March 2016 FINAl Mag MAR16_MidAtlanticDealerNews 2 23 2016

Alan Mosher is a car
guy. His first job ever
was detailing cars at a
dealership when he was
in high school. He began
selling cars in 1975,
and has been in the car
business in one form or
another for most of the
40 years since. Half of
that time he has been
in the BHPH business.
He has operated BHPH
dealerships for 8 years
and been a trainer and
consultant in the business
for 11. He can be
reached via email at al@
alanmosher.com.
ARE YOU COMMITTING SALES MALPRACTICE?
By Al Mosher
There is a saying in the medical field, “Prescription before examination is malpractice.”
If you were a doctor examining a new patient who complained that pains in their abdomen
had become intolerable, you would not simply prescribe a painkiller and send the patient
home. You would perform a careful diagnosis that included blood work and tests, as well as
a thorough physical examination.
A doctor must find out if the patient has an upset stomach, appendicitis or colon cancer
before offering a prescription. The same rule applies when you are trying to sell a car.
I have been in the car business for close to 30 years, and I’ve probably seen at least that
many versions of the proper steps to completing a sale. I’ve seen 7-step versions, 10-step
versions, 12-step versions and probably a few more I can’t remember. What I have never
seen is a sales process that puts the prescription — showing them a vehicle — before the
examination, doing an analysis of their needs and desires. Unfortunately, however, I have
seen it happen much too often in real life. Oh, the salesman will tell you that he qualified the
customer, and he probably did ask them a couple of basic questions, however, what he did
would fall far short of the “examination” he should have done. This is particularly true at a
BHPH dealership where you need to assess their financial health as well as their vehicle needs.
Think of our earlier scenario with the doctor and the patient. Then, imagine the doctor
writing his prescription after taking the patient’s temperature and finding out how much he
weighed. The doctor could claim to have done an examination but I don’t think any of us
would have found that to be sufficient.
It certainly is no sudden bolt of revelation for me to tell you that salespeople tend to rush
the sales process. In some cases, that might be an understatement. They try to shortcut
the process to get through it quicker and then justify that by claiming the customer didn’t
want to spend that much time.
Well, ask anybody that knows me. I hate spending time in the doctor’s office. In spite of
this, I would be highly upset if that doctor tried to shortcut the examination process and just
prescribed a few pills and sent me home. In fact, it is because I hate going to the doctor
that I want him to do a complete and full exam and solve any problems right the first time,
so I don’t have to go back anytime soon.
Most car shoppers are like that, too. They really don’t like the processes involved in buying
a car. Many dealers have modified their processes to try to make the whole process more
customer-friendly and that has helped. Most customers, however, are still apprehensive and
have some misgivings about the process. And, when they buy a car, they are “stuck” with
the results of that purchase, typically for several years.
That is why you need to do a complete and comprehensive examination of each and
every prospective buyer. Only then will you be able to help them identify all of their issues.
A thorough examination is the only way to make sure that you help them purchase the right
car, at the right price, with the right payment. By being a professional salesperson you help
them to be an informed purchaser. There is a reward for being meticulous, as well. If you do
the examination well and your prescription is the right one, your patient will return to see you
when they again have transportation ‘pain’.
The proper examination, diagnosis and prescription are just as important for the car buyer
and their salesperson as it is for the patient and their doctor. Only by conducting a thorough
examination can you avoid committing sales malpractice. 3
DEALERSHIP EMPLOYEES WIN $1,000,000
By Peter Salinas
A lucky group of parts and service department employees at
Union Park Honda in Wilmington, Delaware, didn’t hit the $1.6
billion jackpot in January’s Powerball lottery, but the crew did
match five numbers without the Powerball and won $1 million.
Eighteen employees each put up $10 and purchased 90
tickets — 30 each from Delaware, Pennsylvania and New
Jersey. A Pennsylvania Lottery official confirmed the ticket
worth $1 million was sold at the Landhope Farms convenience
store in Kennett Square.
The Jan. 13, 2016, jackpot had winning numbers of 04-08-
19-27-34 and Powerball 10 — was the largest in American
history.
22 | MARCH 2016 MIDATLANTIC DEALER NEWS
Lee Davis, a shop foreman at the Wilmington dealership,
said, “My wife was sleeping. I ran up and woke her up. She
was like, ‘What’d you get, like $50?’ And I was like, ‘No we
won a million!”
Each employee in the group will get about $41,000 after
taxes. Not enough to retire, but could easily put a down
payment on a house, help put a child through college or —
buy a nice used vehicle, with some money to spare for fun!
Congratulations!