Former Co-Worker Spilled the beans on his Son-In-Law's Consistent 5 figure weekends

19 replies
A few years ago, I had a great co-worker at a pretty decent job.

Anyway, we got to talking about his daughter and what she did for a living. I found it interesting, because what she was doing, is something my niece actually wanted to do. Then my ears really perked up when we got onto what his Son in Law does for a living and the fact he makes 5 figures consistently just for 2 days of work. In fact, I almost spit out my soda when he told me how much money he makes.

I'm not telling you this story so you can go out and mimic it exactly. (though some of you with the right experience and motivation could and will make a killing if you do.) I'm telling you this, so you can adapt it, think outside the box with it, twist it, and use it for your offline clients or make it into a new type of business based on your own skills, knowledge, and abilities.

His son in law had sold cars. However, as some of you may or may not know, selling cars for a dealership is a dual edged sword. Sure, if you know enough people, you can build up a pretty decent amount of people who will come in and buy from you, and send family and friends to you. However, the problem is, it often takes a lot of time to get to easy street in this regard.

Sure the dealerships advertise (they spend a lot on advertising) but really they throw you as a sales person to the wolves.

So, what did he decide to do? He decided to take matters into his own hands and control the entire sales process.

How did he do this?

Well, you see, he recruited a few of his friends who were also very good at selling cars to help him.

What he does, is he contacts big car dealerships, talks to the General Manager of the dealership (most owners of big dealerships are ghosts at their dealerships, they rely strictly on their GM, they only stop in maybe once a week or even once a month) asks them how their sales are doing? Most of them are going to bitch and moan (car dealers can never have enough sales.)

He then makes them a deal they can't refuse. He tells them him and his team are new car marketing and sales specialists, if they give him a chance, he will get them 6-7 figures in gross sales.

Usually not many dealerships are going to refuse to hear someone out who can help them make an additional 6-7 figures in gross sales.

What exactly he does

Once he has an interested dealership he hammers out the contract with the dealership, more on that below. He finds out exactly what kind of deals he can make, in other words, what vehicles he can slash prices on, any special financing, etc...

Once he has all this information, he starts his media blitz. He runs ads in the paper, radio ads, and some tv commercials, for a week. It's a weekend only blow out.

He then drives/flies himself and his team to the location of the dealership (yes he does this nationwide)

He gets there on the Friday before the sales weekend and makes sure everything will be in place. He prepares the regular sales staff for the onslaught they're going to get.

Once that weekend arrives him and his team work their asses off selling cars like crazy.

After the sale event is over, he gets 10-20%+ commission on every vehicle sold. (This was previously hammered out in the contract with the dealership)

I know someone is going to ask about the advertising. He tries to get the dealership to pay for the advertising. Because so many dealerships already pay a ton for advertising, this usually isn't a problem. They just have to do it "his way." for a week. However, if they don't want to do it that way, he will pay for the advertising out of his pocket but then his commission on every vehicle sold will go up drastically.

Every weekend he does this him and his team make 5 figures for 3 days, only 2 days of which are actual "work."

Just thought I'd share this with you.

As I said, for some of you with the proper background, you could probably take this as is and run with it. Others of you will just have to think about it, twist it, adapt it, and you too could be raking in a small fortune for a few days worth of "work."
#beans #consistent #coworker #figure #soninlaw #spilled #weekends
  • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
    I will add a few things. First anyone who didn't know about this clearly has never watched the movie, "The Goods". It is a fun look at this form of sales & consulting team.

    These groups really exist if anyone doubts it. It is a form of Car Dealer consulting but takes it way further. The expert team not only trains the in house team but also sell. I have never personally experienced such a team but if you are good at selling and like traveling this can be a great way to make serious money.

    All that advertising (when done right) brings in loads of lot traffic. Since the in house team just got done with some hardcore training they sell better (most will lose steam after the sale). When you combine the lot traffic with an in house team ready to sell and a team of sales experts who only care about selling they can blow out a car lot. And I mean that literally. These teams when working in smaller dealerships can sell out the lot. Though to avoid this they will often consign cars from other lots.

