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March 2004

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Get Your DealershipReady For Event Marketing!Get Your DealershipReady For Event Marketing!

Leland GlynnLeland Glynn

RedeÞ ne Success: SimpleStrategies for FulÞ llment

Contract Disclosure Made Easy

The Power of Pausing

Talk Their Talk

RedeÞ ne Success: SimpleStrategies for FulÞ llment

Contract Disclosure Made Easy

The Power of Pausing

Talk Their Talk

Joel DeNooyer,President of DeNooyer Auto Group,Albany, New York

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Redefi ne Success: Simple Strategies for Fulfi llment Anthony Robbins

Contract Disclosure Made Easy George Jackson

It’s a Numbers Game Jim Adams

The Power of Pausing Brian Tracy

Talk Their Talk Patrick Luck

Get in Position to Play Your Best Brian Manzella

Get Your Dealership Ready For Event Marketing! Leland Glynn

Have No Fear of Public Speaking Joe Takash

The Power of Appreciation Steve Hiatt

Driven to Perfection Ricardo Weitz

New Ideas to Boost Sales Dennis McDonough

Does Size Matter Timothy J. McCarthy

12 Solutions for Being a Better Leader Mark Tewart

The Top 10 Best Practices Sean Wolfi 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 [email protected]. 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.

756 South 1st Street, Suite 202Louisville, Kentucky 40202

Toll Free: 877.818.6620Facsimile: 502.588.3170Web: autosuccess.biz

Acts 10:34-35And Peter opened his mouth

and said: “Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is

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In God We Trust Success Driven Solutions

Patrick Luck, Editor & Publisher• [email protected]

Susan Goodman, VP of Operations• [email protected]

Thomas Williams, Creative Director• [email protected]

Liz Presler, Media Director• [email protected]

Courtney Hill, Advertising Services• [email protected]

Kelley Humkey, Advertising Services• [email protected]

�You are who you decide to be, at any given moment. It doesn�t take money, education, experience or anything else. It simply takes deciding.�

- Mark Tewart

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anthony robbinsBy Anthony Robbins

RedeÞ ne Success: Simple Strategies for FulÞ llment

People are always searching for a way to be successful. But, what is success, really? And how can you fi nd ways

to be more successful, every day and in everything that you do? While it might seem a little overwhelming sometimes, it doesn’t have to be. The truth is that success is defi ned differently by each and every one of us. And the key to being able to truly achieve and be fulfi lled at the highest level lies in how you defi ne it for yourself. Once you realize what your rules for success are, you can then focus on making them more empowering, and suddenly you will begin to see a shift in how successful you are—and this will change every single thing in your life.

What you fi rst need to recognize is this one idea: What you link pain to and what you link pleasure to will determine your destiny. People link pain and pleasure to a myriad of experiences (money, family, relationships, learning, working, giving, exercise) and you probably know people who attach pain to one of these things that other people attach pleasure to! A marathon runner, for example, associates pleasure to running—to the exercise, to the exertion; another person attaches pain to running, having to wake up early, get dirty and sore, and therefore chooses to lounge on the couch and stare at the TV, shuddering at the idea of even walking one mile! However, a change in what you associate pain or pleasure to will change

the direction of your life, dramatically. The good news is that you can change it, instantly. All you need to do is identify what you associate pain and pleasure to, and adjust your focus onto things that empower you and serve you in your life. The rules that you have in your life, what you attach pain to and pleasure to, also affect your ability to truly feel success in your life.

The main reasons that most people do not succeed in life are: 1) they have forgotten what success really means to them; and/or 2) their rules for success are so strict that it becomes diffi cult, or even impossible, for them to ever feel successful. What made you want to work where you do? Was it so that you could help people, contribute to their overall quality of life? Did you pick a certain location so that you could serve your community or so you could guarantee a better quality of life for your family? Was it because you like interacting with people, spending time talking to others? Whatever the reason, take some time to think about it and get yourself re-associated to it. Just focusing on what your end goal is, the thing that is most important to you, will aid you in feeling successful, because it will allow you to re-focus your energy on accomplishing what it is that you really want.

The fi rst step in truly experiencing success is to defi ne what success really means to you in clear, achievable terms. In most cases, people are succeeding in life, but they do not feel like they are. They are

not keeping score; they are not focusing on what they have achieved, how they have grown. You need to fi nd a defi nition for success that gives you pleasure when you win, and when you lose (that is, when you don’t give your all or produce your best) it motivates you to make your life even better.

For some people, their defi nition virtually guarantees them the pain of feeling unsuccessful. For example, in your dealership, if your rules for success are: that you must never experience challenges with your staff, you must always retain your clients throughout their life, you must never get frustrated with your accounting, you must never feel tired or worry about the future of your business or the number of sales that have been made…how often do you think you will get to experience feeling successful? How about, in contrast, if you know you are successful every day you walk out of the house and take a breath of fresh air? How would that change your life? Chances are that your personal defi nition is somewhere in between. But, how could you defi ne your success in a way that is more empowering for you, and allows you to experience success on a daily basis? Write it down, live it, and you will experience an immediate improvement in the fulfi llment that you enjoy in your life every day.

Once you know what success really is for you, the next step is to measure it daily. Look at your defi nition of success and realize all the ways you can feel successful about your day. Ask yourself questions and set up a system that allows you to measure your success daily.

Here’s an example, let’s look at the defi nition of success that I use in my life: “I am successful when I experience joy while I contribute and produce results.”

1. Did I learn something? It is impossible to not learn something, whether or not you achieve your goals or not, you are always learning something.2. Did I grow? The fact that I’m alive, for me, means I’m going to grow. If I’ve learned anything, I will use it, and as I use it, I grow.

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3. Did I make a difference? I have a simple defi nition for this one: Have I made a difference in the way people feel about themselves? I can do that by asking questions, giving a compliment, or just by encouraging someone to do something, such as read a book.4. Did I enjoy? I fi nally realized that no matter what I’m doing, I could choose to enjoy it, whether it’s washing dishes or doing a seminar for 10,000 people. At any moment in time, I can enjoy what I’m experiencing if I simply choose to.

When you set up your system for measuring success in this way, you create a way to win every day, regardless of what you are involved in, who you are with, and even with all the challenges that do arise in any given circumstance. You begin to focus on the ends and not the means and this will change your life. You will experience more joy, more love, and more passion because you are focusing on what it truly takes to make you happy and fulfi lled. Getting one thing done in your day may make you

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temporarily happy, but when you realize that by getting that one thing done, you made it possible for a customer to buy the car of their dreams, you may fi nd a more sustainable feeling of joy is created. You didn’t just fi ll out a piece of paper; you contributed beyond yourself and helped a fellow human being.

When you are done reading this, set aside some time and discover what success has meant to you in the past, and see if there are more empowering decisions you can make right now that will allow you to experience emotions of joy, gratitude, and fulfi llment. How do you defi ne success in your life? What are your rules for success? Are these rules appropriate? Have you set yourself up for failure because you haven’t found a way to measure whether or not you’re succeeding, or worse—do you measure your success in a way that’s totally inappropriate, contradictory, or impossible to reach?

Remember: Whatever you focus on, you will experience. If you focus on the means

to success, you’ll get the means, but you’ll miss out on the very meaning of your life. You’ll fi nd yourself achieving ends, but then asking yourself, “Is this all there is?” Make sure you focus on what you really want in your life, and be fl exible on how you go about getting it.

Success is something different for each and every one of us. The important thing is to fi nd a defi nition of success that allows you to achieve more in ways that are truly meaningful to you. Set yourself up to measure your achievements and monitor them daily. Once you have rules that empower you, you will fi nd that your quality of life will improve and, because you are now focused on the things that truly matter to you, you will begin to have a life that is more meaningful and fulfi lled.

Anthony Robbins is Founder and Chairman of the Board of The Anthony Robbins Companies. He can be contacted at 866.766.7153, or visit www.anthonyrobbins.com.

continued

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f&i solution george jacksonBy George Jackson

Contract Disclosure Made EasyUpon completing a successful presentation, many F&I professionals leave the customer with a bad last

impression by performing a poor contract disclosure. Failing to deliver the paperwork properly can overshadow a great presentation. To avoid this, simply follow the following fi ve steps, and your contract disclosure will become one of the easiest parts of your presentation.

