Any salesperson can climb the ranks of a car dealership—Here’s how to start

On the latest episode of Straight to the Point, host Frank J. Lopes sits down with the General Manager of CMA’s Colonial Chevrolet in Richmond, Virginia, Shawn Hays. Lopes gets straight to the point and asks Hays, can any salesperson advance and climb the ranks from the sales floor to become a part-owner of a dealership? And, can they do it without taking 20 years’ time?

Hays says, absolutely. The opportunity is there but what you do with the opportunity is up to you. In under five years, Hays went from a salesperson to a general manager. Hays has been in sales since 1997. He starting off selling beepers, which lead to door-to-door sales, then certain life decisions eventually led him into car sales.

The opportunity is endless says, Hays. But, he says you have to have the right opportunity and be ready for that opportunity. He says that’s you have to look in the mirror, create and make those changes about yourself. Make sure you’re getting better professionally and personally every day. Hays says some people settle to be in the wrong dealerships. If you did everything you can at that particular dealership and you’re unable to move up, you have to go find the opportunity and don’t ever settle where you’re at.

Hays doesn’t condone hopping from dealership to dealership. He says he only left because he went to the management of the dealership he felt loyalty to. The dealership, unfortunately, wasn’t rising in growth like he was and they didn’t see the level they could take it to. Hays says, remember to make sure you find the right opportunity for you.

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