All posts tagged MBA

Automotive Sales Training By Paul Hauke Ba, Mba, Icmp, Iccsp, Iccdp, Iccdmp

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Automotive Sales Training leader PAUL RICHARD HAUKE, BA, MBA, ICMP. ICCSP, ICCDP, ICCDMP, President of IFFPF Inc., the # 1 sales training company worldwide, announces the addition of new and improved sales training and recruiting programs for the Automotive, Marine, RV and Motorcycle industries worldwide. IFFPF Inc. now has the most professional and current Sales Training, Leadership Training, Management Training, Marketing, Advertising, and Customer Satisfaction Indexing available. IFFPF Inc. is more than just the Nations # 1 Sales Recruiting and Training Company: We are the cutting edge of market trends, products and services. IFFPF Inc. clients get all the newest techniques , products, and services first worldwide.

As the marketing in this industry changes so must the marketers. The marketing techniques, products and services change daily. New technology is always on the horizon. Today in the consumer retail environment there is change everywhere. Much of this change is necessitated by the ever increasing number of outlets selling the same products. As it has been often quoted, the piece of the pie is getting smaller. Retail neighborhood storefronts of years ago had only to compete with other retail neighborhood store fronts, and only those in the same neighborhood. Then with the advent of shopping malls and centers , large retailers moved from the neighborhoods to the shopping malls. The competition then became centered on shopping malls and centers. Eventually neighborhood stores began to make a comeback by being more customer friendly and service conscious. Automotive, Marine, RV and Motorcycle dealers were no different. Many neighborhood dealers moved to better highway locations, and thus began the auto mall building. Some did this voluntarily and some were forced by the factories. Either way all retailers moving to bigger and better facilities also took on a lot more debt to do so. So the question is did taking on more debt to be bigger and better really make sense. To many it worked very well. However, I have been involved in working closely with dealerships that over spent and had to restructure, sell off parts of their business, or completely sell out. The buyers were almost always large and very well capitalized dealer groups. Many were publicly financed. And of those public companies many of them have also had to eventually restructure and/or sell.

Now today its no secret that there are many dealerships in trouble. The competition between the dealerships is phenomenal due to the amount of makes and models available , with more coming. Many domestic manufacturers are making there money overseas. However, here in the USA many dealerships are struggling to stay alive. Many dealerships, mostly domestics, have not been able to find buyers for their franchises and have just closed. Domestic manufacturers have been planning for years to close many operating franchises, so to increase the share of the pie for the remaining dealerships.

Franchised dealerships, such as auto dealers, marine dealers, and motorcycle dealers do have an edge over the non franchised business.. The edge is that you must be a franchise to sell and service the product, unlike a clothing store , a restaurant, a food store, etc. With the manufacturers understanding the need to reduce the number of dealers , the future should improve. However , while this is happening another challenge is developing. The internet has brought about an onslaught of non franchised brokers for cars, trucks, boats, RVs and motorcycles that compete with franchised dealers on the internet to sell the franchisees products for them for a referral fee or a listing fee. These internet sites operate both inside and outside each individual dealers area. The promise of the lowest price drives many of these sites. Dealers find themselves fighting over deals worth a few hundred dollars. Its ironic that dealers operate in a retail environment where when a $30,000. vehicle is sold the state collects a sales tax around $2,000.00 for doing nothing (depending on state) and the dealer who has stocked this vehicle, maintained it, and paid the overhead to operate the sales organization many times makes less, both on the gross side and the net side.

Ok , so whats the answer? Well the first thing is that the manufacturers must do a better job with product mix. There have been many management errors in this area. It seems that all manufacturers are aware of this. How well and how quickly they can and will make the necessary changes remains to be seen. Either way it has been and will be a very costly lesson for domestic manufacturers. Many dealers will be better off with leaving the business. Those who, for whatever reason have not kept up the rapidly changing times. The factories and these dealers have got to work the details out between themselves. For the survivors it is imperative that they know and implement the newest products, services and techniques available today and tomorrow and the next day, etc. As the old saying goes; only the strong will survive. Actually, the new saying is that only those dealers that are knowledgeable, prepared and willing to change will survive.

Sales training in the Automobile, Marine, RV and Motorcycle dealership is more important today then ever. Training that shows sales personnel how to prospect on their own, how the dealer can maximize the internet to his or her own benefit, how to cut advertising expenses, how to maximize return on investment not only with the fixed assets of the company but with the human assets of the company. As with both they must be developed. Too many dealerships are not maximizing the potential of the human assets. Unskilled owners and mangers are the problem. An owner, manager and salesperson today is dramatically different than an owner, manager or salesperson of twenty year sago. Just ask any dealership owner, manager, or staff of the dealers and dealer groups that have gone out of business and those who will fail in the future. Cutting edge products and services for the dealership of the future is the answer.

Paul Hauke, the President of IFFPF Inc. has over twenty five years of professional experience in these areas. He is an expert and has written many articles and books on the subject matter. IFFPF Inc. was the first and is still the only company to offer Professional Certification Programs in Marketing, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Development, Retail Sales, Hospitality Sales, and Professional Auctioneering. Paul Hauke , himself has over fifteen professional Certifications. He is a pioneer in the development of web based marketing and has developed many successful strategies for search engine optimization for clients.