    The money is good as mentioned (as is all sales consulting) even if you don't take it to this level a sales pro can do this even by just working weekends here and there as a 1099 Independent Sales Pro. I have even heard of a few guys who will set up in an area and they are able to work many of the lots. They bring in their own customers and sell what those clients wants at the lot that has it.
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  • Profile picture of the author tpgrm
    This sounds like the documentary film from John Landis entitled "Slasher".

    http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1133891-slasher/

    Movie Info

    Director John Landis, best known for comedies such as Animal House and The Blues Brothers, turns to the documentary genre with this feature-length profile of high-strung freelance used-car salesman Michael Bennett. For the right price, Bennett and his team of salesmen will come to your used-car dealership and work the customers as they move out as many vehicles as possible during a three-day blowout sale.



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    • Profile picture of the author Jason_V
      Originally Posted by Aaron Doud View Post

      I will add a few things. First anyone who didn't know about this clearly has never watched the movie, "The Goods". It is a fun look at this form of sales & consulting team.
      .
      Originally Posted by tpgrm View Post

      This sounds like the documentary film from John Landis entitled "Slasher".

      http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1133891-slasher/

      Movie Info

      Director John Landis, best known for comedies such as Animal House and The Blues Brothers, turns to the documentary genre with this feature-length profile of high-strung freelance used-car salesman Michael Bennett. For the right price, Bennett and his team of salesmen will come to your used-car dealership and work the customers as they move out as many vehicles as possible during a three-day blowout sale.

      That's awesome, I never even heard of these movies before.
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  • Profile picture of the author NewParadigm
    they should make a show out of it and call it Car Lot Rescue!
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    • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
      Originally Posted by NewParadigm View Post

      they should make a show out of it and call it Car Lot Rescue!
      That is slightly different. More of a pure but quick version of car dealer consulting and training.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jason_V
      Originally Posted by NewParadigm View Post

      they should make a show out of it and call it Car Lot Rescue!
      Car Lot Rescue has absolutely nothing to do with this business model.

      Car Lot Rescue deals with fixing a car lot from within.

      Tom Stuker, when it comes to auto sales, is one of the best in the business.

      His focus is on:

      Collections (Buy Here Pay Here lots need to make collections on delinquent customers)
      Owners (are they overlooking things they shouldn't be overlooking)
      Salespeople (are the salespeople selling or telling)
      Sales managers (are they leading by good example or are they hindering the sales people)

      The business model I posted has nothing to do with fixing a car lot from within. Yes, him and his team go in and will help polish up the regular sales staff on their selling skills. That's not their priority.

      Their priority is to come in, put down a media blitz, get people on the lot and work their asses off selling for the weekend.

      They don't care about "fixing" the car lot's internal problems. They care about coming in making 5 figures for themselves in 2 days and moving on to the next dealership.
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  • Profile picture of the author IneedProfit
    I love stories and information because we can always find something useful in it. With that said, there are a lot of problems with your post.

    Before I address your problems, go to Google and search for "staffed sales events". My company is ranked well and does a lot of business in this niche.

    First, I was 21 (2001) or so when I sold my first business and started selling cars. Even though I was in training half a day and on the floor half a day, I still made a little over $7K my first month. There are a lot of lazy people in auto sales, and you can do fine with the just the floor-up traffic.

    Second, you have two types of dealerships: You have the large corporate dealerships and the family owned dealerships. When it comes to family owned, the owners are in there almost every day, unless they're Red McCombs, Tom Benson or the like.

    Third, it's not as easy as you make this sound. If you have no automotive background, you don't have a chance in hell of closing a deal. A lot of dealers don't want anything to do with the negative perception of a staffed sales events. A lot of dealers want you to bring in your own F&I team. Without a history, most dealers will not pay for anything upfront.
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    • Profile picture of the author TheBigBee
      Am I the only one who finds the thread title utterly hilarious?
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    • Profile picture of the author Jason_V
      Originally Posted by IneedProfit View Post

      I love stories and information because we can always find something useful in it. With that said, there are a lot of problems with your post.

      Before I address your problems, go to Google and search for "staffed sales events". My company is ranked well and does a lot of business in this niche.

      First, I was 21 (2001) or so when I sold my first business and started selling cars. Even though I was in training half a day and on the floor half a day, I still made a little over $7K my first month. There are a lot of lazy people in auto sales, and you can do fine with the just the floor-up traffic.

