Top Habits of Extremely Productive Car People

Productive is not a word commonly used to describe the behavior of the average car salesman. Drive up to nearly any dealership in the country to witness a gaggle of car salespeople idly standing on point waiting for the next customer. This all too common behavior stands in stark contrast to the few strong, productive salespeople who have formed fierce habits that contribute to their success. Here are a few of these top salespeople’s key habits:

They work on attitude.

Zig Ziglar famously said, “Your business is never really good or bad ‘out there.’ Your business is either good or bad right between your own two ears.” The best salespeople understand that their attitude sets the tone for their interactions, their sales, and ultimately, their month. These salespeople will dedicate attention every day to maintaining a good, positive attitude.

They follow the money.

The most productive salespeople are driven to engage in activity that will sell them more vehicles. They act with intention. These salespeople are using social media not to pass time but with return and sales in mind. They are networking with qualified buyers and following up with their sold base to constantly be mining for repeat and referral business. Their action is always motivated by the ultimate end-game: to sell more vehicles.

They walk their inventory.

It sounds simple, but productive car people do small things that contribute to their larger success. Walking inventory including recent trade-ins, vehicles waiting to pass through the shop for inspection and detail for reconditioning, help them catalog their inventory, allowing them to produce the perfect switch vehicle for a customer when needed. This simple habit allows the most productive salespeople know their inventory, before it is ever uploaded to the website and before about their coworkers ever realize what’s in stock.

They Prepare.

Michael Nekava, a Mercedes-Benz salesman located in Bayside, NY featured as a recent Auto Dealer Monthly’s Salesperson of the Year, puts this best:

“I think preparation is everything, which a lot of people neglect. You have to have everything printed out and highlighted for the ‘sign here’ [buyers]; the numbers are already run. That’s just the paperwork, but you have to be four steps ahead of your client and know what they want, what their rebuttals are, what their expectations are, what they’re not going to like, what backup plans you have with delivery and so on. You’re always trying to mastermind each deal…You have to be ready.”

They never stop learning.

Finally, the top, most productive, car salespeople never stop wanting to grow and get better. They invest in themselves by training and engaging in on-going personal development. These salespeople never experience the ‘expertise syndrome’ that can influence otherwise good salespeople to become lazy and sloppy. They choose to constantly learn in effort to become stronger.

Behind every successful car salesperson you will find a bounty of good, productive habits that contribute to their success. All salespeople can take a page from the top salespeople’s playbook and work on these habits every day to sell more vehicles and enjoy more success in the automotive sales profession.