Comment

Comment by Gary Campbell on June 20, 2012 at 1:19pm

Eric thanks for all the help that you have given me. Please Keep in touch, 

Comment by Eric Milak on June 18, 2012 at 1:08am

I wanted to take te time to say thank you. Thank you for for being interested enough in making your dealership succeed that you participate in this blog. Thank you for your inspiring questions and dialog. But most of all thank you in you belief in me to help guide you down the path of success.

As of Friday June 15th 2012 I am no longer an employee of CAC. I still stand by my beliefs that their program is a great one, if you dedicate yourself to make it work, it will.

Please keep in touch by emailing me at sigs4eric@aol.com and I'll send you my phone # and a better email.

Comment by Karl Jensvold on March 30, 2012 at 6:05pm

Yeah Eric where is your picture? Don't be shy show yourself

Comment by Gary Campbell on March 30, 2012 at 11:06am

Eric where is your picture?

Comment by Eric Milak on January 19, 2012 at 7:32pm

Eating With the Big Dogs: Taking the Next Step in Your Sales Career

Jan 18, 2012 by Paul McCord

Last summer I received an email from Beth, a pharmaceutical salesperson with slightly more than two years of experience, asking me what she should be doing in order to take the next big step in her career. She is a slightly above average seller in her company--actually one of the better sophomore performers. Since joining the company she has taken her manager's advice and only compared her performance and numbers against the other salespeople with less than three years experience (her manager told her not to try to compare herself to the more experienced sellers as she would likely become discouraged).

I sent her an email asking a number of questions, one of which was what her short-term and long-term goals were. She responded that her short-term goal was to be the top seller in her company in her "class," and her long-term goal was to become one of the top 5% producers in the company.

In response to my question as to what she was currently doing to improve her sales she responded that she was taking advantage of all the training her company provided, was an avid reader of sales books, and constantly talking to her colleagues about what they found worked and what didn't. As we continued to communicate it became obvious that she considered her colleagues to be the other sellers in the company that were either selling at the same volume or had about the same amount of experience.

Although of excellent quality, unfortunately the vast majority of training her company provided was product training, not sales training. Consequently, Beth was becoming extremely proficient at discussing her products but wasn't getting the training she needed in the various aspect of selling. In a very real sense she was more of a walking product brochure than a salesperson.

My recommendations to Beth were threefold:

1- Start Eating with the Big Dogs:

Rather than hang out and discuss ideas with others in the company who are at or below her production level, she needed to be interacting and learning from the top producers in the company. The only thing others at her level can teach her is how to stay at the production level she is currently at--worse, those below her can only teach her how to fail. If she wants to grow she needs to learn from those who are where she wants to be. I encouraged her to start inviting those big producers to lunch. She should look at them as mentors and teachers--and as colleagues. Spend as much time as she could learning everything she can. Listen to them on the phone; hitch a ride as they make sales calls if possible; find out what they read and who they value as teachers and mentors. Emulate success, not mediocrity.

2- Take Control of Her Training:

Since the company is primarily concerned with investing their money training their sales staff on their products, she will have to take control of her sales education. She'll have to invest her time and money in learning how to be a top notch seller. Beth's situation is hardly unique. In fact, a great many companies--probably the vast majority-neglect sales training in favor of product training. Many companies (and sellers) mistakenly believe they are the same thing. Not only are they not the same thing, neither is very effective without the other. At first Beth wasn't particularly enthusiastic about spending her money attending on-line and live training seminars and workshops. After all, she argued, her company should be paying since her skills were going to be used to sell their products. True, I agreed--except her skills were going to be with her for life, not just while she was selling for the company she currently works for. Her product knowledge is to a large extent company specific, her sales skills will be universal and benefiting her for life. With that explanation she agreed--reluctantly--to make the investment in herself.

3- Compete Against The Best, Not the Easiest:

I encouraged her to stop comparing her production and progress only against those with the same amount of experience but to compare herself against the best in her company and her industry. If she wants to be a top dog she has to compare herself against the top dogs--even if at the moment that comparison isn't comfortable. If she is only competing against others at her level she is giving herself a false trophy. Her goal isn't to be one of the best mediocre producers but rather to be one of the top producers in her company--and ultimately her industry. With that in mind, certainly she can take some pride in the steps she makes, but she really can't allow herself to bask in glory just because she out sold a bunch of other middle of the road sellers. She has to keep her eye on the ultimate goal and only compare herself against that goal. Does that mean she'll be ever frustrated--and possibly become discouraged and quit as her manager suggested--by comparing herself against a goal she isn't close to achieving? Not at all. She should be able to see her progress as she continues to close in on that goal. Like a long-distance runner, she might click off the landmarks as she passes them, but she must know how she stacks up with where she wants to be and keep her eye on the ultimate goal.

