Laying new floor! So what? What’s the difference?

My latest Facebook Live video had to do with laying new flooring in our house. We are about to put our house up for sale and build a house so we are starting to do some things to spruce it up a little. Now, there’s not much wrong with our house since it was built in 2011 or 2012 but sometimes you have to change some things in order to get the most out of it while possibly changing someone’s perception.

Now, laying down flooring can be somewhat expensive and labor intensive so why would we decide to do this particular upgrade before selling? Well, for starters our house had a lot of carpet and we all know that carpet doesn’t take long to get dirty especially if you have children or pets. So, if there is dirty carpet in the house that could immediately change what people perceive the house to be while walking through the house especially if they think that the first expense they will incur would be quite expensive. So, many times just putting out a little money in advance and investing it in replacing the flooring could make a huge difference in one’s buying discision. Painting could also help which we are doing as well.

What is my point you might ask? Well, much like changing the flooring in a house could change someone’s perception and possibly add value, changing someone’s perception of you could come by just changing something small about what you do or possibly change a characteristic about yourself through effort! It may take some time to change someone’s perception of you but you have to start somewhere. If you’re known as a liar then stop lying! If you are known as dishonest or a thief then stop stealing! It’s that simple! Many times you start doing things every once in a while because you get away with it then before you know it that becomes a habit and then you’re doing it all the time.

I know what you might be thinking! You’re thinking that you don’t care what people think about you! I think that in itself is a lie because most people want to be liked and respected but let’s say that’s not the case for you. If you’re in commission sales of any sort you must care about what people think about you because nowadays you are not the only game in town or in the area like you may have been 10 or 20 years ago. Today a customer can search, price and compare a few different business and sales people online without leaving their house and much of what they find online can determine where they do business! If they search and see that your place of business has a bunch of 1 star reviews doesn’t that affect you if you work there? Sometimes it might affect you directly or indirectly but you must do all you can to change their perception even if you’re not named in the review or source.

The moral of this short lesson is to make sure that what people think and say about you is mostly positive because that could make the difference in your future business! It may not 100% affect you right now but it could catch up with you down the road maybe with your current place of business or possibly a new place that you’re looking to apply. Remember that even business owners and managers may search you online before they make that final decision whether to hire you or not because ultimately your online presence is your new resume whether it’s good or bad!

There's no Participation Trophy in car sales!

One thing I think has hurt the way our children act and the way many people act is because of their sense of entitlement. What I mean by that is that many people, including kids, have developed the sense that they deserve to get something they didn't earn. It happens everyday in this country and it's only getting worse. Also, when we are talking about kids, giving them a trophy for participating in a sport or something like that doesn't really help them want to do better and practice harder. If they already know that they are going to get a "prize" at the end then what is the point of them even trying or developing skills that can carry them further in the real world. Now, granted, I am not talking about everyone or every situation but you get the point.

Now, I need to tie that into the car business for a minute (you probably knew I would)! In this line of sales, and many other sales positions, you don't get paid unless you make a sale! That's where I am going with this and that is that in many sales positions you don't get a Participation Trophy just for "trying". It is very discouraging sometimes but that's part of the sales industry. I know, you might say, "well, if you don't like it then change jobs". In which I would reply, "It's easier said than done". Number 1, and foremost, sales jobs pay, on average, more than most other jobs, unless of course you have some type of fancy degree and even then you might be in some type of sales position. Number 2, depending on the area you live in there may be a scarcity of jobs that will pay you what you need to make or think you deserve. So, running out and finding another job is really out of the question unless some great opportunity just falls in your lap. Besides, I actually like what I do though I do have bad days, weeks and months from time to time.

Now, having said all that, I would like to make a point that is of vital importance to me and many others in this position. That is the fact that if you know someone or are friends or acquaintances of someone in the sales business please do your best to give them your business because, as I said, we don't get a Participation Trophy at the end of the day. Every time I see someone I know come into the dealership and someone else is selling them I get a little aggravated especially when they know I work here.(It's hard not to know where I work with the amount of stuff I have online) Yea, I know, not everyone that you know wants to deal with someone they know and I get that but you must understand the way I take it. I look at it as you are taking money straight from my pocket and handing it directly to someone else kind of like how you pay out taxes. And usually it doesn't affect anyone but one person and that's the one that didn't get the sale. I'm not saying that I "deserve" everyone's business but I'd at least like the opportunity. Listen, if you work for an hourly wage or if you even have a salary or retirement coming in then you may not get what I am saying and I get that but don't take those in the sales profession for granted. Yea, I know, many are not honest and like to deceive people but that's not all of us. It really helps that if you are use to dealing with someone or have bought from someone in particular in the past that you try to get up with them first. There is a big turn over in the this business but it doesn't hurt to ask if "so and so" still works here.

So, in closing, I'd like to reiterate the fact that there isn't a Participation Trophy in the sales industry. Yea, there may be some great opportunities that may come about through sales but the fact of the matter is that we don't get paid unless we sell. So, do me a favor, if you know someone in the sales industry do your best to do business with them. A familiar face is always easier to deal with than someone you don't know.

Thanks for reading!

Fist Pump Guy out!

#thefistpumpguy #noparticipationtrophieshere

Fishing with the wrong bait?

