Can you believe this is happening?

You know what amazes me? Since COVID, I’ve noticed that your salespeople and managers are getting lazy.

What comes to mind is that they’re not test-driving with the customers.

What am I talking about? They’re letting customers go by themselves most of the time. Which is insane!

Please check to see if this is happening in your dealership or not. If the customers are going by themselves, there’s bound to be something about the car that they can’t figure out.

Whether it’s the technology or some features, if they don’t understand something, we tend not to like it.

I rented a car in Tasmania.

It was a beautiful Mercedes; they just told me “Bay 19” and gave me the keys and a little pack.

I got in the car but I don’t know Mercedes. I could not figure out for quite a while where the handbrake was, and it turns out it was on the driver’s side door, but I didn’t like the car.

If I think about it, I’m also not that fond of Mercedes because of that one example.

Whereas if a salesperson or somebody was with me to show me the car a little bit, I’d probably love them right now and may even own one.

That’s how amazing it is when a salesperson goes with a customer.

Of course, there’s always an exception to the rule.

If they’re juggling four or five customers on the weekend, for example, it may not be possible. But as a general rule of thumb, whenever possible, they’ve got to go on the test drive and, you know, think about the rapport.

They’re missing out on all sorts of stuff. The second test drive, I’m okay with, but the first one, they’ve got to go with the customer.

Make sure your salespeople are doing this and make sure your managers are behind it.

‘Cause they have gotten lazy. There’s no question. Alright, rant over. Bye.

If you need help with the fundamentals, simply reach out to us at support@automotivestars.com.au

I haven’t spoken publicly about this before, but I can’t keep it quiet any longer.

You’ve probably been doing well business-wise since Covid hit. For quite a while, there were no discounts, and used car prices skyrocketed.

Those were the happy days, but the market is changing, and for some, it already has.

The big issue? You’ve been relying on order-takers, not salespeople.

Your experienced staff haven’t been selling; they’ve been taking orders.

It’s the same story with your newer team members.

The newbies mistake taking orders for good salesmanship, but that’s far from the truth. They need to learn how to sell, because they actually don’t know how to.

A lot of people are saying the market’s going to look like, pre-COVID (2019.) At this stage, I agree with that.

I ask you to speak to your inexperienced people. Ask them how many ways they know to create urgency.

I’ll be extremely surprised if they know more than one.

‘There’s one left.’ This doesn’t even work anymore and your customers and clients are way too savvy for that.

Your sales team needs at least half a dozen strategies on how to create urgency.

And, this is just one small part of selling.

Another example I can give you…

In the last two weeks, we’ve onboarded two new clients facing these exact challenges.

I’m here to urge you not to ignore this problem, pretending everything will be fine. It won’t be, not unless your team gets the proper training.

Just last week, during a remote training session, two salespeople shared that their dealerships have been quiet.

They’ve been instructed to call service leads, and customers coming out of leases. Both salespeople told me “But my manager hasn’t told me what to say.”

When they asked, both their managers replied with – “Just call.”

This reveals a gap; sometimes, even managers don’t know what to do or say.

Fortunately, the salespeople had me provide them with effective word tracks for their calls. But think about it—if your team lacks confidence in their actions or words, they’re likely to avoid making those calls, or it’s not going to be successful.

So, this is my advice.

Get your team trained whether that’s with my company or elsewhere.

There’s a tremendous opportunity at the moment, and that includes your finance department. However, it requires collaboration between your business managers and sales staff.

This is critical, and more dealerships don’t do this well compared to those that do.

Without a well-trained sales and finance team, a lot of business is being left on the table for your competitors to take.

My message today is simple –  Don’t procrastinate on getting your team trained.

Take action, and you’ll be very glad you did.

If you need help with the fundamentals, simply reach out to us at support@automotivestars.com.au

This lesson from Forster might just turn you into a champion, but why is it that the best lessons usually come after a defeat or a setback?

Last week, I competed at a prestigious snooker tournament in Forster. I even made it onto NBN (Channel 9 news) on the Friday.

Players from across Australia duked it out for the prize money, and the real gem? The winner gets to play at the Crucible in Sheffield, a dream akin to a tennis player at Wimbledon or a golfer at Augusta.

