Nathan Hays is a car sales professional who has risen to the game's highest level by building local community relationships. His popular hashtag, #AskForNate has become a staple among his clients and has helped generate new car sales opportunities through repeat and referrals.

In this episode, Nathan shares his story of how he joined the auto industry as we also discuss if Selling Cars is Still Worth It in 2023.

Nathan begins the episode by explaining how he stayed focused the last couple of years during the uncertain pandemic period "My thought process was, I have to sell cars now, but I also have to sell cars later. And so when you're coming to work, and you're telling people, I can't sell you a car, and they think that's crazy because it's a salesperson's telling them, I can't sell you a car. I was always trying to arm myself or give myself ammunition of how can I sell this person a car later or let them know that they could now buy this CRV or this Hyundai Tucson or Nissan Rogue or whatever else."

Quoting his words, "if you know, like, and trust someone, everyone kind of knows and trusts people at their core. But you need to find the people that will like you." Continue to focus on people I know will like you, and then stay consistent on social media for top-of-the-mind awareness. And try to be consistent.

Drawing an example from his experience of always wearing a name tag. Do I want to be flashy? Do I want to pass my business cards out everywhere? No. But if I want to be successful, I want to maintain the message And let my customers or future customers know that I'm going to be there for them. I have to put myself out there. And some people are highly introverted and don't want to do that. And I've seen a lot of people be unsuccessful because they're afraid to have a Facebook page. They're afraid to give customers their cell phone numbers. I work with people who don't have voicemails set up, which is crazy. I wouldn't say I like voicemail, but at least if someone calls me or I call them, they call me back. My voicemail tells them who I am and whether they want to talk to me.

Creating an environment in which people will want to stay and can thrive should be the top priority for leadership.

For leaders, so much work is about setting up your team members for success. This isn't about micromanaging and trying to control their every move. It's about giving them the tools and resources they need to succeed. One fundamental way for leaders to do this is by creating an environment where employees can thrive. When leaders intentionally cultivate a work culture and office life that helps their employees work at their best, it's an investment in the success of the team as a whole.

The strength of having a good network

Quoting from a book called The Platinum Rule, which says Instead of Treating others the way you want to be treated, treat others the way they want to be treated. I've always told people, people come in, and they don't buy a car, and they apologize. They feel bad for wasting my time. And I say, if I take care of you, I know someday you'll take care of me. And it's how the law of Reciprocity works. And it's not that I like, I'm going to be nice to you that way, later on, you give me money or buy a car for me because it's the right thing to do. Because people don't know, you meet people that only bought two cars in their life, have no idea what they're doing, and don't have any family close by, so they're just looking for someone to help.Guide them through the process without feeling taken advantage of.

The hunter farmer concept

In the sales industry, we are so caught up in this idea of being a hunter-warrior. You go out, slay the deer, and bring the meat home. But there's this other concept about networking, doing right by others, having these connections with people, helping people who haven't b