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Hey everyone,
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday.
We remain grateful for this country, and the opportunities that can exist here.
Have a great week!
— CDG
Lately, we keep hearing the same song: Nobody knows the basics, anymore.
And that the COVID-era lured the less experienced into thinking selling cars equals an easy, sure thing.
We wondered: What counts as the basics these days, especially in the era of AI?
So, we asked a few retail veterans, a third-generation dealer, and, we opened the vault for timeless sales tips, and new ones, too.
Class is in session.
The ‘old-school’ playbook is still closing deals.
Forty-five years in auto retail has taught Paul Sansone that the basics still win.
The goal shifts once a buyer walks through the door: Then, it's about connecting, not closing, he told us.
“It’s not a negotiation, it’s a conversation,” Sansone said.
Paul Sansone
Sansone Jr’s
Auto Group
"There really isn't a secret to it," he added. "It doesn't cost anything to be nice."
What he keeps in check:
Is your handshake better than the competitor’s?
Are your salespeople more friendly?
Are they more knowledgeable about the products?
Product knowledge is a lost art, he said, adding that skipping it costs salespeople the confidence they need to have real conversations with people.
And, conversations and connections always matter.
Read it back: We grabbed some tips from our vault, too. Consultant David Long, former executive general manager for Hansel Auto Group, said during a November podcast visit that building relationships is key.
“If we're going to grow our own business, I really truly believe there's got to be long-term committed, established, mature relationships,” Long said.
David Long
David J Long Consulting
He also suggests doing things the old-fashioned way, even if it’s corny.
"I'd rather be corny and rich, than cool and poor, right?" Long said.
As a salesman, he built relationships IRL, as the young folks say.
(That means “in real life,” by the way.)
He used to hand-deliver a customer’s registration around 5:30 p.m., when their neighbors were coming home from work.
"I'd pull up in a brand new Lincoln, and I'd wait until I collected a crowd,” Long said. “And then I'd walk up to the front door, knock on the door, and hand deliver the registration."
(We can dig it, but probably give a head’s up here in 2026).
Speaking of working in the wild: Cole Potamkin, CEO of Potamkin Auto Group, shared advice his father passed down from his grandfather Victor Potamkin, who used to hunt reasons for a sale in the newspaper.
“Never let a good crisis go to waste,” Potamkin said.
Cole Potamkin
Potamkin
Automotive Group
He also told us his grandfather developed one of the first multi-state platforms in the 1970s.
"A snowstorm in New York meant Miami had extra inventory on sale that had to go," Potamkin said. "A hurricane in Miami meant Philadelphia had extra inventory on sale that had to go."
Bottom line: Even with technology, relationships matter. And, opportunities live everywhere for those who keep a watch.
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Put your employees first, and customers second. (Hear us out.)
Teddy Morse, third-generation leader of his family's namesake Ed Morse Automotive Group, said people are what’s important.
“If you want to be great in sales, you have to care more about the people than you do the actual sale,” Morse said. “If you don't have that, none of the rest matters.”
Teddy Morse
Ed Morse
Automotive Group
He also suggests putting the customer second (kind of).
See, Morse continued his grandfather's and father's mantra of taking care of his team, a lesson his Dad helped teach him by way of a $6.99 book that some of you may have read: "The Customer Comes Second," by Hal Rosenbluth and Diane McFerrin Peters.
Simply put: It works.
"I don't think it; I know it," Morse said. "I've seen it in action, I've seen it work, and I have the dollars and the growth to prove it. I know that if you take care of your team, they will take care of your customers."
Speaking of employees: Sansone said dealers should use data to coach. Most CRMs, he said, can give you the work performance of any employee.
From there, it's about asking the right questions.
He looks at:
How many phone calls are they making?
How many texts and emails?
How many appointments did they set?
How many people showed up?
"You can very easily analyze work from there," Sansone said.
His favorite metric: How many customers did you get in front of you?
His stores have been closing at 50% or better for two to three years when customers are there, something he reminded his salesmen of at a recent meeting.
The signal: Well-cared for employees take good care of customers.
Initial impressions are arriving before the customer does.
First impressions used to happen with a handshake in the showroom.
Now, Sansone reminded us, they often go down over the internets.
“Your first impression is your first text, your first email," Sansone said. "It's how you handle that [that matters].”
He said some customers still feel "very leery" about car salesmen, so putting them in a friendly state of mind "so you can properly negotiate or properly present your product vs. other dealers," makes a difference.
Part of taking care of customers means acknowledging we live in an impatient world.
That’s why, industry veteran Brett Sutherlin told us, speed matters.
“We’re measuring our response times in increments of under 90 seconds,” Sutherlin said. “The sooner you respond to the lead, your chances just go dramatically up.”
Brett Sutherlin
Sutherlin
Automotive Group
More speed notes from Sutherlin:
His team noticed that responding to a lead in under 60 seconds can compress the average 26-day buying timeline to under seven days.
Keep it moving: "If the customer runs 15 minutes later picking their kid up at a carpool line, they're not engaged in the process anymore," Sutherlin said. "The chances of getting the customer on the phone drops by like 90%."
And, some dealers are still promising 24-hour response windows, which he says isn’t quick enough.
"If you do that, you're an afterthought," Sutherlin said.
He also reminded that in-house sales have a need for speed, too, because the days of customers tolerating a two-hour wait are over.
"You really have to have evolved and can get a customer in and out in under an hour, or you're probably going to lose the deal," Sutherlin said.
Customers want unique interactions, he said, not templated or AI responses.
So, be yourself.
Just don’t share too much.
Shh: Morse shared one more secret sales tip… Don’t tell.
Referencing auto racer Ricky Rudd's oft-publicized regrets for sharing the pedal work behind his road course racing success, Morse says when you find the best methods, keep ‘em to yourself.
(Unless it’s us asking, please and thank you).
The takeaway: Meet customers where they are now, but no matter how or where connections happen, relationships will always matter.
So, keep showing up for people: On both sides of the desk.
