Welcome to the Magic City Business podcast, a place dedicated to celebrating the people, systems, and technology behind the top businesses in Birmingham, Alabama. On this episode, Jason Will and co-host Blake Ray, welcome guest Dan Pappert! Dan is the General Sales Manager at Serra Hyundai in Trussville, Alabama.
Dan’s Hyundai dealership sells 200+ cars per month, beating every other Hyundai store in the state of Alabama. The secret to their success, he believes, comes down to their sales process and training. Don’t miss Dan’s story of how he first met our hosts Blake aka the Magic City Cowboy. With the steep fluctuation of gas prices, eclectic vehicles are a hot topic. Dan shares his own perspective on the hype and reveals that Hyundai’s electric car is soon to be released. The infrastructure for building them, however, is still in the infant stages.
Working in sales is a grind and keeping the morale of his team up all comes down to their process. They conduct sales meetings, motivation and training every morning and focus more on activities throughout the day than they do end sales goals. Dan touches on the ways the car business has changed since he first got started in the industry.
Dan believes laziness is actually a disservice to yourself, your family and the people you work with. When he is interviewing people for the sales team, excuses are the biggest red flag he looks for. He advises that you can’t begin to address your deflections until you admit them to yourself. Social media use is now a huge part of the role of a car salesman and is required for each employee. Learn the neighborhoods around Birmingham Dan has lived in and his perception of each.
As the episode starts to wrap up, Dan touches on the overlap in the real estate and car businesses. Then, he shares where listeners can find his dealership online and see the new and pre-owned vehicles they currently have for sale.
Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share via Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!