Dealer Solutions Magazine April 2015 by Dealer Solutions Magazine

VOL. 8 | ISSUE 4 | APRIL 2015

MAGAZINE

A Division of IPD

Count

EVERY Customer, So

Every Customer

COUNTS! Clint Burns with

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7 Big Problems in Sales with PG 9

Small Fixes

Inside Feature

Principal’s Office with

Paul Sansone Jr.

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GLENGARY

GLEN GROSS PG: 15

CLOSE STRONG

If you don’t push, you won’t close PG: 20

Photo By: Colette Burns

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CONTENTS Featured In This Issue... Articles

6. Count Every Customer, So Every Customer Counts! By Clint Burns 9. 7 Big Problems In Sales With Small Fixes By Grant Cardone 11. How Technology Is Changing The Car Buying Process. By Erik Nachbahr 15. Glengarry Glen Gross By Alan Ram 16. The Principal’s Office With Paul Sansone Jr. By Paul Sansone 19. Avoiding The Pitfalls Of Your Position Part 2 By Jeff Cowan 20. Close Strong - If You Don’t Push, You Won’t Close By David Villa 21. Questions Are The Answer By Tom Hopkins

22.

Leadership: A Blueprint For Making The Tough Calls By Dave Anderson

25. Take Your Pick By David Cribbs 26. Who Let That Trojan Horse In The Gates?

By Don O’Neill

28. Stop It By Mark Tewart

Publisher Michael Oquendo

Contributing Authors

Editor-in-Chief David Villa

Clint Burns

David Villa

Grant Cardone

Tom Hopkins

Erik Nachbahr

Dave Anderson

Alan Ram

David Cribbs

Paul Sansone

Don O’Neill

Jeff Cowan

Mark Tewart

Creative Director Austin Janowsky Marketing Director Heath Panganiban Advertising Director Chris Fritcher Editor Josh Fontaine Editor Michael Cherup

Copyright ©2015 all rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited unless expressly authorized by editor or publisher. The views expressed in the articles or advertisements are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the magazine or its staff. Editorial inquiries, questions or comments can be made to the Editor-In-Chief at moquendo@ipdmail.com Advertising Sales: Please call 813-630-5888 ext 523 or 561 or email moquendo@ipdmail.com

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By Clint Burns You and your CRM data have a fantastic relationship. It’s a give and take, you input information, and it gives you data that accurately reflects your dealerships performance 100% right? At this point you might be chuckling at that idea of someone actually believing something so ridiculous. Good for you, you understand what I’m getting at. We all know that, even today, the idea of a salesperson logging every Up into the CRM is just a fantasy. The question is, how far from the truth are the numbers in your CRM? Surely it can’t be more than a small percentage of customers that are never logged into your CRM. Well, if you believe that then you might be unpleasantly surprised. It’s typically at least 40% of walk-ins that never reach your CRM. Managers globally KNOW this is happening, and simply accept it. Evidently these managers have resigned themselves to the “this is just how things are,” kind of thinking. How is that acceptable? It’s time to get our act together! Managers, get this: Every. Single. Person. Counts. Gary Vaynerchuck, author of Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, recently shared an idea he calls “One Is Greater Than Zero,” which emphasizes that the DEPTH of a conversation is often much more valuable than the WIDTH. In other words, the quality of the conversation between yourself and other people is much more important than the number of people you are having a conversation with. Stop losing customers because you see them as a tiny drop in the bucket, or because you’re too impatient. Put the work in every step of the way, and keep in mind that every step doesn’t necessarily directly make you money. But look at the big picture, and you’ll realize that the seemingly unnecessary step is not only 100% needed, but WILL make you money in the end. I guarantee that you vastly undervalue the potential impact that ONE customer has on your dealership. Shortsightedness does that to a business. Every person that somehow interacts

with your dealership has the chance to become exponentially more than a single sale. IF you treat them really well, IF you follow up, IF you give of your time and effort in an extraordinary way, THEN you will get the ROI numbers you’ve been looking for. Plus, as an owner, ask yourself this: how well do you really think managers are doing with training and managing if they don’t know what’s going on? And I can tell you for certain that if managers never even knew that 40% of your customers exist, there is not enough management involvement. Traditionally, of course, management involvement might have sounded like this: “Hey! Go follow up with customers. Oh, but don’t forget to help customers on the floor too.” That sounds like some serious Office Space style management, and everyone hates it! Why? Likely because the management’s demands are extremely inefficient and causes conflict in your dealership. For instance, when someone is told to follow up with people (at their desk) and then told to help walk-ins (on the floor) at the same time, there is a problem. You can’t do both at the same time! Not well at least. Even if you’ve placed several sales desks right up front in the showroom you still have the exact same problem. If you still don’t see it, then consider this scenario: a sales rep is following up with a customer over the phone.. A customer walks into your dealership. Since they’re positioned in such a way that they see walk in customers as soon as they enter, what do you think will happen next? More than likely that salesperson (and others) will compete to hurriedly get off the phone to handle this more immediate opportunity. That’s understandable, and the salesperson isn’t to be blamed. The salesperson saw a greater opportunity and seized it, but in the long run that consistent activity is horribly inefficient for a dealership. After all, how will that potential customer on the phone feel? People realize when they’re being rushed off the phone.

Competition is great, it’s what makes us work harder, and we should never stop competing. However, in 2015 we need to realize that customers would rather have us compete to improve their buying experience rather than our personal financial experience. The common misconception is that you can only have one or the other. You can either be a dealership where salespeople can easily make six figures, or you can have customers love you while salespeople see their bank accounts shrink. We often “choose” to let our salespeople flourish, but in doing so we have created an internal “Us vs. Them” culture by default.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO CHOOSE! I actually started working in the car business back when I was 18. After working my way into management, I found myself perpetuating the exact problems that I’ve been discussing now. I’ve been the guy who told his reps to go follow up and handle walk in’s at the same time, so I understand. I noticed the conflict this created for customers back then, but I also noticed the conflict that I had created between my team and myself. One of the points of tension for my team involved the fact that unhealthy actions were often rewarded (financially) while those who did follow up seemed to miss opportunities for increasing their sales. There didn’t seem to be much that could be done, as I had certain quotas that needed to be met. So what did I do? I figured out a way to reward beneficial behavior, while also leaving my salespeople unshackled. The last thing I wanted to do was restrain great talent. However, I also did not want to cater to one group of talented salespeople. Despite what you might think, there are several types of salespeople that can be hugely successful and not all of them succeed under such a chaotic system. That doesn’t make them “weak,” as so many assume. For example, in more recent times I was brainstorming with a dealer friend of mine who mentioned a struggling new sales-

