Sales Management Training Academy Student Profile No. 1
Colin Preiser was a month into his new position at America’s Motor Sports when he was introduced by the Garage Composites’ Sales Management Training Academy to a report that showed how his store compared in profitability benchmarks vs. similar dealerships across the nation. The revelation of how his store stacked up against the competition was "a real gut check," Colin said.
Colin Preiser, Sales Manager, America’s Motor Sports, Nashville, Tenn.
In the wake of seeing that data comparison and then being given specific tools to improve his store’s numbers at the Training Academy, Preiser and his sales team have made significant strides. In the first four months after his initial training session, his store’s unit sales increased by 24 percent over a year-ago.
What tools did Preiser take from the Training Academy session that helped propel his store’s new unit sales growth? Preiser mentioned several:
- More effort on logging consumers. The store’s delivery percentage was too high, a reflection that salespeople were only logging consumers they would sit down vs. all possible opportunities. Since the first Training Academy, the store’s delivery percentage has been nearly cut in half, meaning the store is logging far more consumers than ever before. This provides them even more chances at increasing unit sales in the short- and long term with these consumers.
- More internal communication within sales. Prior communications between the sales manager and individual salespeople were few and far between, and usually only happening during a stressful time. Now, Preiser meets weekly with his entire sales team and conducts 1-on-1 sessions daily.
- Understanding a key motivator. Preiser now focuses his sales team discussions with one thought in mind: Don’t tell them what to do, but rather why they should do it. “That was a huge light bulb for me,” Colin said. “Every time I bring them in to my office, I make sure and ask, ‘Do you understand why this is important?’” Perfect example: the importance of lead management. Preiser now will show his new salespeople a log that was created and managed by one of his top salespeople. The log shows up to 20 touches that occurred before the purchase happened. This reinforces the importance of logging every opportunity. “It helps them understand why it’s important,” he said.
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