At Forster, the initial format spanned two days with 4-5 players in each group, totaling 12 groups. Everyone played against each other in a round-robin, with two from each group advancing to the knockout stages. I made it through. So far, so good.

Then came the draw. My opponent? Glen Wilkinson, an ex-pro and one of Australia’s finest. At 10 am, we kicked off a best-of-5 frames match. Glen, still sharp, looked ready to rumble.

After Glen snagged the fourth frame, we were tied at 2-2. The pressure was palpable. But somehow, I stepped up and clinched a tense 3-2 victory.

After this, it went all wrong…

Right after stowing my cue, Frank Dewens, the long-standing president of Australian Snooker, dropped the bombshell: “Adrian, your next match is soon; you’re on the third table.”

Not what I wanted to hear. After nearly 2.5 hours at the table, relief mingled with disorientation. I needed a break, and food.

Down at the club, I ordered, but before my meal arrived, Frank sent me a text: “Adrian, you’re up.”

The food landed as I left. I grabbed a handful, stuffed it in my mouth, and headed upstairs to play.

It wasn’t pretty.

Interestingly, I didn’t feel like playing. The first two frames were a very tactical so I was bored. Despite playing better against Glen and in other matches, I found myself down 2-0, staring elimination in the face.

To get in the zone, I even jumped around in the disabled toilets attempting to get my energy and focus up.

And it worked.

In frame 3, I nailed it. In frame 4, I was nearly 40 points ahead with a red poised to clinch the frame and even the score.

The red rolled around the pocket and didn’t drop.

My opponent seized the moment, winning the frame and the match.

So, what’s the lesson I was talking about?

In my last match, I didn’t feel like playing. Do you always feel like selling? As a manager, do you always feel like being the best version of yourself, the positive leader your staff needs daily?

No, you don’t. You’re human.

But here’s the kicker: it shouldn’t matter (to a degree) how you feel because it’s about the fundamentals.

What do I mean?

The reason why I didn’t play well in that last match and missed certain shots is not just because of my mindset, but something happened to my technique.

So, if you’re not selling or leading as well as you want, it’s often down to the fundamentals of what you’re doing or not doing.

Lately, I’ve heard from various dealerships that certain salespeople are skipping vital steps in the sales process. It leads me to think: Do they know ‘why’ these things are so important?

Take building rapport, for instance. You might be a natural, but many salespeople miss the mark. They dive straight into the product or service without getting people onside.

Here’s my advice: find one thing in common with every prospect that you speak to. Some will be easier than others but we have to adapt. It’s easy to get rapport with people like ourselves but if somebody is not like you, it becomes more challenging.

For example, if you’re familiar with the Four Buyer Types: With Demanding Don, you have to be quick to the point, efficient and effective in what you do, and they’ll love you.

Whereas somebody like a Reasonable Ruth or perhaps a Steady Eddie, is not going to like that. They want you to spend the time to get to know them and have a nice conversation with you and it’s so important to them that they feel comfortable in your presence.

The message here is don’t let your feelings impede your progress.  Even if you are hungry and tired, stick to the sales process, and don’t skip the fundamentals.

If you need help with the fundamentals, simply reach out to us at support@automotivestars.com.au

Download the full transcript here.

Have you ever noticed that, whether you’re in a cafe or sometimes a restaurant, you can tell who the owner is?

Even in the dealership, often you can tell who the boss is.

How is that? How can you tell?

Well, I think there’s a few reasons.

One, how they hold themselves or how they walk. Often it’s because how much they care, the courtesy or the customer service they give you. The extra mile that they will go to and how friendly they are.

I had an experience just recently in the Apple store.

I spent the weekend in Sydney, I wanted an adapter.

Now, I have the adapter already but I left it at home, and I explained to the gentleman at the store that I needed the adapter.

He actually said to me, “We have a money-back guarantee, I think it was 14 or 21 days. If you wanna buy it and return it, you can do that.”

Now, was that thinking like an owner? Of course not!

I couldn’t believe my eyes, especially in such a store.

But it’s things like how you talk to your customers.

You know how precious are the leads?