1. Start with payment.Many F&I professionals start at the top of the contract and work their way to the bottom. If you have a variety of lenders, all with their own contracts, this means that you are doing a different disclosure sequence for each lender. Also, when you start at the top of the contract, you usually do not have the customer’s attention until you reach the payment box. Start with the payment because you will take away the customer’s stress. Generally, this is the most important part of the contract for customers. In addition, the monthly payment is the last thing that you and the customer discussed on the menu, so it is a natural transition. Simply say, “Ms. Jones, this is your retail installment contract and, as you agreed, you will have 60 payments of $475.11 per month beginning on April 15th.”

2. Customer, dealership,and vehicle information.Once the payment has been reviewed, the next area of the contract to disclose is the name and address of the customer and the dealership, followed by the vehicle year, make, model, and VIN. This is done by saying, “Ms. Jones, you are listed as the buyer and this is your name as it is to appear on your title and your current address. We are listed as the seller and here is our dealership name and address. Here is your 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo for personal use and here is the Vehicle Identifi cation Number.”

3. Itemization of the amount to Þ nance.Next, on your disclosure sequence, you should thoroughly cover the Itemization of the Amount to Finance, line by line. Go over the sales price, the trade equity, cash down, unpaid balance, and all of the itemized fees, including the products that the customer chose on the menu. Doing so intimidates most F&I professionals, but if you did your job well to this point, what is there to fear? Sure, the customer is seeing the product costs for the fi rst time (note: always disclose the retail installment contract before the individual product forms), yet if there is a reaction, it will be more of a ‘sticker-shock’ than an objection. However, you can alleviate this by saying something like, “This is your service contract, this is your credit

insurance, and this is your GAP coverage. In other words, this is the Value Plan that you chose to enroll in earlier.” Remind the customer that he or she enrolled in the programs and that it is part of the payment that he or she agreed to earlier.

4. Truth-in-Lending boxes.The last line of the itemization of the disclosure sequence is the Amount to Finance, which is also the center box of the Truth-in-Lending boxes. This is a natural transition to the TIL Boxes. Review the APR, the Finance Charge, the Total of Payments, and the Total Sales Price. There is not a legal obligation to read any of the numbers in these boxes, but it is recommended. At this point of the process, again, there is nothing to fear because you have done your job well. Occasionally, a customer will be surprised at the amount in the Total Sales price box. Simply explain that it is the total of the payments that he/she already agreed to, plus the down payment they agreed to with the sales person.

5. Back to payment.Finally, before asking the customer to sign the contract, review the payment once again to ensure to the customer, now having seen the product costs for the fi rst time, that his or her payment has not changed. This will also reinforce that the payment that he or she agreed to is the same payment that appears on the contract that is about to be signed.

There are many legal issues to also consider that will be reviewed in a future editorial. For now, follow this sequence and you will undoubtedly minimize your chargebacks and increase your customer satisfaction.

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 [email protected].

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profi t solution scott josephBy Scott Joseph

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Amazing marketing “tool” helps Dealers and General Managers who use direct mail increase

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Are your direct mail promotions producing consistent and

improving results or are they falling short of your expectations and declining with each promotion? Most dealers who use direct mail are still searching for the elusive combination that produced record-breaking results like their Þ rst direct mail promotion.

The number one objection we hear when prospecting for new dealer clients is that direct mail doesn�t work anymore. When we ask why most dealers say, �My market is saturated� or �It only attracts gift seekers� or �The people who respond are not buyers.�

I agree with all these reasons because if a direct mail promotion is not well thought out from start to Þ nish it will not work. This brings up a question! And the question is�

How can you eliminate all the elements of a promotion that do not give you the return on investment you need and at the same time improve on the aspects that produce exactly what you want? That�s the real question isn�t it? If you could invest advertising dollars only where you see great results and eliminate what doesn�t work, how many more cars could you sell? How much money would you make?

I�ve invested a small fortune to develop the marketing �tool� that will provide you the information that is necessary to produce the results you really want and could quite possibly increase your sales with each promotion from this day forward. J&L Marketing is the only Þ rm with this unique capability. It allows us to research and analyze your promotions from over 100 different perspectives and

gives you huge marketing advantages over all your competitors.

Now, you�ve heard the cliché� Information is what? Right. Information is power. If you could look back upon the history of thousands of promotions, examine the mailing lists, read over the direct mail letters, track what worked, what didn�t, who bought, who didn�t, and why� would this be powerful information to you?

The reality is every direct mail promotion produces both good and bad results. The problem is being able to easily recognize which is which. That problem is solved! Now you can have all the information you need to ensure success at the touch of a button.

Imagine being able to know immediately which market areas produce results that exceed your expectations and more importantly which ones to avoid. Simply asking the computer� �How do we generate more trafÞ c and sell more cars?� J&L�s proprietary Response Analysis System directs us toward those activities that bring success, and away from those that don�t. We reÞ ne the offers, prices, strategies, locations, and even the days of the week that bring the highest return.

Our analysis allows us to produce ever-increasing levels of success. Since the market is a lot smarter than we are, we don�t go by hunches, opinions, or gut feelings about how to improve performance. We rely solely on the numbers to tell us �where to from here.�

How can anyone make recommendations to you without the validation of facts, statistics and numbers? How can anyone implement a growth strategy based on hunches and guesses, rather than this powerful analysis program? It�s obvious�they can�t.

But J&L can, and J&L does. Our statistics tell us that for the last 3.5 million pieces of mail delivered, the Response Analysis has helped our dealer clients sell an average of 33 cars for every 10,000 pieces of mail delivered!

The Response Analysis is the most powerful marketing tool in automotive advertising today. Find out why J&L�s dealership response rates have increased 72% in the last two years. This combined with unequaled professionalism and customer support is why 94% of all J&L customers continue their relationship with us for years.

Just ask them for yourself. Rick Hillman from Hollingsworth Mazda says, �J&L Marketing�s direct mail program is the most cost-efÞ cient form of advertising that I have seen in the thirty years that I�ve been in the car business.�

Pat Fogerty from Classic Toyota says, �We have used J&L Marketing for years because of their continual support and excellent results. This is an invaluable service.�

Billy Gordon from Patrick Chevrolet says, �We have been running with J&L Marketing for four years, and we can attribute more sales to them than any other form of advertising. J&L is the most professional company I�ve worked with since I began in the car business 18 years ago.�

You too can start experiencing consistent results from the most professional marketing company right now by contacting my ofÞ ce at 866.856.6782 and asking for Lisa Wilson. Or e-mail her at: [email protected]. As soon as you contact us we will begin to create a growth strategy unique to your organization, producing more proÞ t, more volume, and more satisÞ ed customers.

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jim adamsBy Jim Adams

It�s a Numbers GameSales follow o p p o r t u n i t i e s everywhere they go—it’s a numbers game. Therefore, you must teach your

sales staff to prospect before you ever try to teach the fi rst selling skill to them. Why? Because:

• 10 - 12% is the average closing ratio of a fresh up. They are harder to close, make less money, and are the least loyal of any source of business.• One half of repeat owners and referrals will buy from you if you have a personal follow up system in place. However, 80% of customers cannot remember their sales person’s name a year after their purchase.• Each sales person has a circle of infl uence of over 500 people, friends, relatives, and social and business contacts that would do business with them if asked.

Stop focusing on monthly sales objectives and start demanding that your sales people have monthly opportunity objectives.(See chart)

What is your sales person’s daily activity? How many opportunities per day are they expected to generate? This is a key to success. Five generated opportunities equal one sale. Manage the activity not the result. The sales will come if your focus is on generating a monthly dealership opportunity goal not a unit goal.

If you have a simple spreadsheet program (like Excel), then you have the tools needed to develop a professional follow up system. Before your new hire ever takes an up, require them to create a ‘circle of infl uence’ list of names, addresses, and telephone

numbers of everyone they know (friends, relatives, social and business contacts, etc.).

It is important to note that your staff understands that you are not asking them to hound their friends and relatives to buy cars. What they are doing is informing these people that they are currently selling cars for a living. Help them understand that people would rather do business with people they know, not to mention the fact that the average closing ratio on new business contacts is above 50%.

Assign every sales person a sales code. Your prospect fi le is sorted into three categories. “C” which is circle of infl uence. “P” is for prospect, and “S” is for sold. From this fi le you can build a master fi le of every single opportunity that either knows your sales person, has shopped at your dealership, or has bought from your dealership. With your master prospect fi le, your sales person can use this information in conjunction with their daily planners to do owner follow-up, host prospect calls, and make general phone contacts.

