Finding Purpose

Any career or profession that you pursue you must find a purpose that speaks to you.  The reason you are invested in pouring your heart and soul into that profession.  Your why!  If you don't, your ability to be a high achiever and invest the time and effort it will take to level up will not be there, you will be mediocre.

In fact, purpose is so important that your life depends on it.  In a study led by Dr. Koichiro Shiba an assistant professor at Boston University School of Public Health.  According to the results, having a purpose lowers the risk of all causes of mortality, regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity, but the effects were more pronounced among women.  The findings showed that purpose was more strongly associated with longevity in women than men, although it provided a significant benefit for both.  The researchers found that women lowered their risk of all-cause mortality by 34%, compared to men, whose risk was reduced by 20%.

As a male, if I could reduce my chances of an early death by 20%, I think it makes for a good case to find purpose in what we are doing for a living.  Studies have also shown that a strong sense of purpose provides a healthier heart, and makes a person more resilient to stress. 

Hopefully I have convinced you that finding real purpose in what you do is a worthwhile task.  So why did you get into the automotive industry?  Maybe it was to make money, maybe you love cars, maybe it was the best job available at the time, maybe you wanted to just drive new cars, maybe you wanted to help people buy their dream car.  It could be all these combined.  

There is no doubt that money was a factor in you deciding to enter the automotive business.  However, if your sole purpose is to just make money, customers will see right through you and it will diminish the experience.  If all you are after is money, customers will see you as the sleazy car salesman we have been portrayed as in the past.  This will only further enforce the negative thoughts and fears of customers.  We have to remember the customer who is purchasing the vehicle is likely making either the biggest or second biggest purchase of their life.  This purchase is important to them and you should treat the buying experience as such.  Not just your opportunity to make money.  Remember the ridiculous percentage of people who dislike the dealership experience?  You should!  If not, 87%, 87% of people dislike something about the car dealership experience! (Newswire) We will talk later in the book about how to align with the customer regarding the importance of the purchase.  

Please understand, I want you to make a lot of money, it is ok for income to be a purpose.  I just believe we need to make money secondary, or even “in-line” with serving the customer.  Let me show you the difference between two mission statements.  I want to make $100,000 a year -vs- I want to give people a world class buying experience while making over $100,000”.

I promise if you buy into, and believe the latter, you can, and will make well over $100,000.  Putting the customer first, and delivering a world class experience from the first hello to the last follow up task carries much more purpose than just making money.  This is because it is harder to do, it is connected to a person, and it separates you from the average salesperson.  Furthermore, if you conduct your daily business activities with this approach the money will take care of itself.  

An example of how to find purpose, (even in suffering) is Victor Frankl.  Victor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, found purpose to survive through his development of logotherapy (or search for meaning in life) and his personal experiences during his time in concentration camps. Before World War II, Frankl was a successful psychiatrist, specializing in the treatment of depression and suicidal tendencies. He was influenced by the teachings of Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler, but he felt that their theories did not adequately address the existential questions of human existence.  

In 1942, Frankl, along with his family, was deported to Theresienstadt, and later to Auschwitz and other concentration camps. He endured immense suffering, witnessing the horrors of the Holocaust, losing loved ones, and facing starvation, forced labor, and dehumanization.

Despite these circumstances, Frankl became convinced that finding meaning and purpose in life was essential for survival and maintaining one's mental well-being. He observed that those prisoners who had a sense of purpose and meaning were more resilient and had a greater chance of survival.

Drawing from his experiences in the camps and his background in psychiatry, Frankl developed logotherapy, a form of existential analysis. Logotherapy emphasizes the importance of finding meaning in life as a primary motivating and therapeutic force. It posits that individuals can find purpose through three main avenues: creating a work or doing a deed, experiencing something or encountering someone, and adopting an attitude toward unavoidable suffering.

Frankl found personal meaning and purpose in his role as a doctor and in his attempts to alleviate the suffering of his fellow prisoners. He provided therapy and support to other inmates, offering them hope and a sense of purpose. His own survival became intertwined with his mission to help others find meaning in their suffering.

After his liberation in 1945, Frankl wrote the book "Man's Search for Meaning," in which he chronicled his experiences in the concentration camps and outlined his philosophy of logotherapy. The book became a seminal work, providing insights into the human capacity for resilience, finding meaning in suffering, and the pursuit of a purposeful life.