If you were the owner, how would you look after them?

Would you look after them differently than what you do now?

The way you talk to your peers and the help that you give or don’t give them, the way that you ask for help? There’s so many different variables to this.

But my message today is “think like an owner,” not like this guy.

Because when you think like an owner, not only do you get the results but people notice.

I guarantee if you think and especially “act like an owner,” then you’ll go far.

If you need help with that, simply reach out to us at support@automotivestars.com.au

Download the full transcript here.

Pre-suasion: What is it?

As you know, I talk a lot about the power of persuasion, influence really. Everything that we do every conversation that we have with our customers, with our peers, with your staff, partners, etc. It’s all influence. It’s all persuasion.

I read a book by Dr. Robert Cialdini and it’s called Pre-Suasion. Not persuasion, but pre-suasion.

What’s that all about? I’ll give you a couple of examples.

Pre-suasion is what happens before we speak, before we do what we do before our actions and so forth. For example, one day I was in a shopping centre there were these bubble-iced tea places that are pretty popular at the moment. This particular place had thick, humongous cotton wool buds.

It looked exactly like clouds, and there were heaps of them. When you look at it, you felt relaxed like you wanted to go in there just to chill out. That’s pre-suasion. They’re setting the scene for how they want you to feel.

Think about a car ad, if it’s mountainous driving perhaps the pre-suasion is “Hey, you buy our car, you’re gonna have a more adventurous fun life.” That’s pre-suasion.

Applying Pre-suasion

The author, Robert Cialdini, sat in with some salespeople as they were going out; this particular example was with insurance. It was in people’s homes.

Interestingly enough, there was one man whose sales were double of everybody else in the team, consistently. When he shadowed him and the other salespeople, they all followed the same sales process. Even the best person did the same. But there was one difference.

He’s in somebody’s home and what he would do, he would act dumb on purpose and pretend that he’d forgotten something and left it in his car.

He’d be sitting there in the kitchen at the kitchen table with Mr and Mrs Jones, and he’d say, “Oh, I need to get something that’s important to show you from my car. Do you mind if I let myself out of your home and back into your home, Mrs. Jones?” And they would always say yes. Occasionally, sometimes they had to give him a key to get back in.

If you’re letting someone out and back into your home, even giving them a key to your home, what do you tend to have with that person?

Trust.

Test of trust

He was testing to see if he had trust. If they wouldn’t allow that to happen, then he would continue building rapport.

Think for yourself, how can you build trust with your clients more than you currently do? Is it getting their phone number? Is it getting them to do something for you? Think about it.

I want you to brainstorm this cause pre-suasion is super, super powerful. It’s selling without selling.

How do you sell without selling? If you need help with that, simply reach out to us at support@automotivestars.com.au

Download the full transcript here.

I have a super important topic for today called the “5 Levels of Leadership.”

This is based on the bestselling book by the leadership guru himself, John Maxwell. If you are a manager then this is super important.

As we go through the five levels, you’ll probably see where you think you’re at, maybe where you’d like to be, but where others see you. That’s the perception of others.

As John Maxwell says, “Everything rises and falls on leadership,” so you don’t have to be a manager to be a leader.

Even if you don’t think your role involves leadership, perhaps it could be in your personal life. You could be a mother or father, boyfriend, girlfriend, family member, peer or colleague.

Level 1: Position

Position means people follow you because they have to.

Look at this guy. Does he look like he’s telling us what to do and how to do it? That’s level one.

Level 2: Permission

Permission is where people follow you because they want to. Massive difference to level one.

Level 3: Production

Level three is where people follow because of what you’ve done for the organization.

I thought Steve Jobs was a great example of that for Apple and how innovative he was with the products that we now mostly own.

Level 4: People Development

I couldn’t think of anybody better to represent this level than Mr Tony Robbins. It is when people follow you because of what you’ve done for them. Tony had a massive impact on my own life and personal development journey many years ago. Great leaders such as Oprah Winfrey and many other people, even people within your organization. But again, think about where you’re at, maybe where you’d like to be, and potentially where others perceive you.

