Archive for March, 2010

How to Generate Sales and Income When Floor Traffic is Down – Part2

Sunday, March 21st, 2010
Chuck Morgan asked:

I remember years ago hearing from a phone trainer from Belgium, in his heavy French accent, “If you live off the floor, you’ll die off the floor”. He was right.

People will RV, and thank goodness there is nothing we can do to stop them. Part of our problem today is that there is not a lot of them coming in the front door. Don’t get, or stay, discouraged. Remember the harder we work the luckier we’ll get. I know that the sales and money are available to us if we just know where to look.

Diggin’ for Gold.

California is Gold Country and I enjoy prospecting as a hobby. Unfortunately, I get to use the analogy more than I get to go out actually looking for gold anymore but… Prospecting for gold is an art and a science, combined with hard work. You could just pack up your shovel, pan, sluice box and a strong back, head into the hills or a river and start digging. But more than likely you’ll end up with a sore back and an empty pan. Or you could do some research first. Discover where gold might actually be. Understand what geological features of the land to look for. Go where gold has already been found. Listen to people who prospect. (Don’t ask them where the gold is, they won’t tell you. Just let them talk…there’s a lesson there.)

We do all this, before we even pick up the shovel. You see, I don’t mind getting dirty. I just want to do it with a Purpose in mind and maximize my return.

So where is the “Gold” in the RV business. Well, like prospectors during the gold rush, many times it’s laying right at our feet. 3 key markets to look at are.

1. Repeat Business

2. Referral Business

3. Service Drive

Let’s look at the facts:

1. Repeat Business.

Math doesn’t lie. If someone bought an RV, there is a good chance at some point they will buy another. The average time for someone to trade in their RV is around 39 months depending on where you are. If you’re relatively new to the RV business and you have not built your customer base yet, there are still ways to tap this market.

If you have been in the RV business for a couple of years you should be taping this now. If you have been in for several years you should be taking, (or waiting for), very few walk in customers.

Do your own math. Find out how many RV’s you have sold during your career. Most sales people don’t know. After the deal rolls we maybe, maybe call the customer to make sure they are happy and that’s about it. I know as well as you do that it is all about “the deal today” but if I don’t continue to stay in contact with my sold customers I have placed my own self imposed limits as to their value to me, and my income. If we work smart, we “create” be backs, not hope we will get one. Customers trading in quickly is not unusual. I’ve seen it happen the same day. I’ve seen customers buy and trade 3 units within 6 weeks! Stop thinking that “you would never do that”, “you” are not buying anything. “They” are…let them.

Find out today how many RV’s you have sold at your dealership. Managers, get the sales people the info. If you have been with your dealership for a few years you may be shocked to learn what that number is. Say you sell 5 units a month. That’s 60 a year and you’ve been with your dealership for say, 4 years. That’s 240 sold customers.

240 buyers who liked you, believed you, listened to you, and trusted you. Now ask yourself when was the last time you called any of them? It’s not about the floor traffic…it’s about our attitude and work habits.

If you’re new to RV sales, get a list of orphan owners. Orphan owners are previously sold customers whos salesperson no longer works for the dealership. How big is that list? At one of my in house training dealers they estimated they had over 30,000. Most with no salesperson attached to them.

You work hard for your deals. How would you like to work half as hard for the next one, and make more money?

2. Referral Business.

How do you get referrals? ASK

Ask and ye shall receive.

Seek and ye shall find.

Knock and the door shall be answered.

I don’t make this stuff up! It never ceases to amaze me what people will do if you ask.

So who do you ask for referrals from? Everybody.

When do you ask for referrals? All the time.

I run a web video production company as well as my sales training company.

It started from me doing my own personal videos for training and marketing purposes.

A friend of mine in a different industry saw what I was doing and asked me to do some work for him. Not only did I take the job, but I did it for free. I owed this man, for many reasons. He’s one of my mentors. Someone I would trust with anything or anyone.

This type of human association is worth more than all the gold in the world. More on mentors another time but suffice to say this person did not come into my life by accident.

It felt good to repay his guidance with hard work, a good product and good service.

He has since sent so much business my way I can barely keep up. He has put our business on the map. Now the clients he has referred to us, have begun sending us referrals as well.

We don’t have to look for any clients. We do good work, provide a good service, provide tremendous value, and they just keep coming. I am a firm believer in referrals.

I spoke at the RV Dealers Association Convention this year, because of referrals.

You see it doesn’t matter if your customer buys from you or not, or if they qualify or not.

None of these have anything to do with asking for referrals.

If they buy, tell them thank you, and ask them for referrals.

