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This has been a slow period for about a month where I work. During times like this I like to reflect, appreciate the position I am in and think of the next steps from here and why I want to achieve them. The primary driver for me currently is financial security. I used to be one of those that did because others said it could not be done, I enjoyed the challenge. Now I face a different dilemma: continue to coast after achieving with nothing else to prove but possibly aiming for a higher goal serving only to create a higher goal or redirect myself toward finding what will make me happier? Sales is and was a means to an end, the path now is one that will serve to benefit others more than myself. To serve better is best; how best can I serve is my question.

Life has led me here to try and answer that question and it may require a great deal of energy and revisiting. I am fortunate to be granted the luxury to do so and not have to stress daily about how I will survive in the meantime. How far does one go, to create safety, how much is enough to create security or is any amount merely an illusion? Couldn’t the world end tomorrow? Couldn’t I die of a sudden illness, couldn’t my life change for the worse because of some unforeseen event that deprives me of the vision of my better self.

I fear waiting too long and missing a great opportunity, and I fear chasing something because it makes me feel safer and more secure. These are the wrong reasons to pursue anything. I’m not sure why I am obsessed with this pursuit in personal accomplishment. I believe somehow my happiness will spill over and be shared by those around me. One day I hope to be able to share this, my dreams, neither restrained by my past nor tethered to my future, simply present and grateful.

What if the Great Barrier Reef Dies before I see it. What if air pollution ruins the sunset I’ve always wanted to see or what if wealth inequality creates animosity that forbids travel between countries? I fear not seeing and doing what I perceive will make my life more fulfilled, fearing that which I was given the opportunity to achieve and missed. My greatest fear though is forgoing the journey inside myself which I know will require more time of me than anything I have ever endeavored to accomplish.

Is this a delusion or is this.

One of the most important lessons in sales is to learn to be light. A lot of sales people will talk about having thick skin and while this is similar it is not the same as being light. When you are light you will take the negative energy that clients, teammates or superiors place on you and you will shine back at them to brighten their day a little bit. Even if the experience didn’t go as well as you had hoped you can still leave knowing you made that person’s experience better than it might have been with someone else. I always want my reaction to be one that would shine on a day that might have been especially hard on the person I am working with.

When I started in sales everyone told me I would need to have thick skin and if I didn’t already have it I would develop it, and with it possibly a jaded outlook. One of the first experiences I had that hurt me was in my second month. Almost every client I worked with up to this point that told me they would buy from me did, even if I let them leave to think about it. This surprised most of my managers and they joked about me having some secret be back dust in my pocket that I would sprinkle on clients. The managers who always pushed for the deal today began to trust my clients when they said they would return.  I believed clients and I felt I was working with integrity that would deserve same in return. That is until a kind grey haired lady with a youthful sparkle in her eyes came in during my second month. This client was a ball of energy and enthused about a new model we had, she told me she wanted to test drive the vehicle so I took her out and told her everything I could about the vehicle in our short time together. I did not ask that day if she wanted to buy the vehicle but I asked if she thought it was the right car for her and she said, “yes I think so.”

“Great!” I said, “you can go home and think about it and let me know any more questions that come up and when you’re ready we can move forward.” I introduced her to a manger and after a brief chat she left with a smile proclaiming she would be in touch. This lady seemed to me as family oriented, friendly, trustworthy and kind a person as they could come and so when she came back for a second test drive on a busy evening for another couple hours to go over all the technology and details of the different models I was happy to oblige her and explain all the features which needed ample time to explain. After the experience we went inside and I asked if I could present her prices she said yes and we went over pricing options. Again she asked me if she could go home and think about it and I said, “sure, is there any reason you aren’t making the decision today?” She replied she just wanted to go over the pricing and get things in line financially to purchase it, she would let me know as soon as possible. Great! I turned her over to a manager who met her for the second time and released her on the promise she would be back.  I waited a busy week to follow up, probably longer than I should have and when I finally got a hold of her she proudly announced she bought a vehicle from an old friend who had instructed her to go to the local dealer to learn the vehicle and once decided on a model to buy from him.

I was crushed. I told her on the phone I felt that was unfair and that she shouldn’t have told me she would get in touch with us if she didn’t really plan to and that she led me along. I almost wanted to hang up after that, instead I quieted myself, I was met for the first time with a long silence over the phone. I held my breath and held back feelings of being hurt with this lady whom I spent over three hours with and of course, found things I liked about her. I had already mentally concluded she had bought a car and chosen me as her salesperson. When she left that second day the manager that let her walk even said out loud to me, “she will be back to buy a car she just needs to get a couple things ready”, and he was a seasoned closer. Well it turns out he and I were both right only this client had decided she already had an allegiance and it was not to us. After a silence that felt like minutes she said I had done a great job, that it wasn’t personal and she appreciated my time before quietly hanging up, but I could hear in her voice I hurt her through my bluntness.