woman. She was new, but even so, selling 3-4 cars in a month was making my friend think she just wouldn’t make it. This had been troubling him because he personally felt that she did have a great deal of potential. He just wasn’t sure what was holding her back. After speaking at length, I suggested trying a new system for managing his floor. It’s called managing your floor. Surprise! That struggling saleswoman immediately went from selling 3-4 cars a month to selling 20 a month. (If you’re curious, no she wasn’t let go after that.) It turns out when someone can focus on setting appointments and selling that person when they are in the dealership, they can be extremely productive. Those that are considered “strong” salespeople also deserve a second glance. Going back to the inaccurate CRM data that some managers have simply accepted, there’s more to a salesperson’s stats than the number of cars they sold. How many test-drives have they given? How many appointments have they created for the dealership? What is their closing ratio if you include mishandled customers that were never entered into the CRM? All important questions that should be considered and getting the data to show all of that information is much easier than you might expect. While it might be hard, or make you feel uneasy, we really should constantly reevaluate ourselves. Let’s take a good, long look at our “success” to ensure that it lasts. There can be lots of underlying issues that can be affecting the health of your dealership, but if you take the time to reassess then you WILL be ahead of the curve. Long term success is a matter of will, so let’s decide to invest in ourselves in order to succeed. Clint Burns is the CEO/Chairman of theNextUp. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@TheNextUp or by e-mail at clint@dealersolutions.info.

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Everyone has the ability to make small fixes, to make things a little better and eventually overcome big problems. Over the past 30 years I have been making these small fixes to sales processes and customer satisfaction for companies. Sometimes the fixes were tiny and in other cases I rewrote the sales process of their entire industry. The media continues to tell us the problems of the past instead of coming up with new fixes for the future.

7 Big Problems In Sales With Small Fixes

By Grant Cardone Here are 7 small fixes that will help you become more effective, no matter what you sell, and help you overcome big problems to reach your true potential.

1. NOT SOLVING PROBLEMS

The only reason anyone buys anything is to solve a problem—period. Spend less time selling a product and more time assuring the buyer that your product or service solves their problem. Your goal becomes making their life better, less stressful and more efficient. This will separate you from the masses and establish you as someone who makes situations better, not worse. And the bigger the problem—and the more people who benefit from the solution—the more powerful your success will be.

2. TOUGH QUESTIONS

If you don’t get the answers to the tough questions you won’t know how to solve the real problems for the buyer. And in my experience, salespeople miss opportunities to build trust because they don’t ask tough questions. Asking these questions shows the buyer you aren’t afraid to face the real reasons for being there—to solve a problem; see #1. I was on a call with one of my top sales representatives while he was doing a presentation and sensed the buyer wasn’t into it. I interrupted with, “You don’t believe a word of what he is saying, do you?” The client started laughing and agreed that was exactly what he was thinking. You have to ask things like: “How do you feel about our terms?” “How do you feel about our price?” “Why did you decide to meet with me when you have been with our competitor for so long?”

3. PROSPECTS NOT LISTENING

If you don’t give your intention initially, the prospect isn’t listening or is thinking about something else. You have to hook their attention and have the person take interest directly. My prospects know from the start what my intention is. I start with, “Thanks for your time today; my goal is to have my product in your company’s hands by the end of this week.” They usually object to this saying they have no intention of acting that quickly, to which I respond, “I understand. I just wanted you to know my intention.” Make your intentions clear early in the sale. The buyer is going to close because of you, not because of them—build their confidence in you.

4. PRESENTING TOO LONG

Have you ever seen your sales team presenting long after the buyer had seen or heard enough to make a decision? I had, so I took all of our presentations and broke them down into five stages. At the end of each stage I require my staff to ask, “Have you seen enough informa-

tion to make a decision?” This worked like a miracle. If the customer said, “No, I haven’t,” the salesperson would continue with the presentation. Sometimes they found out they didn’t even have the right decision makers in the room! This is critical information to make the close and in some cases they would make the sale 80% faster than they had in the past.

5. BLAMING THE PRICE

“Price is the only issue.” I have been in sales my entire adult life and have been tricked by thousands of buyers who said that. Sometimes lowering the price is necessary to close the sale, but you must eliminate the idea that a lower price is the reason buyers close. Instead, live and die by the fact that, “No one buys a price, ever!” One of my sales managers had a client who absolutely, 100% could not break their budget of $1000 per month. They explained they simply could not afford to pay $1400 per month for a 12-month contract. My sales manager agreed with them and said, “I agree, and I can give you $1000 per month for a 24-month contract which will give you more time to utilize the service.” They immediately agreed to it and signed the contract. So instead of paying $16,800 they ended up agreeing to pay $24,000!

6. USING FREE TRIALS

I used to believe the buyer would close after using my product for free. The only way that approach would work is if I could scale out to hundreds of millions of people, but it still becomes a cash flow problem at some point—too much time and energy is flowing out with no commitment to invest. This will break your company; so grow up and close the deal. The only thing free at the grocery store is walking around inside—and even that requires your time and energy.

