RV Industry News

Author:	Mike Whitty	Created:	7/28/2008 11:50 AM
Mike Whitty, president of Salesperson, Inc. for the past 20 years, is an accomplished author, trainer and consultant who has received national acclaim for his training techniques, product development and communication skills. He is a frequent contributor to the RV industry, and actually loves the RV lifestyle owning 3 pop-ups and 1 Class A motorhome. His blog will provide a wealth of information pertaining to sales, management and internet process development. You can visit his website at www.rvsalestraining.net. Email him at mike@rvsalestraining.net or call toll-free (800) 453-2787. If you're an RV Sales Manager, make sure you visit www.rvsalesmanager.net.

Mgmt - When You're Hot, You're Hot! But What if You're Not?

By Mike Whitty on 11/8/2008 12:48 PM

Your sales team’s morale is an excellent indicator of where your sales department is headed. A bit depressing? You’d better do something - Quick!

But first, let’s take a closer look at the problem. Staff morale is defined as the combination of their confidence and discipline. While poor confidence will only produce a token effort, poor discipline will see them stop even this.

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Mgmt - When All Else Fails, Let Your People Go

By Mike Whitty on 11/2/2008 9:15 AM

Are you guilty of hanging on to your poor performers far too long? As RV Sales Managers, I think we're often too soft-hearted (although some may say soft-headed) when it comes to a salesperson's poor performance. Maybe it's because we've been on the front lines ourselves and know how hard it is that we forgive poor performance too quickly.

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Mgmt - The 7 Biggest Mistakes Sales Managers Make

By Mike Whitty on 10/29/2008 7:12 PM

As an RV Sales Manager, you make dozens of decisions every day that affect your customers, your salespeople and, of course, yourself. So, from what mindset are you currently making your decisions? From the mindset of a salesperson, or the mindset of a manager/leader?

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Mgmt - Cutting Your Throat

By Mike Whitty on 10/25/2008 11:35 AM

One of the temptations of Sales Managers is to look at the commissions of their salespeople as a great place to cut into their operating budget. After all, a great salesperson might out earn the vast majority of Sales Managers. Many dealerships will cut commissions to increase their bottom-line thinking that this is the smart and clever thing to do.

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Mgmt - Do You Mind If Someone Screams at You?

By Mike Whitty on 10/19/2008 8:41 AM

A Sales Manager called me one day asking if I knew of a good salesperson he could hire. Essentially, he wanted someone to start right away. So I made a few calls, and the first question I had to ask is ... "Do you mind if someone screams at you?" As soon as they got past the initial shock, they all replied in no uncertain terms, "Yes, that's not acceptable". I continued, "Well, he probably wouldn't call you names, but he's a pretty hard driving guy and he raises his voice a lot".

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Sales - Running Your Business Like a Business

By Mike Whitty on 10/13/2008 9:02 PM

Selling will always be one of the greatest occupations you can choose. In sales, you have the opportunity to make unlimited income, or you have the opportunity to make very little income. Either one is up to you. But the one thing I’ve realized is that everyone has the potential to make more money. And in most instances, it won’t necessarily take more skill, but it will definitely take more work. It’s going to be the work above and beyond your current selling process that will take you from one level to the next. Once you understand this, you’ll be on your way to developing a plan for how to make it happen.

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Mgmt - Being a Sales Manager is a Gift!

By Mike Whitty on 10/8/2008 8:44 AM

If you're like most Sales Managers, you came to this position because you had great success as a salesperson. But managing your own sales is not the same as managing your team. As a salesperson, you could easily measure your success through numbers of appointments made and units sold. As a Sales Manager, your success is measured by the success of others. That's not always an easy transition to make. However, it is ultimately a rewarding one. Being a Sales Manager provides you with the opportunity to share your knowledge and expertise, and to help others grow professionally and personally. As the saying goes, when you elevate the success of others, you elevate your own as well.

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Internet - Selling the Appointment

By Mike Whitty on 10/1/2008 7:40 AM

Running a top notch Internet process involves far more planning than simply allocating a portion of your budget to the Internet and commanding your salespeople to “sell some RVs.” You need to give saleseople a solid process to follow that will accomplish your objectives. The process needs to make sense and, ideally, it will be mandatory. If the Internet sales process at your dealership is a matter of “just winging it” by picking up the phone and calling your leads, it’s safe to say that you are not truly maximizing the opportunities available to you. When you clearly define your agenda and apply a Standard Operating Procedure to get there, you can maximize your Internet team’s effectiveness.

Standard Operating Procedure: Communication

Unfortunately, many dealers don’t have a standard procedure in place when it comes to communicating with prospects in order to set the appointment. If your goal is to maximize communication effectiveness so you build trust and get your prospect to come meet you in person, you need to put the best process in place to do so.

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Sales - Your Road to Success?

By Mike Whitty on 9/24/2008 5:05 PM

What is success? Success has been defined as “the progressive attainment of a worthy goal”. While this is a good general definition, each one of us has our own specific idea about what success means to us. So, what does success mean to you? For some people it means status, prestige, and respect; for others it means power - the ability to influence and command others. But for most people, their definition of success includes financial independence and security.

What is financial independence? Like success, financial independence means something different to each of us. A better question might be: “What amount of income would make you feel financially independent?”

For some salespeople that might be $25,000 per year, for others it might be $100,000. The important thing isn’t the amount of money itself. What really matters is how will you make enough money for you to feel financially independent. Understanding how an RV salesperson’s business works is one way to make sure you don’t become just another...

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Mgmt - What Makes a Great Sales Manager?

By Mike Whitty on 9/19/2008 10:23 PM

There's no single, remarkable secret. In fact, great Sales Managers are many things. Depending on the situation, a great sales Manager is a time-management supervisor, a meeting planner, a contest coordinator, a talent scout, a coach, a trainer and a psychiatrist. All of those roles put together--and executed well--make for a great Sales Manager.

However, there are five key areas in which the best Sales Managers excel. Great Managers:

1. Are passionate and enthusiastic. These traits are transferred to the entire sales staff. If the leader is negative, everyone else will be pulled down. How do great managers maintain a realistically positive attitude? Great managers are great readers; they read everything they can find about their crafts and industries. They seek out mentors whose wisdom and experience can help them achieve their goals, and they encourage their salespeople to do the same. They surround themselves with high-quality people.

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