russianbear wrote:

...I've heard he's mean...

Well, he is from New Jersey...

But what he mostly seems to me is intelligent, funny, and wonderfully effective at what he does.

Bridget,
I'm gonna find out. If I don't come back, well, you can assume the worst.

russianbear wrote:

Bridget,
I'm gonna find out. If I don't come back, well, you can assume the worst.

You won't come back.

Not this one anyway.

John

It is often said that before you die your life passes before your eyes, this is actually called living

John,
As the romantic hero in the novel "A Hero of Our Time" said, "If I die, I die. The loss to the world will be but a small one."

russianbear wrote:

Too scared to drop him an email. I've heard he's mean.....HA, HA, HA. But I will have to conquer my fear for the training.

He's only mean if you're a jerk.

Michael_DeBusk wrote:

He's only mean if you're a jerk.

Then I'm doomed!!!!

But, maybe, just maybe he'll only mame me, not kill me, so I will survive and become the best car salesman ever. I will set records that will never be broken and have a book of businees, no, and encyclopedia of business that will be rivaled for generations to come.

russianbear wrote:

But, maybe, just maybe he'll only mame me, not kill me, so I will survive

Yes, it's good to have a goal.

Michael,
And I do have a goal, which is to be the Ben Feldman of auto sales. This economy isn't helping, but I won't let that get in my way.

russianbear wrote:

And I do have a goal, which is to be the Ben Feldman of auto sales.

I think there's already one of those. At least your goal is quantifiable now. Find out how many he sold.

This economy isn't helping, but I won't let that get in my way.

It's true; the economy is really slow right now. It's causing dealerships to shut down like crazy, which means less competition for you. It also makes it far more likely that anyone stepping onto your lot is a buyer rather than a looker. And more than ever, people are likely to want to trust the people with whom they do business, so as to make sure they aren't being cheated. (Minding your money is the new black!)

And I always bet on black!
I was talking to a lady today who works for an organization that handles all of the dealerships in the greater Cleveland area. Nobody is selling cars right now. It seems people are waiting until after the election to make major purchases.

russianbear wrote:

And I always bet on black!
I was talking to a lady today who works for an organization that handles all of the dealerships in the greater Cleveland area. Nobody is selling cars right now. It seems people are waiting until after the election to make major purchases.

So go hold a seminar on "How to get a GREAT car, before the election, even in today's economy, without paying top dollar!" Rent a mailing list from an auto magazine subscriber list, send out postcards, and hold a seminar.

Educate them on what they need to know, and tell them what you've got on offer -- point out where they do & don't have room to maneuver, show them your rock-bottom dollar price, and I bet you'll sell a handful of cars.

To me this is a no-brainer. If I were in your shoes, I'd be out talking to people half the time, teaching people that this is an amazing time of opportunity, not a time to freeze. I'd be bringing people into the dealership, when none of the other salespeople were, and I'd be the only one there selling cars.

You have to do what no one else is doing.

Best regards,

- Jonathan Altfeld

Even better, offer those people at the seminar a reasonably priced coaching service on an hourly basis -- where you'll go with them to the dealership of their choice, and make sure they don't get ripped off.

jonathanaltfeld wrote:

Even better, offer those people at the seminar a reasonably priced coaching service on an hourly basis -- where you'll go with them to the dealership of their choice, and make sure they don't get ripped off.

Jonathan,
I know, I know. We WILL work together when things turn around for me, which I feel they are about to. I have a couple of nice deals in the pipeline.
I try to get as creative as possible. I have stopped cars driving by on the road and told the people inside, "Hey, I noticed your car is a bit beat up. Maybe you feel you don't have time to shop for a new car or you're afraid you may not get financed, but park your car and I'll show you how easy it is to buy a new car right now!" This worked one time.
I walked to a drug store nearby and enticed a lady to come buy a car. I quit that dealership before her appointment. I actually used the Bandler idea, drove a luxury car to a nearby country club and exclaimed, "Who wants to feel good for the rest of their life?" I was promptly escorted out. There are several other clubs I am planning to try this at (I'm not really that afraid of being arrested/beaten/clubbed like a baby seal, etc.).
Thank you so much for contributing, Jonathan. I can't wait until I'm in a position to attend one of your trainings and meet you. This, I am 100% confident, will happen.
Tony

russianbear wrote:

Jonathan,
I know, I know. We WILL work together when things turn around for me, which I feel they are about to. I have a couple of nice deals in the pipeline.

I'm glad to hear things are looking up for you. I'm having fun here, thinking outside the box.

Seriously, what if you tried to set up a side-business whereby you post an ad on Craigslist for free, say to be a "Car Buying Coach."

In the ad, you say "whenever dealers try to convince you that you're only paying $500 over invoice, chances are you're not aware you're paying nearly $3000 in unnecessary profits. You'd never know, but I would. Would it be worth it to you -- to pay me $500 even -- to guarantee you only pay $500 over the car's actual cost to the dealer out the door? Because I can guarantee that, or you don't pay me my $500 fee."

