.biz.biz.biz

November 2004

a division of Systems Marketing, Inc. www.autosuccess.biz

756 South 1st StreetSuite 202Louisville, KY 40202

PRSRT STDUS POSTAGE

PAIDLOUISVILLE KYPERMIT NO 879

View this month�s and previous issues online at www.autosuccess.biz

Quality Leads | Superior Service | Dealer Control Features

“That’s why I get my leads from Dealix. When it comes to selling to Internet customers, my team goes beyondour immediate market area. In fact, we pull customers in from as far as San Francisco. With Dealix, we can get leadsfrom a wide mile radius, or we can target specific Zip codes. The choice is ours. No other lead provider gives us thislevel of control and this many sales.”

Steve Jackson, Internet Fleet Manager, Magnussen’s Dodge Chrysler, Jeep of Auburn, CA

Territory ControlSM

Choose multiple Zip Codes for each franchise.

Territory ControlSM

Target your ideal sales territory – choose anymile radius.

Inventory-Driven Lead ControlSM

Choose leads for the models you want to sell.

Dealer Control FeaturesDealix

Standard

Standard

Standard

AutoUSA

N/S

N/S

N/S

Autobytel

N/S

N/S

N/S

Start selling more cars today! Call Dealix now. (866) 253-5125or visit us online at www.dealix.com.

58 Cars Sold Last Month with Dealix LeadsMagnussen’s Dodge Chrysler Jeep58 Cars Sold Last Month with Dealix LeadsMagnussen’s Dodge Chrysler Jeep

N/S = Not Standard July 2004 Sales

The Industry’s Educationat Your Fingertips

24/7 online television/radio programming featuring:

Avai lable now to dealers , industr y execut ives and vendors nat ionwide. For more in format ion, s tay tuned to WWW.NIADA .TV or ca l l 800.682.3837.

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMINGM “How To Sell A Car And Keep It Sold Part 1 - Noncompliant

Paperwork: The Greatest Area of Legal Exposure in aDealership”

M “How To Sell A Car And Keep It Sold Part 2 - Commencing the Customer Relationship”

M “IRS Bank Secrecy Act and Form 8300”

M “Vehicle Remarketing: Auctions and the Dealer”

M “Introduction to Standardized Dealer Accounting”

M “Standardized Dealer Accounting Part 1 - StandardizedAccounting and the Financial Statement”

M “Information Technologies and the Auto Dealer”

M “The Garage Liability Insurance Crisis”

M “How To Attract Lenders To Your Dealership”

M “Incoming Call Part 1 - Putting More Fun Back Into YourBusiness (What the Receptionist Should Be Saying)”

M “How to Best Serve the Hispanic Customer”

M “Complying With The FTC Used Car Rule”

M “How to Establish and Operate a Related Finance Company”

M “Steps to a Motor Vehicle Sale: A Review of theForms Involved in a Motor Vehicle Transaction”

M Certified Master Dealer (CMD) Program Preview

SPECIAL FEATURESM 2004 NIADA Leadership Awards

M 2004 NIADA Quality Dealer Awards

M Legal, Legislative and RegulatoryAffairs Open Forum

M Being Uncommon

M Discover From Within

M Manheim Drive Center

NEWSM “Driving Business” (Monthly Industry News With Michael

York) Featuring Debbie Conrad-Beddingfield, NationalDirector Of Dealer Sales for Manheim And Tom Webb Chief Economist For Manheim

M “Legal, Legislative, Regulatory Review” (MonthlyLegal/Regulatory Review with Keith Whann)

M “The Power of Association” (Monthly Association NewsUpdate with Michael Linn)

M “Fuel For Thought” (Monthly Dealership OperationsInsight with D.J. Harrington)

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHTM ADESA Vehicle Donation Ceremony

M 2004 Expo Vendor Highlights

M 2004 NIADA Convention Highlights: Behind the Scenes

M NIADA At The Columbus Fair Auto Auction

M 2004 NABD Highlights

M Dealer Education Opportunities

andmuchmore!

Sales People, Your Customer Has Rights Zig Ziglar

Phone Dynamics Mark Tewart

Get Paid Like a Professional Anthony Hall

Prestige Ford Leverages 86 Percent in Leads toGenerate 62 Percent Increase in Sales Volume Bobby Malatia

Cost for Non-Compliance Fran McAllister

Good Morning Mr. President Michael York

What Does Delivery Mean to Your Dealership? James E. Yerage

How to Recognize Old SellingTechniques So You Can Practice the New Brian Tracy

Critical Success Factors Kirk Manzo

How to Increase CustomerLoyalty and Generate More F&I Income George Jackson

Build Value and ProÞ ts Brian Ankney

Vitality, Self-conÞ dence and Maturity Carol Martin

The Customer Participative Walk Around Jim Adams

Is Your Marketing Ignoring Halfof Your Revenue-Producing Customers David A. Fish

The 4 Characteristics ofa Powerful Communicator Sean WolÞ ngton

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AutoSuccess Magazine is published monthly at 756 South First Street, Suite 202, Louisville, Kentucky, 40202; 502.588.3155, fax 502.588.3170. Direct all subscription and customer service inquiries to 877.818.6620 orinfo@autosuccess.biz. Subscription rate is $75 per year. AutoSuccess welcomes unsolicited editorials and graphics (not responsible for their return). All submitted editorials and graphics are subject to editing for grammar, content, and page length. AutoSuccess provides its contributing writers latitude in expressing advice and solutions; views expressed are not necessarily those of AutoSuccess and by no means reflect any guarantees. Always confer with legal counsel before implementing changes in procedures.© All contents copyrighted by AutoSuccess Magazine, a Division of Systems Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited without express written consent from AutoSuccess. AutoSuccess may occasionally make readers’ names available to other companies whose products and/or services may be of interest; readers may request that names be removed by calling 877.818.6620. Printed in the USA.Postmaster: Send address changes to AutoSuccess Magazine, 756 South First Street, Suite 202, Louisville, Kentucky 40202.

Samuel 22: 2-4

He said, “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer,my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; thou savest me from violence.I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

756 South 1st Street, Suite 202 Louisville, Kentucky 40202! Toll Free: 877.818.6620 " Facsimile: 502.588.3170

Success Driven Solutions

Patrick Luck, Editor & Publisher• pluck01@autosuccess.biz

Susan Goodman, Vice President• sgoodman02@autosuccess.biz

Thomas Williams, Creative Director• twilliams03@autosuccess.biz

Courtney HillSales Improvement Strategist

• chill04@autosuccess.biz

Amy StuberSales Improvement Strategist• astuber05@autosuccess.biz

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Sales People,Your Customer Has Rights

ZigZiglar

I am the customer and I have my rights.

I have the right to remain silent. I don’t have to tell you

about my business. I don’t have to share with you the reasons I want to visit other dealerships. I am under no obligation to volunteer any information to you. Also, I can not guess what you need to know. You have to gather the information that is needed from me.

Hint: As sales professionals, we must

engage our customers in conversation. We must master the skills of questioning and listening.

I have the right to demand that you deliver on your promises. If I put my trust in you, you better do what you say you are going to do in the time frame you said you would do it. If you can’t deliver on your promises, I have the right to be notifi ed. I also have the right to be notifi ed in a timely manner. I understand that this is not a perfect world. I know that deadlines and shipments are missed. I just need to know about them as they occur.

