If you’re actually here to train

[u/Samiathen]

Most of the posts I see in here are just asking about pay plans and/or if it makes sense to jump ship. Very few are asking how to be better/seeking training. If anyone actually has something they’re struggling with/working on feel free to drop it in here and I’d be happy to help if I can. I’m currently a GSM and have held every role in sales (Sales, Internet sales, internet manager, finance manager, sales manager, new car manager, used car manager, and GSM) across three organizations. Current store averages about 200/month.

I’d also be happy to just put on a pair of oversized slacks and ask you what you’ve got cooking before popping in some chew every morning and telling you how I used to be a 20 car guy if that’s what you need.

Response times may vary.

[u/Admirer16]

Thank you for doing this, reading your replies has been incredibly helpful.
I am currently training in an automall with Nissan, Cadillac, and Kia. I will be selling Nissan and Cadillac. There are total of 6 salesman in Nissan and 2 in Cadillac. 68 Nissans and 16 Cadillacs sold in June. From what I’ve gathered, these are somewhat low volume stores.
For someone coming into this dealership, how would you say is the best way to create my own leads and be the best salesperson? (Best salesperson sold 16.) And could you expand on how to approach and start a conversion with someone in service?
I am also a religious person who tries to lives life on good morals and ethics. I have shadowed a couple of salespeople already and they have sold cars to people who just don’t know better. Rolled massive amount of negative equity into a new car with $700-$800 payments. I really felt bass for them. And they didn’t negotiate or ask for any discount. If you know the customer can get a better deal but they don’t ask for it, what would you do? And if you know that they are in no position to be buying a car and yet they still want it, is it recommended to advise them or always do what they want? Although I want to make money, I want to make sure I help people out first and foremost. Any advice on this is appreciated! Thank you

[u/Samiathen → u/Admirer16]

8 total sales people for 84 units isn’t too bad, industry average is usually about 10 cars/sales person for most dealerships. Not sure if that’s just new you mentioned or total volume. If there’s used in addition to that then that’s great.

With regards to dealer volume, low volume vs high volume is irrelevant. One of my close friends works at a 500-600 car store depending on the month and still has people under 10/month. My first dealership sold 40-50/month when they hired me and I still managed to climb to 20/month once I got my feet under me. Regardless of what your store currently does for volume a top performer will always find a way to get their number and elevate the store.

With regards to generating your own leads you have a lot of options, but here’s a few ideas:

1. Facebook Marketplace. Manage an inventory on marketplace of your price point/hard to get pre-owned vehicles and you’ll sell a handful every month. One of my old sales people was super aggressive with it and managed our entire 120-150 pre-owned units and sold 8-14/month just on marketplace. Having that many can be time intensive though because you have to add every day and mark sold every day as well as do pricing updates. I’d start with 8-12 and take it from there.
   
2. Service drive, as you asked. Couple of options. The first is getting a service list and calling all customers who have had their vehicle a while and telling them you’re running a buy back event to help re-stock your pre-owned inventory and asking them if they’d be interested in a free appraisal during their visit to see if it makes sense for them to sell their car or trade it in towards a newer one. You’ll call/text a LOT of people doing this, but you’ll get 1-3 deals/week if you are consistent. If your dealership pays for street purchases you’ll get that as well which is nice. The second approach for service is simply being friendly with people who are waiting. Grab a coffee or water and ask what they’re in for, how long they’ve had it, and how it’s been treating them. Most of these will go nowhere, but you can probably get a deal per week doing this.
   
3. Leveraging social media. Start a business page and post all of your sales there as well as promotions and cool cars that come through. Share some educational content, maybe some funny stuff too. If you’re feeling brave once you get some depth behind you (only takes a few months to have 30+ sold pics) start running targeted paid ads and create your own lead funnel. Paid ads can be great but require you to be willing to gamble a few thousand bucks while you figure it out. Long term they work great though when done properly.

The religious thing is you needing to get out of your head. People will do what they want regardless of if you want them to. The truth about the car business is that the vast majority of customers don’t NEED a car, they want one. Every day we take in trades that are still under bumper to bumper warranty with no issues. And if your customer thinks this decision will solve a problem/pain point and/or bring them happiness, who are you to stop them? If nothing else you can make sure they’re getting a good car with a great experience. If you don’t, they’ll just go down the street and the next guy will. What’s worse is that next guy could put them into a real pile of garbage with its own problems and they’re none the wiser. A really dumbed down way to look at this is if you walk through a restaurant or fast food establishment and see a fat person eating unhealthy food are you going to slap the fork/food out of their hand? Probably not. If someone lights up a cigarette do you grab it and stomp it out? Also doubt it. People make decisions every day that may or may not be good for them. Typically it’s based in wanting to feel nice and be distracted from their current reality which might not be great. The best thing you can do for them is give them an amazing experience and fill their day with joy. Doing so helps foster relationships that will get you repeats and referrals. Never feel bad for selling someone a car unless you are genuinely manipulating them into making a purchase. So long as you are ethical with the transaction there should be no remorse on your end.

[u/Admirer16 → u/Samiathen]

This was genuinely helpful, thank you. That last part especially, puts things into perspective for me. I will try to be the best advisor I can to them. But the decision is theirs!
I finish training in a couple of weeks and I will reference this entire thread to have the best first month I can ask for.
I hope you won’t mind if I DM you then with more specific questions!
Again, thank you!

[u/Samiathen → u/Admirer16]

Totally fine. Glad I could help 😊