Stan Sher, a respected writer, speaker, and president of Dealer eTraining, shares his personal journey from starting as a car salesman at 20 years old to founding his own company, overcoming going broke three times along the way. The conversation dives into why the car-buying process is often unpleasant, which Stan attributes to undertrained, transaction-focused salespeople and a lack of genuine communication.
He champions a "guest experience" mindset, urging a shift towards treating customers like people rather than dollar figures. The discussion also covers the importance of a consultative communication style, the power of personal discipline through challenges like 75 Hard, and the need for self-awareness, inspired by Mel Robbins' book.
Takeaways:
- Adopt a "Guest Experience" Mindset: Shift your focus from the transaction to treating every customer as a guest. This involves having personal conversations and building rapport, which can overcome the negative stereotypes customers often have.
- Practice Consultative Communication: Instead of being direct or confrontational, become naturally curious and ask more questions. A consultative approach helps you understand the customer's needs and leads to a more diplomatic and effective conversation.
- Start Your Day with Intention: Spend the first 15 minutes of your morning watching or listening to something inspirational instead of doom-scrolling. This small habit helps set a positive and motivated mindset for the rest of the day.
- Learn from Every Generation: If you're a young professional, ask yourself what you can learn from a 65-year-old coworker. Conversely, consider what you can teach and inspire in them. Bridging the generational gap is key for team growth.
- View All Experiences as Opportunities: Adopt the mindset that every experience you have in life is a good one, because you never know when a skill or lesson learned will become useful.
- Develop a Process for Failure: Success isn't about never failing; it's about having a clear process for what to do when you fail. Stan's process after going broke was to spend his "9 to 5" applying for jobs and taking every meeting, refusing to give up.
Quote of the Show:
- "I believe that we need to be consultative in every situation. We all need to be naturally curious. We need to ask more questions."
Links:
