The Extra Mile with Commercial Truck Training: Recent Episodes
Commercial Truck Training
You will get the very best training and information anywhere on the Internet pertaining to commercial and fleet sales and marketing. If you have a passion to be the best and you want to get the very best information, the America's #1 Fleet & Commercial Dealership Training Program, Commercial Truck Training, is for you!
While we've made suggestions on CRMs in the past, for the last twenty years, only one has consistently been at the top of those suggestions: ACT! by Sage. With the technology available today, it's easier than ever to use and easier than ever to get started, thanks to our friends like Joe Lambert at Active Hosting! Joe joins Ken to discuss the ever-growing relationship that Active Hosting has with the commercial/fleet industry. Stay tuned til the end, Joe includes a tremendous offer to our listeners that's perfect for taking advantage of the remaining co-op dollars many struggle to figure out how to effectively spend! Learn more at https://www.active-hosting.com/
While the audio is sub-par, the content certainly is not! We had an incredible time at the East Coast Ultimate Boot Camp in Virginia Beach this week, and are excitedly looking forward to the West Coast Ultimate Boot Camp in Union City in just a few weeks! For those out west looking to claim a seat, you can read all you need, AND register, right here: https://www.commercialtrucktraining.com/ubc-ca/
Otherwise, please enjoy this recap from the road! (Apologies for any serious audio issues as a result. We'll get this "format" figured out soon, we promise!
If there was EVER a podcast to stop what you're doing for 40 minutes and take in some of the very best tips to success in this industry, THIS is the one. A.J. Hewitson of Paradise Chevrolet in Temecula, CA, covers a wide range of impactful processes, mindsets, and actions that make his department one of the very best in the country. This is NOT to be missed!
Since we did our "THREE THINGS You'll Love" video series on YouTube about the unique qualities of our three upcoming Ultimate Boot Camp locations, we figured we'd tie them all together with our three favorite things we love about the Ultimate Boot Camp in general! You can find out more, starting right here:
https://www.commercialtrucktraining.com/ubc/
People often ask us what the model dealership looks like in terms of doing the right activities. For the last five years, the initial response has been consistent: the Pat McGrath Family of Dealerships' Fleet & Commercial departments! This team has taken to heart the processes and mindsets needed to maximize success, and when Andy Burns joined as Commercial Manager in 2017, sales and expectations skyrocketed. In this edition, you'll find out how they grew their stature in the community in a very organic way, and how they've overcome the chokehold that the coronavirus has had on the economy in the last six months. Thank you, Andy!
Charles Christian, one of the newest members of the Huffines Commercial Team in the Dallas area, shares how he has quickly found success through the principles we discuss at the Ultimate Boot Camp, along with his own passion for helping people and businesses. Charles has a great belief in earning the right to ask for the business, and doing so through thoughtful, well-prepared questions. Thank you, Charles!
FCA BusinessLink Small Business Sales Specialist for the Northeast Region Dave Greco joins The Extra Mile to discuss strategies of success in navigating the digital world. For those struggling to figure out their path in social media marketing and making your commercial department more visible, or want to grow from your current platform, this is a MUST LISTEN!
Mike Hyde and Mike Jennings of Commercial Truck Trader join us for our latest ZoomCast, covering many angles of the commercial/fleet business. This one was a lot of fun and very informative to dealers!
Longtime friend of Commercial Truck Training Russell Savage finally gets to join us via Zoom to discuss all things Work Truck Solutions, marketing, and much more! https://www.worktrucksolutions.com/
After hearing this concept on multiple podcasts we listen to, we decided to take a stab at it for our commercial/fleet audience. How can you use the idea of friction - or reducing it - to be more efficient sales consultants, while also making it more challenging for potential customers to use your competitors? We answer those questions, and more, in this piece. As for the Tim Tebow speech we mention toward the end, that can be viewed here: https://www.facebook.com/TimTebow/videos/971767196494770
Charles Bowles (Commercial Truck Trader) is back as he joins his former teacher for some wonderful insights on where the sales are heading during the pandemic - and recovery - as well as some staple principles of Online Marketing!
Craig Judge and Eric Dobbie from Nutmeg Truck Center joined us for a Zoom simulcast to discuss how their efforts have changed - and grown! - during the Coronavirus pandemic. They have done a great job!
We have zero idea what will happen the remainder of 2020 with the chaos that COVID-19 has caused. It would be foolish to set expectations, however we firmly believe that creating a plan now will help when opportunities come available. So, here is our updated plan for 2020, though obviously anything can change at any time. In the meantime, please reach out to us, we'd love to hear from you!
