Adventures with Lyrical: Buying a Business (REPOST)

Cad · Feb 24, 2017

Shonuff said:
The problem with the safe harbor is that you have to match your employees the same as yourself. So you get a higher match than normal, but so do all the other participants.

Why do you care what the company matches when its your money either way? Why don't you just do a SEP IRA?

Kiroy · Feb 24, 2017

I'll probably just have to talk to my CPA and vanguard, just trying to get an idea of the right questions I should ask to get started.

Shonuff · Feb 24, 2017

Cad said:
Why do you care what the company matches when its your money either way? Why don't you just do a SEP IRA?

It was explained to me that this type of plan allows me to put more in every year, tax-free. I put every penny of my 401k that I had from Corporate America into this company. I killed my retirement funds. This is a way for me to catch up.

Shonuff · Feb 24, 2017

Kiroy said:
What does that mean I put in 33k for me I have to put in 33k for them?

No, I think it was a 50% match on the first 6 they contribute though.

sadris · Feb 26, 2017

Should I buy a VPN company? Sounds like the margin is small. But management would be small as well...

a_skeleton_03 · Feb 26, 2017

sadris said:
Should I buy a VPN company? Sounds like the margin is small. But management would be small as well...

Let me know if you need some remote workers on that.

TrollfaceDeux · Feb 27, 2017

Shonuff said:
One thing I've learned after 20 years in sales, if you didn't close the customer, you didn't make a connection with them. The company I was in, I managed about 1,000 salespeople. We did survey data. Lo and behold, the guys with the lowest close rates were the guys with the lowest scores on likability. I'm not saying that to be insulting. I've been in that boat before. Everyone goes into a sales slump. Usually, our close rate goes down when we talk to 20 customers in a day (because each bid should take an hour). We just throw the ticket at them and run to the next appointment. When things are slower, we can give customers more TLC, and the close rate is 20% higher. I have satellite trackers in all of my vehicles. When guys aren't selling, I look to see how much time they were at a customer's residence. I tell them to double their time, and they start closing again. I ask the Estimator how they expected to make a sale, when they visited ten customers that day, and didn't spend more than five minutes on each property.

It is difficult to build rapport when you are a) different race b) age c) market.

I get the idea of rapport. If I build rapport with my customers, they don't lie to me as often as the others. Customers who are just haggling for the "BEST PRICE" I just tell them a nice fuck off note and forget about it. It is tricky though. I asked this guy over the phone "if I gave you my best price over the phone, what is the guarantee that you will not have it beat by a dollar in other store and buy it there? You just told me you know X vehicle better than Y." The dude hangs up on me and calls my manager twice to complain. We fucking luled over the week.

Some customers just want best value and those customers are low-margin profit but easier to close.

It is those easy to please and fun customers that I love. They don't haggle. They don't shop. IF they do shop, they come back to you and ask you to match it.

On a busy saturday, I don't look for RAPPORT and move immediately to qualifying questions. Closing ASAP and move on to the next customer. Pass one customer to my manager or FI manager and get another one. Gogogo.

If I was selling a bigger ticket item with 50 leads per month, yes, i'd spend like 10 hours each.

Shonuff · Feb 27, 2017

TrollfaceDeux said:
It is difficult to build rapport when you are a) different race b) age c) market.

I don't see too many Black people when I'm bidding, and have no problems building rapport. I'm not sure what race has to do with anything. It's more of how you present yourself, and finding commonalities. Like I just ran an estimate where I saw they had Texas plates. I used to live there, and we talked about Texas, and then bs'd about the Cowboys and Texans.

I don't agree with your above statement at all. I can sit there and talk to 90 year olds on a bid just fine. Probably 20% of them are racist as fuck too.