If they don’t buy, tell them thank you for coming, and ask for referrals.

If they can’t buy, tell them your sorry, and ask for referrals.

I’ve been in the RV business for a long time so here’s a little truth.

I don’t care what other trainers have told you.

I remember going to classes and they would talk about asking for referrals and tell me most everyone would give me a referral. I remember thinking, what planet are you on?

Most people will not give you a referral. Get over it.

I come from the RV sales line and did very well and I know most people won’t cough up a name and number, period. Setting unrealistic and unachievable goals is foolish.

Your job is to ASK EVERYONE. The right way.

Some will, some won’t, so what, next. The few you will get will be worth all the no’s you will ever get.

Referrals have a higher closing ratio ( 6 times the walk in customer ) and usually decent gross profits as well. A warm relationship, an appointment coming in, beats a fresh up any day of the week. It is usually not just an easier sale, but a more pleasant experience for you and the customer alike.

I personally know a salesperson who sells 5+ motorhomes per month without taking any ups because of repeat and referrals alone. He got in one dealership and stayed there.

Check out our Phone Skills PowerPoint Video Training to get more repeat and referral customers with high quality phone skills.

3. Service Drive

This is an untapped gold mine. If you have a service department talk to your sales or service manager and ask how many customers come through the drive in a month.

Depending on the size of your dealership and how long the dealership has been in business, it is not unusual for me to hear numbers like 200-400 per month. Yours maybe more or less but that is not the point. The point is who is out there. Qualified buyers, that’s who’s out there.

Figure out, realistically, how many customers you could touch in the service department per month. As an individual salesperson, taking out the weekends, then your week days you are off. You have about 2-3 days per week to do this. Go meet 1-2 people each day.

You have the time. I know it, you know it. Take action and watch what happens.

Let’s say you meet 5 new people per week. Remember, all you need to do is offer someone a cup of coffee and start a conversation with open ended questions. That’s 20 opportunities per month or 240 opportunities a year you got because you stayed away from the updesk, got off the internet, stopped texting your buddy (who doesn’t pay your bills) etc. If I gave you 240 more opportunities, qualified RV owners, do you think you would make a larger income? The closing ratio on these types of customers is high but let’s say that it was typical of a walk in customer, 10%. That’s 24 deals per year.

Now you do the math. How much is your average voucher times 24? Probably between $8,000 and $25,000 per year. And that is just the service drive.

We didn’t even count the money from repeat and referral business. We do this in our sales training classes in more detail

If you know what you are doing in RV sales you could make a living and rarely take an up.

Work smart and eliminate the frustration. The RV business, regardless of our present temporary economic condition, is a great business that will allow you to take care of yourself and your family, if you Sell On Purpose. If you focus and take action, you just got a big raise.

May the bottom of your pan…. always be yellow.

(That means filled with gold for you city folk ;)

Now Go Sell Something!

gold mining tools

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Russian Bride – Think Twice Before Taking The Big Step

Sunday, March 21st, 2010
Peter Finch asked:

Russian women are romantic and loving, but before starting a long term relationship and taking a step towards marriage with your future Russian bride, be sure that there is a long way to go, before you reach her heart. Be careful not only with traditions or language, but also with personal values such as honesty and pride.

Russians are considered warm and easy going people and Russian women are no exception to this. Russian brides are generally desired because of their natural charm, charisma and the culture they are coming from. Many of them are beautiful women who understand that a good marriage is the perfect solution for their future. They are ready for marriage not only because of pure love, but some practical reasons too.

Quite emotional by nature, women are looking for an exact match, but at the same time their good senses are insisting that love is not everything. To fulfill their dreams they are looking for romantic relationships with people who apart from love, are able to give them something more, such as a good house, household security and to support a lifestyle without any complications.

People who are looking for a Russian bride should keep in mind that the Russian people in general are proud and the women’s self esteem is not an exception to this rule. Men who want to share their life with a woman from that country should know that it will not be easy to adapt to the habits of a new daily life. Women who are ready to leave their family and start a new life with a stranger also have requirements and sometimes these are higher than expected.

However, these requirements can be cleared and any misunderstanding can eventually be eliminated, if the man who is looking for a Russian bride is honest from the very beginning and is sharing not only the good sides of his character, but also things that he knows that later could appear to be problematic for the relationship.

Finding the right foreign bride might sound easy, but at the same time the above mentioned requirements of both sides of the relationship might cause difficulties. Before taking any step into that direction, any man who is dreaming of a fantastic easy going Russian should invest some time in research. Local traditions are important as much as the language barrier.Taking lessons in Russian, studying the customs and trying to understand the psychology of women are some of the ways to prevent any crises by the cultural shock. The net is rich in information in many languages explaining the most important steps for such a relationship. Women are delicate human beings and putting too much pressure on them just to fulfill your dream of a Russian bride sometimes might have negative effect.

