Construction guy finds his niche in sales
At first glance, the construction and auto industries might not seem as though they have a lot in common. But for Brent Buell, a salesperson for Toyota of Santa Fe, there was enough of commonality that he’s been able to make the switch from swinging a hammer to twirling a key.
“When I applied for the job, I told Buddy Espinosa (then the internet manager), ‘I don’t know about selling cars, but I’m good with customer service.’”
That was almost eight years ago and it was enough to land Buell the gig, and keep him happily making the daily trip from Albuquerque.
“I did construction for 15 years and then I had my own business for a couple of years, but with the economy going to crap in 2009, I went up and talked with Buddy and he hired me on.”
At first Buell worked in the internet department, which turned out to be pretty tough at first.
“It took a little bit,” he said. “After a couple of months, I was wondering, ‘Did I make the right decision?’ The first three, four months were a struggle. Then I started getting a groove.”
As a matter of fact, it took quite a awhile before he even made a sale.
“I remember selling my first car,” Buell said. “I don’t think I sold a car for my first three weeks and in the car business, it’s all by commission. This customer was just grinding me, grinding me on the sales price. The salesman who was working with me called Buddy and he told him, ‘I don’t care what you sell the vehicle for, but make sure Brent gets on the board for selling it.’ In the car business, it’s all about momentum. Buddy realized that ‘Brent is a good guy, we’ve got to get him going.’ After that first car, things just started to turn around.”
And when it comes to selling, Buell has a pretty simple but tried-and-true formula.
“My philosophy is if you come into the store, I’ll take care of you and you’re probably going to come back and see me,” he said. “It’s all about relationships. The average person is going to buy five to 10 cars in a lifetime or more. If you take care of them, in the sales world, when somebody comes back to see you, it’s much easier to sell to that person than with somebody you’ve never met before.”