A Mentor for Life

  I am passionate about the auto industry for it truly changed my life from the second I entered it way back in 1988.  I have never been a "car guy" so it was challenging and overwhelming and to no surprise, like so many others,  I struggled at first.  There was a lot to learn and my head was spinning for days.  The reason why there is so much turnover in this business is lack of training and lack of resilience from the new salesperson.  In the 80's there was no internet so you really had to know your product inside- out as the consumer knew nothing about your car.  Not only was product knowledge crucial but you also had to be more of a closer as opposed to  a product specialist!   Back then, it was always about A.B.C  (Always be Closing) and pressuring someone right now...today!

  I was blessed back then to have a mentor in my life who guided me and showed me how to be successful brick by brick.  Kirt Gill had a background in teaching and decided to get into the auto business full time as his part time "teaching gig" just wasn't cutting it for him and his family.   Morning meetings and afternoon "huddles" were part of his management agenda. His coaching style was to get all the sales staff on the same page .  Training and role playing were ongoing pieces of the puzzle of success so that we were always ready and driven.  Of the 8 salespeople we had back then, 5 of us went on to become Managers.  This truly is a testament to his success as a leader.   I still fondly recall Kirt standing at the chalkboard and writing all his lessons. The first thing he taught me was so simple and so true,  that it is still relevant today . 

"The customer is not looking for a car...they are looking for a sales experience and the right salesperson. Focus on them ....rather then the car" .   

That line alone helped me formulate my game plan to be successful and within the first 6 months I was one of the top producers.

Kirt has moved up consistently in management and just recently was promoted to be the General Manager of the one of the biggest franchise dealerships here in Western Canada at Open Road Lexus.  As a token of my appreciation I hired for Kirt a top producer named Frank Fang who sold 169 cars  in only his first year.  Frank affectionally calls Kirt ...Master Trainer #1 and refers to me as  Master Trainer #2. 

I have always kept in touch with Kirt over the last 27 years . We  both feel we are truly blessed that we have both raised our families and developed ourselves in this great industry.  After 20 years of being in Management I opted to create my new business venture  called The Auto Trainer. It was a risk and a lot of my peers thought I was crazy to walk away from a management career!  Kirt was the first one I approached and needless to say he was all for it!  

When you have a mentor, they really become your mentor for life. It does not matter if you move up and on, that connection will still always be there. Once you have “made it” there never becomes a point where you know it all and don’t need any more help.  Kirt was the one that showed me the way and gave me the confidence to go forward.  I still use a lot of Kirts' wisdom in my course and in an invaluable way he has now passed on his mentorship skills to me. 

So today, when I stand at my white board, his mentorship is still paying dividends as we are now paying it forward to the next generation of salespeople and potential managers!