You must demand an accurate log sheet. If your focus is on opportunity generation instead of unit production, then sales people will be more inclined to make sure that the log sheet has accurate information which includes name, address, work, home and cell number, and email.

With your master prospect fi le you can have immediate contact with your customer base sorted by unit, interest, ownership, etc. It is important that one person be responsible for data entry and deletion of return mail.

A store that has 300 opportunities a month with a staff of eight to ten sales people could easily have over 8,000 to 10,000 prospects in the fi rst year alone. That is

Opportunities Demonstrations (80%) Write Up (50%) Delivery (50%)

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10,000 names that you can contact about owner loyalty programs, service and parts specials, general follow up, etc.

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 [email protected].

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DIRECT MAIL WORKS!WHEN YOU DEAL WITH THE BEST.

“I have used HNR to help us accomplish our goal of being the largest volume Chevrolet Oldsmobile dealer in Indiana. We have also broke our single day, week and month sales record with their events.”

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“Cable Dahmer Chevrolet worked with the same research manager for 8 years which is rare with a direct mail marketing company. They know what works and they always do what they say they’re going to do.”

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Hamlin, Novel & Reaves4481 Ash Grove Drive ~ SpringÞ eld, IL 62707

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Sample A. Sample1234 Any StreetAnytown, ST 00000

Dear Sample:

Our Þ rm has been retained by ABC Motors to eliminate a massive amount of unsold inventory. ABC Motors is overstocked with new and pre-owned cars, trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles that must be eliminated immediately.

As a preferred customer, you may take advantage of over 300 new vehicles that have been slated for immediate elimination. In addition, you may choose from over $1 Million in pre-owned vehicles. Our Þ rm will conduct this event on Saturday, July 28th ONLY.

As a preferred customer, your credit has been virtually pre-approved.**

Special elimination prices will be in effect on all vehicles. NO NEGOTIATION WILL BE NECESSARY. These discounts PLUS rebates up to $3000* or Þ nancing rates as low as 0.0% APR* will save you literally thousands of dollars.

By agreeing to eliminate this excess inventory, ABC Motors is authorized to offer trade-in allowances over book value, no matter how much you owe! Special appraisers will be on duty.

Sample, please bring this letter along with your title or payment book. Due to anticipated response, we urge you to call for an appointment to preview the inventory prior to notiÞ cation of the general public.

This drastic inventory elimination will be held at ABC Motors, located at 1234 Anystreet in Any Town on Saturday, July 28th from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM.

All telephone inquiries must be directed to800-991-9356, extension 99

Sincerely,

Wally Hamlin

*On select models with approved credit; length of contract may be restricted; see dealer for details. ** Severity of credit may affect rate, term and down payment; some restrictions may apply; see dealer for details.

We have been creating results for over 14 years, our clients range from small markets to top dealers in the country. We use a no-gift, no-gimmick approach to direct mail, targeting the dealerships past customers, as well as the friends and neighbors of those customers during our events.

Call today for your FREE Market Analysis!

Walter F. HamlinMichael W. NovelDawn M. HamlinHoward J. Reaves

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Paula GrovesWilliam Ladd

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brian tracyBy Brian Tracy

The Power of PausingAll of the top sales people ask good questions and listen carefully to the answers. One of the most important

skills of listening is simply to pause before replying. When the prospect fi nishes talking, rather than jumping in with the fi rst thing that you can think of, take three to fi ve seconds to pause quietly and wait.

Become a master of the pause.All excellent listeners are masters of the pause. They are comfortable with silences. When the other person fi nishes speaking, they take a breath, relax and smile before saying anything. They know that the pause is a key part of good communications.

Three beneÞ ts of pausing.Pausing before you speak has three

specifi c benefi ts. The fi rst is that you avoid the risk of interrupting the prospect if he/she has just stopped to gather his/her thoughts. Remember, your primary job in the sales conversation is to build and maintain a high level of trust, and listening builds trust. When you pause for a few seconds, you often fi nd the prospect will continue speaking. He will give you more information and further opportunity to listen, enabling you to gather more of the information you need to make the sale.

Carefully consider what you just heard.The second benefi t of pausing is that your silence tells the prospect that you are giving careful consideration to what he/she has just said. By carefully considering the other person’s words, you are paying him/her a compliment. You are implicitly saying that you consider what was said to be important and worthy of quiet refl ection. You make

the prospect feel more valuable with your silence. You raise his/her self-esteem and make him/her feel better.

Understanding with greater clarity.The third benefi t of pausing before replying is that you will actually hear and understand the prospect better if you give his/her words a few seconds to soak into your mind. The more time you take to refl ect upon what has just been said, the more conscious you will be of the their real meaning. You will be more alert to how his/her words can connect with other things you know about the prospect in relation to your product or service.

The message you send.When you pause, not only do you become a more thoughtful person, but you convey this to the customer. By extension, you become a more valuable person to do business with. And you achieve this by simply pausing for a few seconds before you reply after your prospect or customer has spoken.

Action Steps.Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, take time to carefully consider what the customer just said and what he might mean by it. Pausing allows you to read between the lines.

Second, show the customer that you really value what they have said by refl ecting for a few moments before you reply.

Brian Tracy is the Chairman & CEO of Brian Tracy International. He can be contacted at 866.300.9881, or by email at [email protected].

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�By extension, you become a more valuable person to do business with.�

patrick luckBy Patrick Luck

Talk Their Talk

march 2004 13

An easy way to gain instant and deep rapport with your customer is to present to them in a way that they

can process information comfortably. The fi rst thing to do is ask, “For you, what’s most important about your next vehicle?” Follow their answer with, “What else?” Their answers will be their criteria for purchase. This is the language that will motivate them to buy. So, if the answer were, “ I would have to get a great price, and I need a dependable car,” then the customer’s motivating language is “great price” and “dependable car.” Input these power words into your presentation immediately and often. You will begin to see the customer warm up to you, because you are speaking their language. You can establish instant and deep rapport with customers using these power words. Always speak to your customers in a way that is most appealing to them.

Another way to do this is to fi nd out if the customer is a toward-type person or an away-type person. To do this, simply ask, “What is getting a great price really going to do for you?” When they answer, “Well, I’ll have more money to do other things,” they are answering how getting a great price on this vehicle will help them get other things as well. They are moving toward something. When they answer, “Well, then I don’t have to worry if I have enough money for my other bills.” They are answering how getting a great price is going to help them to avoid something, a possible problem. They are moving away. Neither is right or wrong, just how you present to these customers from now on is. If they are a toward-type, speak to them about how this vehicle, the fi nancing, the warranty, the service is going to help move toward things and get more. If they are an away-type, then speak in terms of how this vehicle, the fi nancing, the warranty, the service etc. is going to help them avoid problems, or worrying.

Another way to speak in terms of how customers process information is to fi nd

out if they are internal or external decision makers. To do this ask, “At the time you made the decision to buy your last vehicle, how did you know you made the right decision when you made it?” When they answer, “I just knew it,” or, “ I could feel it in my gut,” this customer is an internal decision maker. An internal decision maker does not want or need advice or to be pushed (a great way to end a sentence with an internal decision maker is to say, “…and ultimately, it’s up to you…”). However, when the customer answers, “I checked at eight dealerships, I asked my brother-in-law who sells cars in New York, and the three leading consumer-watch magazines said it was the best buy,” this person is an external decision maker. They need references to make sure; they want advice or confi rmation. External decision makers can be spotted easily when they ask, “What do you think I should do?”

Not everyone is always toward-type/away-type or internal decision maker/external decision maker in every situation. They could be toward for one thing and away in another. When you ask the question, the hot button words will leap out, and then use the information you learn to speak in terms most comfortable to the customer. The same for the internal and external. Practice asking these questions in different situations with coworkers, friends, and family, and you will get good at it.

Don’t hesitate to repeat the question if the customer looks puzzled for a moment, or says “what?”. They are not familiar with these questions, so just repeat it. And don’t paraphrase it. Gaining instant and deep rapport and speaking in terms that puts your customers at ease can eliminate the response, “Well, I just need to think about it,” when it seemed you were giving the customer just what they’d asked for.

Patrick Luck is the Editor and Publisher of AutoSuccess Magazine. He can be contacted at 800.331.9507, or by email at [email protected].