Through his personal experiences and the development of logotherapy, Victor Frankl found purpose to survive by recognizing the importance of meaning and helping others in the face of extreme adversity. His teachings continue to inspire countless individuals to this day, reminding us of the potential for resilience and the power of finding meaning in life's challenges.  Highly recommending reading this book.

To be the best you have to find a purpose greater than just making money, or at a minimum attach your earnings to a purpose. A driven person will be willing to dissect their purpose and not brush this off as a worthless activity. You have to want to be the best.  Being driven is a core characteristic of most all high performing sales people.  If you are driven, and want to be world class at what you do, move forward.  If not, quit right now because you will not make it, or best case you will be a mediocre salesperson who will continue to deliver subpar experiences and give the industry a bad name.  

So let's get excited to think about your purpose and how you can find it!  If you are any kind of an achiever you will have goals. Hopefully you already have them clearly defined.  Start with your goals, and separate why you are working to achieve that goal.  Your purpose is the reason you set a goal to begin with.  If you have a goal to lose ten pounds, be clear about why you want to lose ten pounds.  Is losing ten pounds just a goal to have because it sounds good, or is the real “Why/purpose” to have more energy, to have a washboard stomach, or to live longer?  

Your goals are always attached to a purpose.  Being clear about your purpose will keep you focused on the real reason you are working towards that goal.

Finding a higher purpose will make you happier.  Over time any business that requires discipline and hard work will wear you down.  In those moments of weakness you might question why you are putting yourself through the stress, heartache, and time commitment.  The best way to avoid going down a path of feeling like you aren't making an impact or a feeling of worthlessness is to anchor your goals, career and everything you do on purpose.  

The famous ruler and stoic Marcus Aurelius had this to say about purpose.  “People who labor all their lives but have no purpose to direct every thought and impulse toward are wasting their time, even when working hard at work.”  Read that a couple of times!  When I see someone miserable in their job I immediately think about how they may not have attached what they are doing to a purpose.  I have done jobs that many would not find rewarding.  For example, one of my first jobs was to pick strawberries.  Not the sexiest of jobs, but my goal was to earn a little money so I could buy a dirt bike. When I felt like quitting I just kept thinking about that dirtbike.  Not a very high level purpose, but the purpose kept me engaged and pushing forward.  

You Can Impact Your Business for the Better!

You Can Impact Your Business for the Better

My goal is to make just one person better at auto sales. The collateral benefit is that one by one we can change the public perception of the industry for the better.  All change (good and bad) starts with one person.  My hope is that you are that person.  That you desire to be the best at your craft, influence sales people around you, and impact your customers in such a way that their view of the industry is forever changed for the better.  This chain reaction and impact is something that you can control and have influence over.  I hope the idea of impact and excellence excites you.  Whether this is your first step in the direction towards excellence or you are a seasoned sales person, there is no better investment than investing in yourself.  Be proud of yourself and your choice to pick up this book and continue your path towards getting better every day.

As the now old, but timeless message from success mentor Jim Rohn said “Success is something you attract, by becoming attractive.  Work harder on yourself than you do at your job.”  If you are ready to work, change your mindset, and become a difference maker for yourself, your company, and your industry, please keep reading.  Dissect what we discuss, put your own thought into it, make it your own.  Use bits and pieces of information to add to how you do business.  Set yourself and others on the path for next level sales by finding purpose, educating yourself and others through disciplined training and consistent work, while doing business in a fair and ethical way.  

Should you be in sales?

Should you be in Sales?

Before you spend any more time becoming an elite sales person you need to be honest with yourself.  Can you handle rejection?  Are you emotionally strong enough to weather the ups and downs of sales?  Can you manage your money well enough to get your sales career off the ground?  

In sales rent is due every month, do you have the stamina and discipline to do what it takes to create sales.  Most sales positions are self directed.  There will not be someone constantly looking over your shoulder telling you what to do.  That is why I am happy you are reading this book.  You must be self motivated and able to work on your own.  

Just because you can talk, and entertain people does not mean you will be good at sales.  It will help you, but the self discipline to implement and utilize systems and processes is what will make you consistent and successful over the long haul.

So before you proceed forward ask yourself if you are all-in and proud to be in car sales.  If you are not, do the rest of us who love this industry a favor, get out before you spoil the rest of us and give us a bad rap. 

