Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
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SALES PROFESSIONAL FLASHBACK 2011 Sales Professional of the Year Tim Howell Sharpnack Chevrolet Buick • Willard, Ohio Despite a slight drop from his 2011 monthly average of 46 units, Howell has not lost his touch at the Willard, Ohio, dealership. "My numbers are not as high as last year, but I am in the high 30s so far this year. So, I'm very pleased nonetheless." General Manager Jeff Neibler, who has worked with Howell for nearly a decade, believes there may be more than Chevy running through the salesman's veins. Neibler thinks people like Howell have an inherent talent for the business. "It's in their blood. It's who they are. It's part of their DNA, and I believe it's part of his." 2010 Sales Professional of the Year Glen Roberts Rich's Car Corner • Shoreline, Wash. A typical work day won't find salesman Glen Roberts in a pair of khakis, sport coat or tie. While he may not be dressed to the nines, Roberts takes his job very seriously, as proven by sales figures that made him our 2010 Sales Professional of the Year. During that year, he moved almost 50 units a month, and he is still averaging about the same amount in 2012 for Rich's Car Corner in the Seattle suburb of Shoreline, Wash. Much of his success is due to the personal, straight-up approach he takes with each prospec- tive customer, lot owner Richard Sargent said. 2009 Sales Professional of the Year Darrell Lee Hare Chevrolet • Noblesville, Ind. America's oldest transportation company boasted our 2009 Sales Professional of the Year. Darrell Lee joined Hare Chevrolet in Noblesville, Ind., in 2003, when the Hare family business was already 156 years old, so a solid reputation was already on his side. And he hit the ground running, selling 39 units in his first full month at the dealership. In the four years prior to earning this honor, Lee was the annual top GM salesman in Indiana, earning him rewards like a trip to the 2006 Super Bowl at, ironically, Ford Field in Detroit. In 1847, when Wesley Hare started the family wagon-making business, there weren't many choices for drivers. With today's wide selection, Lee subscribes to the theory that the customer knows best. "The customer will tell you what they need, and they will sell themselves if you're willing to listen." 2008 Sales Professional of the Year Roger Neff Dave Smith Motors • Kellogg, Idaho More than three years after being honored as 2008 Sales Professional of the Year, Roger Neff remains among the elite at Dave Smith Motors. In fact, he has been since beginning at the Kellogg, Idaho, dealership almost nine years ago, battling it out with more than 80 salespeople at any given time at one of the world's top-ranked sellers of Chrysler products. That reputation serves him well. Things have slacked off a bit from 2008, but mostly because Neff has been away from sales, train- ing for wrestling and weightlifting competitions. In fact, he and his wife, Christine, who has worked alongside her husband and Dave Smith Motors for the last six years, each hope to break respective world deadlifting records in the very near future.