Hint: Address any delays or disadvantages as early as possible. Our customers have the right to know.

I have the right not to be taken for granted. I have given you my time, my trust and my money. I’d like something in return. I’d like to be treated fairly. If you want to continue to earn my business you must keep me informed on changes, improvements, and upgrades. Not only should you serve my needs, you must anticipate my needs. You must continue to earn my time, my trust, and my money.

Hint: After we attain the business, we must work just as hard to maintain the business.

Zig Ziglar is the Chairman of the Board of Ziglar Training Systems in Dallas, TX. He can be contacted at 866.873.0026, or by email at zziglar@autosuccess.biz.

sts ms ls fi s lr

sales and training solution

After we attain the business, we must work just as hard to maintain the business.

november 2004 9

MarkTewart

Phone DynamicsThe fi rst step in advancing the productivity of your staff in using the phones is a better understanding in the

importance that the telephone can play and how it affects your business. Often a lack of the right attitude is displayed in the treatment towards the receptionist position. The receptionist is usually hired without any guidelines that would be used to hire for an important position. In your dealership do you have personality profi les, set interview questions and guidelines to hire an exceptional receptionist? Do you have a formalized training process and performance based pay? Often the receptionist is the lowest paid person in the dealership but is often the person who infl uences the customer fi rst. Why not pay the receptionist a bonus based upon various criteria such as average time to answer a call, average hold time for a customer etc.

The sales people also need training on the understanding of the importance of both inbound and outbound sales calls and how this can affect their incomes. A sales person can sit around all day waiting for someone to come in, but they can take incoming sales calls and treat them like they are not important. The average dealership will spend a fortune on advertising to get people to call and come in but not pay attention to what is happening when the customers call or come in. Call a competitor or call your own dealership and mystery shop a few times and ask yourself if you are impressed with the results.

Let’s talk about a few things to improve the importance of sales performance in utilizing the phone. First of all, the dealership needs a formal call tracking process. Many dealerships know their fl oor traffi c but not their phone traffi c. Why? This sends the wrong message. You must quantify to qualify, meaning you must know where you are at to understand where you would like to go. Have the receptionist use a call tracking sheet that they are trained to use. Example: On an incoming sales call, the receptionist should positively

remark that they will be happy to get a sales representative for the customer and then acquire the customers name by asking “and your name is?” The receptionist can then list the customers name on the log with the date and time received and page for a sales representative. Now the receptionist can write their name on the tracking sheet as well. The sales representative is responsible for putting remarks of the results on the log after the sale. The above process can be altered according to the technology you have established in your dealership. Managers can now include a review of the phone traffi c in their daily one on one coaching sessions.

Sales people must have a formal tracking sheet they use when taking calls to assist them in remembering the right steps and collecting the information necessary. The fi rst step in changing the view of a sales person towards the phone is to show them how easy it is to pick up several units each month just by having better phone skills. The Internet has increased the number of sale calls and the quality of customer calling.

Sales people must be taught new techniques that match the marketplace of today. Sales people have been taught the importance of getting name and number so much so that they are jeopardizing the appointment and scaring customers away. Gone are the days of telling the customer you are out in service and not at your desk so you would like to get their name and number and call them back or that the customer just needs to come on down so you can show them in person. Customers are looking for ways to dismiss you as an option and outdated phone skills will make that happen quickly.

Review the telephone operations in your dealership and take steps to increase the skills of everyone using the phone. Better phone process and skills uncover hidden wealth.

Mark Tewart is the President of Tewart Enterprises. He can be contacted at 866.429.6844, or by email at mtewart@autosuccess.biz.

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AnthonyHall

Get Paid Like a ProfessionalAs a famous man often says, “An automobile is made up of 15,000 high-tech component parts: plastic, metal, rubber, glass and

space-age materials. These dissimilar parts and assemblies are welded, riveted, stapled, bolted, glued, bonded, and fused together by highly trained human beings. Some of these parts are moving at incredible speeds in excess of 10,000 RPMs, continuously rubbing and abrading against each other with less then 3/1000ths of an inch of clearance and less then 1/1000th of an inch of lubrication in the presence of high levels of heat. Your new car has more than 1000 times the computer memory, making 10,000 times more decisions per second than the computer we fi rst used to put man on the moon with Apollo 11.” And we present them like a low-tech pair of shoes, reducing the buying process down to price.

Too many of us in the automotive industry have fallen into selling price and not value. We are negotiating on how low we can get the price of the vehicle and not on how much value and benefi ts we are providing to the customer.

Value is a measurement of benefi ts. People accept price and they buy value based on the amount of benefi ts the vehicle provides them. The perception of value based on the knowledge of benefi ts is fl exible. As value increases, the budget of the customer increases. When value is lower than price, the customer feels they are not getting a

good deal. When value meets price, they feel they are getting an okay deal, but when value exceeds price, they feel they are getting a bargain at any price:

Before you can sell value, you must understand and know your product as well as your competitors.

Your dealership has many resources that will provide you with the needed information such as Source Books, Factory Videos, DVDs, etc. Other good sources are Automotive Magazines such as Car & Driver, Road & Track, AutoWeek, etc. These are excellent resources to gather information about you and your competitor’s products. You can also look for and listen to Automotive T.V. & Radio commercials. The words and pictures used to describe features and benefi ts can also be used in your presentations. Paint a picture

and put your customer in it!

Next, you must know what the hot buttons or motives of the customer are. Who, what, how, when, where and why.

Once you have this information, you can now start to formulate the best way to present your vehicle based on the customer needs and desires. Every customer is different. Customize every presentation directed at what is important based on the information you have gathered in the common ground step of the Road to the Sale.

Steps of the Walk AroundStep 1 – Front of the car.Step 2 – Under the hood of the car.Step 3 – Driver side.Step 4 – Back of the vehicle.Step 5 – Passenger sideStep 6 – Inside the vehicle.

The six point walk-around should tell an organized, complete story, which covers all the needs and benefi ts of your customer. Get all parties involved in the presentation. Don’t ever think just because the truck is for the husband that the wife is not interested. She is the key in making the buying decision.

Always use F.A.B. in your presentations:(F)eature – What is it?(A)dvantage – The Improvement.(B)enefi t – What it means or does for the customer.

Example:Feature – Boron steel side door intrusion beam.Advantage – High tensile, high impact resistant steel beam.Benefi t – Will prevent an excessive amount of intrusion into the passenger compartment during 33mph side impacts by the average vehicle and thus possibly eliminating injury to the occupants.

Also, you should use buzzwords to build more value into your feature. They are not plastic headlamp covers, they are high impact Lexan, the car has Air Cooled ventilated disk brake rotors, aluminum alloys, thermal composite intake manifold, sheet molded composite, forged steel, sequential electronic fuel injection, etc. You get the picture!

sts ms ls fi s lr

sales and training solution

november 2004 11

Start at position number one and work your way around the vehicle ending at the passenger side or position number six, the inside of the car. This way when you are presenting the interior features from the drivers seat, you can start the demo ride.