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leisure & recreation brian manzellaBy Brian Manzella

Get in Position to Play Your Best

1 2 3 4

When I give put-ting lessons-which golfers take far too few of-it amazes me how little golfers know about what

the putter should do during the putting stroke. Regardless of how you grip it, or how you stand to it, the putter should do fi ve very important things.

Solid contact is the most important ele-ment. The middle of the putter face should contact the middle of the ball (or slightly above the middle). 99.9% of all putters on the market today are what are called ‘low-profi le’ putters. What this means is that the putter face height is lower than the height of the ball. By a lot. (PIC 1) That means that for the middle of the putter face to contact the middle of the ball, the putter head MUST be raised at impact.

There are two options for this to occur. You either have to pull inward with your arms or elbows during the stroke or you can start with the putter at the proper height. As radical as the latter seems, it is employed by two current Champions Tour

players who had some outstanding success as golfers (and putters): Jay Sigel and Don Pooley.

A good way to practice this is to place four quarters on the ground behind the ball (PIC 2). Either address the ball by hover-ing the putter slightly above the quarters or by placing the putter on the ground behind the quarters. Then make your stroke, hitting the ball without contacting the quarters.

Getting the putter the right height at im-pact is all for naught if the putter shaft is not leaning slightly forward at impact. If you have the shaft vertical at impact you had better have a putter with next to no loft on it to get the solid strike we are seeking. If the putter shaft is leaning backward and the putter head is on the ‘upswing’ at im-pact, the middle of the face will miss the middle of the ball (PIC 3). The proper ap-plication is slight forward lean of the shaft at impact (PIC 2).

These fi rst two important elements-for-ward leaning shaft and center or above contact on the ball-are interestingly nearly

always present on the most nonchalant of putting strokes: the ‘rake-in.’ You know, when you have missed your putt slightly wide and long and you reach the putter out (usually with one arm) and rake/stroke the ball in the hole. It always amazed me how many of these ‘putts’ go in as compared to the ‘knuckle-down’ two to three footer that meant something. But it is obvious why this is in the context of what we have just discussed on ideal contact.

The ‘rake-in’ impact (PIC 4) contacts the ball above center with forward lean where the ‘knuckle-down’ putt that is ‘yipped’ and missed is often contacted below center with the clubshaft ‘laying back’ (PIC 3).

The third must is for the ‘path’ of the stroke to be ‘on-plane.’ There are two camps of putting paths these days. Camp one lead by Dave Pelz believes the putter head should travel straight back and straight through during the stroke. Pelz and others have been the dominant ‘authorities’ with this methodology for nearly 20 years. The other camp teaches that the putter should make a curved path that swings back to the inside, returns to the ball and then swings

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march 2004 15

through to the inside. This camp is led by new putting ‘guru’ Stan Utley. I have long known that this is the most effective stroke, because the shaft is on an incline at address and it should swing back and through on this incline just like any other golf stroke chip to full drive.

There are many new devices that are on the market to assist you in making a curved stroke with your putter, but a simple understanding of why

the putter head curves to the starting line of the putt will allow you to construct a homemade training aid for this type of stroke in a few seconds.

If the putter (or any other club) rests on an imaginary inclined plane, like a roof, and the ball is in the gutter, the putter will swing back --up the roof-- to the inside of the gutter-line. As it returns to the ball it will get back on that line and through the ball again swing up the roof and inside the gutter. So an overhead view of this ‘path’ would show the putter making a curved path.

To practice this on-plane motion, simply fi nd a fl at board and rest the putter head against the board at address. Place the ball opposite the ‘sweetspot’ of the putter. This sweetspot is the small area on the face that if the ball is struck on the face will not twist. You can test for this spot by hold-ing the putter in the air at the grip with two fi ngers and tapping the putter head with your fi nger until the ‘no-twist- spot is found (PIC 5). Hitting the ball on this no-twist area is the fourth key element to great putting.

The on-plane stroke is made by lightly scraping the heel of the putter against the ‘plane board.’ (PIC 6)Your putter will make the perfect curved path every time. Practice makes permanent.

The fi nal must is to have the face of the putter perpendicular to the plane at all times during the stroke. If your puter has a ‘square’ heel area, make sure this stays completely on the board (PIC 6). This will

assure that when the ball leaves the putter (when the shaft is vertical) the ball will travel perfectly on the intended line.

Combined with the perfect contact of the middle of the putter face contact the middle (or slightly higher) of the ball with a forward leaning shaft on the sweetspot, and you will ‘roll-the-rock’ with the best of them.

Brian Manzella is a PGA Teaching Professional. He can be contacted at 866.873.0036, or by email at [email protected], or visit www.brianmanzella.com.

leland glynn

Get Your DealershipReady For Event Marketing!

By Leland Glynn

fs feature solution

www.autosuccess.biz16

Direct mail should be an integral part of any dealer’s advertising plan. There are two strong types of direct mail, institutional or event focused, and a multitude of blends. Institutional advertising reinforces your dealership’s name and reputation with the public. Consumers base their shopping habits on name recognition and perception of quality. Institutional advertising places your name and message in front of consumers who may not be in the market today, but will think of you when they are. Event advertising is self-explanatory; it drives traffi c to your dealership for a one-time promotion. Of course, it also carries the benefi t of being institutional for the consumers that don’t attend your event.

Some basic truths about direct mail.First of all, with direct mail, the odds are stacked against you. Will the letter be opened? If it is opened, will it be read? If it is read, will the customer come in or call? If they do, will what they hear be consistent with what they read? And when they come in to the store, will they be handled properly? This industry is now beginning to see a revolution in event marketing; the staffed event is becoming more popular with dealerships. At a staffed event, a vendor will supply direct mail advice and guidance, as well as additional staff to effectively handle the increased fl oor traffi c. Dealerships nationwide are beginning to use this type of event to drive traffi c to the showroom while utilizing the vendor for quality staffi ng to make the events more successful.

The blueprint for event marketing.Generally, a weekend event will deliver the best returns. The selection of a mix of a couple of weekdays as well as at least one Saturday or Sunday will insure that all potential customers will have an opportunity to visit your store. Now, pick

a mail vendor, and remember one thing, price should not always be the determining factor. Ask the vendor these questions:

Will the mail be fi rst-class or bulk? Studies have shown that fi rst-class mail is more likely to be opened and read than bulk mail. Remember that many decisions are based on the perception of quality, and that an addressed, fi rst-class letter will carry more credibility than a bulk post card or ‘resident’ address.

What is the return rate? How many pieces of mail will go undelivered is a fair question to ask. Some companies will not perform some basic but costly ‘merges’ that will purify your list against postal records for deliverable addresses. Does the company have the ability to remove names from the list that do not wish to receive offers by mail? The vendor you select should use the U.S. Postal Service to verify accurate addresses, and cross reference that data against 911 address change software to start with the best deliverable addresses. Additionally, the vendor should work with any returns to remove those names and addresses from the master list used for any future mailings. Some companies realize a return of 1% and less. Also, any customer that calls or writes and wants to be removed should be taken off the list promptly. You don’t need angry consumers calling the dealership because they continue to receive unwanted mail from you. It’s a waste of your ad dollars and fosters ill will against your dealership.

Beyond zip codes, what selection criteria will be used? You understand your market better than someone located across the country from you. Be sure to stipulate things like average household income, beacon scores, and home ownership to get your shot at the best, able-to-purchase consumers. Then carefully weigh the cost

per piece against the quality and services you need in your market.

Finally, what other services will you receive from your mail vendor? Some companies offer a low price, bare bones service, while others will provide much more. Think about mirror hangers and registration forms at least. Other fi rms will provide a ‘soup to nuts’ event with all materials and forms, as well as staff.

Inventory and product mix.This should be a good opportunity to move some of that aging used vehicle inventory, so be sure to spice it up with some fresh faces as well. For example, many used car departments are heavy with the same models as the new car department. If you are a Ford store, you may be missing the boat by not stocking enough GM or import used models. Take a look at your mix and be prepared to put some competitive inventory out front. Give your entire used operation a walk through and update your inspection stickers, repair the minor issues and get it all ready to move.

Consult the wholesalers and vendors that service your store on what they think is ‘hot’ in your market. Vendors have the advantage of being in more than one store each day, and they will provide some insight into trends that you may not notice.