It has been almost a half year since my interaction with Beth. I received a call from her last week. She has implemented all three suggestions. She feels she still has a lot of sales training to go through. She still hasn't made her goal of being in the top 5% of her company's sales force. But she has progressed from being in the top 40% to closing this year in the top 25%-with a very realistic opportunity of being in the top 10% next year.

Beth ain't there yet--but she's making great progress very quickly. She says that so far the biggest impact has been eating with the big dogs--she had no idea how differently they did things than the way she and her fellow mediocre sellers did them. The sales training is paying off. Knowing how she stacks up against the big dogs gives her new motivation to make big steps, not just the little ones that she previously thought were reachable.

If you're looking to take the next big step in your career do the same as Beth--start eating with the big dogs and leave the other average sellers behind; take control of your own sales training; and compare yourself with the big producers, not just the ones you think you can compete with easily. It will make a difference--and like Beth, you might find the difference comes pretty quickly.

Comment by Eric Milak on January 11, 2012 at 11:41am

Imagine for a minute that you feel yourself starting to become ill. As usual, your calendar is swamped with appointments so you try to tough it out hoping you'll get better. After a few days, you feel so miserable it's almost impossible to function. You finally decide to pick up the phone and make an appointment with your family physician.

You arrive at the doctor's office anxiously looking for relief. The physician walks briskly into the exam room and exchanges some quick pleasantries. He rambles something about seeing these symptoms before and tells you to take two pills and call him in the morning.

Do you feel the doctor really took the time to understand your situation? Are you motivated to follow his advice? I'm guessing there's a good chance you'll start looking for a new physician and probably won't be referring anyone else to this practice.

Question: What does this lousy doctor have to do with selling more in today's economy?

Answer: Almost everything.

Rule #1: Prescription before diagnosis is malpractice!

Ever watch a sales rep jump to conclusions and start offering ideas prematurely? It happens almost every day and you know it's not pretty. Even the best qualified prospect will start to disengage and begin formulating their escape plan.

Many reps rationalize this behavior by believing there isn't enough time to truly engage with potential clients. Their focus is on activity, not accomplishment. These reps are convinced that they can survive this economy by making more appointments, increasing their number of demos, giving more presentations and ramping up their number of proposals. A classic case of confusing wing flapping for flight!

Recently I wrote an article that outlined specific ideas on how to create more sales success in these turbulent times. I used the introduction of the article to put a "tongue in cheek" spin on how the soft economy had convinced me to just give up and quit. The entire article was less than two pages (this is about a 3 minute investment if you're a slow reader). One simple paragraph (four sentences to be exact) of doom and gloom I used to set the stage for the rest of the commentary.

Within hours I received unsolicited advice from sales professionals all across the country. Each one weighed in with specific ideas that were obviously formed after reading the first four sentences or maybe just the headline. Although I appreciated the advice, it was completely off the mark. It felt like my doctor has just told me to take two pills and call him in the morning.

So what's the prescription for driving more sales in today's market?

Knowledge - it's the common ingredient found in results, relationships and referrals. The more you demonstrate knowledge, the more prospects will take time to listen. And the best way to establish expertise is not by pitching features; it's by asking questions. Questions that can differentiate the value you bring to every call.

Many selling professionals fall into the common trap of asking questions that are self serving. "What does your purchasing process look like?" is a mind numbing, self serving question that doesn't create new insights. Your customer hears these types of questions every day and they bring zero value to the dialogue.

Instead ask questions that get customers to stop and think. Ask questions they haven't been asked before. Ask questions that get the customer to pause and say, "That's a really good question."  Here are some simple examples to help jump start your thinking:

-"There's a lot of information that I could share with you, but I'd like to know what your specific goals for this conversation are. What are the most important things you feel we should focus on to make this meeting a valuable use of your time?"

-"At the end of the day, what's going to be the biggest differences between the one representative that will win your business and the 9 others that don't?"

-"What, if anything, is going to prevent you from taking the next step with me?"

Creating high impact questions takes extra time. But it's worth every minute. Start investing more time doing research and preparation, less time running from sales call to sales call. I know this contradicts traditional wisdom, but this isn't a traditional selling environment.

Don't pick up the phone or walk into the lobby until you're absolutely ready to engage in a meaningful dialogue. You're not going to get a second chance in a slowing economy, so make sure every one counts!

Speaking of Sales is about finding, winning and keeping customers for life. If that's part of your job, then you won't want to miss the next issue.

Until then,

Tim

[Editor's Note: Reposted due to increasing interest from Feb 19, 2009]

Comment by Eric Milak on January 11, 2012 at 11:39am

The Northern California Credit Acceptance Market Area Managers are in a district meeting gathering useful information to help improve you GCA business. Look for an update / posting in the next day or so.

Comment by Eric Milak on November 22, 2011 at 6:40pm

Have You Lost Your Balloons?  Improper Deal Structure Can Make it Seem Like Finance Companies Aren't Buying       Greg Goebel

 

I recently attended the 2010 NAF convention in Fort Worth, Texas. As always it was a very informative event; it’s the best place each year to meet and talk openly with the executives from most of the top auto finance companies.

