The 3 Sales Mistakes That Kill Deals — And How to Fix Them
Every dealership loses deals, but do you actually know why? After 25 years of training thousands, I'm breaking down the 3 most common deal killers in the motor trade — and what top-performing salespeople do differently. In this episode: Why the trial close is make-or-break (and how most reps botch it) The subtle ways your team avoids asking for the sale How most demo drives are a mess — and what to do instead A smarter way to spot underperformance (hint: it's not a mystery shop) How to stop salespeople from reverting to bad habits under pressure If you manage a sales team or want to close more deals yourself, this episode will sting a little — but it’ll help a lot more.
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35:25
Chris Wiseman: Why Success Starts With Daily Discipline, Data-Driven Meetings & Human Customer Service
As you know we often have so much to discuss with our guests, that it covers two episodes, and our recent interview with Chris Wiseman (Managing Director – Wessex Garages) is no different. In the first instalment we discussed the OEM partnership and this week we move onto the culture within Wessex, staff recruitment and their online navigation team. We also look the how the market may be structured in the future, the barriers to success and Chris’s top tips. Here are the highlights: {01:10} What does the week look like {08:15} Recruitment {13:25} Online Navigators {22:57} Team Motivation {28:16} Market structure going forward {31:10} Road Blocks About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon’s words ‘real world’, it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk
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39:28
Partnership with Your OEM
We welcome back Chris Wiseman (Managing Director – Wessex Garages), he first joined us on the podcast 219 episodes ago, and a lot has happened since then. Today we discuss the OEM/Dealer relationship, how that has changed and the key to its success going forward. How the new brands differ in their strategies and culture to the legacy brands and the benefits to that. We then dive into the new and used car markets, the current climate and the challenges ahead. Here are the highlights: {02:25} Growth {05:25} Relationship with your OEM {10:10} Broken Model {11:30} Hybrid Agency {17:33} New Brands {26:06} Market Share {30:31} New Cars {38:55} Used Cars About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon’s words ‘real world’, it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk
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43:52
Empower Your Sales People
We continue with Joe St John, Chief Customer Officer from AutoFi, in this episode. Joe is so passionate about his role, that he went on a journey round the states, in disguise taking sales jobs in order to understand the current process good and bad. What stood out to him, is that managers are exhausted and covering many roles. Customers are more sceptical than in the past and the trust gap with the trade has grown. We discuss empowering your sales team and giving them the tools to succeed. Here are the highlights: {00:52} Back to the floor {03.33} Transaction time is longer {04:32} Trust Gap {05:36} Negotiation Process {11:35} Empower your sales people {14:53} Best manager on the journey {20:09} People make the difference {26:51} Why change career {31:23} Break everything About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon’s words ‘real world’, it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk
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37:11
Time Kills Deals
We are delighted to have Joe St John, Chief Customer Officer from AutoFi, with us for the next two episodes. His background is automotive, his parents worked in dealerships, and he has been a salesman, manager and trainer in the trade for a number of years. Joe was our favourite speaker from this year’s NADA conference in New Orleans. He is so passionate about the customer experience and how we transition from their digital research to the buying process on site. As he says time kills deals, so let’s focus on making it as smooth and efficient as possible. Here are the highlights: {02:25} Joe’s background {06:55} Time Kills Deals {10:25} Fastest growing tech company since 2010 {13:05} The we purchase has changed {15:00} Customer digital research {17:14} Start process in the dealership where the customer is {19.50} Too much time taken to stack the deal lets the customer shop elsewhere {25:07} Disconnect between digital research and selling in the showroom About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon’s words ‘real world’, it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk
Simon Bowkett, from Symco Training, shares tips and ideas on selling in the motor trade from a sales and aftersales perspective, as well as interviews with industry leaders sharing some of their best practices.
To find out more visit www.symcotraining.co.uk
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