7. LACKING URGENCY TO CLOSE

If you don’t close, neither you nor the prospect has gained anything! The close is what separates the ‘haves’ from the ‘have-nots’ and too many sales organizations don’t insist on the close for fear of being perceived as a nuisance. If you are truly sold on your own product or service, you must learn how to insist on closing the transaction— now. I have had too many unforeseen events or interruptions, beyond my control, steal the deal away from me because I didn’t act soon enough. Grant Cardone is a Best Selling Author & CEO of Grant Cardone Enterprises. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@grantcardone or by e-mail at grant@dealersolutions.info. 9

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Bring the best sales and management training in the automotive industry to your dealership and experience results immediately with the Tewart 24/7 Online Training Channel. This information is based upon real world application with hundreds of dealerships just like yours. This is not just theory or motivational jargon. Mark Tewart is the premier automotive sales, sales management and marketing expert in the automotive industry. Mark’s dealership clients experience record results and he has personally trained tons of salespeople to experience six figure incomes over many years and your staff can experience the same results. Mark is the author of the best seller “How To Be A Sales Superstar” and has been a featured speaker at NADA and many of the automotive industry conferences. “After 16 years in the business, I can say this is the most impactful training I have ever had” – Jared A Giordiano, Sales “Our dealership experienced a 42% increase year over year and the previous year was a record. Mark Tewart is simply the best in the industry, hands down.” Mark Ford, GM Mark Tewart and his training changed my career – Mike Correra (Mike The Car Guy), Manager Mark Tewart showed me how to make a six figure income in the auto business and I have been doing it ever since” – Bob Wright, Manager

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How Technology Is Changing The Car Buying Process. By Erik Nachbahr Consumers experience hi-tech in almost every shopping experience, from targeted sales emails to custom apps on their smartphones. It stands to reason that they would expect a technologically advanced Dealership that brings convenience to the buying and service process. Unfortunately, Dealers struggle just to keep their internal systems current and therefore often relegate their customer facing technology to an afterthought. Savvy Dealers may gain a competitive advantage by carefully selecting technologies to enhance customer interaction and their overall experience when in the store. The website is often a first touch for prospective customers. In a recent study by The Interactive Advertising Bureau, 86% of automobile shoppers search online when shopping. Consumers are researching and in many cases making a purchase decision via the Dealership website. Real-time video can engage customers more directly into the buying process. Consumers are accustomed to electronic presentation and signature of consumer agreements. Shoppers expect the ease and convenience of electronic presentation without all the paper. Reevaluating DMS Electronic contracting offerings should be a top priority for Dealers entering into a new DMS agreement or study. E-Contract technology has evolved significantly in recent years from a basic signature capture device into a full contracting system. Savings on costly paper forms printing and storage of large volumes of paper copies may offset the costs of the system. Imagine an interested buyer interacting directly with a sales representative for an “interactive walk-around” of the car over video. Cisco’s Webex Collaboration technology can be leveraged via the Dealer’s website and Sales would use tablets to bring the virtual walk around to consumers. The Dealer would need to ensure that there is strong wireless Internet throughout the entire property, training for staff and compatible tablets.

Many customers trek to the store for sales or service expecting an outstanding Internet surfing experience while they are waiting for their vehicle. The explosion of tablets, laptops and phone devices for both customers and internal Dealership staff taxes most Dealership wireless and Internet connections. Dealers often install residential grade customer wireless, which is expected to accommodate dozens of connected devices. Because wireless is a shared bandwidth technology, the more devices that attach, the less bandwidth is available to everyone. This compounding bandwidth hit is experienced in all areas of the Dealer’s operations, severely slowing everything down. To make matters worse, the wireless is often plugged directly into the secure corporate network, creating a serious security breach. Dealers should seriously consider a professional wireless survey and commercial system to service both their internal and customer facing needs. The study will determine the current wireless coverage, signal strength and capacity of the system. A properly conducted survey will ensure optimal density and placement of new wireless access point nodes. The increased capacity will provide a pleasant customer experience and the needed sales and service bandwidth for internal use in one investment, creating a better sales and service experience for both the customer and Dealership staff. The connected customer is here to stay. The Dealer’s bottom line revenue will continue to be protected through smart investment in customer facing technologies that enhance the buying and service experiences.

Erik Nachbahr is President and Founder of Helion Automotive Technologies. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@ErikNachbahr or by e-mail at erik@dealersolutions.info.

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Glengarry Glen Gross By Alan Ram Who remembers that scene in Glengarry Glen Ross where Jack Lemmon is pleading with Kevin Spacey for the “premium leads”? “I can’t work these weak, worn-out leads anymore! You can take all of them! Just give me ONE of the good leads and I’ll close them!” In many cases, I imagine many dealers today as kind of a reverse Jack Lemmon. We already have access to the absolute best leads, yet we spend a ton of time, money and effort trying to develop more crappy ones. Here’s what I’m talking about. At every dealer 20 group meeting I’ve ever spoken at, three words seem to come up the most. Expense, volume and gross, not necessarily in that order. Let’s talk about gross and how we tend to address that topic. How do you increase gross profit per retail unit? The number one answer I get when I ask that question is “sell the value” followed by “under allow on trades,” and any other things that may have been trending at a workshop in 1985. Here’s the problem with those approaches. For starters, what do the statistics say as it relates to the number of websites the average customer has visited prior to walking into a showroom? Most of the numbers I hear are in the 20s. So your primary strategy is that you’re going to “sell the value?” The fact of the matter is that by the time they get to you, most customers have already been on and submitted leads to seven of your closest competitors, shopped invoice information on Edmunds and made their rounds on True Car. While that customer might enjoy the demo drive your salesperson takes them on between Tampa and Miami, at the end of the day, most already know what they want to pay for the car. You don’t even need to show them invoice anymore because they’ll show you. So much for “sell the value” as your secret weapon. You’re going to under allow on trades? Please send me an email outlining how you intend to do that after the customer has already had their trade appraised at four different dealerships. Although I tend to shy away from fiction, I’ll make an exception and read your email. The fact is, the rules of gross have changed over the years. The key to increasing gross profit per retail unit and making a fair gross profit is this; you have to get to customers before they get to you. You have to get to people before they start shopping and bring them into the market. You have to get to them before they’ve been highballed, lowballed and in many cases flat out lied to in three states. Where do these customers exist? In your sold customer base. People that you sold cars to 2-2 ½ years ago. While equity mining tools might be all the rage now, you don’t necessarily need to wait

