How to handle a lot hog.

[Jason Martin]

Hello Refreshers,

Today I come to you with a dilemma that has been plaguing our store for a very long time. We have a 20+ car superstar that works at our dealership. Last month he sold 27 vehicles and just yesterday he did two deals that totaled over $13,000 front gross and $8,000 on the back.

The problem is that he is a lot hog and he is dishonest, both to us and his customers. He never helps move the lot around or put cars on the grass out front in the morning. He does not help with any of the non-sales resposibilites we have. He will physically run over another sales consultant to get to a customer. He is making $10k plus a month while the other sales consultants are starving. Since I get most of my customers from the internet, this does not affect me that much. The other guys who work the lot are doing the right thing and working their prospects hard, the way it should be done. But the guys that are doing the right thing get walked all over by a greedy 10 year veteran. In short, he is not a team player. The managment does not know how to deal with the problem and even if they did, they would turn their head the other way just because he is a 20+ car guy.

I understand and love the competitive nature of sales but I feel what is happening here is wrong. It has caused a lot of frustration lately. A house divided cannot stand.

Are there any ways of solving this problem? Or is that just the way it is in the car biz?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Jason

 

[ewalraven]

Hello Refreshers,

Today I come to you with a dilemma that has been plaguing our store for a very long time. We have a 20+ car superstar that works at our dealership. Last month he sold 27 vehicles and just yesterday he did two deals that totaled over $13,000 front gross and $8,000 on the back.

The problem is that he is a lot hog and he is dishonest, both to us and his customers. He never helps move the lot around or put cars on the grass out front in the morning. He does not help with any of the non-sales resposibilites we have. He will physically run over another sales consultant to get to a customer. He is making $10k plus a month while the other sales consultants are starving. Since I get most of my customers from the internet, this does not affect me that much. The other guys who work the lot are doing the right thing and working their prospects hard, the way it should be done. But the guys that are doing the right thing get walked all over by a greedy 10 year veteran. In short, he is not a team player. The managment does not know how to deal with the problem and even if they did, they would turn their head the other way just because he is a 20+ car guy.

I understand and love the competitive nature of sales but I feel what is happening here is wrong. It has caused a lot of frustration lately. A house divided cannot stand.

Are there any ways of solving this problem? Or is that just the way it is in the car biz?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Jason

Great question!

You said you had a '20+ car superstar' .. sounds to me you just have a '20+ car guy'. A superstar would be a team player .. a superstar would want to help anything that's not sales related .. a superstar would WANT to move cars.

It all comes down to management (like a lot of things). If there's not anything enforced at that level .. he's going to keep doing it. As in, sit him down and let him know how he's hurting the other employees and in the long run .. the business. Quite honestly, the guy probably doesn't feel like he's doing anything wrong .. not like that makes it right. He's just become so accustom to his ways.

I'm sure some people will just say that's just the way it is .. and it is plenty of places .. but that's not how it should be.

 

[yagoparamo]

I agree with ewalraven but reality is that a lot of "super stars" are lone wolves that like to do things on their own.

I truly don't believe that you can change a guy like this, they have their way and it has worked for him for a long time: He sells a lot and makes a lot. He will even have a hard time understanding: What is the issue here? I sell more than anyone, right? He is not there to be a team player and make friends, he is there to maximize his time and make the most out of it.

With all that I don't say I agree with having a guy like that, one of those may kill your opportunity to build a good all around team, but can risk losing 20+ car sales next month?

 

[Jason Martin]

Thanks for the replies. Both of you are exactly right in your assesment of the situation. Nothing is going to change. We can't afford to lose or piss off our top seller. However, I am not going to put up with it. It looks like Sandy Sansing Auto Group is going to gain an Internet Manager if this crap doesn't stop.

Thanks again guys. Still open to suggestions.

Jason

 

[Eley Duke]

Eric and Yago said it best. It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation it sounds like.

But Jason don't openly rock the boat if the guy is not effecting you directly. Pushing against him or management isn't going to solve anything. If you got good managers they know what the deal is. They are scared to lose him probably cause they have expectations they have to hit. But they as you said could be hurting the culture of the store and not realizing it or just complacent with "lot hog".

Instead, lean just a little when you see things. example: Make a casual comment to a manager when he strays from your processes; "I just don't understand "lot hog", it takes a team to make this work and he rarely follows the processes we've tried to teach" That will earn out more respect in the long run.

 

[Jason Martin]

Eley,

Thanks for the reply. I am not the kind of person who rocks the boat. I am quite passive and would rather let a sleeping dog lie, as we say here in the South. Which is the reason I am asking for advice here instead of blowing out my sales manger over it. This particular sales persons actions do affect me directly. I rely on my fair share of lot ups too. Monday, he skated one of my repeat customers and screwed me out of a very handsome comission. He does this to everyone.

I have had calm, private meetings with managment and the dealer principle. I have also done some gentle "leaning" and hint dropping. So have the other sales staff. Actually, the other sales people are not as nice as I am about it. This issue has been discuss MANY times in our sales meeting but still persist. My sales manager is great and I love working with him, but he is an old school car dog and he would rather look the other way when it comes to the 20 car guy.

I love Nissan's product, I love our store, and our staff. I have built our internet department from nothing and I don't want to leave for Toyota. But this is a serious problem at our store and I do not foresee anything changing. I guess I will just try to ignore it like management does.

 

[Jerry Thibeau]

This is a subject that I talk about a lot. The first problem I see is that this person is still taking ups! A ten year veteran should be generating his own business from all the people he has talked to over the last 10 years. He has thrown away countless customers if he has not built a good CRM base.

I would like to see his true closing ratio. Imagine the following, he takes 250 walk in clients to sell 25 cars. That's a 10% close ratio. Now look at the closing ratio of all other salespeople. If they are averaging 20%that's an additional 25 units the dealer could be delivering each month. Not to mention if this guy is focused on fresh customers, you know he is not doing a good job scheduling appointments and bringing people back in the dealership. This is an area that I would really want to look at if I were a manager at your store.

I am a big proponent of an customer management system in dealerships. This provides a level playing field for all and will help a dealership maximize sales. Check out a company called The NextUp The Next Up

Hope this helps!

 

[AutoArchitech]

Is he selling 25 cars a month to people that are asking for him, or from fresh ups? If it is from fresh customers, you need to remind management that those cars will still be sold, and the customers will be happier. Those people were on the lot anyway, and most people that come on the lot are looking to buy. He is not doing anything magical, he's is just playing a numbers game, and burning through a lot of numbers. Have someone really keep track of the number of people he talks to for a week. I bet when management sees that he is blowing off 30 people in a week to sell 5, they might listen. Remember, management only sees the people he brings inside, not the ones he blows out in 5 minutes.

 

[mcampo2501]

Lots of good feedback here. I'll add this. If you don't have the ability to change this, it isn't going to change. Management perceives this guy to be an asset and so they aren't going to get rid of him. It's certainly costing your group business, and I would contend that all 20+ of those customers would get sold no matter who got in front of them. Too many people are already closed in their mind by the time they reach the dealership. What you're losing by having a guy like this is repeat business. If he's dishonest and shoving people in cars, they're not going to come back and buy from him again. Work hard and find yourself into a position to change things. Don't lose your perspective as you continue your career, and don't feel like you have to stay at that store if change isn't going to come. A bright rep with a good work ethic will thrive anywhere. Find a store with similar values as you, and you'll find that your production will improve as well.