Level 5: Pinnacle

I’ve chosen Sir Richard Branson for this. People follow you because of who you are and what you represent. You might have people in your life that you follow because of this reason, and this is the pinnacle of where you’re at and a lot of other people. We could have chosen for this, but think—Richard Branson. I think what he represents is super powerful. A lot of people within his companies are working for him and want to because of who he is and what he represents.

So, have a look at the five levels and see where you’re currently at. You are a leader, even if you’re thinking you’re not. But where are you? Where do you want to be? What needs to happen for you to get there? And lastly, potentially, how do you think others perceive you? And if you’re not sure, ask because often people are telling us how they perceive you.

Makes sense?

Discover where you stand and how others perceive you. If you need help with that, simply reach out to us at support@automotivestars.com.au

Download the full transcript here.

What are the 3 keys to improving finance penetration?

In the fast-paced world of the dealership industry, achieving favourable finance results is paramount. However, it requires a comprehensive approach that involves salespeople, business managers, and sales managers. In this blog post, we will explore the key factors that contribute to successful finance outcomes and how each role can make a significant impact.

Salespeople: Initiating the Finance Conversation

Are you bringing up finance with every lead that you speak to? Whether it’s a walk-in or on the phone. Are you having that conversation? Is it an effective conversation?

Hopefully, you’re not just saying “How are you paying for the car, Mr. Jones?” because what do they say? Cash!

You need to come up with better questions. I’ll share one with you for now. It’s quite simple, “John, do you mind if I ask—have you already organised your finance, or is that still in progress?”

With that question, it can generate a conversation. Perhaps you can introduce your business manager and get them involved. All of a sudden, you’re bringing in more money to the dealership and increasing your chances of getting a sale.

Business Managers: Providing Expert Guidance

For the last couple of weeks, I put through a whole heap of business managers through the DISC profile (something I’m accredited in) and a lot of business managers in this case were over 90%.

They come out, and rightly so, as what’s called high C behaviour. That’s their primary behavioural style, which in DISC language is conscientiousness.

I change it for the motor trade to what I call ‘Suspicious Sarah’ so they sometimes lack trust. It takes a while to build trust.

But the positives of the business managers are good attention to detail. You need to be good at finding problems or issues and solving them. They are also very task-oriented. What’s the downside of that?

Well, being task-oriented business managers, are you often quite happy to sit in your office all day long and wait for leads and deals to come to you? No! If you do that, you’re limited with how much business you can bring in.

What you’ve got to do, especially if you are that high C behaviour, is mixing daily with your sales team. You should be in daily meetings with your sales team and showing them how you can benefit them, and how you can help them sell more cars. That’s what you should be doing.

It’s outside your comfort zone, but you’ve got to do it if you want that extra income and you want to be the best you can be in your role.

Sales Managers: Integrating Finance into the Sales Process

I was talking to a sales manager. As I mentioned, he was complaining about the finance not being where it needs to be.

He’s got one salesperson who’s been there for a very long time, very experienced. This salesperson—let’s call him ‘Peter’ (not his name).

Peter’s finance results weren’t even bad. They were pathetic.

But what the sales manager said was, “Yeah, but that’s just who he is.”

No, you’re a sales manager.

Your job is to manage the salespeople and the sales process. It is part of their role to introduce finance, just as it is after-market, warranties when selling the car and doing everything that’s involved in that.

Your job as a sales manager is to make sure that’s happening with each and every person.

It’s a pain in the ass, but you got to bring it up every single day until it is conditioned until each of your sales team is doing it regularly.

The next level of that is doing it effectively.

When you’re doing those three roles, the three things that we can control because we can control what we do and what we say, then your finance results or your aftermarket or your warranties, all that stuff just takes care of itself.

Your results will go through the roof.

Keep those three keys in mind, and you’ll be thankful that you did. If you need help with that, simply reach out to us at support@automotivestars.com.au

Download the full transcript here.

Here’s a short check-up from the neck up.

By the time of recording this, we’d already passed a quarter of the year. Can you believe it?

As a salesperson in a dealership, it is your job to sell cars and ensure customer satisfaction. However, it can be difficult to quantify success, especially if you’re not regularly evaluating your performance.