It was then that I realized all of this needs to be taken lightly, or thick skin will develop. While thick skin is considered an edge, it is not ideal. Thick skin means you don’t feel as much, it means your body has learned to become guarded automatically. Yes I was hurt, but I hurt my client too, and honestly if I could go back knowing what I know now I would have immediately congratulated her when she told me she bought her vehicle and asked her if I played a helpful part in her decision reassuring her she could reach back out to me for anything in the future. By saying something when I was emotionally hurt thinking it might hurt my client, as subtle as it was, I cut that tie forever and likely soured her entire experience of buying a new car which should have been a joyous moment. I hope her skin isn’t thicker because of my callous treatment of her buying experience.

In business nothing is personal and this must be remembered so that when you need to consult your clients they can see you are not jaded from the past or angry over a previously lost deal. Every deal is a fresh start and with every client is hope that this might be your best deal or your new favorite client. Be light, know that the law of averages will work out in the end if you are putting forth a good effort. Pursue the deals, chase them and engage your clients so they feel they have your full attention but when the time has come and the game is over just remember it will always go back into the box and a new game will begin. You have to be ready for every new game with the same excitement you brought to the last. Be light in winning and losing. My best days in sales have been some of my worst days for actually selling, they are the days that I walk in and I do my best, I ask the client as many ways as possible why the sale isn’t happening and I am met with the 10% that just say no. I tell them how thankful I am for their business and the opportunity to work for them and I ask them about their personal lives and get them excited about their big moment, which is easy to forget because I do it every day. I wear a smile when it is hard because I know that they deserve this moment of enjoyment and when I go home I feel good about myself. And when I call the client to follow up I am often met with that same energy I let them leave with, a lightheartedness that invites you back.

Just the other day I had a client say no to everything I could offer told me it was their intro vehicle for the brand and in the future they would reconsider these things based on the experience. I had them on the verge of a decision and if I pushed a little more they might have left with a product they had not intended to have and honestly that could have been fine, instead I backed off and let them leave feeling good about their decision, I had played a good game but pushing would have left the experience soured. I had the opportunity, I saw it and I chose the wrong approach. I saw the review the next day and it was glowing about not just me but everyone at the dealership. I called them a couple days later to follow up and I was met with excessive thank you’s for small things, things I don’t think twice about and real joy about owning a new car she had always wanted. That, sometimes, is worth more on a day when it feels like nothing else is going accordingly, and with averages on your side what you missed at one opportunity can be gained at another. One day I will maximize that same interaction so those on the verge will say yes and only thank me, but until then I’ll make sure everyone I interact with remembers everything about their experience at my dealership fondly.

A client who flew planes for UPS commercially told me that when you learn to fly there are two bowls you have, one is full of marbles marked luck and every time you fly and land safely you take one marble form the bowl marked luck and move it to the bowl marked experience and every pilot has to know how many marbles they may have left in them and stop before the last marble in the luck jar runs out because experience trumps everything except for that little bit of luck every pilot may need. For us in sales, that jar of experience can fill up forever and that jar of luck, well after enough experience, we will welcome it but it won’t endanger our lives, so we are pretty fortunate for that. Our careers are not so serious that we can’t make light of every situation.

-FACS

I am probably like most readers of the internet. I scour for what I want and consume it without much discretion as long as it has hints of flavors I am looking for. Only every now and then am I pleasantly surprised by what I find.

A large part of being a rainmaker in sales, or any avenue of life, is to be familiar enough that people will give you a chance and once you are given the opportunity you can really shine. Fortunately for me I am automatically given the opportunity because of what I now do, but it took me a while to get here. Most people can become fantastic salespeople and learn to make it rain but just like the shamans of past and the current rainmakers it takes years of training, patience and an understanding of the environment around you. Here are a few tips to help you get started setting yourself apart from the pack starting with some basics.