Prior to your event date.Cut your advertising. Let this event be your advertising for the week. If you are under contract with your print or broadcast, shift the dollars to other weeks. This promotion will be the most effective medium; so, don’t tip off your competitors by announcing or promoting your event in the local media.

Prepare your staff.Typically, the event hours will be longer than your normal workday. A cooperative

march 2004 17

and fl exible schedule the week prior or following your event will give your troops a chance to catch their breath. Encourage them to pitch in and make the event not only successful, but fun as well. Think about offering a barbeque or refreshments. This will eliminate the need to chase individual lunches and dinners during the event, and will add to the festive atmosphere of the day.

Prepare your shop.You will need extra reconditioning staff and used car department personnel for longer hours during the event. Most of your deliveries should be ‘spots’ and it is important to deliver them in a timely manner with as few returns for service as possible.

Freshen your lot.Now is the time to make sure that the inventory is neatly lined and arranged. You want the place to look alive. Fresh fl ags, banners, or better yet balloon displays will grab attention and enliven the outside look. Be sure that anyone driving by knows there is an event going on.

Empty your showroom to change the feel of the store. Fill the showroom with neat, round tables; these can be rented from wedding supply companies. Have your sales staff work from the tables so that customers see others making buying decisions. You will improve your success with this one suggestion.

Schedule a sales meeting.The afternoon prior to your event is a great time to discuss the mechanics of the sale. Decide who will be appraising, where the keys to trades will be kept, and when to call for payoffs. Have a simple strategy for processing the clients, from greeting to desking, to delivery, and make it clearly defi ned. Discuss with your sales staff

that this is the time to stick to the basics, selection, test drive, negotiations, and delivery. Keep one of your managers free to be the ‘go to’ person for assistance.

Staffed or unstaffed event.Faced with the additional costs incurred by bringing in an outside staffi ng company many dealers decide to run a direct mail event without the assistance of an outside fi rm. Depending on the individual dealer’s experience and abilities, the event may or may not be successful. Event production companies generally charge 25% to as high as 29% of the gross profi t generated during the event as their fee. While this seems high to dealers, the end results can be so much higher with a competent vendor that the results more than make up for the percentage paid. Consider the following:

Staffed event companies will provide the extra personnel to effectively manage your traffi c. Most will offer greeters, desk assistance, supplemental F&I staff, closers, sales people, and entertainers. These additional people will bring their varied talents to your store. Keep in mind that these people have probably been in a different store each week, learning fresh ideas and strategies that your sales staff will see, hear, and learn. The benefi ts of using these companies will pay benefi ts to your dealership long after they have completed the event and left. Your staff will interact with the vendor’s staff, making the event a profi table training experience for the store.

Secondly, the staffed event vendor will be more experienced in producing successful events and will lend that knowledge and background to your event. Many dealers fi nd on the fi rst day of their event that a few curveballs are limiting the success of the sale. Use a staffed event producer

to guide you through the process, benefi t from their knowledge, and insure the success of your event.

Selecting a vendor for your staffed event.The ideal situation in selecting a vendor is to fi nd a company who does little or no outsourcing to produce their event. It stands to reason that advertisers, although effective in what they do, have not worked in the trenches and behind the sales desk to have a full scope as to how a dealership functions on a day to day basis. It is also fair to say that automobile personnel, who are also very effective in what they do, may or may not have the skills in marketing to drive quality traffi c into your showroom. We have said for years that salespeople are not necessarily the best people to handle incoming phone traffi c. It is imperative to have people handling these prospects who enjoy working on the phones and who do it effectively. Finding a vendor that encompasses all of the above is not easy, although they do exist. Your 20 group is a great resource for fi nding these companies. After selecting a vendor, be sure to obtain at least ten references before you invite anyone into your dealership that is going to have contact with your customers and your staff. High volume sales are notthe only defi nition of a successful event. How your customers and staff are treated is obviously of the utmost importance. Finding a vendor that understands that they are guests in your dealership and have been given the opportunity to work with your customers and your staff is exactly what you will be looking for!

Leland Glynn is the Vice President of the WolÞ ngton Group. He can be contacted at 800.331.9361, or by email at [email protected].

�Your 20 group is a great resource for Þ nding these companies.�

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joe takashBy Joe Takash

Have No Fear of Public SpeakingThe ability to s u c c e s s f u l l y communicate in public is a key determinant in the success of many

careers, not just those in the speaking industry. Whether you are addressing the boardroom at corporate headquarters or answering your boss’s question at a weekly staff meeting, it’s time to get some public speaking experience.

Let it go.The fi rst thing you must realize is that you have zero control over the audience’s response, so do not worry about it.

It is natural to want the audience to accept and respect you. However, fretting about this deepest human desire is as fruitless as worrying about the weather. What can you really do about the weather? The same thing you can do about the perception of those around you: absolutely nothing. Do not let it bother you.

Speaking and presenting to a group of people can be much easier than you think. Act confi dent, and the audience will think that you are confi dent. When you see that they are confi dent in you, you will become more confi dent in yourself. Once you grasp this mindset and drill it into your head, a tremendous feeling of relief and satisfaction will follow.

You may also want to consider practicing some relaxation exercises for added peace of mind. When you adjust the important part of your approach to public speaking—your attitude—you can focus on honing your craft.

Solid strategies.Successful presentation skills extend far

beyond standing in front of a group and sharing information. Speaking effectively is about showing a natural enthusiasm and connecting with every group you encounter.

The following ideas are the ‘little things that make a big difference’ in speaking to a group of people. Incorporate these into your approach with every group you address, and you will elevate your success to a much higher level.

� Smile.A warm and genuine smile has the power to loosen up any atmosphere. When you smile, you communicate that you are happy to be in front of the group to whom you are speaking. No matter how serious the subject matter of your presentation, a pleasant smile is an outstanding tool for disarming every audience. Keep this in mind from the time you enter the room to the time you leave. You will be amazed at the difference a smile makes.

� Network beforehand.Prior to your presentation, introduce yourself to attendees and thank them for coming. Network with as many people as possible and learn about who they are and what they do. If you already know your audience, for instance in a staff meeting, take some time to chat with your colleagues. Remember, they are people, just like you. Familiarity with your listeners will help you to relax and improve your effectiveness as a speaker.

� Learn and remember names.Focus more energy on learning names than you ever have before. Learning names will accomplish a number of things: it increases your confi dence, humanizes your audience, and makes others feel great. It’s more personal to say to a group, “Joan, what do you think?” as opposed to, “That lady in the red dress with the big glasses has a question.”

When you engage in your pre-speaking networking, try to develop associations and hooks that help you remember people’s names. For instance, let’s pretend you meet Ben Edwards, a gentleman who happens to have blue ballpoint pen behind his ear. In your mind, repeat something catchy, like “Blue Pen Ben.” If you practice this technique, you’ll greatly increase the

number of names you remember, which will help you to further relax.

� Include everyone.Now that you are familiar with your audience, try to involve everyone in your presentation. Communicate that they are all integral parts of the learning process. Make eye contact with everyone, and do so with a combination of confi dence, courtesy, and respect.

� Tune in.Read the body language of the audience. Try to get a feel for what they want. How do they feel? Are they absorbing your presentation? Ask questions and refer questions to other audience members. Again, engage everyone, so that everyone feels signifi cant.

� Use your creativity.Everyone is creative. Take some chances and break the monotony of the everyday monotone approach. Tell personal stories and take chances on humor. Make it fun for your most important audience member: you!

� Be yourself.Incorporating these skills does not entail changing who you are. There is no substitute for authenticity. If a certain approach feels too forced or contrary to your general nature, then consider a different tactic that fi ts better with your character

Get experience.People learn the fastest through practice and experience. Nothing beats it. Consider joining Toastmasters or another professional speaking group; do your research, though, to make sure the fi nancial investment is worthwhile. Also, volunteer for a committee, speak at your church, participate in the school board, coach a team, or teach a class. Force yourself into situations where you can get repetition before groups. Familiarity is the fastest way to beat the demon of fear and ensure effective communication with any audience.

Joe Takash is the President of Victory Consulting. He can be contacted at 800.215.4776, or by email at [email protected].

sts ms ls fi s lr

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1. What is the biggest challenge that your dealership faces today?