for equity. How many deals per month do you make where the customer initiated contact while they were still a couple thousand dollars upside down? If we waited to be alerted to equity, in many cases we would be a year too late. I have found the 30 month point in a new car customer’s ownership to be a good time to present a specific opportunity to trade up. As a matter of fact, I teach a call specifically referred to as the “Dirty 30 Call.” If 30 months ago your dealership sold 200 new cars, 200 people should by process receive this call. When made properly (key word!), 50 to 60% of those calls should result in a customer interested enough to show up at the dealership. Of those, you should sell about 60%. Furthermore, you should sell them at a higher gross profit. Why? Because they haven’t yet started shopping. Notice, it’s not a letter or an email the customer receives but a specifically worded call. On preowned typically we can bump it up to a 24 month call. A very similar opportunity exists in your service department. I have noticed that most dealers tend to be very random in the way they work their service back to sales programs, if they do it at all. Furthermore, they don’t necessarily train their staff on how to convert service customers. “Hey Billy, you’re working service tomorrow. Be there at 7 AM.” That’s the extent of the training at many dealerships. The key to working service effectively is the prep work the night before. Knowing who might be the best candidates to consider trading based on the appointments set for the next day as well as ownership information in the CRM is the key to success. You need to treat your service drive like your own private auction lane! I know and personally work with dealers who sell 150 units per month out of service. The beauty of it is, they are not doing anything you couldn’t! Best of all, when customers are at your dealership for service, they haven’t yet shopped, once again creating an increased profit opportunity. Before you spend any more money buying leads that have already been sold to 15 different dealers or advertise to attract deals that are in many cases minis before they ever arrive at the dealership, make sure you are maximizing the better opportunities you already have access to. That’s where the gross is at. If you’re not doing the things I just talked about, PUT THAT COFFEE DOWN! COFFEE’S FOR GROSSERS! Alan Ram is the President & Founder of Proactive Training Solutions Inc. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@TheAlanRam or by e-mail at alan@dealersolutions.info.

THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE PAUL SANSONE JR

Who Really Wins with High Salesman Turnover? By Paul Sansone

Why have you made high salesman’s turnover such a high priority in your dealership? Who really wins with high salesman turnover? Certainly not the salesperson, the dealer or the customer. More importantly I feel that I’m solving two other industry issues: lower profit margins and high cost of generating new business. NADA statistics show it costs approximately $550-$650 per car sale in advertising. Both of those issues can be significantly improved with, what I believe is the biggest auto industry ill, retaining sales people. As an industry, we have the most educated consumers talking to the least educated sales people. We better get on board for training sales people, but the only way the training sticks is if the salesman sticks. What are you doing to keep sales people at your dealership? I believe that you can’t train nice or desire. If I have someone who truly puts the customer first and has the desire to succeed, I feel that I should make them an effective and productive salesperson at my dealership. In addition to providing a positive work environment, helping a salesperson who is willing to work to make money is the core to keeping them for the long term.

How do you hire the right people? At my dealership, Sansone Jr’s 66 Automall, any salesperson that is new to the industry spends 60 to 90 days training in my BDC. I use that as their “boot camp,” so to speak. During their BDC training they learn word tracks, the ins and outs of the CRM, and how to overcome objections. They are required to have over 100 customer interactions each day by making phone calls with manager supervision, which helps them learn that the phone is their friend. This training helps identify the salesperson’s commitment level. Some sales people do not make it through the training, but the ones who do complete it, “graduate” with the tools to be a successful sales person. This BDC boot camp training has proven very successful so far. My son, who just started in the business, spent 90 days in the BDC. Since his first month on the sales floor he has averaged 15 car sales per month. He’s a good example of sales people we should try to attract to the auto industry: 20-something, college educated who is comfortable with technology and using social media. It’s been so successful that I’ve included more sales people. We have a gentleman who recently made a mid-life career change just “graduated” from our boot camp, and in his first month on the floor will sell over 20 cars. I’m now starting to make salesperson that is underperforming go back to the BDC for training to help improve their performances.

Besides effective training, what other tools do you provide to help your sales people become businesses within your business? First, I developed a referral program, called EZ Referral Network, which is a tool that allows a salesperson to easily network to their friends and family, while the dealership tracks and monitors all activity. It has smart phone technology, replicating websites and pays via debit card. Second, what successful business these days doesn’t have a website? I’ve integrated salespersons’ websites, called EZ Connect, with my dealership’s website. They include the dealership’s inventory, links to reviews, why buy message from the salesperson, videos created by the salesperson, links to social media, trackable 800 #s that ring to the salesperson’s cell phone, and contact forms. So is every sales person on board with your approach? Every salesperson has been told to build their business within my business, but I have provided the tools for them to do so. First is a referral program, called EZ Referral Network, which easily allows a salesperson to participate and understands the benefits. We’ve made it easy for them to ask and get referrals, so who wouldn’t want to participate? Right now we have 6200 referral agents (bird dogs) and have delivered about 920 cars in 3 years. That’s an average of 25 cars a month. Although the beginning took some time to ramp up, now we’re hitting about 35 car sales each month from the EZ Referral Network, and are continuing to grow. There is no downside for the sales people through this program. The referrals they get via this program have a higher closing rate (35% of every LEAD is closed) plus a 35% higher gross, all of which leads to higher CSI ratings. The sales people get more customers, and earn more money, which of course is all beneficial to me, the dealer. For the EZ Connect websites, this is optional. We started with the “hand raisers” in the sales team, but have expanded as more sales people see the value. Now we have 12 out of 20 sales people participating. Since the sales people who get EZ Connect websites financially contribute to the costs, I do not force everyone to participate. Who can refer customers to you? Anyone can refer customers to us via the EZ Referral Network. We have a referral agent who earned $6000 in referral fees last year! I call that a “professional bird dog” and we’re looking to attract more people like that. In addition our employees in other departments such as service

advisors, accounting and even the lot guys can refer customers to the sales department via EZ Referral Network. Since service advisors meet with the most customers, they often have the most opportunities. Getting back to the EZ Connect websites, don’t many sales people already have their own websites? Yes, these days many sales people have their own websites. With the dealership integration approach that EZ Connect follows, I’d prefer to offer the salesmen websites that ties into my dealership. It’s a win-win for the sales person and my dealership. How do the sales people promote their EZ Connect websites? We encourage the salespeople to have catchy URLs. Some examples at my dealership are ps3autos.com, melissasellscars.com and gattagetacar.com. These URLs are added to their business cards. Also we teach them how to use social media to promote themselves as a business, if they don’t already know. Plus, we recently started giving them Facebook ads up to $200 each month. Since we started, the EZ Connect websites account for 22% of my entire dealership’s website traffic. Combining my main dealership’s websites with the EZ Connect sites, my website visitors are up 77% compared to last year. That’s huge. All of this sounds like a lot of money. Have you increased your marketing budgets? No, in fact, I’ve simply reallocated money from my dealership’s marketing, Tier 3, and put it toward the salesperson’s, Tier 4 Marketing. During the past year I have analyzed every vendor we have to see what’s working and what’s not. Based on that analysis I restructured my budget so I’m not spending more money. I’m just spending it differently. This seems great, but how are your sales? I’m glad you asked that. The bottom line is for every dealer, it’s all about sales. In February we had a 50% increase in sales compared to February 2014. And in March, we should have a 40- 50% increase in sales compared to March 2014. I’m also seeing less salesperson turn over, and hope that continues to improve.