You have to be a chameleon with them if you want to close. We have several Billionaires on our customer list. We have some people that are dirt poor. The fun thing is talking to people on different walks of life, and then they sign the contract. When you can show you give an actual fuck about them, is when you close. I'm booked out about a month right now from new business, so I can take more time. It's amazing, out close rate was probably 65% this Winter, but by Summer, it will drop to 25-30. Because we have more customers than we have time. You've got to find a way to slow down and make a personal connection, unless they are strictly business (which you can gauge). I ran an estimate for a builder last week, and I could tell by his demeanor, he was ready to sign and get back to work. It only took 15 minutes with him to go over the scope of the job, and have him sign. He didn't want to hear anything personal, and he didn't want to go over the value of the company. Just BAM signed. Too bad not every customer is like that. But if the product sold itself, the company wouldn't need you, now would it?

TrollfaceDeux · Feb 27, 2017

Shonuff said:
I don't see too many Black people when I'm bidding, and have no problems building rapport. I'm not sure what race has to do with anything. It's more of how you present yourself, and finding commonalities. Like I just ran an estimate where I saw they had Texas plates. I used to live there, and we talked about Texas, and then bs'd about the Cowboys and Texans.

I don't agree with your above statement at all. I can sit there and talk to 90 year olds on a bid just fine. Probably 20% of them are racist as fuck too.

You have to be a chameleon with them if you want to close. We have several Billionaires on our customer list. We have some people that are dirt poor. The fun thing is talking to people on different walks of life, and then they sign the contract. When you can show you give an actual fuck about them, is when you close. I'm booked out about a month right now from new business, so I can take more time. It's amazing, out close rate was probably 65% this Winter, but by Summer, it will drop to 25-30. Because we have more customers than we have time. You've got to find a way to slow down and make a personal connection, unless they are strictly business (which you can gauge). I ran an estimate for a builder last week, and I could tell by his demeanor, he was ready to sign and get back to work. It only took 15 minutes with him to go over the scope of the job, and have him sign. He didn't want to hear anything personal, and he didn't want to go over the value of the company. Just BAM signed. Too bad not every customer is like that. But if the product sold itself, the company wouldn't need you, now would it?

yeah, i get it. I need more training. shit was hard this month...

Shonuff · Mar 27, 2017

TrollfaceDeux said:
yeah, i get it. I need more training. shit was hard this month...

I went into a sales slump for two weeks. I couldn't sell more than 5k a week (not good based on the size of our company). It was my worst sales slump since I came out of the office and back into the field. The other Estimator and Office Manager also fell into a slump, for whatever reason. We were only getting 25 customers a week in the Winter, but were closing 75-80%. Our close rate dropped to 25%.

I had a meeting stressing the importance of building rapport, and sales returned to normal. This is just so important.

TrollfaceDeux · Mar 27, 2017

Shonuff said:
I went into a sales slump for two weeks. I couldn't sell more than 5k a week (not good based on the size of our company). It was my worst sales slump since I came out of the office and back into the field. The other Estimator and Office Manager also fell into a slump, for whatever reason. We were only getting 25 customers a week in the Winter, but were closing 75-80%. Our close rate dropped to 25%.

I had a meeting stressing the importance of building rapport, and sales returned to normal. This is just so important.

ur right. building rapport is great.

It feels great too.

Cad · Mar 28, 2017

Shonuff said:
I went into a sales slump for two weeks. I couldn't sell more than 5k a week (not good based on the size of our company). It was my worst sales slump since I came out of the office and back into the field. The other Estimator and Office Manager also fell into a slump, for whatever reason. We were only getting 25 customers a week in the Winter, but were closing 75-80%. Our close rate dropped to 25%.

I had a meeting stressing the importance of building rapport, and sales returned to normal. This is just so important.

I think this is probably true when selling services like you are, because I really care that they understand what I want and my satisfaction is probably driven by them understanding what I want and doing it the way I want.

When buying goods, I don't give a fuck what the salesman says or does, they are usually a nuisance and I just look at the quality of the good, my need for the good and the price.

