Dealing with Stress in the Car Business

I once heard that the average car salesperson lives to be 54 years old. I find it hard to believe because I have only had 2 car salespeople that I knew of die while being car salespeople. One was in his sixties and a smoker with heart problems and one was almost eighty years old (and still just about outsold all of us!)

Of course, my experience is limited--I have only worked at 4 dealerships--7 years at one, 5 years at my current one and 2 with 3 months each.

One thing I know for a fact is this: The car business can be stressful!

I have always said that there is nothing worse than a bored car salesperson and my definition of a bored car salesperson is someone who is not selling cars.

OK--here are some quick tips to get rid of stress in the car business.

• Smoke a cigarette every chance you get. Not only will it make you feel better but it will make you look cool to people of the oposite sex. (just kidding...)
• Actually, do the opposite. Try to be healthy! I am a little overweight but I am taking steps to fix myself. Let me tell you a little story...

I am 41 years old and about a month ago, I was playing softball. We had 2 outs and I had a full count. The pitcher threw a pitch and it was about a good of a strike that I have ever seen. I looked back to the umpire and he said, "Ball three--take your base!"

I said to myself, "Wow--this is my lucky day!" I trotted over to first base and my buddy Cory came up to bat. I stood on first waiting for Cory (who is a right handed batter) to blast the ball somewhere into left field when all of a sudden, he hit a line shot and it was coming straight at my head! I had time to say "Oh" when it blasted me on the side of the head and knocked me down.

Here's what I remember...

• Looking at Cory
• Cory blasting ball and it curving at my head
• Me saying "Oh"
• Ball blasting the side of my head--just below the temple and above the jaw.
• Me getting knocked down.
• Me seeing people looking over me and me getting up.
• Me going to emergency room

What I don't remember is the 5-10 seconds of me laying on the ground, unconscious as my feet kicked.

I went to the emergency room, scared shitless--you see, I NEVER go to the doctor. I had fears of head trauma, brain damage, x-rays, cat scans, etc. I was OK, though but the doctor noticed that my blood pressure was a little high.

"You need to be on blood pressure medicine," he told me.
"Can't I just lose a little weight?"
"No--you really need to be on them. I'm going to give you a 3 day supply and then I want you to go see your regular doctor."

Needless to say, the pharmacy must have misread the script and they gave me a 30 day supply so I waited and waited until the 30 days was up and then set an appointment to see a doctor--scared shitless again! Remember--41 years old--the time when doctors really get excited to have you as a customer!

OK--to make a long story short, this doctor disagreed with sticking me on blood pressure medicine and told me to lay off of salt, take water pills and watch what I eat. He also drew blood to check my "thyroid, kidney, liver, cholesterol, etc." Once again, scared shitless--not of the blood (I have donated and have no probs with needles) but with waiting for the results because...

1) I sell cars and we eat like shit
2) I sell cars and we deal with a lot of stress
3) I am probably 30 pounds overweight (in my opinion, that is)

I went today and guess what--my top pressure was 20 points lower and my bottom was 10 points lower and I am in perfect shape according to my blood!

Guess what--back to stress. It has always been on the back of my mind... "Is my cholesterol too high? God--is my liver OK? I do like an occasional drink, you know..." Once again, laying off of salt and watching what I eat has dramatically relieved stress. I feel great and I sell better. Especially knowing that I am pretty healthy.

OK--back to ways to relieve stress...

• Stay away from the newspaper unless you are reading sports. There is never any good news in the newspaper--good news doesn't sell papers, bad news does.
• Do not ever watch local news. All you will hear about are kids dying in fires, murders, rapes, oil prices, war, scandals, etc. You know what? You already know gas is high--you don't need the newspaper to remind you.
• Stay away from below average salespeople--you know the ones I'm talking about. The ones that blame all the stuff from the local news on how bad it is. You know what? I made the mistake last month of reading how GM is cutting production of trucks and how people aren't buying them. I almost believed it and almost went back to delivering pizzas but then I put it out of my head. You know what else? I sold 17 cars last month (not bad in Michigan as bad as things are here) and 11 were Silverados, 1 was an Avalanche and one was a $55,000 Suburban.
• If someone is about to get fired, stay away from them. You have your own family to worry about--hate to sound self centered but getting caught up in someone else's affairs won't help you sell cars and provide for your family. Want to know who is about to get fired? Watch them--they are the ones who do whatever the managers say--fill the brochure racks, clean the counters, line up the cars, move the blockers, not sell cars.
• Don't take your job home. Put it behind you.
• Take your days off and do something fun with the family. I love to take my kids swimming at a local pool. And for some reason, women in bikinis love to come over to see my 1 year old son if you get my drift (glad my wife doesn't read this blog!)
• If a manager is stressed or in a bad mood, avoid him! Shit rolls down hill--remember that.

By the way, I hope you don't mind me using the word "shit" in this blog. I think I have said it around 5 times already in this article and I don't use it to offend anyone--it is part of my normal shitty dialog so please just listen to what I, the biggest shithead in the world has to say without having a shitty attitude about it! ;-)

OK--back to stress...

• If you are healthy enough, play sports. I play softball and once in a while, paintball (great for relieving stress! You get to shoot people and everyone has fun!)
• Try this one. Find a dark area on a clear night in the middle of nowhere. Put a blanket out and lay on it and just look up at the majesty of the night sky. You may see some meteors (shooting stars), some man-made satellites go by (the move pretty fast and change brightness) but you will just melt away in all the beauty that the heavens have to offer.
• Call some of your customers--especially happy ones so they can tell you how much they love their car. It always makes me feel good when I make others feel good. If someone is unhappy, make them happy.
• And finally, sell a car. Nothing relieves stress like putting some iron over the road and making some money.

Thank you all for reading my ramblings--I do appreciate it. By the way--I use this blog as an outlet to relieve some of MY stress!

Marv Chomer
Creator of Car Sales Assistant 2008
Follow Up CRM Software for Professional Salespeople
Only $89.99 per Copy (1 Mini deal will pay for it by the way...)
CarSalesAssistant.com