"Hire me to go to your choice of dealership with you, and I'll negotiate a price that's guaranteed to minimize their profit, get you a fair deal, and potentially get me banned from the dealer's property. "

I bet you could set up at least 2 deals a day that way -- putting $1000+ in your bank account daily.

Who knows... you could end up having more deals to process than you have time to help with, and then hire some of your broke dealer friends at half the fee you earn, and then you're earning every time THEY close a deal.

russianbear wrote:

I actually used the Bandler idea, drove a luxury car to a nearby country club and exclaimed, "Who wants to feel good for the rest of their life?" I was promptly escorted out. There are several other clubs I am planning to try this at (I'm not really that afraid of being arrested/beaten/clubbed like a baby seal, etc.).

Hahahah, that doesn't surprise me one bit. The reality of those teaching metaphors is that there's not enough specifics told in the story for most people to effectively re-engineer a repeat performance without a few speed bumps along the road. I mean, who knows how it originally happened? Was he already a member there and thus wouldn't have been escorted out? Was he a guest who quietly exclaimed his question at the bar after most of the golfers had come in from the afternoon? I'm sure it could be done, but you'd want to be really judicious in getting the right setting & audience. Naturally, the point of the story is to think outside the box and do what no one else is doing -- there IS value in that message. As with anything, trying the same scenario out without knowing the other relevant variables -- your mileage may vary!!!

russianbear wrote:

Thank you so much for contributing, Jonathan. I can't wait until I'm in a position to attend one of your trainings and meet you. This, I am 100% confident, will happen.
Tony

It'll happen whenever it happens. In the meantime, keep on truckin'.
(for our Brit friends, that's akin to "bash on.")

Regards,

- Jonathan Altfeld

russianbear wrote:

Nobody is selling cars right now. It seems people are waiting until after the election to make major purchases.

That's just plain silly of them. When has an election ever improved anything?

Like Jonathan said: the time to buy is when nobody else is buying. That's why I'm loading my retirement account with stocks and shopping for real estate. Bargains everywhere!

Michael,
Since you're in a buying mode, do you, by any chance, need a new car? Don't answer that, I think you do. There is no better time than the present to BUY A NEW CAR, and your trade in will never be worth more than it is right now.

russianbear wrote:

Michael,
Since you're in a buying mode, do you, by any chance, need a new car? Don't answer that, I think you do. There is no better time than the present to BUY A NEW CAR, and your trade in will never be worth more than it is right now.

I don't buy a car when I want a new one. I buy a car when I can't stand to drive the old one anymore. I had my last vehicle for twelve years, and I've only had my current one for six.

I agree with you, Michael, after only six years a vehicle can still be dependable. You do, however, owe it to yourself to buy a new car. You may think you don't need to BUY A NEW CAR RIGHT NOW, or you may not even think YOU WANT A NEW CAR RIGHT NOW, and that's exactly the reason why you NEED A NEW CAR RIGHT NOW. Come and see me and you can drive home today in a brand new car. Can't you just see the jealous looks on your neighbors' faces when they see you pulling in the driveway in your new car?

russianbear wrote:

I agree with you, Michael, after only six years a vehicle can still be dependable. You do, however, owe it to yourself to buy a new car. You may think you don't need to BUY A NEW CAR RIGHT NOW, or you may not even think YOU WANT A NEW CAR RIGHT NOW, and that's exactly the reason why you NEED A NEW CAR RIGHT NOW. Come and see me and you can drive home today in a brand new car. Can't you just see the jealous looks on your neighbors' faces when they see you pulling in the driveway in your new car?

I know you're playing and experimenting, here, so I'll respond within that frame.

I told you that I buy cars based on an away-from motivation ("...when I can't stand to drive the old one anymore") but you're selling to a "toward" motivated person ("want to have, need to have"). When someone talks to me that way, I feel like I'm being pitched rather than spoken with, and I hear "blah, blah, blah." Not the response you want to elicit.

If you had asked me how I knew when it was time to buy a new car, I'd have told you it is a nearly-pure financial decision for me. If I'm replacing something, I consider it to be worth whatever it would cost to replace it. Only if I were not replacing it would I consider "book value." So when my car starts costing me more in repairs and maintenance and rental cars than it would cost to buy a new one, I'll replace it. Aggravation is a factor, but it's mostly money.

And my neighbor's opinion of my vehicle is of no interest to me.

Michael,
Thank you for opening my eyes. I failed to consider your motivation. Thank you, sir. Let's play a game. Let's say someone is on my lot and says to me what you did, I buy my car when I can't stand the old one anymore, etc. However, this person is on a car lot and knows damn well I'm gonna try to sell him a car. Any suggestions on how to proceed?