As you perform your walk around you must get the customer actively and physically involved. Use their senses to build more emotions and desire. Remember, buying a vehicle is an emotional experience. This is the best time to maximize your opportunity.

Sight, Sound, Touch, Smell, Imagination.

Example:Talk about the sound of power from the factory tuned exhaust, which will contribute to the overall performance and fuel economy due to less restrictive exhaust gases. The feel of luxury in the interior with the use of soft touch materials adding to the comfort of the customer, or how the controls have their own unique feel to facilitate the ease of operations of the cruise control, power windows, air conditioning, or heater, thourgh the factory use of tactical feel feature using raised or lowered areas on control buttons. The look of the paint quality, panel fi t, body lines, the forged aluminum wheels which add to the overall style and statement of the customers vehicle. The lack of sound when you are on the inside of your new vehicle because of advanced technology provided through quite-steel, more insulation, solid body structure, thicker glass, better fi t and fi nish which provides a more pleasurable ownership experience.

Imagine how much more comfortable and fun your next vacation will be in your new Sport Utility Vehicle. Put your customers and their wives and kids by name into the benefi ts story. Paint the picture with your customer in the middle of it.

Know all about your vehicle and your competitors. Only use four to fi ve features at each of the six points of the walk around.

We as professional sales people must have complete knowledge and information of the customer, our vehicle and our competitors. Professionals learn and practice their professions.

Today’s vehicles have more technology that benefi ts a customers needs than at any other time in automotive history. People will pay

more for technology if they understand how it benefi ts them personally. Customers buy safety, performance, style, appearance, comfort, convenience, economy, durability, and utility. Vehicles offer more today for less money than at any other time in our history, but we tell less about the value of the vehicle then at any other time in automotive history. What is wrong with this picture?

continued

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ProResponse is the only system I have ever used where the sales people are actually motivated to use it. Our new car sales are up 21% in one year.-Jeffrey Abel President, Miller Toyota

Our closing ratio has improved 38% and our “be-backs” have nearly doubled. When we fi rst implemented ProResponse we averaged 160 cars a month, an average month is now 350!-Kevin Cohan General Manager, Jim Coleman Cadillac Infi niti Toyota

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Anthony Hall is a Training Consultant at Ziegler Supersystems. He can be contacted at 800.610.9047, or by email at ahall@autosuccess.biz.

www.autosuccess.biz12

Prestige Ford Leverages 86 Percent in Leads to Generate 62 Percent Increase in Sales Volume

BobbyMalatia

A fast way to lose market share today is to turn your back on the tremendous profi t opportunity that the Internet represents.

Roughly 70 percent of our customers today are using the Internet to gather information and if a dealership does not have a presence, if you do not set yourselves apart, if you do not make it fun and easy for customers to get what they’re looking for, someone will.

With the right digital marketing on our new web site we saw an exponential increase in quality leads - 86 percent. We focused on our ability to respond to each lead and convert a high percentage of those leads into sales. We have a strategy for growing our business and we have support from Jerry Reynolds, the Dealer Principle. Success on the Internet, or in any other area of the dealership for that matter, hinges on the level of support you get from your dealer. At Prestige Ford, Jerry Reynolds

supports the Internet initiative 100 percent which is why we’re able to successfully implement our action plan for driving our continued growth.

For example, our digital marketing system has the capability to use multi-media bulk emails to conduct targeted marketing campaigns that can reduce our cost per sale. We get everyone in the dealership to gather email addresses and collect accurate information from our customers because we would be faced with the challenge of “garbage in garbage out.” We review reports to determine who is using the system and who is not. With support from our dealer and accurate reporting, we’re able to hold ourselves accountable.

Leveraging increased leads to sell more cars is easier when you’re able to track, measure and fi ne tune your process and remove any obstacles that could result in wasted opportunities. To ensure we’re making the right adjustments, we use reports to view our incoming lead response ratio, leads to showroom appointment ratio and showroom traffi c and closing ratio. We can use this information for coaching purposes and to determine if and when we need to make adjustments to our staffi ng so that our response time and quality of the response does not suffer as the volume of leads continues to escalate. We know that in order to turn leads into appointments and appointments into sales we have to respond to the customer immediately and we have be able to answer their questions in a way that is consistently professional and tailored to how the customers want to buy. The automation included in our system allows us to handle more leads per person than we did before, but eventually we will reach a saturation point and our reports will make it easier to determine where that point is.

With the right technology, a strategy and action plan to hit our targets, support from our dealer principle and the people and process to turn our vision into reality, we are on track to sell 100 additional units per month with the goal of being one of the top fi ve Ford dealers. Can you make money on the Internet? You bet you can!

Bobby Malatia is the Internet Director at Prestige Ford. He can be contacted at 800.864.8361, or by email atbmalatia@autosuccess.biz.

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november 2004 13

Cost for Non-Compliance

FranMcAllistersts ms ls fi s lr

leadership solution

Compliance and documentation issues affect every industry. The following is a partial checklist for automobile dealers of

rules, laws, and regulations related to the automotive industry. Your business could be in jeopardy if you are not in compliance with even one of these requirements. Answer Yes or No for each of the following checklist items to make sure you are in compliance.

Information regarding Executive Order 13224 is available through the U.S. Treasury Department. Visit their website at www.ustreas.gov.

Fran McAllister is the Vice President of Sales at Integra Systems. She can be contacted at 800.668.3107, or by email at fmcallister@autosuccess.biz.

Displayed FTC Buyer�s Guidefor every vehicle on your lot.

Displaying Spanish buyers guides whentransacting business in Spanish

Transferring title ownership within30 days of transaction.

Distributing GLB PrivacyNotices to your customers

Mailing GLB Annual notices to everycustomer whose account is still open

Checking the SDN Blocked Persons List on every customer you do business with

Filing IRS/FinCEN 8300Cash Reporting Form

Developing internal policies for complying with Anti-Money Laundering requirements

Complying with the FederalAnti-telemarketing �Do Not Call� laws

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$13,000/per

$1,000/per

$11,000

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MichaelYork

Good Morning Mr. PresidentHave you ever wondered what it feels like to hear those words? To be “Mr./Ms. President.”

Then look in the mirror and give yourself a presidential greeting! Because you are the person in charge when it comes to your life! And when it comes to your business or your team, you’ve got to make some changes in your day-to-day practices if you’re going to truly be THE PRESIDENT!

The offi ce of The President is synonymous with respect, leadership, duty, diligence, making the best decisions and taking the best actions that will most positively affect not just one individual, but the whole. Yet how often do we disrespect ourselves or others, in the way we carry out our day-to-day duties? Regardless of what you may now think, you are the one who will choose to make the “presidential” decisions for today and the future that will fail or succeed…or you will choose to allow someone else to make them for you.

That’s how it is when you’re The President.

Maybe you really are a “President,” or “CEO,” or “VP,” or even a supervisor or manager. And even if you’re not, try thinking like you’re the President of “YourLife, Inc.” (Which of course, you are!) Are you conducting yourself and your business affairs in a presidential manner? How are YOU preparing to LEAD? Let’s have a look.

1. The President is The Leader! He or She will set the tone for how things get done, or don’t. Mr./Ms. President can usually be counted on to be tackling the tough issues, weighing and then making diffi cult decisions, or maybe communicating and negotiating with others (is that how it works at your place?)…there are many demands and urgent requests at this level.