Grab a pen and paper and do a check up on yourself from 1 to 10 on these five key areas to ensure effectiveness as a salesperson:

1. Goals

   Are you meeting or exceeding your goals? Not just goals for work, which are laid out for you already. What about personal goals? It’s important to set measurable targets for yourself and track your progress towards them. Take time to reflect on what is and isn’t working and adjust your tactics accordingly.

2. Downtime:

   What do you do during periods of downtime? Are you using this time to hone your skills, research new models, or network with potential customers? Being proactive during your downtime can make a big difference in your overall success.

3. Deliveries:

   How are you handling your deliveries? It’s important to not let your clients walk all over you and give them specific dates or times you’ll be able to schedule their appointments. As we’ve talked about in the previous blog post, people will wait. Your clients will wait for you.

4. Follow-up skills:

   Are you following up with customers after the sale? Follow-up is crucial for building relationships and ensuring customer satisfaction. Make sure you are keeping track of customer feedback and taking action on any concerns they have.

5. Attitude and energy:

   How are your attitude and energy affecting your interactions with customers? Showing enthusiasm and positivity can go a long way in building trust and making a sale. Take steps to maintain your energy levels, such as taking short breaks throughout the day or staying hydrated. By regularly evaluating your performance in these key areas, you can improve your effectiveness as a salesperson in a dealership and increase your overall success.

Are you a 10 in all 5 key areas? If not, then there’s always room for improvement.

If you’d like to see how we can help you and your team, simply reach out to us at support@automotivestars.com.au

Download the full transcript here.

This video has two important messages.

The first message is don’t multitask.

Can you honestly talk on the phone, and be 100% present with somebody, whilst writing up a contract and doing something else? Can you honestly be at 100% concentration and effectiveness with each of those three tasks? No, I don’t think so, you can’t. So, how do you go about it when you’re busy? Handling multiple clients? Can you be effective?

There’s a Chinese saying,

You can’t put your feet in two boats.

Imagine you going down a river and you got two canoes. You got one foot in one canoe and one in another, and they start to move forward. What’s going to happen? It’s not going to end well, is it?

So, you’ve got to love the one you’re with. That’s really important.

People will wait. Think about it, if you got a problem with your phone, you don’t just walk to an Apple Store. You go up to a Genius Bar and book an appointment. Oftentimes, when you’ve got an appointment you still have to wait but you’re prepared to do it.  And your clients are no different.

Focus on one thing at a time.

The second message is about being strong in the current market.

As an example, a lot of good salespeople often have a lot of deliveries to make, and it’s important you don’t let your clients walk all over you. In other words, you need to be very structured and give them a specific choice of appointment times. Let them know that if they are running late, they will have to wait as you have back-to-back deliveries.

In summary, control your deliveries, or they will control you. And if they control you, you’re gonna be spiralling and it’s not a nice place to be.

Be organised, be strong, don’t multitask and you’ll go well.

If you’d like to see how we can help you and your team, simply reach out to us at support@automotivestars.com.au

Download the full transcript here.

3 things to make your life easier

Today, I want to share three simple things that can help make your life, and your clients’ lives, a little easier. By “easier,” I mean less stress, less anxiety, and more productivity.

The first thing is to create a to-do list for the following day before leaving work.

This can help you stay organised and be more productive. By having a clear plan of what you need to do, you can hit the ground running the next day and accomplish your goals more efficiently.

The second thing is to take care of yourself, both physically and mentally.

Make sure you are eating healthy meals, getting enough sleep, and taking breaks when you need them. This will help you maintain your energy levels and avoid burnout, allowing you to provide better service to your clients.

The third thing is to not procrastinate on uncomfortable tasks, such as making a difficult phone call.

It can be tempting to put off these tasks, but delaying them only makes them more difficult and stressful. By tackling them head-on, you can resolve the issue and move on to other tasks, allowing you to be more productive and avoid wasting time worrying about them.

By implementing these three things, you can make your life and your clients’ lives easier, reduce stress, and increase productivity. So let’s commit to making things easier for ourselves and our clients in the future.

If you’d like to see how we can help you and your team, simply reach out to us at support@automotivestars.com.au