In case you haven't heard, we're hosting a Virtual Mini Camp on Zoom next week, April 20-24. Each day we'll go for one hour, from 3 pm ET to 4 pm ET, discussing one overarching topic per day. As of posting this podcast, we have five seats available, and we'd love to have you join us! Visit www.commercialtrucktraining.com/vmc for more information!
Charles Bowles, Director of Strategic Initiatives for Commercial Truck Trader, highlights the various pivots in traffic since COVID-19 was recognized as an official pandemic on March 11. He and Ken talk about the value and importance of our industry during this unique time, and the ways to continue your efforts in this period.
Steve Gardner of Shealy Truck Center in Columbia, South Carolina, returns as a guest to the podcast to discuss his change in his approach to prospecting that he picked up at our Ultimate Boot Camp, as well as a hit new way to get in touch with customers and prospects: using video straight to the inbox through BombBomb! To learn more on BombBomb, take a look via this link:
https://app.bombbomb.com/app/form/?form_id=871f4edf-624a-b9d5-a734-101dd64a3eba
Since it's quite obvious that we should be avoiding each other right now in a physical sense, we provide some ways to connect with each other in all other possible ways! In this episode, which is naturally among our most unique, we take a look at how this challenge will separate those with a drive to succeed from those who merely "get by". Which category are you in? Which do you want to be in? Join us in the effort to Make a Difference during this moment in time!
In February, we had the opportunity to sit down with the Abbott and Costello of the fleet and commercial industry, Chris Dyer and Scott Vickery of FCA BusinessLink! If you want to grow your business in selling work vehicles, enhance your digital marketing, better prepare your dealership with proper inventory, and so much more, you need to listen to this podcast! This interview is a "simulcast" in that we're sharing the same interview on our YouTube Channel! You'll be seeing and hearing more of these in 2020, and we hope to have these two back again very soon. Thank you Chris and Scott for taking the time to do this!
Training Manager for One10, Tim Pearl has done it all! He shares stories from his varied experiences in our industry, discusses the intricate detail of what goes into a training project, and so much more. We really enjoyed our visit with Tim and he'll definitely be back for another edition soon!
Eric Dobbie of Nutmeg Truck Center in Hartford, Connecticut, returns to the podcast to further discuss networking excellence, the benefits of BNI, and some key concepts that both he and Ken live by. This is a high enthusiasm entry, so enjoy!
Keith Couch of Rush Truck Center in Greeley, Colorado joins the podcast again for another interview! In this episode, Keith tells some great stories around the benefits of staying in touch, the real way to make donuts work in your service department, and how surprised he was to become a bit of a YouTube sensation. We hope you enjoy Keith's return visit to The Extra Mile podcast!
We first worked with Steve Gardner of Shealy Truck Center in Columbia, SC in October 2018 when he came to our first Isuzu Ultimate Boot Camp... what a fantastic relationship it's been since! In this hour-long edition, Steve highlights many different moments of impact in his career, and shares why Your Word + Your Work = Your Worth. Steve, thanks so much!
For those interested in attending our Ultimate Boot Camp, our latest edition takes place March 23-25, 2020. Details here:
https://www.commercialtrucktraining.com/ubc/
The first guest for the year 2020 is Mike Soich, Southwest Regional Sales Manager for the Knapheide Manufacturing Company! He and Ken discuss all things Knapheide, including working with your upfitters and the education that comes with it, as well as the best sales tool in the business: the Knapheide plane!
Enjoy our first episode with Mike!
Justin Neal of the Summit Truck Group left the college baseball diamond for the commercial diamond plate and has been off and running using the simple belief that your best chance at successful prospecting is to go see people and build a relationship. Simple approach, successful results!
Justin is doing the things that we teach, and is an emerging leader among the latest generation to enter the industry. You'll enjoy this one very much!
We jokingly refer to our guest this edition as the "Mayor of Rochester, Minnesota" because he's always out in the community meeting with businesses, associations, and attending events. But you know what, that's exactly the right way to networking and grow your business in commercial and fleet, and Dale Covington is turning into a force to be reckoned with as a result. Sit back and enjoy, but learn from the active efforts Dale is taking to make great things happen at Clements Chevrolet!
We wanted to have some "fun" with Hurricane Dorian approaching, and then it went and did some surreal and devastating things in the Bahamas. Still, the content is solid here and these are issues that we've seen regularly, even in just recent weeks. Enjoy, and once again thank you to so many of you for reaching out to check on us! PS - Please pardon the golf course maintenance operations in the background, we did our best to minimize the sound!
Joe Brooks, Head of Small Business Sales and Operations for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, joins The Extra Mile Podcast for an interview with Ken Taylor. Joe was appointed to the position in February and has done a great job! He and Ken look back at an incredible 2018 for the FCA brands and also peek into the future, while also highlighting an incredible field staff that makes it all tick. Thanks for joining us, Joe!