Imagine for a moment what fi ve minutes with THE PRESIDENT is valued at! What would it be worth to you? What would it cost everyone else for The President to give up fi ve minutes on things that were really not all that important? How would you use your time and energy and infl uence if you only had 24 hours in a day to be The

President?

The good news is that history gives us a glimpse into how presidents do it.

Consider this:There are certain clues to the success of The President. And there are certain questions you have to ask if you’re becoming president. And yes, there are even CERTAIN PEOPLE you surround yourself with to ask those questions.

2. Who’s on your board of Presidential Advisors? Ever hear of a President without a cabinet of advisors? Going at it alone, without the input and ideas and counsel of a trusted inner circle? So who’s in your cabinet? Who’s providing you with their “intellectual resources?” Who are YOUR presidential advisors helping you with the decisions and direction of your life and your business?

3. How’s your Presidential PROTOCOL?As a president, there are certain things you MUST do…and certain things you CANNOT do! First, how’s your ability to have a “presidential” focus? On the really tough issues that are right now, at this very moment in the spotlight of the media (marketplace), or the voters (customers), or the country (organization) or your constituents (workers)?

You can’t afford to be easily distracted when every minute counts…when an entire country (or company) is anxiously awaiting your decision. Wonder what the President will do about “this thing?”

That means WITHOUT DISTRACTION! Been there lately? (Been there ever?)

Here’s a “presidential clue” on the subject of distractions…Mr. President does not carry a beeper or cell phone. Hmmmm…could it be? That someone of this stature and importance isn’t wirelessly connected to anyone and everyone at every given minute of the day!

And the answer is, certainly not. The President has a trusted someone to deliver any urgent message while he “COMMITS TO THE MOMENT!” What does it mean to commit to the moment?

It means that when you’re engaged in a meeting with the leader of the free world

(or a customer, any individual…), not only do you NOT answer your cell phone when it rings or buzzes, but you aren’t even wearing it! It’s PROTOCOL! It simply isn’t done in presidential circles.

And when you’re meeting with The President, and you allow that time to be interrupted by a cell phone call from the offi ce, or your spouse, or who knows whom… you have sent the absolute wrong message to your presidential audience—

Which is exactly what you do to your customer or prospect or assistant or whomever happens to be in front of you at the moment (the moment you’ve now told them that you ARE NOT committed to), when you allow interruptions or distractions to take priority over them.

Sound a bit harsh? WAKE UP! Cell phones have made YOU the most important person in the world, and told EVERYONE else that “THEY DON’T MATTER!” At least at this moment, they’re not as important as the unknown caller on the line! Unbelievable, yet true.

It’s like trading whatever valuable thing you have in front of you for what’s behind door number three! It’s rude, unprofessional, and very UN-presidential! You can let modern technology capture a message for you which you can return in a matter of minutes, if it’s really that important. Believe it or not, once upon a time the economy could actually keep rolling along and the circle of life continued…even when you couldn’t be reached for 30 minutes or three hours on a cell phone!

Turn it off, or better yet leave it in the car, and send the message that the person you’re meeting with right now, and their time with you, is the most important thing you have to do at this moment in time.

One of my greatest frustrations is to be talking on the phone with my mom, sister, or a friend, and have them interrupt me right in mid-sentence with “Uh-oh! Hold on, I’m getting another call…” and bang, they’re gone. Throwing me overboard for a phone call that could be from someone they don’t even know (often a telemarketer, or worse!). On numerous occasions I’ve even been cut off! And in trying to call

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How to Recognize Old SellingTechniques So You Can Practice the New

BrianTracy

The old model of selling is no longer effective but it is essential that you understand it.

The old model of selling divided the sale into roughly four parts. Like a triangle divided with horizontal lines into four sections.

The fi rst part of the sale, the tip, represented 10 percent of the total sales transaction. This part consisted of approaching and getting the attention of the prospect. Usually, this was accomplished with a bold statement or a strong question. When I was just learning how to sell, it was called “pre-occupation breaking.” It was likened to the process of hitting a donkey between the eyes with a two-by-four to get its attention. Only as sales people, we did it with words.

In the old model, we were taught to, “get right down to business.” Don’t waste time. Don’t bother the prospect with small talk. Ask about the weather or the latest football game or the wife and kids and then immediately launch into the sale.

The second part of the old model, 20 percent of the total sales conversation, was the qualifi cation phase. In this phase we were instructed to use a variety of techniques to determine whether or not the prospect had the money before you wasted your time giving a presentation. We were told, “Don’t waste time on a person if they don’t make it clear that they can part with the money when you come to the close.”

The third part of the old model, taking up 30

percent of the sales process, was presenting. The purpose of the presentation was to show the features of the product or service and the benefi ts that the prospect would enjoy as a result of purchasing. Often, sales people were taught to use clever, manipulative phrases and techniques to weaken sales resistance and build a propensity or desire to buy. They were taught to raise or lower their voices, shift their bodies, and ask leading questions that the prospect would have to answer in a certain way.

The fourth part of the sale in the old model of selling was the close. This was 40 percent of the traditional. Countless books, articles and seminars are devoted to the subject of closing, to the various ways of extracting a commitment from a reluctant or indecisive prospect.

Don’t you slip into the old model of selling — no matter what you’ve been taught.

Welcome to the New Model of Selling. This is the most signifi cant and meaningful transformation of basic selling techniques that have ever taken place, and the mastery of this new model is your key to outstanding sales performance for the indefi nite future.

In the new model, which can be linked to an upside down triangle, there are four parts of the selling process. The four steps are the process by which all top sales people sell today.

The fi rst part of the new model, fully 40 percent of the sales process, is building trust. The level of trust between the prospect and the sales person is the ingredient that makes all the rest of the sales process possible. If

for any reason trust has not been thoroughly established at the outset, the sales presentation begins moving out onto thin ice with the very real possibility that it will fall apart. Customers today are bombarded by so much confl icting information and so many competitive claims, which they can not sort out on their own, the element of trust becomes the indispensable ingredient in all sales decisions.

The second part of the new model, 30 percent of the process, is the identifi cation of the real wants and needs of the prospect relative to the product or service offering. It is based on asking well-prepared questions and listening carefully to the answers. It requires reading between the lines and feeding back the prospect’s words and concerns to check for understanding. Only then do you reach the point where it is clear that the prospect has a clearly defi nable need that can be satisfi ed in a cost-effective way by what you are selling.

The third part of the sales presentation in the new model, representing only 20 percent of the entire process, is presenting. The presentation part of the sales process is relatively simple when the fi rst two parts of the new model have been thoroughly covered. In the presentation, the sales person shows the prospect how his/her wants and needs can be ideally satisfi ed by the product or service offering.

The fi nal part of the new model of selling is gaining conformation and commitment to action. In gaining a commitment to take action, the sales person asks such questions as, “Does this make sense to you so far?” Or, “Is this what you had in mind?” He/she checks and double checks to make sure that what he/she is selling and what the customer wants are the same.

So, out with the old and in with the new. Customers have changed and sales practices must change also.

Brian Tracy is the Chairman & CEO of Brian Tracy International. He can be contacted at 866.300.9881, or by email at btracy@autosuccess.biz.