Of course, if your time is valuable, you can always hire an agency or a matchmaker who is a professional in that area. There are many people who are well informed regarding the traditions or can help you with some legal barriers. They will also give you advice about the etiquette in the family because if you are on your way of taking a Russian bride, it is always good to know how you should act when you are meeting her family.

Last, but not least, listen to your heart. Have true feelings and be sure that your Russian bride is having them too, and not just using you as a method to ensure her good life.

african mail order brides

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Looking for a Filipina Girlfriend?

Thursday, March 18th, 2010
Filipina Kisses asked:

Do you want to date a Filipina girl? If you have Filipina friends then you already know what are Filipina girls like. However, for the benefit of those still searching and looking for a Filipina girlfriend, these are some qualities you would surely like to know.

First, Filipina girls are known for their exotic oriental beauty and sweetness. There are many beautiful Filipinas who are famous worldwide, and have won international awards on beauty contests.

Some very popular Filipina Americans have even made it to Hollywood and American television, like  Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Tia Carrere, Phoebe Cates, Reggie Lee who played Bill Kim in “Prison Break (Season 2)”, Victoria Principal of “Dallas”, Victoria Recaño of “CSI: Miami”, Rob Schneider of “Saturday Night Live”, Anna Maria Perez de Tagle who played Ashley from “Hannah Montana”, Tamlyn Tomita of “The Joy Luck Club” and “The Karate Kid – Part II”, Cheryl Burke who is a participant in “Dancing with the Stars”, Vanessa Minnillo and many others.

In the international music industry, there are the likes of Allan Pineda of The Black Eyed Peas, Kirk Hammett who is the lead guitarist for Metallica, Enrique Iglesias, Julio Iglesias Jr., Nicole Scherzinger who is the lead singer for the Pussycat Dolls, and many others. Filipina Americans who were “American Idol” contestants includes Jasmine Trias of American Idol (Season 3), Camile Velasco of American Idol (Season 3), Melinda Lira of American Idol (season 4) and Ramiele Malubay of American Idol (Season 7).  Also the first Asian supermodel in the 1980s who is Anna Bayle, and the famous Hollywood Fashion Designer Monique Lhuillier, who was born and raised in the Philippine province of Cebu, are both Filipina Americans.

Second, Filipina girls are not only beautiful, but are also charming and cheerful. Filipinas have a positive disposition in life making them delightful and friendly.

Third, the Filipina girl is often times conservative about how she conducts herself, particularly in public. A Filipina girl is usually prim and proper in her actions. This is because the Philippines is a country with many old fashioned ways.

In the courtship aspect, a real Filipina from the Philippines will respect her elders, have close family ties, strong religious beliefs, and will take a man seriously if only he is really willing to visit her family and introduce himself formally to her parents. It is considered disrespectful if a man courts a Filipina girl without informing her parents! In the Philippines, you should know that it is always expected that the man must show his face to the Filipina girl’s family or else her whole family will not approve of you!

With that, Filipina women are expected to be playing hard to get. It is also one way by which the Filipina woman can measure the sincerity of her man. Love and romance is a very serious matter with conservative Filipina women, whether they are from a city like Manila, Cebu or the provinces.

Fourth, many Filipina girls have a heart of gold. They are also very sweet, loving, romantic, loyal and really faithful to the man they love. So, if you want to marry a Filipina girl, you should win the love in her Filipina heart, and you can have your Filipina beauty as your Filipina bride.  However, be patient in your courtship and be really sincere in your intentions and you will surely win the love of her Filipina heart.

So, if you are looking for a Filipina girlfriend to be your future Filipina bride, do not wait for it to happen to you. Take action now. Join online Filipina dating sites, such as Filipinakisses.com and meet the Filipina girl of your dreams!

