Robert Noell's Sales Training Blog

Is Your Dealership’s Sales Process A Buzz Kill?

Robert Noell — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:32:46 +0000

Good morning busy automotive sales professionals… Have you ever stopped to think why some advertisements work and yet the salespeople who see those resulting clients usually fail? There is a correlation worth examination. When the factory advertises a vehicle, they usually display one with all the options (that’s even in the small print) but the advertised [...]

Do You Need Your Manager’s Permission To Improve Your Sales Skills?

Robert Noell — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:54:44 +0000

What have you done today? When I visit dealerships to train new hires on techniques and software, I can tell that many of these dealerships could do so much better if they just did a few minutes of training everyday. Just yesterday, I was at a store with a new sales manager… I was there to [...]

Is Your Dealership an Ex-Salesperson Factory?

Robert Noell — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:05:02 +0000

I run into people all the time who proudly proclaim they “used to sell cars”. If I were a dentist, or a doctor or an attorney, I wonder if I would run into as many people so proud of no longer practicing the profession. Obviously , a large part of this phenomenon is the checkered [...]

Auto Sales Training Brief – Discussing Numbers On The Lot

Robert Noell — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:09:27 +0000

With the economy getting better (sorry Toyota), it appears customers are still the same. They still just want a good deal! Who would blame them? We would too if the roles were reversed. In fact, you could say it’s the most natural part of every day in the dealership. If it’s expected and a “natural” occurrence, [...]

The First Impression

Robert Noell — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:01:22 +0000

When I’m not conducting a seminar or at a dealership closing deals, I call at least 20-30 new car dealerships every day. I am astounded how most dealerships answer the phone. Sorry to go on a rant here, but it seems a warm, courteous and positively infectious greeting and routing of a phone call is too much to ask for. [...]

Practice Practice Practice!

Robert Noell — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:02:57 +0000

Call it book smart vs. street smart, theory vs. practice, analytical vs. creative thinking, or right brain vs. left brain… Testing or quizzing salespeople has always been an exercise in futility. Largely because the methods used to test and score a car salesperson share little in common with reality. Salespeople don’t close real deals with essay or [...]

The Dumbest Question In The Car Business

Erik Kullenberg — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 22:31:37 +0000

How much profit would you like us to make on this sale? That would be the dumbest question in the car business. It doesn’t take a rocket-surgeon to figure out that the most common answer will be: “As little as possible”. I know that question sounds a little ridiculous, but many salespeople and managers ask a [...]

Getting Back To The Basics

Robert Noell — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:19:06 +0000

You don’t need me to tell you that times are not as good as they have been in the past. The silver lining in this cloud is that a our areas of improvement are now glaringly apparent for both salespeople and sales managers. Since the direction in most dealerships is a top-down issue, we’ll focus [...]

Create Hope, Not Doubt!

Robert Noell — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:15:45 +0000

We’ve all seen it… The green pea salesperson who blows-up the sales floor in his/her first month selling cars. Many experts in the car business will tell you it’s because they don’t know any better, or they don’t yet have any bad habits. I think those are both excellent answers, but we should dig a [...]

Don’t Fear The Hallucinating Customers!

Robert Noell — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:47:49 +0000

Do customers at your dealership hallucinate? Please don’t misunderstand, I’m not implying your customers are on on drugs (but some are!). Merriam-Webster dictionary says to hallucinate means “to affect with visions or imaginary perceptions”. I’m not sure about your customers, but it’s a very accurate description of what my customers do when placing a value [...]