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This is the most signiÞ cant and meaningful transformation of basic selling techniques that have ever taken place, and the mastery of this new model is your key to outstanding sales performance for the indeÞ nite future.

Critical Success Factors

KirkManzo

There is a foundation for achieving and maintaining sales success.

The routines and habits we develop will dictate who we are and what we will become. Sales people must focus on the fundamentals of their craft, attitude, product knowledge, and sales skills. Let’s begin with attitude.

How many times have you witnessed a rookie sales person come onto the sales fl oor and sell 10-12-15+ units their fi rst month? All of us have. So why was this person successful? Clearly it was not their wealth of product knowledge, or their razor sharp selling and negotiation skills. Rather it was the enthusiasm they transferred to the buyer that propelled them to success.

Ask yourself this question,

“Prior to arriving at the dealership, What did I do this morning to prepare to sell cars today?”

Sales and sports are often compared, and with good reason. Athletes must prepare before each game, baseball players take batting practice everyday. Goalies have their teammates take shots on goal to help them get into a rhythm prior to the game. What are your sales people doing before they start each morning?

Invest a few minutes each morning by listening to some audiotapes or CD’s on the drive to the dealership. Read something to get your mind right.

While attitude is important, without product knowledge, a sales person will struggle to establish credibility with their customer. The more competent and prepared your sales person appears, the easier it will be to make a signifi cant impression on their next guest.

Each morning your sales people can walk the entire inventory and select a different car from your inventory to drive insuring they spend time with all of the products available both new & used. Would they pick up some product knowledge by just needing to adjust the seats and mirrors? Probably, not to

mention increase the likelihood a used car will actually start when you need it to!

Do your sales people watch programs like Motor-Week on PBS and/or the Speed Channel? Does ESPN the Magazine appear on their coffee tables at home or Car & Driver, Road &Track, Consumer Reports? After all, who is reading these publications, that’s right your customers. Be informed on what your customers read.

The last critical success factor is sales skills, the core competency of what we all do. A breakdown of some components under this category would be as follows: Prospecting, Follow-up, Presentation Skills, Listening Skills, Questioning Skills, Note Taking Abilities, Answering Objections, Painting Mental Pictures, Negotiation Skills, and so on.

All sales people need to work on each of the above areas to develop the skills of their trade.

When was the last time any of your sales people attended a seminar or workshop on selling not sponsored by the dealership? That means they paid for the program. If your sales people want to be paid like a professional, they will need to do what all professionals are required to do to maintain their credentials, attend continuing education.

If it says, sales on their business card, what have they done this week, month or year to make sure they will be better prepared for the next sales opportunity?

Encourage your sales team to work at least 20 minutes daily on each of these three critical success factors. In one year that would equal six weeks of additional training. As a result, not only would they become better in sales, but also better husbands/wives, parents and friends to those around them.

Just try it, you’ve got nothing to lose.

Kirk Manzo is the General Manager at Ziegler Supersystems. He can be contacted at 800.610.9047, or by email at kmanzo@autosuccess.biz.

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november 2004 21

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www.autosuccess.bizsuccessful solutions at22

How to Increase CustomerLoyalty and Generate More F&I Income

GeorgeJackson

Every time a business manager is with a customer, he/she is expected to be the person who knows

and understands the products, how they specifi cally benefi t the customer and why the customer would want to enroll in them. He/she is expected to be an expert. The only way to ensure that your business manager can meet these high expectations is with ongoing education and training. Enroll your business managers in training repeatedly and require your business manager to review the materials regularly.

All sales professionals must constantly improve the quality of their presentation. The menu presentation can make sure

that every customer gets offered every product, every time, but it cannot control what is said throughout the presentation or during the negotiation after the menu is presented. Dealerships have started recording F&I transactions. It’s a great tool for compliance, training, consistency and accountability. Burning a CD is quick, simple and allows for easy storage. If you are in a dealership with multiple business managers and multiple locations, it will also ensure a consistent presentation from customer to customer, manager to manager, and dealership to dealership and provide the dealership with a high level of legal protection.

Before customers leave the business offi ce, they should know what they bought,

what it costs and how to use it. This is accomplished by doing a thorough contract disclosure. Most people remember two things about a person, the fi rst impression and the last impression. A bad delivery of the paperwork and specifi cally the contract will result in a poor last impression. All of the positive things done to this point may still lead to a poor CSI survey and statistics show that this is an area of concern for many customers. Disclose the contract fully and legally and thoroughly review the itemization of the amount to fi nance section and truth-in-lending boxes. When reviewing the product forms, make sure the customer knows what responsibilities he/she may have to keep the coverage in force, such as maintenance for a service contract. Always invite the customer to read the form, ask questions and let him/her know you are available at any time to address concerns and give the customer your business card. Never hurry through a delivery process. Be different. Be better. The customer will notice and remember; that will create a positive lasting impression.

A business manager needs to be the person/department that works with the customer on claims, particularly with credit insurance and GAP. There is no better way to develop product knowledge, product confi dence and awareness of how customers benefi t specifi cally from the coverage than to be involved in the claims process themselves. This will generate more revenue and improve your CSI almost instantly and this level of service will enhance your repeat and referral business.

George Jackson is the Director of F&I Training for American Financial & Automotive Services, Inc. He can be contacted at 866.280.0301, or by email at gjackson@autosuccess.biz.

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Build Value and ProÞ ts

BrianAnkney

How can you build enough value for your customers to feel good about buying at fair gross profi ts?

Adding value starts with the meet and greet. The meet and greet starts with the sales person’s attitude. Your sales people need to be able to smile at themselves before they give a customer a convincing smile. The sales person should be confi dent and friendly. Customers buy cars from people they like. The sales person should ask the customer if this is their fi rst time visiting the dealership, how they heard about the store and invite them inside the dealership. Don’t be afraid to hear, “I’m just shopping or looking.” Just answer with something exciting like, “Great, my name is Brian Ankney, and I’ll be your guide. Follow me and I’ll show you some of my favorite cars to look at.” Remember, the customer does need you to look at cars. Make looking at cars more fun with you around. Selling yourself as the person your customer is comfortable buying from often takes some goofi ng around. Now lead them inside and start step two, qualifying.

The two main objectives of the qualifying process are information collection and broadening the range of vehicles that will fulfi ll the customer’s needs. It is important to collect as much information as possible at this point. You want name, address, phone and email for future correspondence. Learn as much as possible about what this person likes and dislikes about the car they have now and what they want in their next vehicle. Try to think in terms of needs fulfi llment instead of option packages and features. This will allow for a car in stock to be perfect for this customer. Make mental notes about what will infl uence their buying decision this time. The information collected during the qualifying step is used during the walk around to build value. Once you have a unit in mind tell your customer, “This is a busy place. I sure wouldn’t want to lose you in all this excitement. Sit tight, while I pull around your new car.” Always, with every statement, assume your sale. Your customer needs you to feel confi dent

in yourself and your abilities to comfortably sell them their next car.

