of life.
Ignorance is bliss only to the cow, chicken or pig being led to the slaughterhouse (or unemployment line).
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Thank you Stan, its always good to speak and write about something that you truly believe in :-) I appreciate your support
Stan Sher said:Nice...very nice. Well I already told you that. But keep doing your thing and it will pay off.
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Jason, I totally agree. That is why I believe that any person that runs a dealerships will know very quickly who is motivated or not. Everyone is motivated by different things. You cannot motivate the unmotivated but I have learned to not stop there yet. Do we ever find out what motivates those unmotivated? We are all motivated by something and the trick is to find out what each person, that is key to you, is motivated by. We often forget that motivating people will require one thing....a living example of why they should be motivated. Tell them as you achieve "Sell those cars, this is why I sell this many cars and this is what I get in return". "I care about my customers and I really do, that is why they come back to me and tell all their friends", "I choose to be positive and have great energy at work, everyone is attracted to positive people".
I totally agree that Believe is a great motivation. Some people get motivated by actions, actions make them believe. Just saying that maybe if we step up our own daily actions and give people a reason to be motivated...WHO KNOWS what can happen ...
Jason Perry said:
Motivation is within you. I was at a Paul Webb seminar and he posed this question. "Can you motivate any one person"? The answer is "No" you cannot motivate the unmotivated.
A favorite quote of mine. "Unlimited potential awaits from within ... Ask and it will be given".
The biggest motivation anyone can have ... "Believe"!
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Maybe its time for us to differentiate like we do with good leads and bad leads....good customers or bad customers.....
Good motivated sales people or the average......The motivated sales driven people should possibly be compensated accordingly and will most likely reach any goals set forth. Not an expert here on that but just a thought
Steve Richards said:Everyone's comments are spot on and irrefutable, but the question begs to be asked; why are so many automotive sales people de-motivated and seemingly without goals? It all starts with the reason they become car sales people.
Someone goes to school, gets a job, loses a job and finds them self in need of a job. Whatever they meant to do in life didn’t work out; so they apply for one of the easiest jobs on the planet to get (and one of the most difficult to do well), selling cars (see the classified ads in any city). When they are hired, their family is aghast; and they have to find all new friends. All the people that are important to them tell them they have a bad job. Then they show up for their first day of work. Orientation? Benefits? Vacation? Holidays (LOL)? Pay Plan?
Any training they receive is probably video-based featuring a trainer who hasn’t changed his selling strategies in thirty years, or maybe one whose most famous close is “It’s better to live rich than die rich, that’s why your payment is so high; sign here.” Or they find themselves watching a guy wearing more jewelry than Mr. T. Then they sit in front of a computer and two-days later they are factory “certified” to sell a product that is a technological marvel and costs on average, $30K. It gets better...
They quickly discover that the buying public feels they have a right to treat them rudely and they find their management team is ill-equipped (because of lack of training) to grow and develop them. Most sales people adopt a plan that reads like this; “I’m going to try automotive sales until something better comes along.” And they end up spending more time looking “for something better” than they do studying their profession. Soon just about anything seems better than selling cars.
Then the 'piece de resistance;' they discover that rather than a new career opportunity they have a “30-day opportunity” because that’s all anyone cares about, the 30-days that make up the current month. Once the current month is over the whole circus starts over again, minus those who didn’t have such a good 30 days. People who work in “30-day worlds” seldom concern themselves with creating a long-term relationship with a customer who spent 3 hours “grinding” any profit (and commission) out of the transaction nor do they care much about any follow up that isn’t required and closely monitored.
It’s easy to talk about the strategies required to motivate one's self, but if the culture and environment is de-motivational only an exceptional few can pull it off. The dealers who recognize this have the motivated and goal oriented sales teams.
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One thing I forgot to mention. Hiring out of the auto industry probably great for everyone :-) You know what they say about bad habits:-)
Steve Richards said:
Everyone's comments are spot on and irrefutable, but the question begs to be asked; why are so many automotive sales people de-motivated and seemingly without goals? It all starts with the reason they become car sales people.
Someone goes to school, gets a job, loses a job and finds them self in need of a job. Whatever they meant to do in life didn’t work out; so they apply for one of the easiest jobs on the planet to get (and one of the most difficult to do well), selling cars (see the classified ads in any city). When they are hired, their family is aghast; and they have to find all new friends. All the people that are important to them tell them they have a bad job. Then they show up for their first day of work. Orientation? Benefits? Vacation? Holidays (LOL)? Pay Plan?
Any training they receive is probably video-based featuring a trainer who hasn’t changed his selling strategies in thirty years, or maybe one whose most famous close is “It’s better to live rich than die rich, that’s why your payment is so high; sign here.” Or they find themselves watching a guy wearing more jewelry than Mr. T. Then they sit in front of a computer and two-days later they are factory “certified” to sell a product that is a technological marvel and costs on average, $30K. It gets better...
