I’ve been thinking…

Painting the Picture… What they haven’t told you about your walk-around presentation! How to build a dramatic walk-around presentation that will help the customer feel good about making a decision today.

Comprehension aids: One of the most important ‘learning’ tools we have is our sight. The majority of our senses and our feeling arrive in our brain’s first as a vision. About 87% of what we comprehend, comes from “Seeing” and the other 13% is from our other senses. Once we have the vision of something in our brains, it becomes easier for us to accommodate one of our other senses to adopt it and embrace it. For example, if I say the word “luxurious” to you , you will probably recall a time when you felt luxurious or sounded luxurious, everything you saw seemed t be luxurious to you. If I say the word “relaxed” to you, you will probably recall a time or place or event when you felt relaxed and the world was at peace with you and you were in a relaxed mood. Most customers coming into your store, have a certain level of anxiety. The sooner (and better) you start to lower their anxiety level, the sooner a relationship starts. The sooner the relationship starts, the sooner you will be able to appear to them as someone they can like and trust.

People study before they arrive at your door: People read and study more that ever about a new car, before even coming into the showroom. Then they Read some more. Then they Study some more. They like what they Read and See and Hear. It makes them feel good. It makes them dream about owning a New Vehicle. People buy things whey they feel good. They read and study the information the factory prints about the vehicle, and they feel good. As we all know, most people don’t buy a car for what the does, but rather what the car does for them. It makes them feel good and look good. People don’t buy 22’s or 23’s or 26’s on their cars because it makes the car ride and handle better. “It looks better, man!” “Look at me, I have a nice ride now!” Now, with all this in mind, please don’t forget one of the time-tested rules for our society: “People enjoy driving a New Car… they just don’t particularly enjoy the buying process. ” Why not help make them feel good about the situation and the vehicle, when they come into the showroom? It’s very simple to do… here’s how you do it…

My challenge to you: Pick up a brochure on one of the most popular vehicles you sell. Start at the front on the brochure and read it until you come to a word, in the brochure, that is not in your “selling vocabulary” that is used to describe the vehicle. Write down that word, and then write down all the words that are not included in your vocabulary, when you do a walk-around on that particular vehicle. If you are not good at memorizing things, use a highlighter and make the words you think are pretty cool stand out. Then take the brochure out with you on the lot and use it as a selling aid, with the customer. If you don’t want them to ask you if they can have it, punch 3 holes in it and put it into a small 3-ring binder, and write “Sales Info” on the front in real big letters. Take one of those “new” words every day, starting tomorrow, and add it to your vocabulary. Practice the “new” word, with another professional at your store. Add another word the next day and the next, until almost all the words in the brochure are in your vocabulary. I say almost, because there are some words in there, I have no idea what they actually mean.

The results: Your efforts with this will help you produce a very dramatic and dynamic presentation you can offer to everyone you greet. It will add a little zip to your style and help build confidence in the customer, that “This person knows what they are talking about… they must know what they are talking about… I read about that feature/item on line or in the brochure!”

Start Today: Go on – start today – get better tomorrow! Ya’ know, the sad thing is… only 2 out of 100 of you will do this (or something like this) and try to improve yourself. You should be one of those 2 people taking the road to improve yourself. If you spend an hour per day, doing something to improve yourself, and/or you selling skills, just one hour, in about 3 years, you will an expert or pretty close to it. It sure beats sitting around listening to the other folks at your store complain about the weather and management, and the factory and the service department and the parts department and the Used Car Manager. Do yourself a favor, when the “Old Dogs” start complaining about your store, get up and leave – go somewhere else, where there is “positive” air for you to beathe. You wouldn’t stay in a forest fire, and breathe the smoke, so don’t stay where the air is not healthy.

Thank you for your time. See you later on down the road!

Sam Milton – the King of Auto Sales

I’ve been thinking…

By now, you have already read and (hopefully) digested my first 2 sessions on Big Dreams!  Hopefully, you have laid the baseline of thoughts and actions, to get started.  You know what the sad thing is – only about 2 out of 100 people will take action, on a challenge like this.  Whether it is me or someone else, get started and do something.  Start small, if you don’t fully believe you could actually start up a $90 million dollar corporation.  Dream that you could actually set up a small delivery company or an intra-city messenger service or a dry cleaning or grocery delivery service.  Contact 100 businesses and ask what they could use to make their businesses better.  Does you dealership have a list of drivers available for dealer trades?  Could you organize them and seek other dealers that could use this service…. “Sam’s One Call and We Haul!”

There are lots of truck drivers with flat-bed trucks out there just looking for another car or two to haul every week.  There are many hundreds and hundreds of people who commute to their workplaces.

• Could you organize them into a business that would provide transportation in a minivan every day, and save them the miles/wear and tear and frustration of driving themselves?
• What about someone who has just wrecked their car?  They have to get to work the next day.
• Could you start a small business that would handle the arrangements of getting a rental car set up and delivered to their office?

You have time to do this!  Call 5 businesses a day for 20 days.  Record the information you collect and then analyze that info to see if a viable business could be developed.  Just because a business owner is operating a successful business, doesn’t mean that they stopped dreaming… always remember – there are lots of business owners that have dreams and ideas too, but in a lot of cases, they don’t have the initiative or time to act on them.  That is where you come in.  Contact a retirees group in your area and see if there is someone in that group that is looking for “something to do” and see if they would fit into your plans.  They would offer a lot of experience and would probably work for slightly less than someone needing to support his/her family with their income.

