Green Pea Diary: Love That Attitude!
By Jack Bennett
The most important attribute salespeople need is a great attitude. Without it, no matter what the talent level, salespeople will either quit, or worse, they'll stay with you! They'll sell 6-10 cars a month, if they're lucky, and demoralize everyone who will listen. The positive thinkers with great attitudes will sell cars. With negative attitudes comes negative talk. Have you ever heard one of your stars standing at the coffee machine saying how great the automobile business is? No! And why not? Because he/she is too busy selling cars. So what we need to do is get the new hire out of the box on a great note.
The only way I know how to do that is by having salespeople set goals. I know it's something we all talk about a lot, but what I want to share is a simple way to get your salespeople setting realistic, attainable goals. With that comes a great attitude and with a great attitude comes loftier goals.
Most dealership and management goal setting ideas revolve around the car business. How many cars are you going to sell this month? How many referrals will you see? Goal setting should be much more. It has to be. For salespeople to take ownership of their ideas, dreams and future, they need to look at obtaining things that are important to them!
Most people get up in the morning and don't have an attitude one way or another. But as soon as they start their daily routine, their attitude starts to form. Everything they feel and do from one minute to the next is dictated by what just happened. They cut themselves shaving (for those who shave) and their attitude goes down. Ahh damn! It's going to be one of those days! As soon as they say that, they have decided how their day will be! But if they decide not to go back to bed and move forward with their day, the next good thing they incur will improve their attitude. And so on. By the time they get to the dealership, they have been on an emotional roller coaster for two hours! When they meet and greet their first customer, there's no telling what kind of attitude they'll have, and that can be a disaster.
They need to take action, have direction and a reason to get up in the morning. They need goals; bigger, more important goals than, "I'm going to sell twelve cars this month."
Here's where your management staff must help. In the next morning sales meeting, have everyone take out a piece of paper. (Note: How many of your salespeople actually bring a notepad to the meetings? Something to think about, isn't it?)
1) Have them make a list of ten things they want to do with their lives. "I want to take a trip to Rome," or "I'd like to have season tickets for the local NFL team." Start with ten, but a good list should have 20-25. They should be family and socially oriented, as well as work-related.
2) Then have them put a realistic date next to each one. "I want to sell 25 cars in a week," is not realistic, but "I want to sell 25 in the next 6 months," is not either.
3) Lastly, have them prioritize each one. That way they can see on paper what's important to them.
A goal is a measurable objective in a predetermined amount of time. Goals must be looked at in terms of short, mid, and long. If someone wants to own his/her own store in five years, that's a long-term goal. Some mid-term goals may be management classes, or a position as sales manager and then GM. A short-term goal would be to study and learn about the business and to sell.
Once your people have done this little exercise, their lives will really become much more orderly and they will find themselves accomplishing more and getting lucky.
"Luck is when preparedness meets opportunity, because if you are not prepared, the opportunity will only make you look foolish."
If you don't know what you want, you will never get it. If your salespeople have a reason to come to work, the little things like a shaving cut, won't ruin their day.
Good Luck and Good Selling
A 25-year veteran of the automotive industry, Jack Bennett is the author of "You Can and Should Sell Cars." jbennett@dealeronline.com