They quickly discover that the buying public feels they have a right to treat them rudely and they find their management team is ill-equipped (because of lack of training) to grow and develop them. Most sales people adopt a plan that reads like this; “I’m going to try automotive sales until something better comes along.” And they end up spending more time looking “for something better” than they do studying their profession. Soon just about anything seems better than selling cars.
Then the 'piece de resistance;' they discover that rather than a new career opportunity they have a “30-day opportunity” because that’s all anyone cares about, the 30-days that make up the current month. Once the current month is over the whole circus starts over again, minus those who didn’t have such a good 30 days. People who work in “30-day worlds” seldom concern themselves with creating a long-term relationship with a customer who spent 3 hours “grinding” any profit (and commission) out of the transaction nor do they care much about any follow up that isn’t required and closely monitored.
It’s easy to talk about the strategies required to motivate one's self, but if the culture and environment is de-motivational only an exceptional few can pull it off. The dealers who recognize this have the motivated and goal oriented sales teams.
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Permalink Reply by Joe Webb on
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When I was on the floor selling back in the day, our ownership pulled every salesperson and manager into their office one by one and said they were looking to see what "spiff" would motivate each one of us. Funny enough, iwas the only one that mentioned "competition". They said they were looking for something more tangible that they could reward us with so I immediately said "time off to spend with my wife.". They said once again that I was the only one who gave that response. (Typical car salesmen :) Turns out 18 other people answered "Money!" so they disregarded my motivation and only rewarded people financially.
So I decided to compete with each coworker. It wasn't that I wanted the spiff money, it's that I was too competitive to let them get their financial motivation when they had all taken away my preferred reward... Time off.
Anyone reading this post should know that if you are going to ask your teams what motivates them, make sure to act on that information or it may de-motivate them. Thankfully, I'm just too damn stubborn.
Lizelle Landino said:Joe,
I wanted to add something to this. I have actually been very aware and asking my dealers many questions about their sales people, the turn over on staff and or what they found motivated them. One answer I got was pretty funny. The dealers said, who ever sells the most amount of cars this month gets 10 cases of beer. The response was tremendous and they actual daily competition lifted the dealership. Previous month offered $500 for the sales person who did the most sales - response was not that great! So Hey, if 10 cases of beer motivates them like crazy then there you go... :-)I also noticed this with a few dealers and spoke with them regarding this. Once the sales person reached that initial sales on a consistent basis, some dealers actually really upped them in salary. This was actually very eye opening. They realize where their driven employees are and decide to compensate them really well. This not only sets the tone for any other sales people but seemingly the Sales mentality picks up about 200% and increases the way they treat customers.
Just saying :-)
Joe Webb said:
Great article, Liz. Too many salespeople lack the personal motivation to strive for greater numbers and higher profits. They are perfectly happy coming in day in and day out, doing their 12 cars for the month, and going back home.
Beyond simply writing down the end goal, I think it is important for salespeople to track the numbers they have historically reached to know how to get there.
If a salesperson sells 12 cars - and they have tracked that they had 3 people in front of them each working day for the month (22 working days) then they know it takes all 66 people for that month to move 12 units. Simply put, if they want to be able to afford those Chicago Bears vs. Jets Super Bowl tickets (I can dream, can't I), then they'll need to sell another 6 cars. Mathematically, they can determine that getting on the phone, doing solid follow up, and upping just an additional 33 people for the month (come in on a couple of off days) and they'll reach their goal.
The Super Bowl can be their dominant, motivating factor, but some work must be recognized and performed to allow them understanding on how to reach that end goal.
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Also, Jim Ziegler teaches in his Sales Manager seminars about "the trophy". He has dealers build a giant trophy that the top salesperson (volume or gross, can't remember) gets to keep by their desk. For every day you have the trophy throughout the month, you get $10 or $20. Apparently, it isn't the financial spiff that motivates them, but being able to wield the trophy around.
Joe Webb said:
When I was on the floor selling back in the day, our ownership pulled every salesperson and manager into their office one by one and said they were looking to see what "spiff" would motivate each one of us. Funny enough, iwas the only one that mentioned "competition". They said they were looking for something more tangible that they could reward us with so I immediately said "time off to spend with my wife.". They said once again that I was the only one who gave that response. (Typical car salesmen :) Turns out 18 other people answered "Money!" so they disregarded my motivation and only rewarded people financially.
So I decided to compete with each coworker. It wasn't that I wanted the spiff money, it's that I was too competitive to let them get their financial motivation when they had all taken away my preferred reward... Time off.