Always dress for the part you want. Often this means caring about how you present yourself, you can be complimented for being casual but it can also work against you in some scenarios, always put your best foot forward. I iron my clothes everyday and before it was required I wore a tie and jacket, because why not, part of my draw is that I have always enjoyed having my own flair even when I only had about 3-5 outfits to wear they were all very unique. We all have to wear clothes so why not make it entertaining this is being familiar but setting yourself apart. One of the best salesman I worked with always took his photos for the internet with a hat on and he instructed his clients to ask for the guy with the wide brimmed hat, and even if they couldn’t remember his name they would always ask for the guy with the hat. He is a fantastic salesperson!

Part of the sale is creating a persona, an idea of who you want to be and what you represent so clients can align themselves with you. While your clothing helps create this character you help make it real when you speak. Verbal communication is not as important as non verbal but learning when to raise your voice, when to proclaim something exciting and when to be timid and suggestive is all very important. When you are starting out finding your sales voice is an important step, and the more confidently you can speak from the heart or the soul the better you will become. Remember that if someone didn’t want to hear what you have to say they probably wouldn’t be there, as you become better at reading body language you will see when they are no longer engaged.

Handshakes are extremely important, with certain religious women it is okay to ask if it is alright to shake their hand, and for most men it is okay to simply extend your hand for a greeting. Always stand up, always, shaking hands sitting down is in poor taste. When you shake someone’s hand make sure you hold on to their hand long enough to look into their eyes if possible and notice something about them, eye color, smile, some defining facial feature. Try to hold their hand for at least 7 seconds if you can, long enough to say a nice greeting and help them feel more comfortable with you. Hands can heal and if someone seems sensitive to touching it’s okay to give them some space, but if you can hang on stay in there, if the handshake is in a weird position you can release and ask to shake again for a better shake, people appreciate this. Complimenting a good handshake is always welcome. It took me a long time to realize the importance of this simple gesture.

Remember names! Someones name is one of the most important things to remember and it can put as a smile on their face immediately, for a lot of people it means they matter to you. I used to make it a point to use someones name until it almost seemed too obvious what I was doing, but I have never been called out and it only helped me remember names faster. Back when I had a smaller client base I had a fantastic trick for remembering names: as soon as I heard a name, as long as I wasn’t meeting a bunch of people at once, I would think of someone with the same name that I liked and imagine that person smiling or doing something quintessentially them and whenever I would see that new client that person would pop back into my head. Another thing you can do is ask personal questions about their life, their interests, their loves, what makes them laugh and what makes them money and write it down, people not only love when you remember their name they also love when you remember things about them.

Remembering things about your clients will be magnified if you can remember something you like about them. I find something I like about every person I meet, and if it is appropriate I will compliment them on it as sincerely as I can. This isn’t something to overdo, but when done right, one compliment can make someone feel much more confident and better about themselves. When I was in direct car sales and someone asked me who the best customers were or asked me what I thought of xyz person I could sincerely tell them I have the best clients in the world and I was fortunate that they wanted to work with me. If a client bought a car from me it meant they trusted me and even if they didn’t I have had clients return three times never buy a car from me but proudly proclaim I was their car salesperson because whenever they needed a car they wanted to work with me. Sometimes the product just isn’t right and being a genuine salesperson a consultative salesperson is where you will find out whether my sales approach is one that will work for you as well.

Making it rain isn’t good for one person, making it rain benefits everyone and we all get to reap the bounty in the future. Being one of the best salespeople, consultants, etc. isn’t about reaping the bounty for yourself and planting the seeds solely for your future, being a great salesperson and rainmaker is about finding the zero sum game in every situation, the win win scenario. And, if it appears there isn’t a win win scenario it means taking the road that will benefit the most people. My goal as a sales consultant is to help others in as many meaningful ways as I possibly can, from my sales team, to my management who employs me, to the people who make sure my checks get cashed and of course the clients who trust me every day to help them make the right decisions for them and the same people in their lives.

– FACS

3 years ago I started in the automotive industry as a car salesman. I started this blog and I thought I would diligently begin my 90 day transformation. Instead the blog has stagnated while my sales education took off. Randomly at a lunch a few cousins of mine mentioned web design and I mentioned my website, in their disbelief I brought it up and realized I’ve missed writing.

Three years is a long time, so here is a recap.

From October 2017 til October 2018 I sold consistently over 12 cars a month at a Honda Dealership, which was good but not stellar by any means. I found that sales is very much like being interviewed in a speed dating fashion. Everyone wants to know the product or they wouldn’t give you the time and once they decide they want the product they start to wonder about you. During my first year of car sales I was offered at least five different positions unrelated to car sales which could have become great careers. I turned them all down because I believe when a company or a person takes a chance on you, you owe it to them to work until that risk has been justified. For me the risk taken is worth about a year as long as your employer is living up to their promises. I love selling cars, well, loved. The only thing that made it difficult was the new pressure every month, a great weight is lifted and then for a few days you can breathe easy before it starts again. “What have you done for me lately,” is a commonly heard phrase.  I would do it all over and only do it earlier and better. I enjoyed interviewing and it eventually led me to a new position in which interviewing was part of the process.