2. Are you able to use any articles during training or meetings?

3. What topic(s) would you like to see discussed more, in further detail or eliminated?

4. Have you ever contacted a writer from AutoSuccess Magazine?

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AutoSuccess, the #1 sales-improvement magazine for the automotive professional, has teamed up with cross town Louisville Slugger to bring you the best double play in the business. Order your 1 year subscription to AutoSuccess at our everyday price of $75 and get your own offi cial, personalized Louisville Slugger Baseball Bat FREE!** shipping and handling not included.

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steve hiattBy Steve Hiattsts ms ls fi s lr


The Power of Appreciation

march 2004 21

Everyone wants to feel appreciated. The key is in knowing what makes your employees or co-workers feel that

way. What motivates one employee may not motivate another, in so much the same way, appreciation can be shown in many different facets. As a friend of mine taught me, “Facts are irrelevant, the truth is unimportant, and perception is everything.” The perception needs to be that you want everyone you come in contact with at work to feel appreciated. Have you ever put in that extra effort to help someone, just because you know they have shown you how important you are to them? Of course you have, and you can develop that powerful emotion throughout your company. This can be done no matter what position you are in at the dealership.

It’s a big chain reaction every day, where everyone in the chain of command interacts with each other; and everyone in the chain has an effect on our customers. Too often, we are ‘zapping’ each other with frustration and indifference rather than support and encouragement. Sure stuff goes wrong, but can’t we control how we react to it? The key is keeping the energy positive and the entire company looking for solutions together.

Be aware of how you interact with others. Are you a ‘hurry up, get it done’ personality? If so, are you coming across as abrasive or demanding? If you need to give exact directives to others, could you deliver the message differently? When you are complimenting their work, make sure you are specifi c about what you are talking about. The compliment will be incredibly more sincere.

Give respect to get respect. By taking an appreciative tone and slowing down for a few seconds, you can show people you appreciate the job they do. More importantly, you can show you appreciate them as a person. When someone talks to you, don’t assume you know the question they are asking or the position they are taking, you might be wrong. Even if you really do know what

they are going to say, listening is classy. Even if you give the person a response they do not want, they have to respect you for hearing them out.

Write a note.This is simple and powerful and costs next to nothing, except time and ink. When you catch someone doing something right, let him or her know. Have you ever seen a person who has been doing a great job let their performance slip, and you don’t know why? Often, you fi nd out in an exit interview that that co-worker simply felt no one cared about the job they did. Instead of suffering with declining performance, workplace drama, and employee turnover, prevent it with genuine caring two or three line hand written notes.

Give awards.This can vary from little to big to outrageous, but often it is the person you are giving it to that has that perception. And the rest of your staff notices, too. Certifi cates are a wonderful reward; and they cost next to nothing, just get into your computer and there will be some type of certifi cate generator. Make the awards fun, too; one manager this year made up an award for our “Green Pea of the Year.” There is also the FNG award for the Fantastic New Guy/Gal.

Other awards can vary depending on your budget. Lunch coupons to the lot porters can be just as effective as a $20 write up spiff for the weekend. Gift certifi cates for malls, stores or coffee shops aren’t large expenses but can mean a ton to your support staff.

Once we did a breakfast meeting for our staff where we made out special certifi cates for everyone attending. When the meeting was over, people were walking out three feet off the ground. Sales and grosses were way up that week.

We have a sales person of the year award that gives the top producer a Rolex watch. We simply have to accrue a few hundred a month to expense the watch at the end of the year. One sales person won it two years in a row, so we bought one for his wife the second year. Next time she looks

at the watch to see if he is late coming home from closing a deal, I suspect she will be a little extra forgiving.

If your dealership uses credit cards to pay certain bills with, use the points that accumulate to give certifi cates and awards for production that is above or beyond. It doesn’t even cost the dealership any extra money, and the extra motivation from the employees can be amazing.

Don�t forget the spouses.You don’t have to buy the spouses expensive watches, but a note home once or twice a year sure could improve the family’s overall feeling of appreciation for the company. If there is a contest, send a letter home to let them know, the support, and drive can increase dramatically. Even a simple phone call to the house can make a huge difference, just thank them for the support they give their husband or wife.

Be spontaneous. Catching people off guard can be some of the most fun and rewarding. One thing we like to do is surprise people with an impromptu evening off, sometimes with a gift certifi cate to dinner out, a ball game or a show. Are two extra hours off and tickets to a movie going to kill the dealership, or is it going to create an environment where people want to give it their all more often? The loyalty and production far exceeds the investment.

Lead by example.Most importantly interact with others in a manner that you would want to be treated. Sure there are always urgent, stressful situations that need to be addressed, however don’t let the exceptions become the normal mode of operations. Good employees are hard to fi nd, don’t let them disappear, or worse, work for your competitor because you showed an attitude of indifference towards them.

Steve Hiatt is the General Sales Manager of Hiatt Pontiac GMC, Hiatt Outlet and Hiatt of Auburn. He can be contacted at 866.265.5616, or by email at [email protected].

ricardo weitzBy Ricardo Weitz

Driven to Perfection


Quality. The elusive hallmark of excellence, understood by all, and truly achieved by only a few. It’s

that subtle differentiation that positions two similar products or services light years from one another.

As any business owner or manager knows, there are numerous measurements for success. For many, the primary benchmarks are revenue and profi tability. What we, however, have learned at Momentum BMW is that those singular measurements guarantee only short-term success.

Whether a Chateau Latour or a BMW, quality is ultimately defi ned by the customer. Therefore, it is the customer who guarantees long-term success and the reputation of quality. Assuredly no business owner ever says, “Let’s provide poor-quality service or a defective product.” What you do see, however, are people cutting corners, costs and details in an attempt for short-term reward.

In December 2002, BMW of North America awarded Momentum BMW one of the fi rst Quality Management System (QMS) trophies for successful implementation of the BMW QMS certifi cation process, a voluntary quality assurance system designed for BMW centers. The program provides a framework of business standards to improve internal communication and effi ciency of processes to enhance customer loyalty and profi tability. QMS has been developed and refi ned at BMW centers around the world over the past several years and is differentiated from other quality assurance programs by its cross-

departmental applications and approaches for achieving greater business effi ciency. The ultimate goal of the program is to create a system that eliminates unnecessary costs, increases the fl exibility of the business, and achieves an ever-stronger customer focus.

The typical QMS process is implemented over two years, illustrating there is no quick fi x for quality and that it is a continuous process. The program includes every employee and addresses a ‘top ten’ list of business issues to address, such as sales. The signifi cance and goal of each issue is addressed across departmental lines and facilitated by team leaders.

The key elements to QMS are involving someone who is experienced in the management of a total quality improvement program, participation by management and dedication to the process and action steps. While diffi cult, the reward is a comprehensive organization run much like a high-performance vehicle. Our rewards have been increased profi tability, a more effi cient team environment, and the opportunity to add another BMW satellite

location on Houston’s Westside.

We also suggest that quality begins with the business vision. I was fortunate in that I could create my vision from the beginning, rather than try to fi x a previously established business.

When we opened Momentum BMW in 1991, we entered into a relationship with one of the premier automotive manufacturers not only of our time, but perhaps of all time. From that moment, we knew our position was quality in every aspect of the business. From the architecture of the building and its interiors to every employee hired, the goal has always been perfection. This concept is so integral to our operation that it even became Momentum’s advertising slogan, Driven to Perfection.

For us, quality is also synonymous with innovation. Often, quality is achieved by pioneers, inventors or leaders in a particular fi eld or industry. These are the individuals who are constantly refi ning the existing status quo. We set the bar in our market on the standard for excellence in automotive

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BMW of North America�s Quality Management System (QMS) trophy.

�Often, quality is achieved by pioneers, inventors or leaders in a particular Þ eld or industry.�

march 2004 23

dealerships. Through research and personal knowledge, we knew our customers wanted a retail experience more like a trip to their favorite resort than an odyssey on a car lot.

We addressed customer convenience in a number of ways. First, we added the Autobahn Café in the showroom with a full-time attendant offering complimentary pastries, tea, cappuccino, soft drinks, and coffee. Adjacent to this is a comfortable lounge, with a big screen TV, daily periodicals and toys for children. Directly behind the showroom is one of the largest BMW Service Departments in the United States with more than 40 factory-trained technicians. Additionally, customer wait-times are minimized by scheduling reservations with service advisors. Within walking distance of the showroom are the Momentum Performance Center, Body Shop, and Parts Department featuring everything from accessory sales to service. The Body Shop boasts its designation as the only BMW Certifi ed Body Shop in Texas. Essentially, we created a one-stop center for everything today’s luxury car driver expects. For us, these were simply service essentials. We knew something more was needed to create a distinctive dealership.