      Second, you have two types of dealerships: You have the large corporate dealerships and the family owned dealerships. When it comes to family owned, the owners are in there almost every day, unless they're Red McCombs, Tom Benson or the like.

      Third, it's not as easy as you make this sound. If you have no automotive background, you don't have a chance in hell of closing a deal. A lot of dealers don't want anything to do with the negative perception of a staffed sales events. A lot of dealers want you to bring in your own F&I team. Without a history, most dealers will not pay for anything upfront.
      It's good to have someone experienced in this exact business model add some knowledge.

      To your first point, that's exactly correct. As someone already pointed out, all you have to do is watch Car Lot Rescue, and you'll see plenty of examples of that.

      Most car salespeople won't do the fundamentals. Everything from asking the right questions, to giving a proper walk around and demo ride.

      Despite what you said, there are a lot of car lots that are suffering as far as hitting their monthly quotas. Most of that has to do with internal car lot problems, as also pointed out above. So, if someone can help to add 6-7 figures in gross sales, a lot of dealerships will listen to what you have to say.

      As to your second point, I can name 3 very large family owned dealerships off the top of my head right now where the owners are "ghosts." They let everything up to the GM. However, this point isn't really a big deal in the grand scheme of things. It should be pretty obvious to most people you have to ask for the owner/manager when you call any business.

      To your third point, I actually meant to mention that his team also includes financing experts.

      Overall, everything you said in the third point, I actually did address. I said in the original post:

      As I said, for some of you with the proper background, you could probably take this as is and run with it.

      Proper background meaning having automotive sales experience or access to people who have auto sales experience (most people here are, or have the potential, to be marketing experts so they could handle the cold calling and the marketing and they let the people with the auto sales experience do their thing.)

      You're correct as far as some dealerships not putting any money up front. I addressed that too.

      In fact, even with a proven track record, he still has dealerships not want to pay anything upfront, but as I said, his commission per sold car goes up drastically when they don't. Even with his out of pocket expenses for the media, he still makes 5 figures.

      As far as easy, well you go ahead and show me any business model where you can clear 5 figures for 2-3 days of "work" and it's "easy." Nothing in any type of offline business is easy. However, being that using this business model can give someone more income in 2-3 days that some people don't even make in a year, should give you pause and re-evaluate what you consider "easy." Are you hungry enough? If so, you can pursue it.

      Lastly, I will again point to where I said:

      Others of you will just have to think about it, twist it, adapt it, and you too could be raking in a small fortune for a few days worth of "work.

      Like you said, the intention of the thread was more about just throwing this business model or idea out there. A lot of people here want to do offline stuff.

      Can you do this type of thing with:

      Jewelry Stores
      High end fashion boutiques
      Pool/spa shops
      Antique shop
      etc....

      You bet.

      I guess I should have clarified a bit more, if you have the motivation to do this business, then by all means do it with cars.

      The real take away was, he got sick of being at the mercy of the dealership and he didn't want to wait around to build up repeat customers. He took control of the marketing process and helps the business move inventory and gets paid handsomely for it.

      There's a lot of smart people here, pick an offline business work out a contract for a commission, and take control of the marketing for a blowout sale over the course of a few days. Get paid handsomely for it.
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      • Profile picture of the author umc
        Why do people here pick apart people's ideas and experiences that are shared for free on here while guys charge actual cash money for far less on wso's daily? Dude came and shared some ideas and experiences, and people want to pick it apart. Not only did he say that not everyone will relate, but isn't the old YMMV kind of implied with all of these things? At least it was something new to talk about, and like he said, the concept can be taken and applied elsewhere. I love the inspiration to think along additional lines. Too many people here just want to rehash the same old stuff.
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        • Profile picture of the author IneedProfit
          Originally Posted by umc View Post

          Why do people here pick apart people's ideas and experiences that are shared for free on here while guys charge actual cash money for far less on wso's daily? Dude came and shared some ideas and experiences, and people want to pick it apart. Not only did he say that not everyone will relate, but isn't the old YMMV kind of implied with all of these things? At least it was something new to talk about, and like he said, the concept can be taken and applied elsewhere. I love the inspiration to think along additional lines. Too many people here just want to rehash the same old stuff.
          I didn't pick anything apart. With that said, he addressed my post with a great response. I would give him more credence than most that post here -- most people here are oblivious to the realities of business, or prey upon those that are oblivious.