At the end of 2018 I was offered a position in F&I (Finance and Insurance), arguably the best seat in the dealership. I was looking for another form of employment and this meant more training without needing to start at square one. The new position would entail intensive sales education without any cost (which I am all for). Also there was another big draw for this position: many of my peers told me it was extremely difficult. I went into car sales because it was the most difficult form of sales, aside from cold calls which sounded miserable, that I could think of. Then I discover there is another position in a dealership that is even more difficult and it is a promotion… I was all in. I spent about two to three months memorizing scripts to overcome new objections and learning simple closing techniques to garner a yes. And, it was an education. The various closing techniques seem endless and it can be argued each has an appropriate time and place, the simple close, the assumptive close, the candy close, the urgency close, etc… all are useful and all are effective. I know of some common closes but I have worked to tailor my presentation for the individual in a consultative approach using these closing techniques only when the right nudge is needed. F&I is more difficult as everyone said, but it is vastly more rewarding and the rate at which one learns is significantly magnified.

When I started in sales I knew I wanted to do the most difficult sales I could think of but I had no idea the most difficult sales I couldn’t think of would find me. I had to compete for my position in F&I and after watching 3 candidates who had been top salespeople start and quit the position within months it only made me want to succeed more. This was my opportunity to prove in an accelerated course my mettle in a sales position and practice the things I had been reading in my spare time. Of the four candidates whom I learned alongside with I am the only one who is still “spinning paper”. F&I is an extremely competitive position that I was fortunate to be given a chance at because management liked me. I saw this as a double edged sword, their support while also painting a target on my back. It was great to have the support but I wanted the opportunity to succeed or fail of my own accord, and I wasn’t the most popular F&I manager at the dealership so after a full year I left the dealership I started at by the end of 2017.

When my training was complete I worked two months in finance before leveraging my promotion to land a position at the dealership I had wanted to start at originally in sales. Instead of sales I started as a salaried manager, doubled my original offer (or so I thought, a story for later) and was given greater responsibility as well as a project to help manage. This would all be more than I was ready for and going in I knew this but I also knew that if it wasn’t going to work out it would be better to discover early on so I could change course accordingly. Well it worked out and I have been at the same dealer ship for two years as of October 2019 for a total of three years in the car business, one in sales and two in F&I.

I am here writing this because the sales experience and the stories I made along the way are fantastic and truthfully I wish I had written more of them down to remember. More importantly though in a brief three years to the exact date October, 3rd, 2019 I completed my three year goal which I had spoken aloud to one person, I bought a house. I didn’t pay cash, but I did it without a degree without any more debt (from education) and I didn’t have to take the path everyone insisted would lead me to success. Most of my life has been about that, wanting to do things differently so I could say with conviction (and be heard) it doesn’t have to be this way. After feeling the unfairness of education and seeing friend after friend struggle and wonder why after doing everything they were told to do, getting A’s and joining clubs, paying for things and being viewed as successful life was still so difficult and often unrewarding. I believe people should have opportunities, opportunities to do what they want and approach it how they want, and it shouldn’t always require 2×4 years of education and mounds of debt saddled at the start of life. Success is measured by happiness not prosperity and by personal achievement not diplomas, it has nothing to do with the tings you have or the commas in your bank account, it is a mindset influenced by the quality of your life.

Now I am happy, but no happier now than I was three years ago, the big difference now is I can tell people I’m happy and people believe me because I have what they perceive as a good life. I had a good life with nothing to my name but a couple boxes a drawer full of clothes, and the support of my friends and family. The reality of being without and happy is a harder pill to swallow, for an outsider looking in, but here on the other side it’s easy to see, I was as happy then as I am now. In fact the times when I am happiest have nothing to do with what has transpired in my career. The things that make me happiest are sitting down to write, playing my guitar, reading a good book and spending time with loved ones. More money has made me more appreciative, but not happier. I’m a much better salesperson now because of everything that has transpired but success did not help me meet happiness, I believe it’s the other way around.

