Taking it one step at a time
If the average salesperson talks to six customers a day, her or she will give around 150 shows a month. The salesperson will for the most part say the same words over and over again. Hopefully he or she also included a great performance while saying them.
Most everything in life is done one step at a time. A sophisticated rocket going to the moon was assembled one bolt at a time. We live our sales life one day at a time. The focus should be on this day and this game. Each customer is a time at bat. Naturally we want the sale and a very happy customer, but the sale does not happen every time. What can happen every time is the salesperson trying to make the customer happy and hopefully making a friend.
For every two customers who purchase a motorcycle today, it is safe to say that one of them was in the store before. Understanding that is also understanding that 50 percent or more of our business is the be-back buyer.
Naturally we ask for the sale today several times, but if customers don’t try to buy today, we most certainly want them to come back when they have questions or are ready to buy.
No, we don’t get the sale every time, but I hope two things happened: First, the salesperson made a friendly relationship with the customer; second, the salesperson thought about what happened, trying to figure out what could have been done better and congratulating herself for what she did right.
I want the salespeople to believe the simple truths that good results come from good efforts and that good efforts come from a good attitude. The best part is that a good attitude is free, and it is so important in order to be a great showman.
Once salespeople feel good about their scripts and performances, they just need to pump themselves up to be their best. They need to look at their presentations as if they were on Broadway doing a play. They must believe that every customer deserves a command performance.
I tell them that you don’t have to be tall, good looking, run fast or jump high to be the top salesperson. Everyone on the floor is there to make a living. Everyone has the same inventory to work with. So why does one salesperson sell the most motorcycles and one sells the least?
It all comes down to attitude, what you say and when and how you say it. The beauty of this is that most of what to say is very easy to learn and is very repetitious. In a short time it should be simple to remember the script.
There is an art to being a great salesperson. A great salesperson does his script for the customer while making it fun and interesting to listen to. But it can never just be just a script. The salesperson must also be good at impromptu thinking and speaking.
The salesperson should also be informative, sincere and trustworthy and then show a true desire of wanting the customers out living the dream instead of dreaming about it. If salespeople accomplish this, they will have a great formula to a very successful sales career.
Steve Lemco is the youngest brother of the late Ed Lemco and has been doing sales training and hiring for motorcycle dealers since 1983. He is the author of three sales books, the new “Training and Hiring New Salespeople,” “Motorcycle Sales Made Easy” and “You Gotta-Wanna.” Steve has trained in every state in the U.S., as well as England, France, Australia and New Zealand. Steve incorporates motivational boards and games along with his training and hiring because he believes the best way to get the job done is to make it fun.
Contact: stevelemco@aol.com
Website: www.stevelemco.com
Phone: 253/826-6110