Many know that I have been training on Building your Reputation and how important it is in any kind of sales position. I have been tying in different topics to try to show you how to build your reputation effectively. Today I am going to briefly talk about the topic I trained on yesterday in the meeting that I am certain is vitally important in sales but especially in the car business.
Selling cars can be easy and hard at times but far too often salespeople make it harder than it needs to be especially new salespeople. It's made hard by a simple mistake and that is they might be Fishing With The Wrong Bait. What do I mean by that? I will tell you in a second. But let me ask you something first. Have you ever spent an excessive amount of time on the lot showing a vehicle, or multiple vehicles, and get the customer inside and they do not close? There can be a few different reasons why they don't close but many times we blame it on the price or they may even say it's the price. The fact is that many times, though we or they might say it's the price, we are on the wrong product/vehicle.
Fishing With The Wrong Bait means you are trying to sell them the wrong product/vehicle. If you haven't gone through the correct steps and asked the right questions then you can find yourself trying to build value in the wrong thing. That's not to say that you should always give too much credibility to all they say they "want" as I said in my last post but that you should listen and then follow their request with "what about this particular vehicle are you attracted to?" or "how important is this feature to you to be on your next vehicle?". These are just examples of coarse but you do need to know why and what they really need so that you make sure you are showing the right thing because you don't want to be on too much vehicle but you also don't want to be on too little vehicle. You can also ask them "what do you like most/least about your current vehicle?" or "what would you like to have on your new ride that you don't have now?" and other questions like that but you also have to take into account what their budget may be if you know because too much vehicle will blow them out to another dealership, probably to buy the exact lesser model car you are trying to switch them back to.
Another important step to make sure you are on the right product/vehicle is to model up/model down them. This means that you need to either show them a model up from what they are wanting to look at or show them a model down or maybe even do both. The reason is because that it helps you build more value in what you are really trying to sell them or it helps you find out what is really important to them, based on what they told you they wanted, and it sets you up with a switch vehicle or two just in case the payment is too much or the money isn't right for them then you can say something like "you remember that other model I showed you? It would be closer to your range/payment than this model is". This will help you close them on the car they are in finance on or it will help you switch them to the car you probably thought they should've went with in the first place. Either way you do two things, you find out what is really most important to them and you build an extreme amount of credibility and value in yourself which is also highly important in any sales position which ultimately leads to building your Reputation and gives you more/higher Results/Rewards.
My ending thought is this, make sure you are asking the right questions and showing the right amount of interest in your customers. If you actually listen then you will have an easier time distinguishing what they really need and an easier time picking out the right product/vehicle. Remember, you are the professional so act like it. They look to you for answers many times and you need to be able to solve their problem and answer their questions. Many times the customer needs to be led, if not every time, because all too often they do not even know what they want or what's best for them. It's up to you to make the difference which is why it's so important to make sure that you are Fishing With The Right Bait!

Thanks for reading!

Fist Pump Guy out!

#thefistpumpguy #fishingwiththewrongbait #buildingyourreputation #getsresults #followthefistpumptoenterprise

Pleading Your Case

I have recently been training on building your reputation and how it important it is especially in the sales industry and how it leads to Results/Rewards that you desire. I also trained on the ability to adapt or change into what the customer needs you to be through The Phone Booth Salesman. Then I trained on QDR which was Toyota's focus when they started building vehicles and continues today and how using these same guidelines to show people your Quality, that you are Dependable and that you are certainly Reliable.

Yesterday I fed off of these training topics and taught on Pleading Your Case to the customer. Much like how an attorney gathers the facts and is able to build a story to convince a jury or a judge we, in the sales industry, must be able to do the same. We start off by greeting the client/customer and then gathering facts by asking questions and finding out what the customer's true needs are and not necessarily their wants. It's fine to listen to all of their wants and desires but sometimes they aren't necessarily things they MUST have and it's our job to find out what they need instead of all they want. Simply put, if a customer comes in and says " I want so and so fully loaded" doesn't always mean they want the top of the line. They may just mean they want alloys and leather which may be on a lesser priced vehicle. It does no good to try and build value in something a customer doesn't need unless, of coarse, it's the only one you have and then you need to exceed the value. This is just an example of coarse and I'm just using it to show you what I mean. 

My whole point is that in order to build value and sell a car you must be able to Plead Your Case about whatever vehicle you are showing and in order to do that effectively you must ask the right questions and gather the correct facts. If you don't gather the right facts then you may be wasting your time and therefore you may be Pleading Your Case on the wrong item. If you are able to put them on the right item and then Plead Your Case effectively it will eventually end in a deal and therefore it will build your Reputation and Respect because, sometimes, those are more important than the monetary Reward/Result. 

Thanks for reading!

Fist Pump Guy out!

#thefistpumpguy #buildingyourreputation #pleadyourcase #getresults 

Customer service matters!

Had a good training class this a.m. Thank you Kevin for your preparation and input. We mainly discussed how to better streamline the finance dept and try and speed up the process without hitting snags. Having paperwork filled out properly and completely is a must in order to make sure your customer isn't waiting too long. If the finance dept gets held up because of your mistake then please don't blame the finance dept when your deal doesn't close.

Customer service has to always be in mind in whatever business you might be in. We are in a time, in this country especially, when we are in a big hurry. We are usually more concerned with more and more numbers instead of focusing on individual needs. Yes, it is difficult sometimes when everything is based on budgets and goals but we have to be very careful not to just treat the customer/client like another number. Part of the problem is because businesses have become so cut throat and another cause is because in order to get a decent paycheck you have to sell more units or contracts. Granted, that's where we've put ourselves. We've trained the customer to be more price conscious and want to shop more. The problem with that is that when a customer doesn't purchase local they are doing themselves a great injustice, though they may not realize it. We have to make sure they are our focus and not the #s. Yes we need to strive to hit the numbers but it should never be in sacrifice of customer service like some of the big retailers!

Thanks for reading!

Fist Pump Guy out!