TrollfaceDeux · Mar 31, 2017

Shonuff

Brother, My rapport and professionalism has increased rapidly as of late but I am still having trouble getting committment. Most of their statement boils down to "You were amazing..great...I would definitely choose you once I am ready etc." but I am unable to grasp commitment via phone or internet.

What would you recommend?

Shonuff · Mar 31, 2017

TrollfaceDeux said:
Shonuff

Brother, My rapport and professionalism has increased rapidly as of late but I am still having trouble getting committment. Most of their statement boils down to "You were amazing..great...I would definitely choose you once I am ready etc." but I am unable to grasp commitment via phone or internet.

What would you recommend?

I dunno. Sometimes, I'm great at closing everybody. Sometimes, I go in a slump. This is true for everyone. I try to remember what their hotbuttons on the product were, and repeat them back to them. If you listen closely, they'll tell you what is important to them.

TrollfaceDeux · Mar 31, 2017

Shonuff said:
I dunno. Sometimes, I'm great at closing everybody. Sometimes, I go in a slump. This is true for everyone. I try to remember what their hotbuttons on the product were, and repeat them back to them. If you listen closely, they'll tell you what is important to them.

I see. I need a better qualifying process...

Shonuff · Apr 1, 2017

TrollfaceDeux said:
I see. I need a better qualifying process...

I can't tell since I'm not there. One thing I learned when I started out, was to buddy up with the guys that at the top of the sales quota list every month. Get tips from them, and have them shadow you, giving you feedback afterwards. The type of advice you can get from them is invaluable.

TrollfaceDeux · Apr 1, 2017

Shonuff said:
I can't tell since I'm not there. One thing I learned when I started out, was to buddy up with the guys that at the top of the sales quota list every month. Get tips from them, and have them shadow you, giving you feedback afterwards. The type of advice you can get from them is invaluable.

I am practically slave to the top salesman at our dealership and I can tell you we work together (I close his deals for him when he is busy) really well.

I am adopting his approach, which is why my professionalism and outlook changed.

Yet, I cannot garner same results because I am a different man altogether.

Shonuff · Apr 1, 2017

TrollfaceDeux said:
I am practically slave to the top salesman at our dealership and I can tell you we work together (I close his deals for him when he is busy) really well.

I am adopting his approach, which is why my professionalism and outlook changed.

Yet, I cannot garner same results because I am a different man altogether.

Older guys tend at a dealership tend to sell more from repeat and referral business. If you are new, you are probably getting the new ups. It takes time, unless you are an absolute stud.

In sales, the stronger guys get wealthy and the weaker ones that can't close make minimum wage. It takes time to hone your craft. I have a friend who has worked at the same Ford dealership for 20 years. I went to go test drive a Mustang, and he had three customers waiting on him, all referral.

TrollfaceDeux · Apr 1, 2017

Shonuff said:
Older guys tend at a dealership tend to sell more from repeat and referral business. If you are new, you are probably getting the new ups. It takes time, unless you are an absolute stud.

In sales, the stronger guys get wealthy and the weaker ones that can't close make minimum wage. It takes time to hone your craft. I have a friend who has worked at the same Ford dealership for 20 years. I went to go test drive a Mustang, and he had three customers waiting on him, all referral.

I did pretty good early on last year because I relied on my manager to close my deals. This year I am focusing on closing everything myself and it is very fucking hard.

The reason why I am trying new approach is because I want to build my own clientele instead of feeding my boss....

Shonuff · Apr 6, 2017

I love it when I beat a deadbeat customer in Court, and then come back to my office to find the customer has nailed me negative social media reviews. We had a case where the Judge shut the case down after the first five minutes' of evidence I presented, and gave me what I was asking. He wouldn't listen to anything after he saw my evidence.
There was no reason for them to blast us on social media, other than for being petty. They knew they owed, I knew it, and the Judge knew it.

Adventures with Lyrical: Buying a Business (REPOST)

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