We built the fi rst performance test track in the United States behind the Performance Center. The track is an auto enthusiast’s dream, with a variety of driving conditions from S-curves, cobblestones, and slick terrain to a slalom area demonstrating the BMW’s exceptional handling in quick left and right turns. Designed to provide examples of real road driving conditions, the track has a skid pad to showcase BMW’s dynamic stability control function if a car is in a spin. The track’s ultimate test is the hill climb, demonstrating BMW’s unique all-terrain abilities. Adjacent to the Center and with direct view of the track is a Café Express restaurant. These amenities have transcended the usual and customary automotive dealership, again establishing Momentum as a destination location for the luxury car owner.

We have continued to maximize that position by hosting charitable events and community activities at dealership facilities. And, in keeping with our position on quality, we sponsor and support premier events and organizations, such as the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

In summary, there is no magic to quality. The steps are short, but the road is long:

• Conduct an audit to determine where your quality is today• Organize your quality improvement teams – involve everyone• Defi ne your improvement goals• Establish your measurement benchmarks• Proper employee hiring process and ongoing training programs• Write your plan• Work and live it!

With sales exceeding $185 million, Momentum ranks nationally in the top fi ve dealerships for BMW and in 2002 became the largest BMW dealership in North America to receive the Quality Management Systems Award.

Ricardo Weitz is the President of Momentum BMW. He can be contacted at 800.334.3805, or by email at [email protected].

continued

dennis mcdonoughBy Dennis McDonough

New Ideas to Boost Sales

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The Internet has made many t r a n s a c t i o n s more convenient; nonetheless, many people still like to

conduct business with a live person. For example, Barnes & Noble has a web site, but people still crowd their stores every day. Car dealerships are no different. Your customers can use the Internet all they want to shop for cars – to fi nd exactly the one they need – but they will still need to buy that car from someone. Someone will need to help the customer with all the paperwork. Someone will need to prepare the car for delivery. You have a lot of these someones at your dealership and it is time for you to make them a human element of your dealership web site.

Humanize for human eyes.You are not just in the business of selling

cars—you are also in the business of providing service. That involves more than just fi xing the cars you sell, but also helping customers fi nd the car that meets their needs and budget, assisting them with all the paperwork, helping them fi nd fi nancing (if necessary), and explaining the features of their new purchase. Your dealership web site should refl ect that. You need to show the people who make up your team and, if possible, show them in action. There are three ways you can do that:

Pictures.Not just of cars, but of sales people, F&I staff, service technicians, everyone including the greeters and receptionists. People like to be able to associate names or titles with faces. If a potential customer visits your web site and sees that Lester Burnham is your dealership’s customer relations manager, they need to see his picture, too. That way when they walk into

your showroom and see Lester talking with another customer, they will immediately know he is the guy they can approach when they need him.

Keep in mind, though, that pictures must be used strategically. Do not clog up page after page with pictures, and keep their sizes manageable. Look for more detailed hints on how to do that in a later article.

Motion.Streaming, high-quality video clips, also used strategically, can show parts of your dealership in action. You can also have your current television commercial available to view over the web site. (customers can make more of a deeper association with the commercial to your dealership).

Note, however, that there are some things to consider when using streaming video or other types of motion: the fi le sizes must be manageable, the content must be worth viewing, and it should emphasize a human aspect of your business.

Contact Information.It is amazing to see how many business Web sites do not contain even the most basic contact information. You cannot afford to be anonymous on the Internet if you want to make money, especially if you are providing service. If your potential customers need to contact you, it makes sense to provide the means to do so. They need to know exactly where your dealership is located. They need to know who to call about information on a car. Plus there is now technology in place that will allow a customer to interact with your dealership over the Internet: voice-streaming, chat functions, and more.

People Who Need People.People have needs that cannot simply be taken care of with the click of a button on the computer screen. And where service is concerned, the needs are greater. Your dealership can emphasize its service aspect and meet your customers’ needs by developing and maintaining a human presence on its web site.

Dennis McDonough is a Consultant for eCarLots.com. He can be contacted at 877.354.1998, ext.202, or by email [email protected].

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Leave nothing to chance

timothy j. mccarthyBy Timothy J. McCarthy

Does Size MatterGeneral Managers must always be aware of how their dealership is perceived in the market place. When

you have been in the automotive business for years, sometimes it gets diffi cult to get in the mindset of a car buyer who is looking to ‘pull the trigger’ on a vehicle this weekend. It’s important to remember that car buyers want to feel like they are a part of something special, and they want to choose from a large selection of vehicles. When these two elements are achieved it will create the car buying ‘frenzy’ that is essential to selling vehicles.

In order to give your sales staff the best opportunity to exceed their sales goals, this atmosphere must be created. Whether you are a high-volume dealer or a mid-range, high gross dealer you can achieve the car buying frenzy. However, there are several different approaches that each would take. A high-volume dealer is perceived as having a large selection of vehicles, but are they using their selection properly? Here is a list of ways a high-volume dealer can achieve the car buying frenzy.

If you�ve got it, ß aunt it.If you’re a high-volume dealer that is #1 in the state in any category, then that should be a selling point in your advertising. For instance, if you’re the #1 Chevy dealer in the state then that should become your battle cry. People want to perceive themselves as being the best, so why wouldn’t a car buyer want to buy from the best Chevy dealer in the state. The same goes if you’re #1 in sales or customer service. Once you’ve achieved #1 status in anything, the public will perceive your dealership as a desirable place to not only test-drive but to buy.

Give total supportto this weekend�s sale.You think you’re ready for this weekend’s sale. You’ve got the vehicles, you got

thousands of dollars supporting the sale on television and radio, and however, it will surprise you how many high-volume dealers stop there. In order to help create the perception that this is a ‘giant can’t miss event,’ you must advertise on the lot. It seems like a simple suggestion, but point of purchase (POP) advertising will make the public feel like they are doing a disservice to their family if they don’t stop in the dealership. POP, such as giant tents, signs out on the lot, or even a hot-air balloon, can all give the perception that something big is going on. Another key factor in using POP is the price; it can be an inexpensive way to help create the car buying frenzy.

Another way for high-volume dealers to advertise on the lot is radio remotes. A ‘live remote’ is a 2-3 hour promotional effort conducted at a place of business with the idea of bringing traffi c to that specifi c location as well as enhancing a shopping experience that customers would want to share with others. The standard remote would include multiple ‘call-ins’ by a selected personality for a selected radio station performing the remote. This personality could be broadcasting live from the location depending on availability or call-ins can be pre-recorded messages to sound live on the air. With most remotes, a promotional team would be on-site engaging interaction with customers by giving away prizes, food, and souvenirs. A remote creates a punctual ending to that week’s media effort that takes place on the dealership lot.

How your dealership is perceived determines how big you are not the actual square footage or amount of vehicles on the lot. Here is a list of ways a mid-range high-gross dealer can achieve the car buying frenzy.

Aerial footage.If you don’t have the largest selection of vehicles in the state, or you don’t even have the biggest inventory in your area, then before you advertise on television

you should invest in an aerial shoot of your dealership. Footage of your dealership from the sky gives the perception that your dealership is larger than it is. It’s important to fi lm from every possible angle and use an experienced cameraman. On the day of the shoot, the lot should be very active. A good day to shoot is when there’s a radio remote. This footage is great for openings and closings of your television commercials and can be used for years. It’s a smart investment that will pay off in a big way.

Rent a car-carrier. You need to be perceived as a huge entity. On the weekends, rent a car-carrier and park it out by the entrance of the lot. Fill it up with as many new cars as possible. In your advertising be sure to state that vehicles are being shipped in by the minute. The car-carrier will serve as an on-site promotional prop that will get the attention of people passing by. Another way to utilize the car-carrier is to take a picture of it for your print ad and fi lm cars being driven off it for your television commercial.

If you are a high-volume dealer you can’t take for granted that you have the largest selection. You must take advantage of your status and let everyone know it. The car buying public wants to be a part of something and wants the largest selection; if you are a mid-range high gross dealer it is essential that you be viewed upon as being able to provide both. Size does not matter, but it is a requirement to be perceived as huge so your sales staff will enjoy the benefi ts of the car buying frenzy.

