The Day My Career Changed
Have you ever experienced that life changing moment when all of a sudden, the light bulb went on and you had the ability to see things clearer? When challenges you had stumbled over for months, maybe years, became the opportunities that you were waiting for? Mine happened in September of 1993, the first time that I was introduced to Grant Cardone.
Let me start by saying that I began working in the automotive industry as a sales rep in 1984 at a small General Motors dealership at 18 years old. I was the youngest sales rep in the dealership by at least 15 years. I can still remember overhearing one of the senior sales reps saying, “there is no way this kid will make it, he’s too young – I bet he’s out of here in 90 days if he even makes it that long”. While hearing that pissed me off, I was determined that not only would I make it, but I would be the best salesman in the dealership. I thought to myself, “how hard can this be? be nice, treat people well they like me and I will sell them” – I was a little naive to say the least.
The first “up” I ever took were and older couple in their 80’s Mr. And Mrs. McIntyre (for some reason after all of these years I still remember them). They were looking to replace their Chevy Chevette with a new one and they basically wanted the exact same thing as they had, but it had to be white. I knew we had one exactly like that but had no idea how to locate the keys or where to find a dealer plate, so I could take them on a test drive. I asked one of the other sales guys to help me out, he was more than happy to show me where the keys and dealer plates were and off I went. They were too nervous to drive the car and asked me if I would, they just wanted to go around the block to get a feel for it. After returning from the drive we went into my office, I asked then if they liked it, they said yes, and Mrs. McIntyre pulled out her check book. Naturally she asked me how much she should make the cheque out for. I had no idea nor what to do next, no idea how or where to get the numbers, complete a trade appraisal, generate an offer, or even how to present it, so I excused myself and went to see my manager for direction, he told me what to do and I did what he told me. WOW my first car deal ever, I was actually in shock thinking how this is so easy!
Let’s take a minute to talk about the “training” that I received. The Sales Manager called me into his office feet up on the desk smoking a cigar said “Kid welcome to the car business – it’s easy. Customers come in, they ask you for information on a car and how much of a discount we can offer. They may even want to know payments – they key to your success is, DON’T GIVE THEM ANY OF THAT INFORMATION! Slow them down, take control, get a commitment – it’s all about getting a commitment from them…oh and a deposit. If you give them any of that information, you’ll never see them again. So, remember CONTROL, COMMITMENT, DEPOSIT.
So off I went ready to kill it! He was right every customer wanted information. I was faced with objections that I was told not to give, but more importantly no training on how to handle them:
“I want your BEST PRICE”
“What’s my trade worth?”
“I’m just shopping”
“I only have 10 minutes”
“My spouse isn’t here”
I was smart I remember the training– I tried to slow them down, and get CONTROL, COMMITMENT, DEPOSIT. Remember Mr. and Mrs. McIntyre – they were the only customers I sold in my first month. I started thinking, there must be a better way, I was watching and listening to the senior sales guys, the “top producers” they were following the training, the were taking control of the customers they were selling cars. I noticed that almost every car sold seemed to be a battle, customers didn’t appear to like it or be happy, in some cases there were even arguments between the sales guys and customers.
After going through another month of this back and forth battle, with limited success (I think I sold 4 cars in my second month), I realized I didn’t like it, I hated the confrontation every day all day and I grew discouraged to say the least.
The top salesman at the dealership was a retired high school principal. He was selling the next sales rep by almost 2-1. I went into his office one day and asked him if I could talk to him, thankfully he said yes. I explained my frustration. I told him that I thought there had to be a better way to do this and asked how he was so successful and why his customers always left with a smile. His response was candid and shocking – he said, “I do exactly the opposite of what the sales managers tell me to do, because it doesn’t work.” He went on to walk me through what he did, the language he used with his customers, the transparency with sale price, trade values and monthly payments. It all seemed to make perfect sense.
I began to do what made sense to me, follow his direction and began to sell more cars. Within 6 months I was the #2 sales man at the dealership. I must note, that for the first couple of months the sales manager was all over me for providing too much information and letting customers leave the dealership with numbers – for not following the training CONTROL, COMMITMENT, DEPOSIT. This was definitely the culture of our industry, it existed in every dealership across the country. It was a mantra that had deep roots and there was very limited appetite at the dealership level to change this culture.
Fast forward to September 1993 – the day my professional career changed forever. I was attending a workshop put on by a “sales trainer” from the United States, Grant Cardone. I had attended many seminars in the past, but they were all the same old school BS, but from what I had read about Grant and his “21st Century Selling Process,” I was excited to see him. At this time, I was the General Sales Manager of a new GM dealership, I had shared my philosophy of the way I wanted to run the dealership to my owner and sales mangers they all disagreed and said it wouldn’t work – we needed to stay the course CONTROL, COMMITMENT, DEPOSIT. I purchased 4 tickets, one for me, one each for my 2 sales managers and one for our most senior salesman – everyone who disagreed with the change I wanted to implement. I was immediately captivated by Grant, his attitude, energy, his philosophy and his commitment to change the toxic culture that existed in our industry.
Grant began the seminar asking everyone if they enjoyed the confrontational environment that existed between them and their customers – no one did.
He asked if there was a better way, one that would reduce confrontation, have the customers willingly follow them through the process and increase their individual sales by 10-20-30%. The room erupted and he had everyone’s attention. Grant went on to share his vision, ideas and skill set for the remaining 8 hours. During the first break, I could hear everyone buzzing about how much “this stuff made sense”, non-confrontational, information based and customer centric approach that was long overdue. My sales managers and sales rep were engaged, they started to see the value and benefits in what I had been telling them and by the end of the seminar they were sold. It was not only a career changing moment for me, but everyone in that workshop.
We went back to the dealership excited and immediately implemented Grant process, started training and coaching our entire staff. October was our best month in the 6 months that we had been open and the results continued to grow month after month. Our gross profit per unit went up about 10% our volume close to 20% and our CSI was the top in our region. All thanks to one man with a vision, Grant Cardone.
Fast forward to today, about 25 years later, the impact the internet has had on our industry has had a dramatic change on the shopping and purchase process. Customers have access to all the information that they need, our control of sharing that information is gone. Although Grant’s philosophies have certainly had an influence on how we communicate with our customers, its almost like the pendulum has swung too far. We have become providers of information and in a lot of cases, our skill to sell and close has eroded to the point that it’s costing dealerships across the nation millions of dollars in revenue. Industry stats will prove this – gross profits per vehicle are down 12-15% per vehicle, volumes are shrinking, and staff turnover is higher then its ever been, all of these having a significant impact on dealership profitability and our staff to make a living.
Cardone On Demand is the number 1 sales training platform in the world – with over 1500 (1-3 minute) training videos your sales staff will understand how to:
reduce customer confrontation
effectively deal with any customer objection
have customers willingly follow them through the sales process
quicken the sales process
stay in the close and sell more vehicles
increase gross per vehicle
increase CSI
Our platform has multi levels of certification from “new hires – to the most senior sales members”, with daily usage reports that will provide your management with real time information to drive accountability and show you how to increase your sales by 20-30% in 90 days.
I’d love the opportunity to set up a quick online demo – and get you and your team on the way to dominate your market.