3.  See your dream – Most outstanding achievers have a consistent habit.  They “visualize” things!  They have the ability to view themselves walking in their new high-rise office complex, driving their new Mercedes 600 Series sedan, vacationing in the Caribbean and they can actually feel the new carpet in their new 5 bedroom home, while they are actually sitting in the tiny bedroom of their 900 square foot apartment.  In a dramatic, remarkable test, a basketball coach, who was having challenges with his team’s free-throw shooting performance, devised an unusual process, to help his team.  He divided his team into 3 groups.  Team One – shot 100 free throws every day.  Team 2 – did nothing.  Team 3 sat in a semi-dark, very quiet room, and pictured themselves going through the entire motions of grabbing the ball, walking up to the free-throw line, looking at the back side of the rim, and shooting the ball 100 times.  He did this for 10 days.  Team 1 showed 20% improvement.  Team 2 showed no improvement.  Team 3 showed a 19% improvement.  So, the outcome of this time-limited little drill, was that if someone could actually picture themselves going through the actual motions and tasks of a certain activity, the results would be beneficial to the participants.

Thanx for your time.  See you later on down the road!!!

Sam Milton – The King of Auto Sales

I’ve been thinking…

One of the customer’s best kept secrets!

Today’s customers want to be treated professionally and politely. “Are you warm and fuzzy?” I need everyone to stop today and change shoes. Hold on… Don’t go out and rip the shoes off the “Newbie”! But do tell them to be prepared to have their tie cut off, if they are wearing one, when they deliver their FIRST CAR – glad that tradition is still alive!! I was at a store in Dallas last week, and there were about 50 or so “bottoms” of ties ever-so-proudly displayed in the bull-pen.

The shoes thing… what I am talking about is you taking a close look at your store from the customer’s eyes. The next time you drive into your store, drive into the store, and look at it from the customer’s viewpoint. How about the display of new and used vehicles? Are they displayed professionally/neat/clean/accessible? Tomorrow, walk into your showroom, and take a look at what you see -

• Is your store ready to do business?
• Is it neat and clean?
• Uncluttered?
• Friendly?
• Warm?
• Inviting?
• “Professional?”

Sometimes, we get caught up in running the business and just doing “car-stuff” and occasionally, we fail to look at our business introspectively. What does your store look like to a total stranger walking in your doors?

What I am saying here is, are you giving yourself every advantage possible to invite the customer to relas a little bit, before someone “Ups” them. I know there are still stores out there that mgmt/ownerships insists the salespeople “Up” someone before they even get their foot on the ground, at their car… and if that is the way you still choose to do operate your professional business… then it is what it is.

I talk repeatedly about “assuming the sale”. Ask and look today or tomorrow. Are you ready to do business? Are you professional?

Thanx for your time – see you later on down the road!

Sam Milton – The King of Auto Sales
813 240-8919
sam.milton@sonicautomotive.com

I’ve been thinking…

Hello everyone..

Here is Part 2 of my exclusive 7 part series on Big Dreams!

2. Believe it! - Sure… your deams need to be big (otherwise – why shoot for it – right?) and they/it need(s) to be something that is seemingly beyond your capacities and capabilities.  However, your dream must be somewhat realistic.  I mean, you might be an above-average 48 year old producer in the automotive sales world, but the dream of you becoming a world renowned brain-surgeon or a Formula 1 racing star, might be just possibly be slightly out of reach.  Henry Ford was 54 when he finally started Ford Motor Co. and made a success of it.  Vince Lombardi was well into his 50’s by the time he made it to the NFL, and there was Sam Walton.  It is possible someone without a high school or college education could start a small business producing widgets and get a contract from a major manufacturer for $70 million dollars.  It is probably not a realistic dream of someone who is 89, in failing health, going out and attempting to set a new Olympic World Record for weight lifting in heavy weight class.  Maybe the 89 year old could start a widget corporation, and they should probably start soon, maybe today.  Put it in writing and look at it every day.  Think about the things that haven’t been done, ask you friends or neighbors or co-workers what they think about.  What if someone would develop or invent a way to … …

Carry it with you, in writing and in your head.  Picture yourself becoming a raging success.  Oh and by the way – YOU have to be your biggest believer because at some point – it may get lonely out there on Dream Boulevad.  So – your dream should be a well thought out, realistic, authentic goal.  Everybody had to start somewhere, so go on – start right now, picture your believable dream and start today!

Thanx!

Sam I Am

I’ve been thinking….

Hello everyone!

You know – life is funny sometimes……  I have received so many replies to one of my latest articles, concerning Goal Setting, I thought I owed it to you, to follow up with some additional info, dealing with moving ahead in your career, and your life. I ask you today:

• Are you “Struggling with Achievement”?
• Want more, but not sure where or how to start?
• So how do big dreamers and achievers actually get started?

It would  be a pretty fair statement, to say that most great ideas and deeds start with a “dream“?

Could most of the achievements we know actually get broken down into a process? Maybe it’s not quite that simple, or even that easy. I feel that the people who achieve great things started somewhere. Maybe the process would have some different steps or levels attached to it. I think the Achievement part is the actualization of a vision or visions. It is moving your thought process from inside your head and heart to you legs and hands. If you can picture something in your head, and can actually form the image of that idea becoming a reality, you are well on your way! Let’s take a closer look today, at moving ideas and dreams from internal to external.  I have narrowed this stuff down (only 7 Steps) to a fairly simple process, that I think you will enjoy!

This is Part 1 of a 7 Part series.

Here goes:

1. Dream it - Everything begins with something happening in the heart and mind.  All great achievements began in the mind of one person.  They dared to dream, to actually feel that it would be possible.  Take some introspective time to ask yourself: “What if?” Think Big! Do not let any negative thoughts enter into your head, while you are doing this. You want to be a dreamer.

Dream of the possibilities for your family, yourself, and for the people you will affect.  If you have had a dream that has become ‘cold’ – re-ignite the flames of that dream and re-kindle the fires.  Life is too short to let time pass you by (see my recent 21 Keys to Success article)