The mood of this year’s event was the antithesis of 2009. While still somewhat guarded about the total outlook of the economy, capital is available. Every finance company I met with is extremely satisfied with their earnings in 2009 and is projecting solid growth for the upcoming 12 months.

Additionally, based on the information I obtained (but promised to not yet disclose), by the time you read this article some significant and positive changes should have been announced by a couple of the big auto finance companies. So all is good in the dealer world, right?

Not quite. I must say that with one significant exception (an elite SF dealership), the dealers present at the conference weren’t as rosy about their SF business. Everyone on the dealer panel that addressed the convention reported that they were struggling with their SF business and complained in particular that the combination of reduced finance company advances and increased acquisition fees left it impossible to make deals with any reasonable gross profit. One dealer on the panel reported that his store had previously done about 50 SF units per month but volume had dropped to just a third of what it had been. A finance director of AutoNation who manages about 100 finance managers for their company reported similar issues.

I am sorry; I am not biting on this. I work with many dealerships across the country, and yes, the business is more difficult than it was in 2006 and 2007, which was probably the most reckless time period I have ever seen in the SF industry. The financing climate now resembles what it was in the late ‘90s, in my opinion. Advances and credit terms are similar to those in that period, and then (like now) dealers were able to structure deals that yielded nice gross profits. Do dealers have to work leads now to achieve that same success they did three to four years ago? Absolutely, but that is what good SF managers and desk managers get paid to do.

I have written for years about Green and Red Balloons, the metaphor for identifying the creditworthiness of dealership customers. Nothing has changed about the need to identify creditworthiness quickly and effectively when a customer first contacts your dealership (whether in person, on the phone or online), except for the fact that it has become more urgent to do so.

With the terms and approvals being offered by the finance companies, deals are there to be made. When finance companies are looking to make loans and dealers are not able to make deals, one of three situations is occurring: the customer has been landed on the wrong vehicle (too expensive, not enough book, too many miles), their selling price is too low (based on a prime credit competition or Internet pricing), or they are not asking for money down—all of which point to a poorly-structured deal.

While many effective inventory tools have made their way into the dealer’s arsenal – complete with pricing philosophies – I feel that the average dealer, even one versed in SF, has become lax on the process that allows a salesperson or sales manager to quickly identify a SF credit customer before they are shown a vehicle.

Over the past 18 months, many dealers and managers became convinced that a SF deal couldn’t be put together. As a result, their focus shifted and they simply became less concerned about properly qualifying customers (if at all possible) before they sold a vehicle. More than ever, I am seeing deals written up and just thrown into F&I hoping something will stick.

Additionally, during the downturn there was significant downsizing in dealerships in order to weather the storm. Dealerships employed fewer people and asked them to wear more hats, and in some cases the employees either were ill-trained for the jobs they were asked to perform or had insufficient time to perform them properly. As a result, corners were cut and bad habits formed, with the result being poorly-structured deals on SF credit customers.

Yes, I will agree the reduction in rental fleets and off-lease vehicles makes buying SF inventory difficult, but I have certainly seen this before. Since I entered the SF industry over 20 years ago, there have been similar times when sourcing used inventory was a challenge. Then, like now, savvy dealers found a way to buy even hundreds of units per month that booked well, were desirable, and were at a price point that kept customers’ payment-to-income ratios in line.

Additionally, while inventory tools allow for easy, efficient and nearly-automatic posting online, there is no regulation requiring a dealer to post their entire inventory online. If you buy inventory specifically for SF, you can simply leave it off the Internet, so that you don’t box yourself into unworkable deal structures. Sure, you can absolutely sell it to regular retail customers, but most dealers will see little benefit in pricing every Chevy Impala or Nissan Altima with prime credit pricing models.

In summary, SF deals are definitely being done, and even more will be as all the companies are ramping back up for growth. Whether you are able to take advantage of the market will be dependent on proper deal structure, and that begins with a process to identify the SF customer before they are sold a vehicle. You want more SF deals at better gross profits? Find that balloon kiosk (figuratively) to help your sales team accomplish that task and you will be amazed at the results.

From Auto Dealer Monthly, Vol. 7, Issue 7

Comment by Eric Milak on November 22, 2011 at 4:42pm

Did you Read the October "Credit Report"?

It contains a great article on Growing Your Business - Tips for Internet Success

 

Below are 8 suggestions from that article;

1. Having a website with the right content is essential.

2. Promote Guaranteed Credit Approval. "

3. Don’t assume that your credit-challenged customers are not using the Internet.

4. Have a page on your website dedicated to explaining the value of credit and re-building it.

5. Have a credit application online to encourage consumers to take action.

6. Have a good selection of vehicles and show quality pictures of each vehicle - in 360 view, if possible. Refresh your postings often.

7. Take advantage of new tools that make taking and posting pictures to your website easy.

8. Dedicate a person on staff to handle your Internet advertising.