Jim Ziegler, Automotive Sales Legend

By Sean V. Bradley

When I first began my sales career, I immediately was thrown into Internet sales. In 1999, nobody really had a clue about automotive Internet sales. The Internet was quickly changing the game — or a least had the perception of changing the game — and rendered much of what was being taught by these experts as irrelevant. Consumers were becoming educated, fi nding more choices on the Web and were looking for ways to streamline the auto shopping process. All of a sudden, we had a new type of buyer emerge onto the scene, and much of our prior sales training didn’t apply, or at least was becoming diffi cult to implement.

Auto retailers recognized that the previous generation of trainers, often referred to as the “old school” curriculum, did not have the hands-on experience or knowledge of “new school” sales tactics or techniques. Many didn’t even know what marketing to “Gen X” clients meant. Being a member of the Generation X demographic — classified as those born during the mid 1960s through the late 70s — I knew exactly what my peers were looking for in a buying experience.

I recognized that, to be effective and help dealers, I had to constantly expand my knowledge about the new methods and technologies that could help dealers. After meeting with thousands of dealer owners and managers, it is clear that our industry still needs guidance, training and support to keep dealers moving in the right direction. This type of training is best typifi ed by one of those “old school” trainers, Jim Ziegler.

The main sales process that Jim teaches could be considered “old school,” but for many of us in the industry, it is the foundation for starting the sales transaction. While many aspects are still the same,technology has helped evolve the process, as many consumers come into the store with more information on a vehicle than even the salesperson might possess.

The interaction Jim teaches now brings the Internet component into the transaction, with questions like:
• Have you shopped for a car online before?
• What did you like about the online buying process?
• What didn’t you like about the online buying process?
• Other than getting a great Internet price, what is important to you about the next vehicle you purchase?

These questions are a critical part of the process, but they migrate to many of the traditional aspects of working with customers to provide a great customer experience. Internet customers can be very demanding and it is important to meet or exceed their expectations.

I don’t get easily impressed by professionals I meet in our industry, but I was fl oored when I got to know Jim Ziegler. Like many in our business, I read his monthly column in one of the trade pubs. He clearly speaks his mind, keeps things colorful and always takes the side of the dealers. Jim often relays valuable insights to the vehicle manufacturers when it would prove troublesome for dealers to directly provide their candid feedback. One of these situations involved the “infamous Blue Oval” program that quick became a very sore point for many dealers, but they couldn’t publicly show their displeasure because of possible retribution by the factory. Jim jumped in and pointed out the negative aspects of the program and showed it to be a punitive program for many stores. More recently he has taken up the cause
for the Chrysler and Dodge dealers to get compensation for them when Chrysler terminated their retail locations.

At the NADA Convention this year in New Orleans, I had a chance to catch up with Jim and really have a good conversation with him. I was surprised to fi nd out how much this man actually knew about Internet Sales, technology, social media and other related topics. I was further impressed that he not only knew about this stuff, but he was an
active practitioner of all of these new cutting edge strategies and tactics. Recently Jim has been showing dealers how to integrate “new school” techniques into their marketing mix. For instance, he shows them how to leverage videos, blogging, social media and offers ways to increase their visibility with Facebook, Twitter, Ecademy and other
networks. He even showed me some things that I didn’t know about social media.

Anyone who knows Jim will tell you that his public persona is very different from his real persona. He is truly a kind, intelligent and — lest I forget — a hilarious guy. He encouraged me to become a Certifi ed Public Speaker like him. I took his advice was just approved as a member of the National Speakers Association.

Jim recognizes the need for constant change and, at the age of 62, his teenage energy and enthusiasm hasn’t waned a bit. He looks at every day with a “What can I learn today?” attitude. The message is: If this guy can do it, all of us can do it. So no matter what your age or experience in the dealership, get out of your comfort zone, and start taking some risks to try something new.

After a few discussions and bouncing around some ideas, Jim and I have decided to team up for a few workshops to help dealers take the best of “old school” techniques and bring them together with the latest “new school” techniques in order to create a more contemporary foundation which dealers can build on for the future. Between the two of us, we can offer a “hybrid” solution where we combine the best of both worlds; a new A-Z solution for a true “Super System.” Now that’s Synergy.

Sean V. Bradley is the founder and CEO of Dealer Synergy, a nationally recognized training and consulting company in the automotive industry. He can be contacted at 866.648.7400, or by e-mail at sbradley@autosuccessonline.com.