Looking for Salesman and Good Sales experiences.

Lot's of good advice in all of the above comments. Treat your customers as you would like to be treated. Remember the times you bought a car and if you came away thinking that sales guy was a jerk remember what it was he did or said that made you think he was a jerk and
be the opposite. I sold cars after declining a transfer from Kraft Foods to move to Chicago from the Monterey Bay area. I hated the Saturday and Sunday hours because I missed time with my son. I lucked out because I was selling "Datsuns" the year the 240Z was introduced and all we did was take names, collect deposits and put the customer name on the waiting list. That craze lasted a couple of months. Moved on to motorcycle sales in Monterey and lucked out again when Kawasaki introduced the Z1. : ) A year with Kawasaki and then went
into overseas construction.
Best of luck to you Wade, break a leg. : )

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Originally Posted by WadePatton

...i've never met a car sales guy/gal who knew anything near what i did about the car they were selling.

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A pro is selling neither product nor himself. In fact, being too smart or knowing too much scares most people. Rather a pro is listening carefully while quietly digging out a clients' unmet need through methodical questioning. The pro is selling to the unmet need. Sure, customers have product questions but product knowledge won't make a top closer. Knowing how and when to ask questions, get the right answers and close (or how/when to move on to the next prospect) is what it's about.

Product knowledge won't relieve a stubborn prospect of unexpressed fear of commitment. A well trained salesman will. In this fairly typical case you don't sell a car, you sell relief of fear. Maybe. :D

Yes. I never said i thought product knowledge was the highest priority. I was responding to those who did.

There is no sale without a close either.

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In 30 years of driving cars, I've bought _one_ from a dealer, and cut a check. I've been through the process though with a couple of friends, and that's it. That and parts dept for "dealer only items". But I've really avoided the places my entire adult life. That's about to change!

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FREAKING WATER WELL HELL this week. I'm trying to flush the funkymuddy water out so i can clean up things and ME mostly. I'm DUE a good shave!

Hope to be cleaned up and have some nicer clothes laundered in order to present myself to my next few potential employers. Deliriously tired and hungry presently...a great feeling after a bike ride, sucks after plumbing.

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Originally Posted by MisterMoo

A pro is selling neither product nor himself. In fact, being too smart or knowing too much scares most people. Rather a pro is listening carefully while quietly digging out a clients' unmet need through methodical questioning. The pro is selling to the unmet need. Sure, customers have product questions but product knowledge won't make a top closer. Knowing how and when to ask questions, get the right answers and close (or how/when to move on to the next prospect) is what it's about.

Product knowledge won't relieve a stubborn prospect of unexpressed fear of commitment. A well trained salesman will. In this fairly typical case you don't sell a car, you sell relief of fear. Maybe. :D

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thanks again for the array of replies, I just can't think of any "pals" in the biz around here.

I have been told by friends who were in car sales that 60 hours per week, or more, was what they had to do to make the $. From buying cars, at car dealerships, and observing the whole ball of wax, I'm thinking a good car salesman needs to know a lot about the ins and outs of the financing, insurance, warranties, all of that, as much as he needs to know about 'cars.'

Knowing about cars from an enthusiast view will be very helpful but I have seen the pros in action and they know the ins and outs of the transaction end like the back of their hand. My impression anyway. I thought about getting into the car sales but the hours were the deal breaker for me.

I did get into sales back in the '80s for a short time and found reading Zig Ziglar's "See You At The Top", "Secrets Of Closing The Sale", and Tom Hopkins "How To Master The Art Of Selling", very enlightening.

I did get into sales back in the '80s...

Things change.

I've been in sales (commercial insurance) nearly twenty years. It can involve purchases of $75,000+ in a very competitive industry.

"Sales" regardless of the product or service IMO is made up of 75%+ of people that are mediocre to poor in performance. I think that's why "sales" gets such a bad rap. Why do so many people feel "sales" is a profession in which little to no study is required or continuous improvement isn't necessary?

My best pieces of advice for anyone who wants to continually challenge themselves in sales is to listen to audiobooks on sales or read sales books. Audible.com is what I use. The monthly service is very inexpensive. You will be amazed at what you learn. Then, practice. That's right. Born salesman, people who are "naturals" and excel at sales without training and practice is BS. Yes, certain personalities are geared toward sales, but really doing well is working very hard to get good at what you do. It's working your shifts and then learning on your own time (audio books, etc).

Great audio books on sales:

How to Become a Rainmaker - Jeffrey Fox
Secrets of the Great Rainmaker - Jeffrey Fox
High Trust Selling - Todd Duncan
Spin Selling - Neil Rackham

Other killer books related to sales that anyone can benefit from:

Drive - Daniel Pink
The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg


You've got to want it and then work hard to continually do better.

ChrisL

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Originally Posted by mike1011

I always ask the top salesman how they do it. Most say that they get talking to bthe customer about something they like, could be fishing, could be their kids, could be straight razors :) It doesn't matter so long as its not cars :) Once they find that something they say they are 90% there with the sale as the customer then no longer sees them as a slimy used car salesman but just a "decent nice fellow" who happens to be selling them a car :D

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That's funny. I've always stopped salesmen in their tracks as soon as they bring up any topic that's not related to the car. Everyone wants something different from the salesperson. Some want the full volume blast in your face kind of thing, and I want the guy who wastes no words, gets one shot at meeting the deal that I'm expecting to get, and talks about nothing else. I always tell the salesman in a trade situation that I have a spare set of keys, and if they want to play any games wasting time (by holding keys and saying someone's not done looking at the car for more than a shot period of time), I'm not afraid to leave with the set that they don't have so that they can mail the first set back.

Many, many years ago I had occasion to associate with a salesman friend who had a favorite motto: ( S#!+ 'em up good, they love it). He made lots of money with that philosophy. He could convince you that you needed a haircut 2 hours after you shaved your head. He just put things in a different perspective for you. It was actually scary.

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Originally Posted by mrsell63

Many, many years ago I had occasion to associate with a salesman friend who had a favorite motto: ( S#!+ 'em up good, they love it). He made lots of money with that philosophy. He could convince you that you needed a haircut 2 hours after you shaved your head. He just put things in a different perspective for you. It was actually scary.

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There are a few people who have a salesman radar that allows them to avoid that! I am one of them. Character fault or not, I start with disdain for people I don't know and let them prove otherwise.
Most of my relatives, however, are not as cynical. My dad often boasts of deals he's made when he comes to visit, and there are usually some pretty obvious holes in them where a salesman worked him to get him to change his mind or be convinced of something completely unreasonable. On his last deal, he was going to sell a vehicle privately. The salesman convinced him that he'd be robbed if he did, and gave him 2/3rd in trade what he could've gotten in private sale, and managed to convince him that he did him a favor by doing so - for his own safety.

I'd rather do a couple of hours of pre-research, go to the dealer with it and numbers in hand, give them a heads up before I'm coming that I'm short on time and get a yes or no. One attempted shift of the subject gets a warning, the second one, I walk. One lie, no warning, I walk.

I suppose there's another class of folks who are easily fooled, those being folks who can't manage reasonable estimates of numbers on the fly. Life's tough if you're bad at practical mathematics, and can be especially so if you finance things. It can also be tough if you give everyone the benefit of the doubt to start, as opposed to letting people prove that they deserve it.