How Cinematic Are You?

Alan Wenkus, the screenwriter for the movie Straight Outta Compton (the story of N.W.A., the group that pioneered gangsta rap) was recently interviewed on a morning talk show and asked how much of the movie was real. Wenkus thought about it for a few seconds and said, “About 80% of it was real-it’s not that the other 20% was not, but it had to be colored in order to make the movie more cinematic.” He went on to say that, yes, the rappers’ lives-growing up in South Central L.A., having to face police brutality, gangs, and witnessing homicides on a daily basis was colorful enough, but certain emotional elements had to be put into the movie so that the audience could connect more with the characters of the movie. Essentially, Wenkus took actual facts, coupled it with emotion, and beget a blockbuster hit. “Before the movie my phone hardly rang-now I can’t keep up with the phone calls and producers are throwing money at me,” said Wenkus with a laugh.

When presenting your product, how cinematic are you? Your product presentation should be like that of Wenkus’ screenplay-factually written but comes alive with an element of flare. Customers buy cars, but they pay commissions based on how well you emotionally draw them into your product. They don’t need you to be a Wikapedia of cubic inches, torque, horsepower, and departure angles-no they need to know how your vehicle will improve their lives and the only way they’ll discover that your  vehicle is their best decision, is when you add an emotional element to make your script, i.e. your knowledge about your product, leap off the pages and into the mental screens of their lives. When they can imagine how they will look and feel driving their new vehicle, they’ll buy a ticket to your movie.

Great salespeople are great storytellers. Remember, your customer may have seen many shows, but they haven’t seen your show.  Take what you know and make it come emotionally alive with a hit show.

I’ll see you next time on the Blacktop. 

William Ward wrote, “Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing.” You don’t need to be more talented than others- you just need to be willing to outwork them. Those who leave last will finish first. Work hard now so you can play harder later.

How To Be Debt Free In 7 Days

Have you ever noticed when you only have 7 days left in the month, everything seems to matter? As sands of the hourglass mark the passing of the remaining 168 hours, it is at that point you miraculously can account for every one of your Ups, Demos, Write-ups, Sales, and Deliveries. First here, last gone; fewer lunches; no more huddles-nothing matters more than your working feverishly to cover your draw. Mentally exhausted; not knowing whether to giggle or cry from exasperation, you live to see another month, but now face the daunting task of having to start it all over again in 8 short hours.

As the dry-erase boards are wiped clean and the dawn of optimism breaks through the horizon of rejection, your new month begins now. It wasn’t by accident you pulled out your month, it was your focus; instead of glaring at the remaining 7 days of your month, alternatively choose to focus on the 7 days beginning your new month.

The greatest debt owed on the blacktop is your draw and the faster you can pay it back, the more control you will have over your month. With the beginning of a new month, many of us vow to work Bell to Bell, working from sunup to sundown in order to maintain an edge, but that edge is short-lived because you are not in “sales shape” to maintain that kind of pace-it’s like going jogging for the first time by entering the Boston Marathon. No matter your intentions, you cannot keep with the grueling pace and quit within the first mile-markers of your month. With your pride battered and beaten, you being your biggest critic, you settle into what you know best, working the 2:00 offense in order to pull out another month.

You cannot maintain a sprinter’s pace the entire month, so instead focus intensely on the first 7 days because doing so, will chart the course of the rest of your month. In the first 3 days, you need to be “on the board” with your first sale and by the 7^th day, you need to have your draw covered. After that, the month is all yours- you are debt free! When you are released of an obligation, you can afford to take risks-every Up is not a Do or Die situation determining the outcome of your month. When you are released of an obligation, you now can focus on being more creative with your presentations-allowing your true personality to shine through, becoming other’s centered in lieu of being ME-focused.

An impoverished month begins with an indebted mindset. Seven days owed, 18 left to live freely.

I’ll see you next time on the blacktop.

Hearing the words, “That guy’s been here before,” can crush the spirit of a sales consultant..or can it? Be wary of another sales consultant giving you “advise.”

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)

The best goal setter

A child learning how to walk makes the best goal setter. Without permission or opinion, he will crawl toward that of the interim and pull himself up. With steadied determination, in spite of his quivering legs, he will then push away and begin to walk toward his focus which is just out of reach. Only when he becomes distracted does he fall short of his goal. The art of the start is in the risk of the walk.

More or left

Depending on your perspective of the month,  you either have 6 more or 6 days left. It is your choice to either take action and focus on the making the most of your opportunities or instead you can choose to stand around, in the ring of mediocrity, and explain to others what did, should, or could’ve happened the previous 20 days. Choose an abundance mentality. Think more, not left- championships have been won with only tenths of a second remaining. If there is still time, there is still a chance, but you must take action-it’s better to swing and miss, than to never have taken a swing at all. Just because you’re having a bad month doesn’t mean you have to finish that way. I’ll see you on the blacktop.

What’s In A Name?

I love to learn from the best and the brightest our industry has to offer! If you are thinking of becoming a sales consultant, New York Times best selling author Gus Cardone will arm you with the skills necessary to become successful; Learn To Lead master Dan Anderson will help you establish foundational principles to lead yourself and others. Prospect king Frank Taylor will show you creative ways to attract more prospects and VIPautosLIVE’s Bill Compton will help you virtually market your message. Don’t forget about Chuck Saraceno and Matt Myers as well as Ronald Paglia, the masterminds who created the automotive social media platforms DealerElite and Automotive Digital Marketing.

              

Saying Grant (Cardone), Dave (Anderson), Fran (Taylor), Bobby (Compton), Chris (Saraceno), Mike (Meyers), and Ralph’s (Paglia) names wrong won’t warrant me any favors nor will not taking the time to know or pronounce your customers’ names correctly yield you a sale. If you wouldn’t marry your spouse not knowing her name nor insist your newborn remain nameless for years, then why would you begin to write up your customers and say, “What’s your name again?” Your customers aren’t willing to invest in your vehicle, because you are not willing to invest in them-not knowing their name is the ultimate sign.

Who doesn’t love it when your Starbuck’s barista barks out your usual upon seeing you? Having your dry cleaning waiting as you pull through the drive thru is the extra wink. Checking into a hotel and having the guest relations attendant personalize your check-in using your name makes you stand a little taller-even having an email personalized with your name instead of “Dear Valued Customer,” will more likely trigger a response. Customers demand service, but pay a premium for personal service.

94 oz Thirst Busters, 99 cent chicken biscuits, and Get It & Go gas are commodities; $5 premium walnut/ pecan blend java, foie gras, and that $38,000 vehicle are not. Customers don’t need what you have to offer, but you need them to want it. What’s in a name? Your future…

See you on the blacktop!