– FACS

How did I end up in car sales? How did anyone end up anywhere? I made a bunch of decisions and at one point realized, shit, this isn’t what I wanted. From there with my swiss army like set of skills I realized, it’s time to sharpen a new blade. I love being one of those guys that get’s to say, I’ve done a little bit of everything, even though I know it’s not completely true. Here is the cadre of my work experience: dollar store peddler, sandwich peddler, car washer, produce boy, deli boy, garden boy, standardized patient, hospital bed repair and delivery man, valet, ballroom dance instructor, barista, event bartender, home re-modeler, deck builder, and village idiot… always the village idiot.

I never finished high school, I got kicked out for peddling sandwiches at my local public school. My entire public school experience once I realized it was all about being popular can be summed up in one story: I walk into Biology class and lay my head down on the table for my usual nap and the teacher begins shouting my name, repeatedly, very insistently and with a sharp tone, finally I lift my head up and snap back, “WHAT!?” she then as sweetly as she can manage says to me, “Jon, we were dissecting cats in the last class, could you please not lay your head down on the table?” I swiftly reached for my binder slid it in front of me and dropped my head on top of it. “That’s fine,” she added before beginning class. Pretty much sums up all of the seven or so months I spent in a public high school. It had been a slow transition from 6th grade bliss to my final despising of the public school system.

Afterwards I went to a private high school and it was a miserable experience except for a few girls who kept it bearable by not treating me like a total weirdo and inviting me along on lunch-breaks to the local corner liquor store for sandwiches. It was a small Christian school and in true fashion taught out of a church where no one could actually earn a diploma. I sat next to the most interesting kids, hardly spoke, got yelled at and forged my mom’s signature repeatedly to only extend the time it would take me to get into real trouble. I had a math teacher who always compared me adoringly to her daughters boyfriend, a chemistry teacher who always told me I was brilliant even though I contributed little and an English teacher who refused to let me fail. I was dense, self centered and really in a poor state of mind all throughout high school, luckily this weird assortment of teachers somehow kept me from totally losing hope.

Still, I dropped out, never graduated, stopped going a few months before graduation and refused to entertain the thought of walking at the graduation ceremony which I thought was laughable seeing as they couldn’t actually give me a diploma. It was a ceremony for ceremonies sake, bizarre. Kind of like Prom night, a whole other story. I ended up transferring to the local community college that following semester where I was quickly inspired by a teacher who explained to me the importance of learning for learning sake, and to be balanced in my education. His name was Friend, seriously. I like to think I stopped fooling around then, but it’s not true. I applied myself some semesters and received straight A’s, then slacked off the next semester to keep myself balanced. It was a give and take I created within myself, application, relaxation. Eventually I had to earn my GED before continuing on to University. The GED was one of my first proud academic achievements followed by an Associates in The Arts.

Upon arriving at my local university I quickly established myself as a no nonsense student, taking righteous stands and hitting it out of the park with a near perfect semester except for one doctors note which lost me three valuable points needed to achieve a 4.0. To this day I believe Dr. notes are B.S., sometimes losses help prove a point. I went to University all of three years until finally meeting my match during a semester of cherry picked classes that pushed me beyond my mental capacity and made me realize the United States is Fucked when it comes to education. Especially paying for it. I learned a lot in my last semester, but most importantly I learned that a proper education is priceless, and that doesn’t mean you can put an exorbitant price-tag on it, it means, everyone should be entitled to one if they choose it. The last paper I wrote in college was a thirty-four page paper on student debt, and it flipped my current life plan upside down making me realize the urgency with which I needed to pay off my student debt before it accumulated any more. So I dropped out of university with a year left and paid off my debt, $17k in a year. There was one check donated by an uncle who had a knack for tipping the odds in my favor to the tune of a cool 3k.

He didn’t donate it for no reason though. I had a new plan and he wanted me to see it through. I felt like I heard from everyone that the one thing they wish they had done when they were my age was travel the world, see the sights. Well, I was all for that, but I didn’t want to go see the world when I hadn’t even seen my own backyard. So I planned a U.S. trip, and then I had a change of plans, and another change of plans, and you get the idea, until finally I decided on taking a bike around Lake Michigan. So I got ready for just that. At the fresh age of 25, to experience the school of hard-knocks and my first journey into manhood I planned a trip around lake Michigan by bicycle. Twenty-three thousand miles on an upright steel framed 21 speed GT. I sold all of my belongings, and donated what I figured no one else would want until all that was left in my room were two boxes of my random books and writings, a drawer of clothes I couldn’t get rid of and a bed. With a backpack, lunchbox and bicycle I set off from my home, right out of my driveway, no crowd, no friends, no family, just me, leaving, late in the afternoon.

-FACS