          This is a great message board, but buying a WSO or reading a thread isn't going to make or break you. You either have it or you don't. The truth will always be the truth.
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          • Profile picture of the author umc
            Originally Posted by IneedProfit View Post

            I didn't pick anything apart. With that said, he addressed my post with a great response. I would give him more credence than most that post here -- most people here are oblivious to the realities of business, or prey upon those that are oblivious.

            This is a great message board, but buying a WSO or reading a thread isn't going to make or break you. You either have it or you don't. The truth will always be the truth.
            My bad. I read some of his other threads and thought your post might have been more of the same reaction he's had elsewhere. Probably should have posted that over on the yellow pages thread. Seems like lately people have taken lots of shots at people coming here with ideas because many are paranoid that it is little more than a prelude to a wso sales pitch. I love the ideas and energy. Again, my fault if I miscategorized the reactions herein.
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  • Profile picture of the author javarog
    We used to call these elite bunches Carnies with Teeth,, I used to do this exact thing in a different industry,, its a young mans game,, you have to have a lot of stamina because once you start selling it was 3 days 16 hours a day of selling, close and next..
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    • Profile picture of the author rushindo
      Originally Posted by javarog View Post

      We used to call these elite bunches Carnies with Teeth,, I used to do this exact thing in a different industry,, its a young mans game,, you have to have a lot of stamina because once you start selling it was 3 days 16 hours a day of selling, close and next..
      Interesting. Do you care to share what industry you did this in?
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      • Profile picture of the author javarog
        Originally Posted by rushindo View Post

        Interesting. Do you care to share what industry you did this in?
        Sure Spas , saunas and pool tables...
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  • Profile picture of the author kevin Hislop
    Thanks for the post, just goes to show you how "easily" you can make money no matter what the time frame.

    work smart not hard... some people say I am lazy, I say that i am effecient!

    Cheers
    Kev
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  • Profile picture of the author MUNK26
    Thanks for the post. I know first hand that this method will work since I was on the receiving end of the marketing described. What they did was send out a scratch off with a key attached to it.
    Once you do the card (of course everyone wins) it gives you an automated number to call on how to redeem your prize. When you get there they gave us a game we could play to further enhance our winnings while they run your info let us know what vehicles we could get deep discounts on. I knowingly knew what they were doing and asked the guy in charge of the promotion as to how well they did and he told me their marketing tactics was responsible for many car dealerships moving hundreds of new vehicles they couldn't sell.
    I also noticed they had a select type of people they were targeting (those of us who recently purchased a new vehicle within a few years). Even though I didn't want to trade out my vehicle, their marketing tactics brought me to the lot that I stayed over a hour away from.
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    • Profile picture of the author rushindo
      Originally Posted by MUNK26 View Post

      Thanks for the post. I know first hand that this method will work since I was on the receiving end of the marketing described. What they did was send out a scratch off with a key attached to it.
      Once you do the card (of course everyone wins) it gives you an automated number to call on how to redeem your prize. When you get there they gave us a game we could play to further enhance our winnings while they run your info let us know what vehicles we could get deep discounts on. I knowingly knew what they were doing and asked the guy in charge of the promotion as to how well they did and he told me their marketing tactics was responsible for many car dealerships moving hundreds of new vehicles they couldn't sell.
      I also noticed they had a select type of people they were targeting (those of us who recently purchased a new vehicle within a few years). Even though I didn't want to trade out my vehicle, their marketing tactics brought me to the lot that I stayed over a hour away from.
      I have been getting those key and scratch off mailers for a long time. Just got one a couple days ago. The mailer is HUGE (like 12" x 18") and it has 8 pages... all promoting a car sale. I plan to go to the dealership just to ask how the promotion went.
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  • Profile picture of the author MUNK26
    What I really liked about the marketing they did was that with the key and card they never mentioned buying a car and that you were guaranteed to win something. When you get there they had envelopes on the wall and you have to pick one to see what your prize was. They then give you an additional game to play so that you won't pay attention to the time spent on them running your credit. All in all, they were very convincing and efficient in their marketing funnel.
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