The boys from Nutmeg Truck Center are back! This time Craig Judge is joined by Mark Sullivan, and they spend a good amount of time talking about Mark's specialty in the severe truck market. The great thing about their discussion is that so many of the points that Mark offers about attention to detail can certainly be filtered down to the rest of the commercial truck sales industry. Thanks so much, Craig and Mark!
We've done our "Questions from the Field" segment in many forms: written, video, and previously recorded with Ultimate Boot Campers. Today, we took questions off the cuff from some newer but very enthusiastic and talented sales consultants and gave some answers. If you would like to ask a "Question from the Field", email ken@coachkentaylor.com or will@commercialtrucktraining.com. Thank you!
Networking and Relationships. Two fundamental principles that we push at every single event, and very often right here on this podcast. Eric Dobbie, our guest, is a perfect example of someone who lives by those two principles and uses them to execute amazing things, both in Commercial & Fleet and beyond. A former Wall Street trader, Eric's stories are fascinating, and his stint in our field is really just beginning!
A.J. Hewitson is back for a second interview on our Extra Mile Podcast! In his first go, we discuss a lot of motivation regarding fleet/commercial sales, and it is certainly worth going back and giving a listen (or two). In this round, we get much more into the "nitty-gritty" of building your department and growing its success. This is Part 2 of 2 of his interview.
A.J. Hewitson is back for a second interview on our Extra Mile Podcast! In his first go, we discuss a lot of motivation regarding fleet/commercial sales, and it is certainly worth going back and giving a listen (or two). In this round, we get much more into the "nitty-gritty" of building your department and growing its success. This is Part 1 of 2 of his interview.
Director of Strategic Initiatives for Commercial Truck Trader, Charles Bowles, joins us for perhaps the most entertaining podcast we've done to date. He and our Ken Taylor discuss the PAID Principle of Online Inventory Display, how to NOT need a customer to pass your lot in order to see your inventory, and the hilarious story of how Charles reminded Ken of their first meeting! We will be collaborating with Commercial Truck Trader for our latest Ultimate Boot Camp, which we've now moved to July 22-24, 2019. You can find out more here:
https://www.commercialtrucktraining.com/ultimate-boot-camp/
One of our best podcasts to date, Mark Hogland and Kevin Smith of GM Fleet join to discuss a wide variety of topics within the commercial and fleet space. There is truly a "nugget" in here for everyone and every situation, particularly in setting up a Commercial BDC. Therefore, we decided not to break this up into two parts. We hope you gain as much from this as we did! Thank you Mark and Kevin!
Here are two ways to prospect through the low-hanging fruit that you're naturally connected to, what the dealership brings to the table and what you bring as well. We'll discuss the vendors of the dealership and the ease of getting in the door with them, then flip to how you can use your friends, family, and connections for your own leveraged referral source. It's easier than you think, but nothing works unless you do!
This one was a lot of fun! Our Ken Taylor interviews Craig Judge of Nutmeg Truck Centers in Connecticut for a really refreshing take on tons of different angles of the business, of work in general, and even a little on how sports can alter the landscape of sales efforts. It's longer, but it flows in such a fun way we decided to keep it in one piece. Thanks Craig!
Ever feel too bogged down by the paperwork aspects of prospecting, or can't stay organized because of cluttered notes? Ever try to remember an important point from a meeting an hour after you had it, or worse - forget it altogether? Now there's a simple solution that solves the memory, time, and even driving hazard issue. It's called Telenotes, and its the latest tool that can be applied to this industry that we absolutely love!
To go in tandem with a recently-released Coach's Corner on our YouTube Channel, we recorded this podcast to cover another of the most overlooked aspects of the sale: thank you notes! More tidbits are included, of course, but never underestimate the power of the thank you note!
In one of our first podcasts, entitled "The Perfect Day" we introduced the Hub Concept that actually promotes making cold calls. Here, we discuss it in a little more detail and add more benefits that go along with this type of tactic.
Energy, enthusiasm, and excitement about in our latest interview for The Extra Mile Podcast, as our guest Ed Peper, US Vice President of GM Fleet for General Motors joins us to talk all things Business Elite! The most exciting thing coming out of GM these days is highlighted, that definitely being the distribution of their Medium Duty lineup to dealerships. Ed, thank you so much!
Curt Remsing is a longtime friend and supporter of Commercial Truck Training and an "alum" of our Ultimate Boot Camp. He's had in the unique opportunity to essentially start and grow commercial departments in two different dealerships, and his insights are great for anyone looking to grow!
AJ Hewitson of Paradise Chevrolet in Temecula, CA is interviewed by our Ken Taylor, and you will absolutely be motivated by this podcast! It's a little longer than usual, but the content will make you want to keep the car running to hear the rest. Enjoy!
