Dealership salespeople or entrepreneurs?

Fewer people are walking into dealerships to shop today. That's the bad news. The good news is when a person goes to a dealership today, he or she is more likely to be serious about buying something.

Still that's not enough to keep most dealership salespeople afloat. There is one other thing they can do:

Think like like an entrepreneur. Join business clubs, conduct customer events, create your own specials or promotions, etc. The best dealership salesperson I met told me he spent very little time waiting for prospects to walk through the door. The bulk of his time was focused on his existing clientele, making sure they were happy, and of course, finding out if they had referrals or other needs.

Why not think like an entrepreneur? I think most salespeople assume it will require more time. But it doesn't have to. It is scary because it involves reaching out to people and being vulnerable to them saying "no thanks." It does require dealing with different types of people at business clubs, but so what?

The options are to wait for the next person walking through the door or to go out and build your business (and while you're building your business, a few people may also walk through the door).

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com