Paradigm Paralysis

I work with a salesman. Let’s call him Andy. He’s an affable guy who likes to work seven days a week (what’s that all about?) and enjoys spending a lot of quality time with the jack-offs—oops, I meant to say prospects--on Craig’s List. He is convinced that the car business has changed and the old ways irrelevant, and those of us who refuse to accept this fact are suffering from something he calls “paradigm paralysis”. Now what kind of propeller-head bullshit is that?

Over the past forty years I’ve been selling cars some things have changed. Cars and trucks are more expensive. That’s it. True, we now have the Internet, and yes it has given The Others new and improved ways of shopping us, but out on the line where the rubber meets the road nothing has changed.

I’ll give you an analogy: Your wife goes out and gets a make over. She comes home with new and improved hair and make-up, a new dress of the latest style with accessories to match. Damn she looks good! But in the end, when the dress comes off after the romantic diner you felt compelled to take her on, she’s still the same wife you’ve shared a bed with for the last twenty years.

It’s the same with the car business. You can pretty things up, try to find new and creative way to lure in customers and make extra sales, but underneath it is and will always be the same. When you encounter a prospect on your lot you still have to go through the same selling steps developed by the generations of Car Men that came before you, paradigm paralysis be damned. And if you think otherwise you, my friend, are a fool.

If you aspire to be a Car Man, you have to master the things that have always made this business work. You have to learn your craft and use it to your advantage. Regardless of what your managers or sales trainers tell you, you can’t make everyone you encounter happy. In reality all you have to do is to make eight to twelve people happy each month. Screw the rest of them. They don’t give a crap about you anyway!

The trick is to know the steps of the deal, execute them properly and in order, and gain control of the customer and the situation.

Ever been to a comedy club? The comedian comes out and does his act. If he’s good it sounds spontaneous. It’s almost as if he’s making it up as he goes along. I promise you this is not the case. A successful comedian works his ass off, perfecting his routine over the years so when its show time it comes as naturally off his tongue as, well, a Car Man selling a car.

So get your act together! Remember it’s war out there. It’s them against us so don’t take any prisoners. By that I don’t mean being overly aggressive, kinky or rude. That doesn’t work, and even if it does it will murder your CSI. Like Tony B. told me years ago, the sales process is like going to the doctor and getting a shot. First he rubs the alcohol on your arm and then he sticks the needle in you. It’s the same with The Others. First you have stroke them, gain their confidence, make them feel at ease.

Then you give them the shot!

David


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