Digital Dealer - March 2019 - 43

I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT FEELING OF
SEEING AN AUDIENCE OF ONLOOKERS WHO HAD
JUST BEEN RACING TOWARDS THE DOOR, SUDDENLY
FROZEN IN THEIR TRACKS AND INTENTLY HANGING
ON EVERY WORD THAT MAN WAS SAYING."
Grant didn't break. Instead,
as the attendees began
filing out like a trail of ants,
Grant took to the stage and
like a BOSS, started slinging his products that were
for sale; books and tapes
and software - Oh My! Yet,
he did it in such a way that
not a single decision maker
could digress. He offered
them something for FREE,
and I was ALL EARS.
Never before had I seen
someone give something
substantial away and
gamble on their livelihood in
that manner. To be perfectly
honest, I can't recall exactly
what the product was - possibly his desking software,
but I will always remember
that feeling of seeing an
audience of onlookers
who had just been racing
towards the door, suddenly
frozen in their tracks and
intently hanging on every
word that man was saying.
It was then and there, that
I had my first official lesson
in the art of reciprocity.
Give something away
to get something in return.
What a novel idea! On the
surface, the concept seems
simple enough to grasp
and in fact, a great number of entrepreneurs and
sales professionals alike,
have gone on to be quite
successful using that tactic.
We see it on a daily basis
via social. Whether it's an

e-book or a t-shirt or even
valuable content, via a free
webinar or app trial, the
reality is that all roads lead
to, "Buy my product" and we
do, time and again. Why?
Because they dangled a
carrot in our faces, we got
a taste and now we want
more. That being said, it
would lead us to believe
that in the GREATEST
industry in the world, (at

myself. I'd offer to buy gift
cards to their establishments and give them away
to any customer they sent
to me, so that the circle
of wealth, could come full
circle. Then, I'd go a step
further and after the sale, I'd
go to Hallmark, buy a card
that had a personal ring to
it, handwrite a message
of gratitude and include
the gift card, along with a

IN SALES,
RECIPROCITY IS WHAT
SEPARATES THE WINNERS
FROM THE WANNABEES. "
least in my humble opinion)
automotive, we as a whole
would have widely embraced this concept by now.
Yet, so many dealers are
still archaically relying on
clicks and tricks to fill their
sales pipelines and it's time
for a change, folks.
As early as 2000, reciprocity marketing was the
pinnacle of my success,
when it came to selling
more cars and generating
our favorite word, PROFIT.
Never did I rely on floor
traffic or a website or a
CRM or the worst, a Circus
Tent, to sell cars for me. I
relied on MYSELF. I spent
every lunch break, out in
the community, networking
with other locally-owned
businesses and introducing

printed referral card in the
likeness of a $100 bill; in
any given month, I sold no
less than TEN cars, that
came strictly from repeat
and referral business in the
community, as a GREEN
PEA.
So, what's your excuse?
Time? Budget? Lack of
effort? Complacency?
Whatever the case, it's
costing YOU and your
dealership money. I went on
to spend fifteen more years
on the sales floor, in one
capacity or another before
launching my own business,
around this intrinsic idea of
reciprocity. I worked my way
through the ranks of finance
and management and
implemented the principle
of reciprocity in every store
D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

I worked in. Time and again,
stores that had lackluster
performance levels, saw
increases hand over first,
by simply instilling my ideas
into their practices. The reason: procured relationships,
procure profit. Period.
It's 2019 and business
as usual, isn't cutting it
anymore. The industry as
a whole needs to step up
and step out of old ways
and old habits, if we truly
want to effect change. We
never thought we would see
the day of cars being sold
from vending machines,
but news flash, they are.
Similarly, dealerships who
aren't malleable enough to
embrace and implement
change in both their cultures and their processes,
are going to find themselves
marauding unemployment
lines, for paychecks. That's
just the reality. Real results
happen with real change
and real change is long
overdue for our Industry. We can rise together
through reciprocity or fall
together in disparity. The
choice is yours. Choose
wisely.
MICHELLE MCLAIN is
the CEO of DealerDASH
(mydealerdash.com), leading
the pack with an all-inclusive,
post-sale follow-up platform for
auto dealers. She has 20 years
of experience in the industry;
her belief is that "We Rise
Together." #AutoFamStrong

MARCH 2019

43
http://www.mydealerdash.com http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Digital Dealer - March 2019

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