People Love Car Shopping! Sorry, not yet!

A 2016 study by Newswire found that a shocking 87% of Americans dislike something about the traditional car dealership.  From the same study 61% feel like they are being taken advantage of, and 52% of Americans feel anxious or uncomfortable when visiting the dealership.  Sigh, I am embarrassed by these stats, and you should be too.  I am on a mission to change this and it will take all of us to make car buying a fun and enjoyable experience.  I do believe that in the following pages if you can take just a few ideas and add them to your process or small modifications to you daily routine we can improve the car buying experience.  I mean based on the statistics above we are not currently doing a very good job and really have nowhere to go, but up!  

So, knowing that most people do not enjoy buying a car, I asked myself why this is, and how we can make it better.  I have put together my thoughts on how the industry got where it is and how we can start to change the perception and align expectations of our customers.

It's the dealers/managers fault! Oftentimes car sales is a profession that people pursue because they were out of options, have little sales experience, or dealerships were desperate enough to just hire anyone off the street.  So!  As dealers this means that you have people employed that have not found purpose in truly helping people, and they are there for themselves only.  So it's the dealers fault for making a bad employment decision.  

Maybe the dealer/manager didn’t cut ties fast enough with a sales person, and in the meantime the representative did a massive amount of damage to customer relations. 

Never forget an unhappy customer is going to tell as many people as they can about the negative experience, and very few about the positive experience.  So a few bad apples as they say start to spoil the bunch.  

Maybe the dealer/manager didn't provide training to sales representatives who showed a lot of promise, and they left the industry to a profession that had a better path to success.  Good news is you are reading this book now, taking action, and growing as a sales person.

Maybe the dealer/manager allowed a bad manager to drive the good sales people away.  There is a lot of talk about culture in companies.  Culture is the people the company employs.  If a dealer/manager allows negativity, poor performance, rudeness, lack of respect, guess what.  The customers will sense it! 

The negative perception that your customers may have on your business does not have to be this way.  Changing the perception of your operation and the automotive industry is a tall order that will take time and a collective effort from the industry as a whole.  

The change in any business always starts with ownership from the top down.  But for those of you reading this who are not necessarily at “the top”, you can be at the top of your business and you can still influence those around you.  

You can influence those around you by helping them practice sales, call out people who are underperforming, and by not partaking in negative conversations.  I am glad you are reading this book because you are not waiting on a manager to tell you what to do.  You are taking the initiative to control your income, your career, and taking the needed steps to become better at what you do.  Your business is what you can control and that is where you start.  As dealers, managers, and sales representatives we have to take ownership of the poor past and current performance in dealerships.  To become better at sales we start with awareness, taking ownership of the problem, then taking action with training and discipline to Do The Work.

The Car Bizz

You are working with a customer who is considering the purchase of a new vehicle.  You have had a great introduction and you find that you have several things in common with the customer. You ask all the right questions to find the customer the perfect vehicle.  The customer loves it, and wants to move forward with the purchase of the vehicle.  Since you have asked such great questions early in the process you know that this customer is concerned with payment.  Your salesman leaves the customer at the desk to get final approval on the numbers with a manager.  All signs point to a happy customer and an easy delivery.  In the meantime there is laughing in the background and a couple coworkers high five each other regarding something completely different.  The salesperson makes their way back to the desk and the tone of the customer has completely changed.  They are now defensive about accepting the vehicle, and walk out of the dealership.  The salesperson is left dumbfounded wondering what went wrong.  Naturally the salesperson starts replaying everything that took place with regard to the transaction.  Did I say something wrong?  Was it the wrong vehicle? Was it the payment?  Nope, the customer simply perceived that they were being taken advantage of because of some unrelated actions of clueless people in the showroom.

It's almost as if some people are completely unaware of their social surroundings.  I have heard it before, excuse after excuse.  I didn't say that, I didn't do that, but guess what, it doesn't matter what you did or didn't do or say!  It matters what the customer perceives.         

In a setting where the customer is likely already on edge, defensive, and looking for any sign of being treated unfairly.  The entire dealership has to be aware of their actions, terminology,  processes, and social surroundings.  So we have to ask ourselves, why are customers so defensive when buying a car to begin with?  Why is automotive retailing one of the least respected professions?  What can you do to improve customer perception of the car dealership?  How can you align what the customer expects with what you can provide and even over deliver on those expectations?