Sales Manager 101: Your Top Salesperson Is a Bully

After having worked for several decades in many dealerships in almost all positions, there is one type of salesperson I can say I greatly dislike. It also happens to be the one salesperson most dealerships are terrified to get rid of. The showroom bully who also happens to be the top salesperson, by a lot.

A few decades ago I was a General Sales Manager for a domestic franchise that was part of a dealer group. Right next door was a Mazda store that was also part of the same group. It sold between eighty and one hundred new Mazdas every month with eight to ten salespeople on the floor. Eighty to one hundred units a month, eight to ten sales staff, that’s pretty typical. In this case however, they had one guy who sold thirty to forty units every month. Almost half of the total volume of the store, and he was an asshole. Literally the biggest asshole you would ever meet. He worked there for years. Whenever they hired someone new, he would torture them. Talking in their ears all day long. He was the best. Every customer that came on the lot was his friend, his appointment, his customer. He literally intimidated everyone, even the management. If they gave him a hard time he would say, “Fire me,” but they never did. He sold a ton of cars. He knew it. They knew it. They left him alone while he bullied the entire staff. Even the ownership protected him. That’s the thing about the car business, maybe any sales business: if you deliver results, especially consistently significant results, you’re getting a lot of latitude.

If they gave him a hard time he would say, “Fire me,” but they never did.

The General Sales Manager at the Mazda store was a pretty nice guy. Hid in his office all day, between smoke breaks. It seemed like every month they would discuss getting rid of that salesperson, and every month they would decide to keep him. After all, they were having a hell of a time hiring and keeping staff because of the toxic environment created by the schoolyard bully. Literally three years went by until one day he said the wrong thing to the wrong person, and he was toast. That’s the thing about bullies, eventually they meet their match or bully the wrong person, and it’s over. That’s what happened to him. One day he barked at one of the owner’s kids, and... see you! The owner would put up with a whole ton of crap, but bullying his kid, no.

Here's the thing, the very month after that dickhead was fired was the best month that dealership had in years. Suddenly instead of 9 guys selling five or six cars each and one guy selling thirty plus, everyone had ten or more deals. Amazing. And you know what, I’ve witnessed that at least a dozen times in the last decade, even at my own stores. You have a salesperson who is obviously a cancer. Staff complaining constantly. Customers complaining. But the results are undeniable. Sales Management look at these types and struggle to get rid of them. Sales mean profit. Profit to the business and money in the pockets of management too. Nobody wants to lose a top salesperson. They are very hard to replace.

The very month after he was fired was the best month that dealership had in years.

It's a bit of a leap of faith really, but the reality is that ultimately, motivation and a positive environment are the main catalysts to a successful sales department, and anything that destroys that, hurts your business. These bully types. The ones who sell on aggression and strut around like they are the big dogs, untouchable. They can be a real cancer in your business. They will cause you to lose good sales staff. Staff will look at your business and think, “What kind of a company has someone like that on their staff?” and they are right. Let’s face it, it is very tough to gun your top salesperson. Even tougher if the rest of the staff happen to be, well, not that good. But you have no choice. You cannot build a good sales staff when you have a bully on the floor. You cannot ask staff, any staff, to feel good about being part of your business if you hang onto assholes because they sell cars. It’s bad business.

Funny thing is, if you think about it, one of the great risks most businesspeople look out for is becoming too dependent on one source for anything. It creates risk. If you have one parts supplier and you lose it, you’re out of business, you have no parts. If you have one bank and you lose it, then you're  definitely out of business. You never want to be in a position as a business where you are dependent on one source for your income because if you lose it, you’re in trouble. Why would you let a salesperson put you in that position? In my world, the more cars you sell, the better leader you should be. That’s a great salesperson. The sales floor is no place for a bully, any more than a school yard is. You can’t gang up and punch them out, but you can fire their ass and that’s what I highly recommend. Good luck and good selling.