Paul Sansone Jr. is the Owner at Sansone Jr’s 66 Automall LLC. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@psjr1 or by e-mail at paul@dealersolutions.info.

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Avoiding the Pitfalls of Your Position Part 2 By Jeff Cowan

Service Manager: Very few service managers truly understand the art and skill involved in professional selling. This is a problem since one of the most important components to their department is the service advisor team – or as I like to refer to them, the sales team. How can you effectively manage a sales team if you don’t truly understand the process of selling or have never sold to customers yourself?

90 days, they never will be. Trust me, if you cannot get the work done efficiently and in a profitable manner for your service advisors, they are not going to stick around. Your profession is not a game. Maximize your opportunity and position yourself to work with like-minded professionals and inspect every vehicle every time. You have the right to be successful too, and in my opinion, it is not fair for you to be held back by those who can’t do their jobs.

One of the biggest secrets to being a successful sales manager is being able to actually deliver a sales presentation at least as good as your best salesperson. As a manager of salespeople, you yourself must be able to do all of the things you want and need your team to do. You need to be able to greet customers, ask diagnostic questions, walk around a vehicle, point things out, make a professional presentation, ask for the sale, handle objections and all of the other things a professional salesperson knows how to do. The best way to get a sales team to listen to you and take your instruction is to show them that you can do everything you are asking them to do to the letter.

Service Advisors: Service advisors should take more personal responsibility for their careers instead of waiting for the dealer, the general manager, their manager, their co-workers or the factory to supply all the solutions, training and opportunity. As a professional salesperson you cannot wait. You have to invest in yourself, your career and your future. Sign yourself up for all of the free sales information you can on the Internet. Invest in books, magazines, webinars, videos, workshops and seminars. Be open minded. The information you seek out does not have to be specific to the auto industry. Some of the best tips, practices and advice I have ever received have been from sources outside my immediate industry. As a professional salesperson you should set aside between 2 to 5 percent of your annual income to invest in your education and selfimprovement. Over time that investment will reward you at least 10 fold. The salesperson that rarely reads will experience a bad economy more often and deeper then the salesperson that does read.

Technicians: Technicians must fully inspect every single vehicle every time. It’s easy to see why sometimes they don’t. If you take the time to fully inspect the vehicle, fill out your multi-point inspection sheet, present the multipoint inspection sheet to your service advisor and they, in turn, can’t sell what you so painstakingly found, why waste the time? I wouldn’t. Technicians hold all of the cards in this scenario. The need for highly skilled and motivated technicians is at an alltime high. If you are in a shop that does not allow you to work in the most efficient and profitable manner possible, I would shop my talents. Of course, I recommend that you first talk with management about your concerns, but if your concerns in this area are not addressed within

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Of course the picture I have painted here is not a reflection of all people who hold these positions, but it sadly does reflect the majority. As you can see, the underlying theme here is taking responsibility, stepping outside your comfort zone and taking steps that are often times uncomfortable but best for your career. If you wish to maximize your opportunity you have to prepare yourself to maximize your opportunity. The sooner you start the better. Start today because you will run out of tomorrows. Jeff Cowan is the CEO of Pro Talk. For specific questions contact him via twitter - @JCowansProTalk or by e-mail at jeff@dealersolutions.info.

DA N

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CLOSE STRONG! By David Villa

“

There is nothing like the feeling you get at the end of a game…the fourth quarter…2 minutes left on the clock…down by 6 and in need of a touchdown! A field goal won’t do…you need to get the ball in the end zone! It is at this time that the guys move into their 2 MINUTE DRILL: A sequence of plays designed to move the ball into scoring position, within the last two minutes of play in the second and fourth quarters. This may seem more advanced than football basics, but when you watch a game, you hear a lot about the “2 Minute Drill” in the last few minutes of the second and fourth quarters. Understanding football means understanding why teams plan certain plays. The 2 Minute Drill is designed to go into the locker room (at half-time) with the momentum of just having scored, or to win the game (in the fourth quarter). If the 2 Minute Drill is unsuccessful, the momentum will swing to the other team. It is commonly said by arm chair quarterbacks everywhere “why didn’t they play that way the entire game”?...not understanding that you cannot create that natural urgency that automatically is there when time is almost up and you haven’t hit your goal!

If you don’t push, you won’t close

”

All over dealers and vendors alike are closing out their month and spiffs are flying, and deals are being made as “anything necessary” goes in order to hit their objective! There is something that happens when we are faced with those odds…true closers rise to the occasion and take charge of the team…”alright guys let’s get into our 2 minute drill”…or in baseball [It is the bottom of the ninth…bases are loaded…2 outs…BUT have no fear your best slugger is up to bat.] You know the feeling when he hits a walk off grand slam!! It is not the time to get discouraged and tell yourself that there is no way to hit your goal or I’ll try again next month…it’s time to get into the “the Two-Minute Drill” assume the role of quarterback, define winning, create a sense of urgency, rally the troops, grab them by the facemask, and convince them that we are going to drive this ball down the field, execute our plays, and SCORE the winning touchdown!! It starts with “ONE” person who is willing to look the odds in the eye and square off with them and rise to the occasion…inspire… lead…it is contagious. It is impossible to restrain and if unleashed it will spread like “wild fire”! What am I talking about...? [Passion] or should I say Pass-it-on? It is contagious…it breeds the must have ingredient in success and that is MOMENTUM! So…what am I saying? We can turn the tide and gather MOMENTUM right NOW!! Find something or someone who’s passionate and let it rub off and spark the beginning ripple that will eventually if fed become the “Big Mo”! So let’s capture our thoughts and RIDE THE WAVE of momentum and CLOSE STRONG!!! START’S NOW!!! It doesn’t get any more exciting.