As you pull the unit up to the glass where the customer can see, pop the hood. Now escort your customer out to the car and introduce it like a commercial. “This is the 2004 Chevy Malibu. Winner of prizes or accolades that matter to this customer.” Now walk fi rst down the driver’s side and point out features that your customer told you mattered during step two. Touch the car. Get your customer to touch the car. Move around the back selling the solution that this vehicle will provide to this customer’s needs. Now make your way to the front, and open the hood. Only sell what the customer asked you to sell during the qualifying step. Identify customers that don’t understand engines and didn’t come to your store for an education. Mention the noticeably improved performance and guide the customer back to the passenger side of the car. Open the door and have them sit to experience the comfort and inspired design. Close the door. Get into the driver’s seat and drive away.

Don’t forget, your customers look to you as their guide through the car buying experience. Your attitude when you greet them will set the tone of the entire sale.

New software packages offer the ability to track the sales process by team and individual sales person. This information when coupled with closing percentages and gross profi ts can yield fantastic reports. These reports can be used as a tool to guide managers to improve every sales person. A CRM / showroom traffi c control system can help measure and improve a sales process, but will never replace regularly conducted training.

Next month, we will continue through the demo drive, trial close, service walk and fi rst pencil.

Brian Ankney from AutoClick can be contacted at 866.247.9587, or by email at bankney@autosuccess.biz.

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Vitality, Self-conÞ dence and Maturity

CarolMartin

In the August edition, I wrote of the importance of the work environment to employee retention and success. The

size, age and location (urban or rural) of a dealership are often critical to an employee’s comfort level and therefore success, they are not the only determining factors. The personality of the manager can also be a make-or-break component of an employee’s ability to thrive. The challenges are accurately identifying relevant environmental issues and responding effectively to them. Perhaps the fi rst challenge is the more important of the two, because once environmental issues are identifi ed, there is hope of responding to them effectively.

Use obvious behavior items because it can be helpful to verify traits such as initiative, persistence and willingness to follow instructions through behavioral interviewing or profi ling. The fact that we are facing a candidate who responded to a “sales help wanted” ad and has 12 years of experience selling vehicles is useful information. While noting the candidate’s gestures, answers to our career questions and product knowledge, plus signals such as pace of speech and expression of vision, we can safely conclude that a candidate matches (or doesn’t match) our expectations for a sales or an after-market position (given decent references).

Vitality, self-confi dence and maturity are some behaviors that are more diffi cult to uncover during an interview; there are others that are very easy to fake. Environmental incompatibility -- that is, a basic incompatibility with the realities of a workplace (including supervisor personality and the presence or absence of a system of management with accountability) is the single greatest cause of turnover.

The second greatest cause of failure in the work environment is not the basic personality required to perform effectively on the job. It is, rather, those elements of behavior that are both diffi cult to see and easy to fake: vitality, self-confi dence and maturity.

Vitality can be likened to the charge in a battery. And like the charge in a battery, it can burn bright initially and then fade. This means a person applying for a job, especially if “pumped” by the demands of the application and the interviewing process, can appear to be a live wire. How is it then, that once hired, the person doesn’t seem able to process information effectively? Or runs out of steam and spends the fi nal two or three hours of the shift being counter-productive. Has that sparky candidate who showed impressive promise during the interview become dull or dim, or was he or she dull all along and we just didn’t notice it?

Staying power is affected by stress in that stress can give a temporary adrenaline fi x, but it doesn’t last. You might check vitality by orchestrating a demanding interview process. If you involve two or three interviewers who ask, among other things, tough questions that demand quick thoughtful answers, the low vitality candidate will begin to reveal himself or herself on the second or third interview.

Finally, even though we know of no defi nitive studies on the subject, there are some who believe there is a correlation between vitality and general robustness. This can be an important economic consideration when hiring people paid in any manner other than commission based on actual performance.

Self-confi dence is important whether you are hiring a counter manager or an F&I manager. It has less to do with personality than it does with character development and comfort with one’s own personality whatever that might be. The business issue here is that the self-confi dent person is less likely to exhibit varying patterns of behavior, or better said, he/she is more apt to be consistent in his/her behavior. This suggests that the person who comes across as a certain type with self-confi dence during the interview process is more likely to show that same behavior a week, month or years after beginning employment.

Self-confi dence is more easily recognized and harder to fake than vitality or maturity, but it is something we often forget or

overlook. Train your interviewers to note a candidate’s clear eye contact, simple and direct answers to questions (especially job and experience-related questions) and lessened stress with the entire selection process.

Maturity is to be expected of all adults. Immaturity is expensive. Those individuals who are not mature, often have extensive experience with the interview process, and they have usually learned not to act immaturely during the interview.

We can understand maturity in a dealership context if we think of how an immature worker behaves. Of the many counter-productive immature behaviors, the more prevalent and obvious ones are being driven by unrealistic goals or timetables, misplaced (smart-aleck) humor or big-shot talk or actions.

Why is it that during the interview, we are more infl uenced by product knowledge or enthusiasm than critical clues to immaturity? Why is it we miss the essential importance of a candidate blaming his or her availability on an overly-demanding boss or unfair performance expectations? Dig deeper and ask what it was about that supervisor that made him or her so overly demanding? Similarly, when asked about the future, make careful note of the immaturity refl ected in a response such as “I want your job (or to be president) in three years?”

Immature people simply don’t last.

Just as a profi le objectively verifi es the behaviors we think we are seeing in the interview, so also should a behavioral profi le worth its salt give essential insight and hopefully verifi cation of vitality, self-confi dence and maturity.

Carol Martin is a Senior Consultant with The Omnia Group. She can be contacted at 800.601.3216, or by email at cmartin@autosuccess.biz.

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The CustomerParticipative Walk Around

JimAdams

Nothing affects the sale more than a product d e m o n s t r a t i o n and presentation. Automotive sales

surveys tell us that nearly 50 percent of our opportunities will buy on the spot given a great demonstration and presentation. Yet the average closing ratio for fresh ups remains at 10-12 percent. Professional sales people have a controlled, well rehearsed walk around that creates the desire of ownership and motivates the buyer to make a decision to purchase on the spot. If your customer leaves without purchasing, only 33 percent will come back with good follow up. We must do whatever it takes to close the sale today. Let’s take a look at three walk around presentations and how they affect your income.

Wherever you lead I�ll go:You’ve been there. We didn’t get off on the right foot during our initial greeting so we wind up walking two or three steps behind the customer while they wander aimlessly through the inventory. We have no control and we answer questions as they come up. We may ask, “Would you like to drive something?” Sooner than later they thank you for your time and leave without a test drive.

The challenge:Controlling the sale begins at the greeting. In this model the sales person never had control. There was no rapport building or conversational questioning. No control means no demonstration. Ninety-nine percent of customers will not buy the vehicle without driving it.

The solution:When you’re up, be up! Prepare so you are mentally and physically ready for your opportunity. Get out there and greet the customer with a fi rm hand shake and a warm smile. Control the conversation with rapport building questions that will help you fi nd common ground with your customer. Ask alternative choice (either or) questions to help crystallize the buyers wants and needs. Lead the customer through the inventory. You select the least expensive vehicle that best suits your customer’s wants and needs. Move the vehicle from the rest of your inventory and begin your professional demonstration and presentation.

