August 29, 2011
Sales horsepower
Closing the deal more often begins with changing your culture
By: Doug Trenary
Through Doug Trenary’s book, “The SalesMind,” business owners and salesmen can strengthen their business relationships.
Doug Trenary, president of Doug Trenary’s Fast-Track Inc., is an award-winning author, speaker and teacher who since 1985 has helped companies of multiple sizes, including independent tire dealerships, increase sales and productivity. He was a featured speaker at the 2011 Goodyear Dealer Conference, and is developing a fast-growing presence in the automotive industry. His book, “The SalesMind,” focuses on how to maximize your time and establish strong positions with your team and your buyers.
If you are an owner or manager, it’s no big secret: You want more sales. Faster sales. Less costly sales. All in a tight economy. If you are a store sales associate or commercial representative who makes outside sales calls, you’re always in search of strategies to close more business.
Whether you are a retail dealer, supplier, wholesaler, have a commercial truck operation — or all of the above — sales issues are (or should be) always high on the radar. Companies that weather the storms of an economy, yet continue to grow and prosper, without question have built a certain culture of success. What is that culture?
For 26 years, my focus has been helping companies and individuals build this atmosphere. Is it easy? Of course not. Is it definable? Yes. I call it being a “SalesMind.” In terms of your operation, one of your key missions every day should be to maximize every possible aspect of a SalesMinded culture. Let me challenge you to consider and apply these thoughts. They are proven to generate immediate, measurable, financial results.
Three steps to better results
First, keep in perspective that you are in a great business, and share that exciting view with your team! Your sector (something with wheels) is massive: an estimated one-tenth of the gross domestic product in the United States. That’s approximately $1.5 trillion. The automotive business is fairly recession-resistant, not to say you haven’t taken some hits. People will give up a lot of things, but not their car. At least your industry has not been blown to pieces by this economy, nor has it, like so many other industries, been knocked out by technology.
The car and truck are here to stay. Make sure as a leader that you constantly remind your store or division team about the endless opportunities with vehicles. You can legitimately add-on sales of brakes, wipers, hot accessories — the choices are endless. Opportunity abounds, so take advantage of it!
Second, recruit and hire the right people for the job. There is no substitute for talent. The most elasticity in productivity (more quality work every hour) you’ll ever get is with an employee with the right capabilities. With that baseline, you can train them to do the rest.
Third, when you have the right team mix, train them and retrain them! That way, you are taking talent and stretching it to whole new levels. We have major manufacturer and dealer clients right now increasing sales and close rates, and dropping dollars to the bottom line, because they are getting their personnel focused, skilled, and profitable!
One of the worst mistakes, and I hear this all the time, is to “wait for the right time; slow season, etc., to do training.” Every minute you don’t sharpen saws, you’ll waste the greatest asset you have — the minds and talents of your team — and increase the greatest “hidden” cost you have — them not being able to sell as much as they can as fast as they can.
Let me say this again: You lose time and serious money when your employees’ skill saws are not razor-sharp. This is the essence of being a SalesMinded company.
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