David Villa is the President & CEO of IPD. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@ipdmail or by e-mail at davidv@dealersolutions.info.

Don’t Miss David Villa at the 18th Digital Dealer Converence & Exposition April 21-23, 2015 | Tampa Convention Center | Tampa, FL 20

Session Information: “Leading Effectively in Times of Change... Lead or Be Lunch” Wednesday, April 22 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM

Questions Are the Answer By Tom Hopkins

When you work with a car buyer, don’t you agree that you should try for several minor yeses before you go for the big yes buying decision? It makes sense, doesn’t it? It would be helpful to learn a specific technique that would begin a string of yes answers, wouldn’t it? You’re probably getting tired of all these questions, aren’t you? If you answered yes to these four questions, you’ve just proven the effectiveness of the “Tie-down” questioning technique. Let me begin by defining the term “tie-down.” A tie-down is a question at the end of a sentence that calls for a positive response. Here are some examples: “A reputation for excellent service after the sale is important in making this decision, isn’t it?” “You can see how our evening service hours would make your life easier, can’t you?” This technique works most effectively when you tie-down a positive statement about the benefits of your services that your buyer has shown interest in. The key to success with this strategy is not to over-use them so your buyer won’t suspect you’re using a technique.

Here are 18 standard tie-downs that you’ll find useful. Aren’t they? Aren’t you? Can’t you? Couldn’t it? Doesn’t it? Hasn’t she?

Don’t we? Shouldn’t it? Wouldn’t you? Haven’t they? Hasn’t he? Won’t you?

Isn’t it? Isn’t that right? Didn’t it? Wasn’t it? Won’t they? Don’t you agree?

You don’t want to use too many of them with any one client. Use just enough to get the yeses flowing. Experiment with your existing presentation until you find a comfortable number of tie-downs to use without sounding repetitive. Another way to keep these tie-downs from sounding overused is to use them in other forms: “Inverted,” and “Internal.” I’ll use the same example as above to demonstrate them. STANDARD: A reputation for excellent service after the sale is important in making this decision, isn’t it? INVERTED: Isn’t a reputation for service after the sale important in making this decision? INTERNAL: A reputation for excellent service after the sale is important, isn’t it, in making this decision? The inverted and internal tie-downs allow you to hide the fact that you’re using a technique while adding warmth to your statements. By utilizing all three types, you’ll have a good mixture of them to build into your presentation. Once you’ve learned them and worked with them, the use of tie-downs will become a speech habit that will improve your business and your earnings. Tom Hopkins is the President and Founder of Tom Hopkins International. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@TomHopkinsSales or by e-mail at TomH@dealersolutions.info.

Leadership: A Blueprint f By Dave Anderson

In visiting with thousands of leaders in dozens of industr ies over the past two dec clear: the people who are ades one thing is expected to make fast, tou gh decisions are rarely tra a result, costly “gut” decisio ined how to do so. As ns are wrongly made, or inde cision prevails in areas that company plenty. While there end up costing the is not a one-size-fits-all me chanism for making tough to my workshops have fou decisions attendees nd it useful when I presen t a series of filters to help situations realistically, and them assess tough make the tough call necess ary for the organization to move forward. While there’s not space for all the scenarios I provide in a seminar setting, the fol have wide applicability and lowing three filters should help you to immedia tely reassess and act on are dering. Some of these filte as you’ve been ponrs apply strictly to person nel assessment, and others policies, and more. address strategies, The hope vs. wish filter. Are you hoping or wishing for improvement? You can become immobilized wondering just how much longer to work with an underperforming person, strategy, policy, vendor and more. This filter may clea r it up for you: Hope is defined as ground s for believing something in the future will occur. In other words, you cou ld take the case to court and win based on evidence things are headed in the right direction: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, here are my grounds for believing this underperformer is on the right track and will become a suc cess with our company: he has develop ed this productive habit; broken this unproductive habit; made the followi ng positive attitude adjustment; develop ed this new skill, improved these two current skills, and his performance of the past three months, while only ma rginally better, is headed in the right direction. Without “grounds for beli eving”—specific evidence like that presented —you’re not hoping, you’re wishing, and wishing is an unacceptable

strategy for growing you r organization. So you can appreciate the contrast between genuine hope and foolish wis hes, consider the definition of wish: a strong desire for something to occur that probab ly will not. Obviously, the key difference between hoping and wishing is “grounds for beli eving”. You can use the same hop e vs. wish filter to assess marketing messa ges and mediums, hiring and training strateg ies and more. Consider a decision you’ve bee n stuck on: Other than the fact you want it to work out, what grounds for believing do you have that tomorrow will be any different than today? The advocate, apathetic, or saboteur filter.

When you present a change to your team—a new goal, policy, strategy, pay plan and the like—not everyone will respon d the same way. It’s important to have a filte r to discern the four primary groups of people and devise a strategy for each. Advocates. This group favors the change, and will speak well of it and you. It’s essential that you do all you can to make sure key influencers are in this group before you announce any thing major to

s ll a C h g u o T e h t g in k for Ma are, you’ll have the group overall. If they n. If they’re ctio tra ant inst momentum and ival. arr on d dea is nge cha not, the as bad as it Apathetics. This group isn’t anything to do ’t won s folk se sounds. The but they won’t derail or stall the change, True to their er. eith do anything to help it sometimes and tic, the apa name they are y’ve seen so they have reason to be: the come and nth mo many flavors of the to sit on g goin y’re the go in the past one is for real the sideline to see if this invested. Do before getting emotionally these people and h oug your job, follow thr rd. boa will come on trouble and Saboteurs. These people are skew your ly ert cov or rtly will try to ove in obvious it do efforts. Sometimes they , and othlicly pub ways by challenging you alth by ste re mo h wit it er times they do nce in ista res planting seeds of doubt and can you g” etin the “meeting after the me t. duc expect them to con and must be Saboteurs are cancers and firmly. ly ate priv addressed quickly, they’re on ent eem agr gain If you can’t m the go; espeboard you may have to let . Otherwise, nge cha cially if this is a major cers that can l ura cult as they’ll manifest , momentum, will undermine team morale dibility. cre al efforts and your person s have legitiHonest skeptics. These folk or concerns s mate questions, difference buying in ore bef up they want cleared ES NOT DO This d. war for and moving address you mean they’re saboteurs. If show and ively ect their concerns eff benand ive ect eff is g what you’re doin y the , not r. If eficial you will win them ove ks. ran ur ote can descend into the sab

ups you can devise By understanding these gro decide how to best a strategy for each and r organization. move change forward in you The “Three T’s” filter.