I�m the star, you�re the audience:You’ve seen this one too. In this model the sales person begins their high energy walk around by showing everything on the vehicle with no regard to the customer’s wants and needs. The sales person slams doors, pushes buttons, turns dials and crawls through the trunk. The sales person performs like they are on stage in front of a packed house. This model may get you a standing ovation but probably not a sale.

The challenge:Automotive sales is a people to people business. We are not selling kitchen knives at the mall. We are selling, in many cases, what might be the single largest purchase that our customer ever made. Many times we get so engrossed in the presentation that we forget the customer is even along for the ride.

The solution:Focus on the customer. By asking the questions that I mentioned earlier you can begin a dialogue that keeps the customer involved in the process. The real solution to this to model walk around is the customer participative walk around.

The Customer Participative Walk Around:The key is to have people and product knowledge. First, you must lay the ground work by initially focusing your energy on the customer, “The Person”. Begin with open ended questions that help you build rapport and make a friend. Where are they from? What do they do for a living? How many children do they have? What are their hobbies? Etc. ( For a complete list on conversational questions check out www.autosuccess.biz.) Customer’s like to talk about themselves so listen. I mean really listen. You can not fake empathy. If you do not have a genuine concern for your customer you are in the wrong business. The most successful sales people in our industry are successful because they are likeable and trustworthy. Make a friend.

Next begin to start asking alternative choice or either or questions. Casually begin to ask these types of questions. Is this is going to be the primary family car or for use to and from work? Were you looking for something with all the extras or will basic equipment be ok? Were you looking at primarily two doors or four doors? Again for a list of conversational

questions check out the website. These types of questions will help lead us to the least expensive vehicle that will best suit our customer’s wants and needs.

People buy based on 80 percent emotion and 20 percent logic. Closed ended questions must refl ect this fact. Closed ended questions or mini commitments are the anchors that tie down the customers positive emotions to the product. Aren’t these seats soft? This will sure be fun driving to the lake this weekend won’t it? (You know where to fi nd the rest of these questions) Forty-fi ve yeses in 45 minutes increases your closing ration by 75 percent.

Keys to a great customer participative presentation:

• Ask and listen. They want to buy the car or they wouldn’t be there. Don’t get caught in the trap of talking your way right into and out of the sale. The customer will tell you their hot buttons if you know how to listen for them.• Isolate your vehicle. In the row it’s just one of those Grand Ams, but pulled out and isolated from the rest of the inventory it is your customer’s new Grand Am. Just by starting the car and moving it 10 feet, there is a sense of obligation on the customers part. Your demonstration percentage will drastically increase if you just go out and start moving cars.• Know your product but sell the customer the 20 percent of the car they are interested in. I’m sure that horse power, torque or cubic feet of interior volume is important to someone but we need to focus our walk around on the part the customer is most interested in. You will never know until you ask.• Make sure you have a well planned product presentation that reinforces every feature with an agreement from the customer that that feature is important to them. (These new passive restraint seat belts will sure make you rest a little easier when Sally is driving back and forth from school every day won’t they?)• Every great presentation includes a demonstration drive. I always like my customer to end up at the passenger door so I can say, “Have a seat right

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november 2004 27

DavidA.Fish

Is Your Marketing Ignoring Halfof Your Revenue-Producing Customers

In the typical dealership, new customers account for 30-50 percent of sales, while existing customers account for

up to 70 percent. Dealers can be redirecting some resources to retain their customers’ loyalty and their dollars while still going after new prospects.

The incremental revenue possibilities of aggressive customer retention programs are substantial. For example, the lifetime value of a customer who buys every car from the same dealership and relies on the dealer for service, is well over $100,000.

One of the most effi cient and effective communications tactics for customer retention is an e-newsletter. Monthly e-newsletters help maintain an ongoing customer relationship—especially if the content provides useful and valuable, lifestyle-oriented information that matters to readers.

Such e-newsletters are easy to implement on a monthly basis. To get started, you need three key elements: 1. an e-newsletter system or service provider; 2. email addresses; and 3. the most critical piece, content that engages.

Options for e-newsletter systems or service providers are plentiful. Consider software packages such as MS Small Business 2003, which is particularly effective for smaller mailings. You may also want to think about partnering with e-communications service providers, advertising agencies, or Internet marketing companies. E-communications service providers, for example, offer their own web-based e-newsletter systems, and often manage the whole e-newsletter process from start to fi nish, from content and design to distribution and measurement of results.

Collecting your own email addresses, the second ingredient, is the best way to build a highly qualifi ed subscriber base. This can be done at any touch point in the sales and service process. The more opportunities you provide for customers to put their name on your list, the better. Place an email signup sheet on a showroom table. Put another in the waiting room of your service bays. Train your sales people to ask for email addresses, as well. If you have a website, invite visitors to provide their addresses as part of an e-

newsletter subscription offer. Give additional incentives to subscribe, such as alerts to special offers or the ability to schedule appointments online. Auto manufacturers may also have email addresses to share, but make sure that those listed have given permission to be contacted electronically.

There are many choices for the third and most critical element, content. Remember that your objective in choosing content is to keep customers interested in your dealership, driving their lifetime value even higher. For that reason, it’s important that you publish content that they will fi nd useful, valuable and look forward to receiving. In all, run no more than 10 content “bytes” per issue, including short articles, news briefs, surveys and coupons.

What subjects should you address? Lifestyle-oriented content is effective for retention. Give emphasis to lifestyle-oriented articles that help readers gain more benefi ts from the vehicle ownership experience, and from working with your dealership. These will facilitate customer retention. Consider stories on romantic getaway weekends that are close enough to drive to; an extreme garage makeover; or a more serious article on whether or not it’s a good idea for a college freshman to take a car to school. Articles on driving tips, care and maintenance are also excellent choices.

Take advantage of e-newsletter survey capabilities, as well. In addition to deepening your customer relationships, surveys can give you early, detailed feedback to help you maintain high CSI levels. Ask customers questions about their service needs, and make sure that your offerings match up.

Don’t shy away from promotion altogether, just strike the right balance between informative and marketing content. The 80/20 rule is a good one to apply. Eighty percent of the content should be informative while 20 percent should be dedicated to promotions and sales. Consider an Upcoming Events section, for example, that promotes new arrivals, holiday sales and leasing or service specials. Include coupons with links to your website to encourage additional browsing.

Gathering the content and writers on a monthly basis can be a challenge. Here are approaches you can take to spread the responsibility while keeping the articles fresh and interesting. One is to assign different

monthly sections to different managers within the company. For example, the service manager can have his own monthly column on vehicle care. A monthly welcome from the dealer principal is a warm way to establish approachability. Invite managers to submit articles on their favorite lifestyle assignments with you acting as the editor-in-chief. Manufacturers may also have content you can use.

If you don’t have the time or resources to develop the content in-house, consider working with a freelance writer or marketing communications agency. There are also e-communications service providers that provide turnkey content. All you have to do is pick from a menu of topics and articles that the service will then migrate into a template customized with your branding. In addition, these service providers are well-versed in the specifi cs of the CAN-SPAM Act, and can help you ensure that your publication is in compliance before you hit “send”.

However you approach the content, consider beginning an e-newsletter program for retention right away, while the strategy is still relatively new. As with other industries, the fi rst dealers to connect with customers electronically stand to gain the most. While customers will give out their email addresses to the fi rst dealers who request them, they are less likely to provide them to a second dealer and very unlikely to respond to a third request. The time to act to retain your customers through e-communications is now.