Paul Hauke and IFFPF Inc. are the INNOVATORS.

http://www.iffpf.com

FOUND An alternative business career using online search skills

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If you are getting tired of working for someone else or would like to explore how to make more money and develop an alternative career that can free you from your current job … then please give this article a thorough read. It discusses how to take skills you may already possess and interest you may already have to help you start a brand new career or explore alternatives to what you are doing now.

Chances are that you are reading this article online or found it online and printed it out to read later. The internet has become a powerful and essential tool for many people for information, entertainment and education. But did you know that you can use a simple a tool as your web browser and internet access to make money from what you find online?

Yes, you can and this article will tell you how you can do it.

There are many industries that the concept we are going to discuss could be applied to but we are going to focus specifically on one: the Mergers & Acquisitions Industry (M&A).

The M&A business for many years was predominantly limited to insiders who had connections with each other (it was called, the old boys network). These insiders made millions of dollars by sharing information between themselves as to which companies were for sale and who wanted to buy them. As mergers and acquisitions matchmakers (also called finders), they brought the seller and buyer together and made their huge finders fees.

Now all that has changed; the Internet makes it possible for anyone using a computer to research and access business information that was previously hard to find and often available only to the ol boy insiders. And you can earn a finder or referral fee for introducing business buyers and sellers that result in a closed transaction.

Lets approach our discussion on this in the form of a Question & Answer session:

Is the Mergers and Acquisitions business really that profitable?

Absolutely. And being a finder for M&A deals can be a very lucrative home-based profession.

You can think of it like being a real estate broker, only you match buyers and sellers of businesses, instead of homes. As a real estate broker you can sell a house for $100,000 or you can sell a house for $1 million. The more expensive the house, the more commission you earn. M&A finder or referral fees can be a lot more, since businesses transactions can be quite larger than a residential real-estate transaction.

M&A Deal Finders do matchmaking with businesses that have at least $1 million in sales and go all the way up to $100 million in sales, on that basis alone; being a matchmaker in acquisitions and mergers is a much more profitable business than being a real estate broker.

You are an intelligent person, but you dont have an MBA degree or a law degree; will you be able to do Mergers and Acquisitions matchmaking?

To answer this question, lets take our example of being a real estate broker. You show a home for sale, the buyer either likes the home or they dont. If they dont like it, you take them to another home until they find the one they want. Mergers and Acquisitions works exactly the same way, only you use the power and information found on the internet to find what business buyers and investors are looking for and then find business owners and sellers that match what the buyers/investors are looking for and all of the research is done on the computer using the internet to find businesses. Obviously having specialized learning, education or training will be of help to you in any business but you do not have to be a lawyer, CPA or have an MBA in order to be a successful Finder.

Investment Banking Interview Preparation

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For undergrads and MBA students, the news that they have been selected for an interview at an investment bank comes with both excitement and dread. A position as an analyst or associate in corporate finance can be the first step towards a highly successful and highly lucrative career. Investment banking interviews, however, can be some of the most intimidating interviews out there, so let’s take a look at how to get prepared.

Before we jump into interview practice mode, we should take a step back and think about how we want to come across in the interview. In short, investment banking candidates should come off as bright, confident and likable.

In the final cut of selecting a hire, investment banks have already determined which candidates are smart and capable, so the decision comes down to who they like the best. So in addition to knowing a thing or two, candidates must remember to come across as a fun person to work with as well.

Know Your Story

Like any interview, candidates should have stories prepared about their lives that discuss their past, present and future. These are great answers for the standard questions:

“Tell me about yourself.” Or “Walk me through your rsum.” “Why are you interested in investment banking or this firm?” “Where do you see yourself in five to ten years?”

Candidates are highly likely to receive these or similar questions in any interview, and having succinct, practiced answers to them will give the impression of a polished candidate.

Your past story should highlight events that have qualified you for or gotten you interested in investment banking. Your present story should demonstrate why you want the particular position, how it is a logical step from where you are coming from and perhaps touch on where you hope the position will lead.

Your future story should discuss how investment banking will lead to where you want to go. Good future ambitions might be a managing director position in investment banking, a principle at a private equity firm, a CFO or perhaps and entrepreneur. In any case, you should communicate that those are long-term ambitions and you look forward to the experiences you’ll have in the position you’re interviewing for.

Know the Industry and Firm

Where investment banking interviews begin to get trickier is that firms will expect you to know what you’re getting into. If you confuse an equity analyst position with an analyst position in corporate finance, for example, you will not make it any further in the process.

You should understand the major divisions within an investment bank – sales & trading, corporate finance, research, etc. You should understand the hierarchy of positions within corporate finance – analyst, associate, vice president, managing director – and what each position does.

At the macro level, you need to understand the major differences between bulge bracket investment banks, middle market and boutique investment banks. You should also have a good answer for why you would prefer one type over another (and be sure that you prefer the type you’re interviewing with).