Anyone reading this post should know that if you are going to ask your teams what motivates them, make sure to act on that information or it may de-motivate them. Thankfully, I'm just too damn stubborn.
Lizelle Landino said:Joe,
I wanted to add something to this. I have actually been very aware and asking my dealers many questions about their sales people, the turn over on staff and or what they found motivated them. One answer I got was pretty funny. The dealers said, who ever sells the most amount of cars this month gets 10 cases of beer. The response was tremendous and they actual daily competition lifted the dealership. Previous month offered $500 for the sales person who did the most sales - response was not that great! So Hey, if 10 cases of beer motivates them like crazy then there you go... :-)I also noticed this with a few dealers and spoke with them regarding this. Once the sales person reached that initial sales on a consistent basis, some dealers actually really upped them in salary. This was actually very eye opening. They realize where their driven employees are and decide to compensate them really well. This not only sets the tone for any other sales people but seemingly the Sales mentality picks up about 200% and increases the way they treat customers.
Just saying :-)
Joe Webb said:
Great article, Liz. Too many salespeople lack the personal motivation to strive for greater numbers and higher profits. They are perfectly happy coming in day in and day out, doing their 12 cars for the month, and going back home.
Beyond simply writing down the end goal, I think it is important for salespeople to track the numbers they have historically reached to know how to get there.
If a salesperson sells 12 cars - and they have tracked that they had 3 people in front of them each working day for the month (22 working days) then they know it takes all 66 people for that month to move 12 units. Simply put, if they want to be able to afford those Chicago Bears vs. Jets Super Bowl tickets (I can dream, can't I), then they'll need to sell another 6 cars. Mathematically, they can determine that getting on the phone, doing solid follow up, and upping just an additional 33 people for the month (come in on a couple of off days) and they'll reach their goal.
The Super Bowl can be their dominant, motivating factor, but some work must be recognized and performed to allow them understanding on how to reach that end goal.
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Joe - Ha great! That is funny! Is your wife reading your blogs so that you had to say "time off to spend with my wife" LOL- just kidding. Its actually interesting that of so many things that has changed in a dealership, the whole process of hiring and training has kind of stayed the same. It really takes a successful Manager to take the time to look at his team and figure out what motivates them and what turns the motivation down. Just like the quote I posted earlier "
Joe Webb said:
When I was on the floor selling back in the day, our ownership pulled every salesperson and manager into their office one by one and said they were looking to see what "spiff" would motivate each one of us. Funny enough, iwas the only one that mentioned "competition". They said they were looking for something more tangible that they could reward us with so I immediately said "time off to spend with my wife.". They said once again that I was the only one who gave that response. (Typical car salesmen :) Turns out 18 other people answered "Money!" so they disregarded my motivation and only rewarded people financially.
So I decided to compete with each coworker. It wasn't that I wanted the spiff money, it's that I was too competitive to let them get their financial motivation when they had all taken away my preferred reward... Time off.
Anyone reading this post should know that if you are going to ask your teams what motivates them, make sure to act on that information or it may de-motivate them. Thankfully, I'm just too damn stubborn.
Lizelle Landino said:
Joe,
I wanted to add something to this. I have actually been very aware and asking my dealers many questions about their sales people, the turn over on staff and or what they found motivated them. One answer I got was pretty funny. The dealers said, who ever sells the most amount of cars this month gets 10 cases of beer. The response was tremendous and they actual daily competition lifted the dealership. Previous month offered $500 for the sales person who did the most sales - response was not that great! So Hey, if 10 cases of beer motivates them like crazy then there you go... :-)I also noticed this with a few dealers and spoke with them regarding this. Once the sales person reached that initial sales on a consistent basis, some dealers actually really upped them in salary. This was actually very eye opening. They realize where their driven employees are and decide to compensate them really well. This not only sets the tone for any other sales people but seemingly the Sales mentality picks up about 200% and increases the way they treat customers.
Just saying :-)
Joe Webb said:
Great article, Liz. Too many salespeople lack the personal motivation to strive for greater numbers and higher profits. They are perfectly happy coming in day in and day out, doing their 12 cars for the month, and going back home.
Beyond simply writing down the end goal, I think it is important for salespeople to track the numbers they have historically reached to know how to get there.
If a salesperson sells 12 cars - and they have tracked that they had 3 people in front of them each working day for the month (22 working days) then they know it takes all 66 people for that month to move 12 units. Simply put, if they want to be able to afford those Chicago Bears vs. Jets Super Bowl tickets (I can dream, can't I), then they'll need to sell another 6 cars. Mathematically, they can determine that getting on the phone, doing solid follow up, and upping just an additional 33 people for the month (come in on a couple of off days) and they'll reach their goal.
The Super Bowl can be their dominant, motivating factor, but some work must be recognized and performed to allow them understanding on how to reach that end goal.
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