Compensation, regardless of the position in a dealership, is always a hot topic.  How much can I afford to pay? What level of performance do I have the right to expect as an owner from my people? How do I know whether I am paying too much, or just as bad, not enough, and then risk losing my good people to a competitor?  While I could do a day-long program on compensation programs for dealerships, [...]

Who is your typical customer? Do you know? Grab a piece of paper and write down the answers to the following questions about your “typical” customer. What is their gender? What is their average age? What is their favorite radio station? Got it? Now, next to that I want you to write your gender, your age and your favorite radio station. Do the two look anything alike? If you are like most owners or managers, [...]

Regardless of whether it’s service, parts, sales, or rental, each department has various roles that need to be filled to successfully take care of customers and to make sure the dealership is growing as projected. In the past, I have discussed both the service and parts roles; this week I want to focus specifically on sales. Depending upon the size of your dealership, one person may take on several of these roles or you may [...]

When you think about sales people, what comes to mind? For most people, it’s words like slick, slimy, greasy, or con artist. Now tell me, who wouldn’t want to be a sales person when those words come to mind? As you are looking for salespeople, I think most dealers we work with would agree that the words above aren’t words that they would want to be said of their own sales people. So, how do [...]

Today’s largest customer segments, Baby Boomers and Millennials, are influenced by attractive, interactive showrooms. Their purchasing decisions are influenced by your brand as well as the layout and overall appearance of your showroom and outside displays. Branding is one of the most important elements of any dealership. In the past, dealers tended to let their manufacturer’s brand be their brand. Today, things are different. Your customers have instant access online to your competitors, so you [...]

Successful sales professionals take care to develop long-term relationships with their customers. They understand that the only way to consistently generate orders and increase business is through customer loyalty. This loyalty is built by continuing to monitor and cultivate the customer’s satisfaction. Document the Selling Process.  In order to structure a long-term relationship, you need to document the selling process and ensure your company is providing good customer service. You will also want to understand [...]

Great sales people aren’t great because they know everything possible about the products they sell. They are great because they have the ability to transfer the excitement for the product to the customers interested in the equipment they are selling. While it’s important to know as much as you can about the equipment you sell, that alone won’t help you increase your sales. Your goal is to present your products in a way that creates [...]

Sales- The Qualifying Process When selling, I’ve always found it useful to have a process in place to help determine if a prospect is someone I can truly turn into a customer. This is why qualifying is important; it allows you to determine how much time you should invest, up-front, with a prospect.   While you will find situations where a prospect doesn’t meet all your qualifying criteria, that doesn’t mean you simply blow off the [...]