Apr

11

I was a top car sales rep for several years at one time in my life and was able to not only read people, but then know how to process the information properly so that it could be used effectively to enhance the sales process. Reading people always came naturally to me and I have no degrees and never studied psychology. Reading people is art and science and every situation and person is different and cannot be categorized. As an example some of my biggest sales came from people that were not dressed well and that other car reps did not want to handle.

One day two rusty clunkers pulled into the parking lot and out come down and out looking poorly dressed husband and wife team with three kids. Something told me that when this picture comes into a new car lot it is not for looks. The other sales reps of course waited for better prospects. Well, these down and outers had won $200,000 the day before in a lottery and wanted to trade their two worthless clunkers for new cars. Three hours later they drove away with two sparkling new vehicles. Depending on the situation, never judge the book by the cover.

I never new much about cars. It never interested me, however I was in the top 1% nationally for car sales. I am an expert however at reading people, human psychology and how to interact with them to maximize the goal. My first job in car sales was selling VWs and Audis. After the obligatory "you can make as much as you want" speech I asked the sales mgr if I could skip the training program and just start selling. I will learn on the job, I said. So many folks studied every aspect of the car but just couldn't read people or deal with them and could not cut it. I knew that the people coming into the dealership did not know that I didn't know and I was good enough to read them and front run. I sold 32 cars my first month and collected $13,000 with bonuses and got fired. You're too good, Mark, and the others are complaining. I had another offer from another dealership within an hour and so it went. I went on to become the #1 rep for a fortune 500 petroleum company in the entire United States. I beat out around 100 candidates from what i was told. My resume was fabricated x 100 but I looked and acted the part.

I was the number 1 territory rep in the entire United States, and once a month my boss would fly in and ride with me. A really nice guy and great boss. He would say, I don't know how you do it, the plant mgr says you are disorganized, but it really doesn't matter, you are great at what you do and you make all of us look good. I simply said I can read people, Tom, and I'm a great actor and quick on my feet. About a year later the auditors caught up with my resume, and Tom flew in. Mark, I have good news and bad news. I knew what the bad news was. You will never qualify to be CEO here but despite your outrageous resume, all of us here right up to the very very top are glad you are here, now c'mon let's go get some lunch, I wanna know how you did that.

Being able to read people and front run them with reinforcing words can help you in endless situations. I lived in and traveled in Central America for a few years and used these same techniques and human psychology in various situations with great results. It can save your life. I often thought about how these techniques and others (some simple props as an example) could assist business people and govt employees in the event that they were in danger in foreign countries (kidnapping or other dangers). There are some simple, effective methods that shift the odds in your favor, even if only slightly, I believe.

After seeing well educated people go by the wayside I am convinced that great sales reps are born and cannot be trained. You can teach someone how to read people, but at the end of the day you have to be able to process this information very fast, be a great actor, great talker, part gambler and be able to get inside their mind. I would have been a great CIA agent or made a fortune as a wall street institutional sales rep. Here at White Glove I handle the VIP sales and get to deal with Wall Streeters, professional athletes, actors and a lot of great folks. They let me fly here because I am the best at what I do. Two years ago the sales mgr fired me over a foolish squabble they then fired him and brought me back. Reading people and human psychology is a fascinating subject and I have so many interesting experiences but I've written too much already.


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