Timothy J. McCarthy is the Chairman and CEO of The McCarthy Companies. He can be contacted at 800.871.9695, or by email at [email protected], or visit www.mccarthycompanies.com.

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mark tewartBy Mark Tewart

12 Solutionsfor Being a Better Leader

1. Manage things and lead people.Processes should be defi ned and managed daily. People should be lead by example

daily. Management by strict control inhibits star performers and eliminates creativity of intelligent people. Feelings of manipulation are caused by strict control. Control, manipulation, and disrespect keep many dealerships from moving to another level of performance.

2. Speed of theboss = speed of the team.If the boss has a sense of urgency, the team will, too. The leader sets the tone. Great leaders create an attitude and atmosphere of winning. The leader sets the stage for the proper belief systems necessary to succeed.

3. Coach people morethan you manage deals.If you spend your time coaching people through training, one-on-ones and positive

feedback, your people will become less addicted to you. Spend 80% of your day with your team and your customers. The rest can wait.

4. Create a �Stop Doing List�.To fi nd out what to do, you must also defi ne what not to do. What are you doing everyday that you should either, stop doing, delegate, or do less of, or at a different time?

5. Practice the 4D�s of action management.Dump it, Defer it, Delegate it, or Do it. With proper action management, you will spend less time in crisis and emergency mode.

6. Recruiting is an ongoing process.Determine an ongoing action plan for recruiting. What channels will you use to recruit and how much time each week to do it. What automated systems can you set up through web sites, job boards, college placement centers, military posts, etc. can you set up to increase potential candidates? Don’t wait until you need people to dig

through the drawer to fi nd the help wanted ad that everyone else uses.

7. Set clear expectations.People need and desire clear expectations of their job functions, behavior, and performance. The days of hiring people and showing them the inventory, their desk, and telling them to get busy are over. For a greater chance of success, people cannot succeed without written and communicated expectations.

8. People don�t changethat much, so stop trying.Do not try to put in what God left out. When a person has reached adulthood, they primarily tend to repeat the patterns either they have created or that are based upon their nature. Grow a person’s strengths, and stop trying to fi x their weaknesses.

9. Educate and motivate daily.Good people want continuing education. Educate and motivate every day. Educating daily creates results; periodical training never does. If you have people rejecting education, then you must reject them. Would a great coach allow certain players to not practice because they didn’t want to?

10. Listen, listen, listen.Nothing inspires people more than when they feel a manager will actually listen. People need to be respected and heard. A manager’s best customers are the people they coach.

11. Get out from behind the desk.Lead the team. People want to know that their leader is one of them. Desks can become huge barriers to communicating.

12. Don�t forget emotions.Behind all goals, dreams, achievements, and failures are emotions. Learn to tap into each team member’s pleasure and pain motivators to better guide them. Coach each team member with this in mind – thoughts become words, words become actions, actions create habits, habits create results, and they are all seeking emotions.

Great leadership is essential in creating great teams. Expect more of yourself and your team will follow. The leader is the fi nal reason for success or failure.

Mark Tewart is the President of Tewart Enterprises. He can be contacted at 866.429.6844, or by email at [email protected].

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leadership solution

march 2004 29

sean wolfi ngtonBy Sean Wolfi ngton

The Top 10 Best Practices

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Everyone knows that the Internet has completely changed the way customers buy cars. Statistics show that more than

6 out of 10 customers use the Internet as a research tool before they buy. However, everyone does not know how to take advantage of this new marketing medium to increase their revenue and reduce their advertising costs. Consider this:

• Some dealerships use digital marketing and the Internet to sell an additional 100 to 600 units per month. • They use this new marketing medium to increase both showroom and phone traffi c.• They can leverage their virtual dealerships to sell service and parts 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Here are the Top 10 Best Practices of some of the best dealerships in the country.

Best Practice #1: The Results.The best dealers realize that it is all about the results. They do not get caught up in technology. They have learned that the fi rst step to getting results is to focus on the results. This begins by knowing where you are and where you want to end up. Do you know exactly what you want to accomplish? Do you know how you are going to do it?

Best Practice #2: The Planning.Technology alone does not sell cars. The best dealers know that if you have the right strategy, people, and process, along with the right technology, you are more likely to succeed. This all starts with making a plan, defi ning your goals, and creating a strategy to achieve those goals.

Best Practice #3: The Right People.If you have the right people you will get the right result. The key is to fi nd someone who has the vision, knowledge, and skill to help you implement your eCRM strategy. It is usually best to hire from within the dealership, yet if you cannot fi nd someone strong, you can easily recruit from outside of your organization. As a matter of fact, one of the easiest things to do is to shop

many of the dealers in your market over the Web to determine who does a good job. In the end, you will learn what your competitors are doing, and you can target recruit the best people in your market.

Best Practice #4: The Right Partner.Ask the right people the right questions, and listen to their answers. The fact is that the most successful people do not come up with all of their ideas, instead they borrow smart people’s ideas who have more experience than they do. That is the quickest way to jump ahead of your competitors with eCommerce & CRM. Find a partner who can give you the right tools and training, so you can learn from others mistakes and leverage their experience to improve your business.

Best Practice #5:The Right Organizational Structure.There is more than one way to structure a BDC or an Internet department. For example, some dealerships prefer to use a centralized department to set appointments for all of their inbound phone and Internet leads; some prefer sales people to take shifts inside a BDC with a manager present, while others prefer to have sales people set the appointments and sell the car without going to any set center. These are just a few of the many models of organizational structure and just because one model works for one dealer that does not mean it is the best for every dealer. There are pros and cons to each model, so each dealer should consider their volume, resources, brand, customers, people, and more before they make this decision. The one common denominator of all successful dealerships is that they have dedicated people rather than designated people.

Best Practice #6: The Right Process.The best dealers are not totally dependent on just their people because they have clearly defi ned processes that deliver more consistent results over the long term compared to dealers who simply wing it. The most important part of Internet and phone lead management is selling the appointment. The best dealers are the best at using the telephone to sell appointments that show and buy. Having a good process, however, does not mean everyone is good at the process. Practice and role-play are

critical for developing positive habits that consistently work.

Best Practice #7: The Right Web site.The best Web sites are marketing centers that promote all of the dealership’s profi t centers and that generate a lot of quality traffi c to the dealership via phone, foot traffi c and email for less cost than traditional media. Some examples of dealerships who do a great job include: HerbChambers.com, BMWofAustin.com, PaulMiller.com, Sheehy.com, RedMcCombs.com, RalphSchomp.com, and 1800Thompson.com.

Best Practice #8:The Right CRM &Prospect Management Tools.Although technology and tools alone can’t sell the vehicle, they can certainly help people be more effective and effi cient and if the tools are designed right they can also help drive the process. The best tools help dealers automate a lot of the process, and they can also automate the measurement of all of the lead activity to give the dealer the information they need to measure their advertising, the prospects, and their sales team.

Best Practice #9:The Right Measurement.You cannot manage what you cannot measure. The best stores know how many opportunities they have and exactly what they do with them including appointment percentage, close percentage, cost per sale, and more. The right tools will help the dealer automatically create the right reports.

Best Practice #10: The Leadership.The best dealerships usually have dealers and general managers who are highly involved in the development of the strategy and the support of the implementation. Also, the person who directs the dealership’s BDC or Internet department is the most important, and if they are good, the results are usually very good as well.

Sean WolÞ ngton is an Owner of BZ Results.com. He can be contacted at 866.802.5753, or by email atswolÞ [email protected].

298-6657

November 18, 2003

To the Wolfi ngton Group:

I fi rst would like to say that at fi rst glance I felt very skeptical about the sale but decided to sign up anyway. I must say that the Wolfi ngton Group’s professionalism was second to none. The results we experienced were extraordinary. I received no complaints from either my staff or customers. The group really held up to their motto of being “guests” in my dealership. I have since signed up for another sale in February as a result of our good experience from this sale. I look forward to our next sale and hope to be able to work with the same exceptional group of professionals once again.

Sincerely,Joel DeNooyer, President

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Belinda Wortherspoon, Wolfi ngton Group Call Center Operator

DeNOOYER CHEVROLET127 WOLF ROAD

ALBANY, NEW YORK 12205

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