Note: This is the fi rst in a series of articles on creating a successful e-newsletter that will build broad-based customer loyalty. Our next article will address measurement and results, and how to adjust communications in response. Our third article, a crash course in Advanced e-Newsletter Marketing, will discuss how to use a monthly e-newsletter to track where customers are in their vehicle ownership cycles, how to identify which recipients are sending you buy-signals and how to move the lifetime customer closer to his or her next trip to your showroom.

David A. Fish is Chief Executive OfÞ cer of IMN (iMakeNews, Inc.) He can be contacted as 800.871.0012, or by email at dÞ sh@autosuccess.biz.

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marketing solution

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The 4 Characteristics ofa Powerful Communicator

SeanWolfi ngtonsts ms ls fi s lr

leadership solution

A powerful communicator is capable of infl uencing the thoughts, feelings and actions of a single person or an audience

of thousands. Our ability to infl uence the lives of others is only as great as our ability to communicate with them. Consider the possibilities. Every day we have the opportunity to:

• Help people make wise decisions• Help them understand ideas and concepts that are important to us and to them• Prevent and avoid pain; either today or in the future• Like us, respond favorably to us and open up to us• Lift their spirits, give them hope and bring them comfort• Strengthen their self-image and boost their confi dence

Every interaction we have with another person is an opportunity to bring us closer together or drive us further apart and that outcome depends upon our ability to communicate. But before we can articulate our views or state the facts, we need to create a climate where others want to communicate with us and want to share our thoughts, plans and ideas. When we focus on the other person and on creating an environment that makes our audience comfortable and eager to hear what we have to say, we’re better able to strategically position our ideas for success. The mistake many “great speakers” make is that they fail to focus on the other person and what’s important to them. We’ve all heard the old adage that “a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still” but what can we do to keep from falling into that trap ourselves?

There are four characteristics of a powerful communicator. See if you recognize any of them in the people you admire and if so, make an attempt to develop these characteristics in yourself.

Purpose:Every great communicator has a passionate belief that his or her purpose will change the world. Cultivate a burning mission to share your message with others and you cannot fail. Even if they don’t agree with the content of your message, when others can sense your passion and appreciate your purpose you are on your way to connecting with your audience and that’s the fi rst hurdle.

ProÞ ciency:A common misconception is that great communicators are born. And while it may come more naturally for some than for others, rest assured that powerful communication skills are something you can learn, practice and become profi cient in. When speaking one-on-one with an individual or even in a small group, it helps to employ a simple skill called C2 for “Confi rm and Clarify.”

Confi rm: While many sales people are great listeners, the challenge is to let the other person know that we are listening by confi rming or restating, in your own words, exactly what you heard them to say. It may help to use a lead in statement before you paraphrase what you just heard and some examples you can use are:

1. “When you say …”2. “So what you’re saying is …”3. “If I heard you correctly, what you mean is …”

Clarify: Once you’ve demonstrated to the other person that you’re actively listening, it may help to clarify what they really

mean by asking an exploratory question or making a statement that will help you both to gain more clarity. A great way to clarify is to simply say, “Tell me more” or to ask, “What do you mean by that?” Even if you think you understand your audience, never assume that you know what your audience is thinking just because you encountered a similar situation with someone else. A little more clarity can’t hurt. It shows that you care, builds rapport and trust and creates that environment where people want to hear what you have to say.

Persistence:So let’s say that you’re on fi re with your purpose, you’re becoming profi cient with the communication skill of C2 and still you’re not the powerful communicator you had dreamed to be. I have one word for you, my friend: Persistence. If you doubt me, just go to the bookstore and pull an autobiography of someone you admire off the shelf. Without a doubt, one common theme among the most successful people across any industry at any point in history is that they’ve all failed. With failure comes an opportunity to learn and the need for persistence which will set the best of the best apart from those who are satisfi ed with the path of least resistance.

Practice:Perfect practice equals perfect results. You should drill skill and videotapes participants to give them the opportunity to analyze what works great and what they would change or do differently. You might need to fi nd another way to fi ne tune your communication skills to the point of mastery, but the point is that great communicators are like great athletes; they’re not born, they’re made and they practice their gift to build the most from what they’ve been given. Seize the opportunity today to practice improving your communication skills with the next person you encounter. You might be surprised with the results.

Sean WolÞ ngton is an Owner of BZ Results.com. He can be contacted at 866.802.5753, or by email atswolÞ ngton@autosuccess.biz.

Every interaction we have with another person is an opportunity to bring us closer together or drive us further apart and that outcome depends upon our ability to communicate.

here, I want to show you a couple things inside.” I get in the driver’s seat show a couple things, start the car and begin the demonstration of the product. Never ask, “Would you like to drive the car? How about a test drive? Can I take you for a spin?” Why? Because most of the time they will say no. Remember that 99 percent of your customers will not buy without a demonstration. Don’t gamble with your commission. Get the car on the road.• Always assume the sale. The only

reason that your customer is on your lot is because they want a vehicle. More sales are missed because the sales person never asked the customer to buy than any other reason.

Stay engaged with your customer and listen to them tell you how to sell them their next vehicle. They are talking…..are you listening?

Jim Adams is the General Sales Manager at Roper Kia in Joplin, MO. He can be contacted at 800.905.0627, or by email at jadams@autosuccess.biz.

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each other back we both get a busy signal, forget what we were talking about…and on it goes. Inexcusable!

4. Establish a means of “gaining and preventing” Presidential ACCESS. Create a standard for PRESIDENTIAL ACCESS! What does that mean? It means you’re The President for heaven’s sake, not 7-11! You don’t have to be “open all night” or available 24/7!

What kind of President would you be if just anyone could walk into your offi ce or get you on the phone at a moment’s notice? Can you imagine a time that you could actually accomplish anything? All you’d be doing is managing distractions… And that’s a job for an “aide” or a member of the presidential staff. NOT for the President!

An “open-door” policy is overrated, seldom used for anything other than thoughtless interruptions, and does not produce the kind of presidential environment needed to make tough decisions, handle diffi cult situations, and the all-in-all required to be The President! Close the door once in awhile and be the president.

5. Build a Presidential Library.

Where’s your “Oval offi ce?” Or your “STUDY?” A place where you can close the door and be alone with a good book, or gain knowledge or information about a pressing issue, or fi nd solitude from the throng of “nay-say’ers and dooms-day’ers.” Where can you go to talk with yourself or talk with a Higher Authority? Every President has a place like this one. Do you?

You are The President of “YOUR LIFE, Inc.” If you are a leader of a team or company or organization, RE-defi ne what it means to be in that position of leadership. You’ll be amazed at how it’s received and how much you actually get done. If you take care of customers, then make them feel like they are important in the moments you’re with them and the rest of the world can wait. It makes customers feel special and makes you look presidential.

Look for some new ways to establish some new presidential guidelines that will help you MAKE HISTORY!

Have a great day, Mr./Ms. President!

Michael York is an Author and Professional Speaker. He can be contacted at 800.668.5015, or by email at myork@autosuccess.biz, or visit www.MichaelYork.com.

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