"I Need to See if I Have a Job Before I Can Buy a Car."

"I need to see if I have a job before I buy a car."

I hear that daily. I sell cars in Michigan and it is no surprise that if the Big-3 disappears, so will Michigan. Most of the jobs here depend on one of the Big-3--whether it is a supplier, restaurant, car dealership or your average car salesperson (GULP!)

Well, I find it very hard to believe that the government will let that happen. After all, the Big-3 pretty much helped win World War 2 with its manufacturing base and GM helped save this country's economy after 9-11.

So, why the wait?

Well, to put it bluntly, a third of $25 Billion is enough to give, for example, GM a couple of months before they run out of cash. Our government that can spend $20 Billion a month in Iraq to help people who pretty much by now hate us wants to make sure that they don't throw away month that may cause the war to end (by lack of funds) one month earlier.

In other words, they want to make sure they get paid back. They want the Big-3 to be able to change their business practices so they no longer lose money but can pay it back. This will of course require concessions with the UAW, suppliers, excess dealers, etc.

You know what else it will require?

They will need to sell more cars!

OK--now we get to the meat and potatoes of this article.

Right now, I am doing nothing but calling customers. Unsold prospects, previous customers, etc. They are all telling me they want to wait until they see if GM is still there before they buy or if they will have a job.

I think GM will get their bailout and I think they will strive to sell more cars because right now, dealerships are not buying cars from GM and guess what--dealerships are really GM's customers, not the average consumer. The only way dealership will buy more cars is if they sell the ones they have right now (or at least think they will sell the ones they have right now.) Surely, someone at GM will be smart enough to see the relationship and make it worth it to buy a GM car, truck or SUV.

SUV? What's that? Oops--gas is back under $2.00 per gallon so I went back to my old ways. Sorry about that...

Car, truck or crossover.

What does that mean to you?

It means this: start a "vehicle shopping service" for your customers.

What is a "vehicle shopping service?" It's simple. You ask your customers what they want, when they want it, how much they want to spend and tell them that you check the programs daily and will call them when it is the optimum time to buy. When it becomes that time (after all of this blows over) then call them all and say, "Now is the time!" and you will sell a ton of cars.

I know it's stressful right now. I sold 15.5 last month--made a lot of money, led the dealership in the roughest market in the country (Michigan) and have exactly 0.5 out right now, November, 23. But I keep plugging away making my calls. When all this blows over, I will probably have a 30 car month.

It is hard to stay positive but we must. We are a rare breed. We have huge highs and huge lows but if you can make it through these lows and learn some great habits, you will have some VERY HUGH highs in the future.

Also, it is a great time to use a program like my Car Sales Assistant 2008 follow up CRM software. For time time being, I am offering a 25% off coupon because I know times are tough (and I only have 0.5 cars out... ;-) so use coupon code TAKE25 at checkout to get the discount. This is only for a limited time, by the way.

Here is a link to my store where you can purchase if you'd like...

Whether or not you use my software, I appreciate you reading this blog. Hopefully you can find one little tidbit to help you make a sale and get you through the roughest patch we will ever see in our careers.

Marv