The slowdown in the economy doesn’t seem to have affected things much for Dustin Brooks, March’s Sales Professional of the Month. Despite being in a fairly rural part of Pennsylvania (Brookville’s population is under 5,000), he consistently averages 20 sales per month at Kelly Chrysler Jeep Dodge.

Married to his high school sweetheart, Lyndsay, and new father to baby daughter Brielle, Brooks, 26, has been in car sales for the last six years. Before discovering the career he loves, he worked in landscaping, as an electrician and on his family's farm. While laid off from the landscaping job for the winter, he applied and was immediately hired at a dealership not far from his home in famed Punxsutawney, Penn.

His employment with Kelly came about some time later, almost by accident, when his wife informed him of a help-wanted ad she’d seen in the newspaper. On his day off, he paid Kelly a visit, only to learn they were actually looking for a technician, not a salesman. However, after talking with Brooks and hearing about his sales experience, Owner Bill Kelly decided to hire him.

“His personality is amazing. He gets more repeat customers than I’ve ever seen,” commented Finance Manager Rick Buzard. “He’s not like the typical salesman. He’ll sell [a customer] and they’ll be here for hours just hanging out with him … and then they’ll send their friends to him. It’s crazy. It’s like he’s not even selling them, but he is.” According to Buzard, Brooks has a real knack for closing, maintaining a close rate of about 37 percent. “[Customers will] drive down an hour-and-a-half just to look at one car … Then he’ll send them home in it.”.

“I guess I’m a pretty good closer,” Brooks admitted. “It’s just something I do well.” He said test drives are where he excels. “If I get [customers] in a test drive, [they’re] pretty much in my office signing,” he stated. “The main thing is, you want to make the person like the car,” he said, and his way of accomplishing that is to get the customer to make positive comments about the vehicle by leading questions, such as, “The car drives nice, doesn’t it?” and “The steering is great, right?” Most of the time, people will answer in the affirmative, and the more yeses, the better. At the end of the test drive when the customer asks him where to park the car, he points to any open spot and instructs them to park it in the “sold lane.” Quite often, he said, they’ll park the car there, and a successful close soon follows. “If they’ve pulled into the sold lane, you know you’ve got them.”

Brooks cited another factor in his success. “In a small community, when your dad’s a farmer and knows just about everybody, and everybody seems to know you, it helps out.” It also doesn’t hurt that he stays involved with the surrounding community as much as he can. He serves as a volunteer firefighter in Punxsutawney, which he said has generated a few sales for him. And of course, having grown up on his family’s farm and still spending part of his time helping out there, he makes it a point to attend and purchase something at the local 4-H fair every year. Not long ago, in fact, he purchased the Reserve Champion pig and the Grand Champion Cornish hen, which allowed him to contribute to the 4-H, while gaining a good opportunity to get his name and picture – along with mention of the dealership – in the newspaper.

Despite his success, Brooks is convinced he can do more. “I feel like I can do better than [37 percent], believe it or not,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of improving to do over these next couple of years. I’m young in the business,” he added. His focus right now is improving his follow-up with customers and getting more referrals. His long-term goal is to reach 300 sales a year. “I know deep down I can do it,” he said. “I can’t wait to see what I’m doing in about another 10 years.”

Congratulations to Dustin Brooks, Sales Professional of the month, and thank you to Rick Buzard for bringing him to our attention.