decades is An exercise I’ve taught for ermining det ; king thin d ase o-b rooted in zer o would zer m if you were starting over fro works This . now g you do what you’re doin of nce ma for per the ing well when evaluat : how people on your team. Here’s on your team Go through each name know about and ask, “Knowing what I now job today the “Fred”, if he applied for is “yes”, wer ans the If would I hire him?” answer the If e. nam t nex the great; go to me?” ing kidd is some version of, “are you r: filte T’s ee you can apply the Thr best option. If Train. This is the first and the training had you don’t believe they’ve r job. you do d, cee or coaching to suc ion for someTransfer. This is not an opt racter, atticha y tor one with unsatisfac more likely it’s as rgy ene or tude, drive, n a change tha they need a change of self eone who som for of scene. It is an option s the tallack he e aus bec is mis-employed ld be a wou and ent for a given position better fit elsewhere. options don’t Terminate. If the first two pervasive the work, and you’ve renounced time to —it’s ate oler T”—t and costly “fourth move on. Learn to Lead. David Anderson is the President of via For specific questions contact him alersolutions.info. a@de david at il e-ma by or n100 twitter:@daveanderso

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Take Your Pick By David Cribbs

Certainly, most of us have heard the old saying, “There are 3 kinds of people. Those who make things happen. Those who watch things happen. And those who wonder, what the heck happened?” And if most of us are honest we have probably found ourselves in all three categories. Obviously, there are many of us who would like to hang out in that first category. We often just don’t see the opportunity until it is too late to capitalize. Have you ever had a hunch or better yet even a gut instinct about an opportunity, but just missed out for one reason or another? Maybe you just failed to act. If I had just bought the house at the beginning of the boom instead of just before the crash, or if I had just bought stock in Ford when it was only a few dollars during the recession… and the list goes on, right? Well, here’s my gut instinct about where we are headed in the car business when it comes to self-branding.

Traditionally, salespeople in the car business have chosen their customers. You see, whether you are on an up system or an open floor, ultimately you go out to greet the customer. You also decide to answer the incoming call. The point is unless the customer has been referred to a salesperson they are stuck with whoever chooses to greet them. Then along comes a salesperson from category one (you remember it don’t you?). We’ll call this salesperson “the self-brander.” The self-brander sees an opportunity. In fact, I am going to argue that the self-brander may have even identified a demand in the marketplace. Customers are now choosing these self-branders as opposed to rolling the dice at the lot. Granted, when it comes right down to it how many people actually research or are even aware that choosing a salesperson is a possibility? And I would agree, not many. Which means that if you hang out in category one

at this point, you are intrigued. If you hang out in the other two categories please do us category one’s a favor and remain there. Self-branding is now a reality in the car business and as consumers begin figuring out that they have an option of choosing a salesperson versus playing Russian roulette at the lot, I’m betting the farm on the obvious choice. The biggest dividends will most certainly be experienced by those who arrive before the crowds. So, how do you invest? If I am a salesperson my first move is to study those with proven success. If I am a dealer, I am doing the same while creating a plan to accommodate the marriage. MAKE IT HAPPEN!

David Cribbs is Lead Trainer at IPD. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@DeskingDeals or by e-mail at davidc@dealersolutions.info.

Who Let That

TROJAN HORSE in THE GATES? by Don O’Neill

It’s funny sometimes how as auto industry vendors, we over complicate things. Sometimes, it’s done for the sake of that new product. Other times, it shakes the dust off of that old product. Too often it is done for the sake of the author…coining the newest “catch phrase” in our industry. So I’ll start by saying this: most of what we do as vendors is recycled verbiage, sometimes recycled technology, and too often it is just plain garbage that’s not even recycled. Same ideas, different vendor. Their “technology” is what makes them different. Their process is far better than the other guy. Terms like “granular,” “ancillary,” and “process” are always following these self-ingratiating conversations. Some GM’s and Dealer Principle’s get it, others too often drink the cool-aid looking for that magic widget that can take them from 50 new to 400 new overnight. There certainly will never be a shortage of cool-aid vendors that is for sure. So let’s talk about something simple. Something we can take and not have to create a dynamic new catch phrase to describe it. Credit Data. This, I assure you, does not change. Information in, information out. When was the last time you looked at a consumers’ credit report and said “Wow, when did they make that change to the report?” Never. So we can all agree, this Data is what drives the car deal. Can that consumer buy the vehicle they have chosen? Can they get approved for that payment? The truth all lies in the report. We can sprinkle it with glitter, put a shiny wrapper on it, but if the data doesn’t support the application, the lender isn’t buying it. In the recent years, promotional bureau access has been granted by the bureaus in limited fashion to Retail Franchise Dealers. The opportunity to pre-screen and prequalify has taken its roots in our industry. From my standpoint, it is what we championed for the last two years, putting the power of negotiation back in the hands of the dealer. But as with every sector on the globe, vendors jump in too often without the best interest of the very customers they serve. So when does your data not stay your data in the world of pre-screens and pre-qualifications? Simple. Introduce a bank to stand behind the offer.