international online dating

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Four Make-up Tips for Bride

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Tina A Jane asked:

nion, appearance of the bride will depend on how the make-up is to a great extent. You see, bride symbolizes purity?elegance, nobleness and any other clear words you could use to describe her. As one of the important day in the life, featuring beautiful while decorous should be concerned by all brides. Though you have to appear not too strange comparing other ones, you still can make yourselves distinctively eye-catching. Here I will present four tips to promote your make-up. Utterly the magic key to bride-to-be. false Eyelashes In fact, as the most vivid part of your face, eyelashes are greatly good at catching others’ attention. How common eyelashes can achieve it? Well, what you need to do is just take advantage of exaggerated style to highlight your eyesight. You might select as well. False eyelashes with rhinestone detail. You’’ find it’s easy to make yourselves uniquely. White Eyes Shadow On the wedding day, all things always have relation with white color including the eyes shadow. White eyes shadow can perfectly fit the romantic air, even add much more dignity to your white dress. For Asian brides, remember that you’d better prevent from spreading in a large area. Just simply outline your eyes with eyeliner pens and especially highlight the canthus. Nail Polish I think that would be better if you choose white nail polish to fit your white wedding dress. Especially for those who are addicts of simple style. If you consider that you go through the motions with simple style, you are totally wrong. In fact, the fussy nail would steal spotlight of the ring which is the leading actor on that day. See the model in Chanel fashion show. She looks wonderful with chic nail, isn’t it? While if you are a chinese bride, I’m afraid that the white nail polish couldn’t meet your needs. Since I deeply know that almost all Chinese people are addicts of red color, I suggest the red nail polish to you. White Hair Ornament Your hairstyle is really one important detail what should not be neglected. What we can do to make it special while gorgeous? Of course, it shouldn’t be pursuing height and complexity of it. See the picture where I collected from Karl Lagerfeld Show. Simple hairstyle with delicate white hair ornament, making the whole style vividly at once. Providing you wear mantilla, that would features gleaming. Also you could select arm ornament which is of the same style just like the hair one.

asian mail order brides

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Alaska Gold Rush

Monday, March 15th, 2010
G M Stephens asked:

A modern day gold rush is underway. With gold prices at an all time high more and more gold seekers are heading into the gold mining fields of Arizona, Nevada, California, New Mexico, Alaska and many other places across the U.S. and other gold bearing areas of the earth. In the gold mining and prospecting world you can now routinely hear of men and women gold seekers spending thousands of dollars on gold mining and prospecting equipment they have never used, having no experience finding gold and buying worthless gold mining claims with hopes of striking it rich. Those who are mining the miners are in the real gold.

Recreational gold mining and prospecting has become a popular outdoor recreation in a number of countries, including New Zealand (especially in Otago), Australia, South Africa, Wales (at Dolaucothi and in Gwynedd), in Canada and in the United States especially in western states but also elsewhere. Recreational gold mining is almost entirely small-scale placer mining.

Placer gold mining is the mining of alluvial deposits (deposits of sand and gravel in modern or ancient stream beds) for minerals. This may be done by open-pit (also called open-cast mining) or by various forms of tunneling into ancient riverbeds. Excavation may be accomplished using water pressure (hydraulic mining), surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment.

The name derives from Spanish, placer, meaning “sandbank.” It refers to mining the precious metal deposits (particularly gold and gemstones) found in alluvial deposits. The metal or gemstones, having been moved by stream flow from an original source such as a vein, is typically only a minuscule portion of the total deposit. The containing material may be too loose to safely mine by tunneling. Where water under pressure is available, water under pressure may be used to mine, move, and separate the precious material from the deposit.

Gold mining and prospecting activities allowed on public lands vary with the agency and the location. Gold pans and shovels are commonly allowed, but sluice boxes and suction dredges may be prohibited in some areas. The Department of Agriculture in the U.S. is now of the view that recreational gold panning and gold prospecting in national forests is permitted provided that no machinery or explosives are used, no waterways are diverted, and no permanent or semi-permanent structures are built. There are public mining areas in many states, and prospecting may allow one to stake a gold placer claim or other type of gold mining claim in certain areas. Some public lands have been set aside for recreational gold panning. Some private land owners also give permission for small-scale gold mining.

The Gold Prospectors Association of America (GPAA) is an organization dedicated to finding and mining gold on a small or recreational scale. It has gold claims across America and members can work the claims for a yearly fee. The club is headquartered in Temecula, California. Most, if not all GPAA activities are in the United States. The organization was founded in 1968 to preserve and promote the great heritage of the North American Prospector. The association greatly frowns upon mining methods that harm the environment, and is against anti-prospecting bureaucracy.

The beauty of this new gold rush is we get to experience it and see the successes and failures as they unfold in the gold fields. Gold Mining and prospecting equipment sales are at an all time high, advertising in gold prospecting and mining magazines is being sold at premium prices and the BLM is processing more gold claims than anytime in the last 20 years. Metal detectors costing $4,000.00 plus designed for gold are selling like gold pans in the days of the gold rush of the 1800s. This is a very exciting time to be a gold prospector.

Gold Mining Equipment

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