Imagine selling 174 cars in one month. How about 1,425 cars in a year? No fleet car sales, just one vehicle sale at a time.
Impossible? Nope.
If you are at all interested in the profession of selling cars you will recognize the name Joe Girard. Mr. Girard is listed in the Guinness Book Of World Records as the World’s Greatest Salesman. He is a master automobile salesman.
In his book, Mastering Your Way To The Top, he wrote, “There’s a fine line between wishing and dreaming. There’s an even bigger line between dreaming and doing. Most people wish upon a star. It’s fine and fun, but doesn’t mean a thing unless you follow that star. In other words, do something about realizing your dream.“
Like wishing upon a star, during the job interview many automobile sales applicants talk about the things they will do to be successful. They talk about the importance of follow-up and contacting orphan customers.
Once hired, their enthusiasm, excitement, and energy is often replaced by the new car salesperson following the lead of less successful car salespeople. They fail to go after their dream by not taking action.
Action Equals Success
The difference between a top car salesperson and a less successful automobile salesperson is “ACTION“. For this discussion, those key activities are:
- A – Act
- C – Change
- T – Targets
- I – Invest
- O – Organize
- N – Now!
ACT – Do Something
Have you heard this saying lately, “Don’t just stand there, do something.” In the car sales arena, the only time you can be considered as legitimately standing around is when it is your shift to be available on the showroom floor. Other than that, you need to be following-up with your sold list, contacting prospects, and a whole list of other activities of which none, not one, includes waiting on the showroom floor or out on the lot for a prospect to walk-in. A top car salesperson goes after opportunities. She does not depend on the Dealer to bring them in.
Change Your Behavior
Remember the Chinese proverb, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step“? It is also true about your journey to becoming a top car salesperson. That adventure begins with you taking steps to ensure some personal habits match those of being a professional.
It takes discipline and courage to succeed. It means staying away from anyone who sells less than ten automobiles a month. It means coming to work to work. It means leaving your personal problems at home and not bringing them to work.
A top car salesperson recognizes she is in business for herself. She does not allow what Tom Hopkins refers to as “...bad seeds…” to influence her day. She is focused and determined. She is prepared to change any behavior that is unproductive or less than professional.
Tangible Targets
Top performers in any sales position recognize the only way to get better is to be able to measure improvement. For those on the road to becoming a top car salesman, it is marked with sign posts of achievement. Professional car salespeople pinpoint tangible targets as their road-map.
Why tangible?
Tangible is essential to properly implementing this success strategy. Dictionary.com defines tangible as “…real or actual…”.
Setting a sales target of 25 cars a month is real or actual for someone who is currently averaging 24 vehicle sales a month. But for someone currently averaging 9 automobile sales a month, 25 is an unrealistic target.
Set your sales targets in increments of one, at the most. Be reasonable and realistic. If you are averaging ten sales a month now, next target an average of 10.5 or eleven, then 11.5 or twelve. Focus on the activities you need to consistently do to move ahead.
Note, you will also want to measure your gross per vehicle. Volume, numbers of units sold, is important. Holding gross is where the big bucks come in.
Invest In Yourself
Becoming a top car salesperson means you taking responsibility for developing your sales skills. Agreed the Dealership has a vested interest in you and should be providing you more than product training. But that is not always the way it is. And, even if you are fortunate enough to be at a car store where management embraces sales training, professional commission salespeople still set aside a portion of their sales commissions for personal development.
Where do they invest these dollars?
- Their personal library – books and recordings (audio & Video)
- Webinars
- Sales training seminars and workshops
- Possibly a personal coach, and more.
High income sales commission earners are Learners, with a capital ‘L‘. They realize staying the same will eventually erode their commissions. Staying the same means stagnating. People change. Buying habits change. Technology changes. Becoming a top car salesperson is ongoing change.
Organize Yourself
Organizing your day, week, and month is essential to be productive. But what about the visual connection?
What does your work area look like? Are the stationery supplies you regularly use handy? Is your inventory list current? Do you have extra pens, a calculator with easy to read numbers? Does your work space look professional? In other words, if you were the prospect sitting on the other side of the desk, would you have a sense that the salesperson is competent, professional, trustworthy?
What about you? Yes, you.
Have you looked in the mirror recently? From grooming to what you wear impacts the connection with the prospect. A top car salesperson understands most people are visual buyers. They buy with their eyes. Their visual perception includes the Dealership, the salesperson’s work area, and the salesperson. There is no second opportunity for a quality first impression.
Please do not be fooled. As great as your personality is, as dynamic as your wit is, as welcoming as your smile is, if your dress, grooming, workspace is cluttered, disorganized, or uninviting, it will impact how the prospect sees you.
Imagine visiting a banker and on his desk is information about a customer. Or how about visiting a lawyer who cannot find a pad to take notes. How comfortable would you feel about the business you need to undertake with either of these people?
You, as a top car salesperson, are no different. People share their financial position with you. They believe you will take care of getting the right information to secure financing. And they believe you will do it legally, ethically, and morally.
So how you look and how your workspace looks, impacts how competent a prospect sees you.
Now! Today. Not Tomorrow
There is only one time on a top salesperson’s planner – Now! Every prospect is asked to purchase or lease today. Yes, that includes the ‘Just…‘ family. You know them, ‘Just looking,’ ‘Just want a brochure’, ‘Just want a price’, ‘Just want to see what you have.‘
And it also includes the ‘Can’t‘ family. You know them as well, ‘Can’t get a down payment’, ‘Can’t get financed’, ‘Can’t get out of my lease, ‘Can’t get what I want for my trade.‘
Many car salespeople hide when either of these families arrive. But not those who want to become a top salespeople. These guys and gals jump at the opportunity to serve these families. And they do ask, “Hey Just Looking, if I could find the perfect vehicle for you is there any reason you would not drive away in it today?” Or, “Hello Can’t, if there was a way to get around the ‘can’t’ is there any reason you wouldn’t invest today?“
Top car salespeople are creative. They are resourceful. They are solution providers. And, they are rare.
Oh, in case you are wondering why the top guns jump at the opportunity to serve these families, consider this. When you are not selling cars, who do you spend your social time with? Who is in your circle of friends? Who do you tell when you receive great service?
Get the picture. Top car salespeople know that the ‘Just..‘ families have lots of friends. And when they are satisfied, like you, they tell their friends. They tell their friends, that is, about you because all the other car dealerships they stopped at brushed them off, did not take them serious, did not see them as worthy of simply asking, “If we found the perfect vehicle for you today, is there any reason you would not drive home in it?“
By-the-way, will you close everyone today? Absolutely not. But by asking, you now know the reason for the ‘Just..‘ or ‘Can’t..‘. Now you have a real opportunity.
Summary
How to become a top salesperson is easy, if you are determined. Choose to sit on your butt and you will be equally rewarded.
Choose to accept responsibility for you, your sales training, your future, and you will succeed. Action, that is ‘A.C.T.I.O.N‘ is the road-map to becoming a top car salesperson. Start today.