Now I know what you are thinking: “How can this be bad for us?” Well, my friends, the Trojan horse has been left at your door step. Pretty wrapper, but the fish is still rotten underneath all that paper. Let’s start with the law, the FCRA governing pre-screening. The law is simple, if the customer passes through the pre-determined decision engine, they MUST receive a firm offer of credit. So far so good, my service customer has credit worthy of an upgrade. Excellent. Only here is where it gets dicey. Since some vendors, well, really one vendor, is offering this shiny object, this is a good thing, right? I mean you don’t have to worry about standing behind that offer anymore, right? Well, herein lies the proverbial “turd in the punchbowl.” That offer, the one you just paid almost 3 bucks to pre-screen and send that shiny, slick fulfillment piece to…that offer is from the bank, not you. Translation, look up and down your PMA, because any one of those dealers can fulfill that offer that you just paid for. Any one of them, as long as they too, have that lending relationship. You see that firm offer of credit, the one from that bank, must be honored if the consumer decides to take advantage. Hence the “FIRM OFFER OF CREDIT.” They can have it honored AT ANY FRANCHISE DEALER with an indirect lending relationship. Still sound good? Wait, it gets better. That customer data, you know, the one the bank made the offer on? Guess who now owns that data for the purpose of marketing, re-marketing, events, etc? You guessed it…. that very same bank. So now, when your competing dealer pays that bank for their pre-approved mail pieces, guess whose name is included? Right again, that same customer you just paid 3 bucks to pre-screen, fulfill, and approach. Now, did anyone see who let that Trojan Horse in the gates? Albert Einstein once said: “A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.” The moral of this data story falls right into that insightful quote. Sometimes it isn’t what the vendor tells us that we need to worry about, it is what they don’t tell us. The data, and devil, are both in the details gentlemen. Don O’Neill is the V.P. of Sales and Marketing of CreditMiner. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@CreditMiner or by e-mail at don@dealersolutions.info.

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By Mark

Do you watch business based reality TV shows? I love these shows not only for the excitement and entertainment, but for all the parallel messages they provide to your own business and life. When teams and their members excel in business there are always reasons. Likewise, there are also very specific reasons as to why people do not succeed. My message for those who are not succeeding is “Stop it.” I love watching the TV show “The Profit” with Marcus Lemonis. Have you seen this show? Mr. Lemonis is a successful and wealthy entrepreneur who goes into struggling businesses and gives them the strategies and actions to turn their businesses from failing into successful entities. I love this show for many reasons. First of all, it is extremely entertaining because of the people, their personali-

Tewar t

ties and the emotions involved. Secondly, I love the show for all the powerful lessons that are shared in what people must do to make their businesses as well as their lives successful. Last but not least, I love this show because this is the same thing I have been doing with businesses for many years so this show really hits home for me. In the TV show, Mr. Lemonis begins to investigate what he calls the 3P’s – People-Process-Product. I too use this formula but have always called it the 4P’s – People, Process, Product and Positioning. It is truly amazing but whether I am working with an automobile dealership, a bank, a manufacturer, a landscaping business or any type of business the formula of the 4P’s always applies and within reason is always the same.

Here is where it gets interesting. In every single failing business, there are critical errors being made that are easy to discover and usually easy to fix. In the vast majority of cases, the leaders and owners want to do anything but make the changes to fix those issues. After getting input from the leaders and owners as to their operations and their strengths and weaknesses it starts to become clear as to things that must be changed. I would say 95% percent of the time; the leaders and owners are so emotionally and egotistically wedded to their inventions, strategies or ideas that they would rather fail doing it their way than to make changes that would save their sinking ship. In every situation, I first try to get them to understand and take ownership of the problems and what they must do to change those problems. Even though this stage of the strategy is vitally important in the overall process, it rarely is successful at this point. In almost every situation, it becomes necessary to involve my message of, “Stop it.” At this point it becomes very important to have the leaders and owners know exactly what is wrong in all 4P’s, how they and they alone are the architects of these failings and that without change they will fail and go down with the ship because of stubbornness and ego. Emotions are high and raw. Often, there is some angry dialogue. This stage always distinguished winners from losers. When the wound of failure has been opened and rubbed with salt so to speak, winners decide to do whatever is necessary to fix the wrongs and losers keep trying to prove they are right. My question for you is which side do you fall in? Are you married to failing ideas, philosophies, processes, people and marketing? I invite you to take a pen and paper right now and test yourself. Let’s start with your people. How would you rate your people from 1-10? Nothing happens until you have the right people. I have fought business leaders and owner’s tooth and nail about hanging on to bad or unproductive people. I have heard every excuse under the sun as to why they have to keep bad and unproductive people. My message is, “Stop it.” Next in regards to your people, are you developing your team? If you hired them, you are obligated to educate them and motive them. Yes, good people are self-motivated but anyone can be demotivated without the proper training and engagement in their jobs. If people are your most valuable asset, how much time do you spend growing that asset? I invite you to use the strategy of the 3C’s – Coach, Counsel, Cut. You must coach people first. If that is not working they need counseling as to what has to happen and a time frame as to when this must occur. Next, you owe it to them, to yourself and your business

to cut them if the counsel stage does not work. I invited you to work diligently in 5 areas of success for you and your people. #1 – Do you attract, recruit, hire and retain good team members? #2 – Do you give very clear expectations to your team members for their job activities and results? #3 – Do you educate and train your team members? #4 – Do you motivate rather than demotivate your team members? #5 – Do you hold your team members accountable? What about your processes? Do you have effective process? The answer is always no when I work with failing businesses. The processes are always non-existent or severely flawed. Be willing to tweak or change your processes. What about your product? Your inventory or service that you provide must be developed and monitored to the highest level. You MUST differentiate! If you do not differentiate, you will be a commodity selling a commoditized product or service and that is a recipe for low to no sales and profits! What about the positioning? What are you truly trying to sell and to who? If your market is everybody, you don’t have a market. Does your advertising, marketing and positioning in the marketplace reflect who you are and whom you are trying to reach. Remember the M’s of positioning – Message, Marketplace, Media of delivery and Match. All of these must be right for you to succeed at your highest level of positioning. In business and life, you choose to win or you choose to lose but the choice is always yours. Success and failure is based upon expectations and tolerations. You get in life what expect to get and your life and business is based upon what you are willing to tolerate both good and bad. In every single step of your business and your life, you must be willing to take personal responsibility, to eliminate all excuses and be brutally self-aware of your missteps and failures. To be successful and to move forward, you must be willing to look in the mirror and say, “Stop it.”

Mark Tewart is the President of Tewart Enterprises Inc. For specific questions contact him via - twitter:@marktewart or by e-mail at markt@dealersolutions.info.

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