Who Am I? Please, Tell Me Who I Am…

Are you prejudice? When clients comes into the dealership, do you size them up and say to yourself, "This is a buyer and this is not?”    At the beginning of each Automax class, the trainer does a simple experiment to prove a point.  The trainer’s ask their students, “WHO AM I?”  How, tall am I? How old am I?  How much do I weigh? (Be careful!) How much money do I earn?  How much does my suit cost? Etc…

For as many students as there are in a class, that is how many different answers we will get. All the students are looking at the same person and they all see something different. It's amazing how we all think that way.

All of us have a story where that one person came into the dealership and no one wanted to deal with them because they just did not “look” like a buyer and we or one of our friends took them and not only did they buy,  they referred and referred and came back and, well you know the rest…

Never judge a book by its cover.  It makes no difference, what the person looks like, dresses like, appears like, whether they drove to the dealership in a Rolls Royce, a Kia, a bicycle, public transportation or walked in, they all came in to purchase.  There is no such thing as one salesperson being lucky in the clients that they serve. We make our own luck, with staying focused on who we are and what we do.

Walk in your client’s shoes. Once a month, mystery shop your competition. Remember what it is like to be on the other side.  Be professional. We are not amateurs.  And treating everyone equally, is part of what we do.

Always Be The New Guy

I see it all the time. As a green pea  you sell 10 or 15 cars your first or second month. Then on your third month you sell half that and begin to wonder if the car business really is the business for you after all. Again, I see this time and time again and the biggest reason for this is because you know too much. That's right, in this case knowledge isn't king, it's a hindrance.

By knowing too much I mean that you pre-judge based on certain filters you acquired over the previous months. These filters are mainly what you think is a deal and what's not a deal. Most of the time this is unintentional because subconsciously you only want to spend time with people that will have the desired end result, a sale. That's why it's important to make the conscious decision to work every client, every time,  because if not your subconscious will take over and you will start blowing people off and because it, will cost you money, lots and lots of money.

Lets try a little experiment. Take a look at the two pictures below, the one on the right, and the one on the left. How much money do you think each of these guys make, what are their credit scores and what kind of vehicle do you think they drive?