International sales superstar George Dans gave Dealers and other industry professionals an unusual and inspiring talk on Monday and Wednesday at the recent AADA National Dealer Convention in Melbourne.
After serving as a fireman in California for nearly a decade, Dans was instilled with a strong sense of self discipline that he now applies to managing his business and staff. Animated and passionate, his level of enthusiasm was contagious.
The message of his first presentation was simple – close or lose, it’s your choice. He emphasised the importance of staying motivated and never giving up. It’s important to visualize your goal and identify techniques that keep you motivated. This also applies to a Dealer’s sales staff.
Not being able to find good staff is a problem some Dealers face. To combat this, Dans urges Dealer Principals to invest in intensive and continuous training.
Staff can’t close deals and reach targets if they are not equipped with the skills to do so. Investment in training will produce quality sales people who are dedicated, perform well, and ultimately close more deals.
He also talked about how Dealers can sometimes be constrained by the idea of how they should and shouldn’t run their business. Dealerships may not be able to move forward if workers who aren’t suited to their role are kept on staff.
Therefore, it’s important to take care to place staff members where they will be most effective and foster a positive attitude.
He encouraged Dealers to make working for them attractive. While a good salary and bonuses are a positive incentive, Dans stressed the importance of Dealers mingling with their sales reps and customers. They need to be involved in their business in order to inspire.
While Dans was enthusiastic about leadership and goal-setting, all of those factors are ineffective unless staff are actually able to get out of their comfort zone and put them into action. As he said, it should be easy to sell a product to someone who calls or walks in looking to buy it, and hopefully by applying some of Dans’ insights, Dealers will be well on their way to closing the deal more frequently.
AADA thanks George Dans for making the trip Down Under to share his insights with us.