🎓 A coaching tip from Proactive Training Solutions
The Tip: Between Customers is Where You Win
This video from Proactive Training Solutions reframes what it means to be a “busy” salesperson. The most successful automotive sales professionals don’t outperform because they’re luckier with traffic — they outperform because of what they do in the hours between customers. Watch the session above, then read on for how to build the between-customer discipline that separates top performers from the rest.
Go Deeper
The Myth of “I’m Just Waiting for an Up”
Walk through any showroom on a slow Tuesday and you’ll see the same scene: a few salespeople on their phones, scrolling. A few clustered at the coffee machine. Maybe one or two at their desks. The slower the floor, the more pronounced the gap becomes between those who treat empty time as recovery and those who treat it as opportunity. The first group blames traffic for their month. The second group quietly outsells everyone — because their month doesn’t depend on traffic at all. Empty time isn’t downtime. It’s the raw material of a great month.
What Top Performers Actually Do Between Customers
The list isn’t glamorous. They work their unsold follow-up: real phone calls to real customers from the last 30, 60, and 90 days. They send personalized video messages to fresh internet leads. They study their inventory — every car on the lot, every trim, every option, so they’re ready when a customer walks in. They role-play objection handling with another salesperson. They build out their referral list and reach out to past customers. They watch a 10-minute training video. None of this requires luck, traffic, or permission. All of it generates business that the average salesperson never sees coming.
The Compounding Math of Between-Customer Discipline
Five focused follow-up calls a day equals 100 calls a month. At a conservative 5% conversion to appointment and a 40% appointment-to-close rate, that’s two extra deals a month — every month — out of dead time the average salesperson wasted on a phone screen. Compound that across a year and the gap between the disciplined salesperson and the average one becomes uncrossable. This is why the top 20% close 80% of the business. It’s not talent. It’s what happens in the empty hours.
How to Build the Habit This Week
Block 30 minutes at the start of every shift for self-generated business activity — follow-up calls, video messages, prospecting, training. Put it on the calendar like an appointment, because that’s exactly what it is. Track it daily. After two weeks, you won’t need to schedule it anymore — it’ll be automatic, and your numbers will already be moving. The salespeople who win in this market aren’t the ones who hope for traffic. They’re the ones who built a business that doesn’t depend on it.
Why This Matters for Your Dealership
Proactive Training Solutions has spent 30 years measuring what actually moves the needle in automotive sales. The single highest-leverage behavior change at any dealership is teaching salespeople how to use their between-customer time productively. Build the culture, train the habit, hold the team accountable to it — and your unit volume moves within 60 days, even if your traffic doesn’t change at all.
About Proactive Training Solutions
Proactive Training Solutions was built on one belief: every salesperson can be great with the right training. Founded by Alan Ram and carrying his 30-year legacy forward, PTS delivers the most comprehensive automotive sales training in the industry — from BDC coaching to floor management to phone skills. The techniques in these videos are the same ones transforming dealerships across the country.
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