Mike Stubbs of the Huffines Group in Texas has been one of the best in the business for more than three decades! He is a tremendous resource for anyone he works with - and that includes us here at Commercial Truck Training. You'll pick up plenty of great information from Mike in this interview!
Andy Burns is celebrating 20 years at the McGrath Family of Dealerships this month, congratulations Andy! His 18 years in retail and now 2+ in commercial/fleet give him a really unique perspective on sales, management, relationships, and all things related to our industry. Here's Part 2, where we really get to know Andy!
Andy Burns is celebrating 20 years at the McGrath Family of Dealerships this month, congratulations Andy! His 18 years in retail and now 2+ in commercial/fleet give him a really unique perspective on sales, management, relationships, and all things related to our industry. Here's Part 1, with fellow McGrath rock star Tyler Janssen also chiming in while they were between sales calls!
You'd be hard-pressed to find an industry-wide talking point that Ken Taylor and Gil Weiss, Founder of Automotive Training Team, did not cover over this two-part interview. This is the shorter of the two.
You'd be hard-pressed to find an industry-wide talking point that Ken Taylor and Gil Weiss, Founder of Automotive Training Team, did not cover over this two-part interview. This is the longer of the two.
The Head of Commercial Truck Training (Ken Taylor) interviews the Head of Small Business Sales & Operations at FCA, Tim Tessmar. Tim and the SBSS team do an incredible job and the FCA brand has grown a great deal under Tim's leadership. So congratulations to all involved, and enjoy Ken's interview with Tim!
We hope you enjoyed Part 1 of your 2019 commercial and fleet New Year's Resolutions, and here is Part 2 (of 2)! Thanks for listening, and of course, Happy New Year! Make 2019 legendary!
We have a completely different system for doing personal New Year's Resolutions, but here is Part 1 (of 2) for your commercial and fleet New Year's Resolutions for 2019. Thanks for listening, and of course, Happy New Year! Make 2019 legendary!
One of our longtime friends and supporters, Keith Couch, is the interviewee of this amazing edition. Keith's insights are so awesome and detailed that we had to break the interview up into two parts! Here is "Part 2" of Ken's interview with Keith!
One of our longtime friends and supporters, Keith Couch, is the interviewee of this amazing edition. Keith's insights are so awesome and detailed that we had to break the interview up into two parts! Here is "Part 1" of Ken's interview with Keith!
I was recently asked by a young sales person, “Is there one thing you consider more important than any other that contributes to long term success in sales?” I’m glad he used the words “long term.” Read the next word in quotes carefully, it is the true essence of successful sales: “likeability.” Yes, likeability is a word! But its meaning is much deeper than it appears. We analyze various aspects of that here.
In the second edition of our latest venture, we take questions from many of the attendees who came to our West Coast Ultimate Boot Camp in August 2018. Longer than our usuals, but that's because we had so many great questions!
Our Ken Taylor sits down with his "official press agent" Mike Kennedy, Manager of Retail Development for Isuzu Commercial Truck of America, Inc. This is simply a MUST listen!
Our "Questions From the Field" segment was a big hit in our Truck Stop newsletter over the years. We decided - and quite literally on the fly - to take it to the podcast with a LIVE recording of questions from our Ultimate Boot Campers from June 2018. We hope this becomes a regular entry considering how well this one turned out!
Millennials... the generation that seems to confound so many before it. Yet, this age bracket tends to show characteristics that are really beneficial for, you guessed it, Fleet & Commercial sales. Find out why we think so here!
We tend to think of a close only in the sense of a sale. But in reality, we're always closing on something: the next step, a second appointment, the right to quote. In this podcast we'll discuss those concepts as they apply to fleet & commercial.
Commercial sales is a process, not an event. Therefore, it's the nature of the business to be working toward the next appointment. Here, we discuss some "natural" strategies to do so.
Is there such a thing as a typical day for a commercial sales consultant? Probably not. Instead, let’s think in terms of the “Perfect Day.” Ideally, it starts two weeks before. It’s called strategy and planning! If we wake up on the typical day and just start thinking about it, we are already in trouble.
Another track that was originally video where the visual didn't work out, this take was perfect for the podcast. It's all about working with - or around - Enterprise. Enjoy!
Have you ever gone to a movie and cried with a character, laughed with them, or felt the same emotions that they portray? It feels "real", doesn't it? That's because they practice their scripts! Here, we'll discuss that application to commercial & fleet sales.
A "mashup" of old video recordings where the audio was great but the video wasn't, this is our first installment of this nature! We'll discuss all the ways to network (and sell) through warm referrals. It's easier than you think!