Having previously owned his own business for 20 years, Patrick Himmler understands the dedication required to excel on the job. He works at least six days a week, sometimes seven, at Auction Direct USA in Victor, N.Y. “It is pretty demanding at times,” he stated. After being there three years, he has some flexibility in his schedule, “but if you’re not here working, you’re not making any money,” he said. “I put a lot of time in … [and] hard work, but it pays off.” With two kids in college, he has to stay at the top of his sales game. “You never have enough money for college,” he laughed.

Himmler consistently sells at least 20 vehicles per month. In July of 2010, he broke the dealership’s one-month sales record by selling 35 vehicles. General Manager Jay Sherman described Himmler as a “consummate sales professional” and said, “[Patrick] understands Auction Direct’s process better than anyone.”

Himmler, who had some previous experience selling cars at a traditional franchise dealership, credited the business model at Auction Direct in helping him be successful. “John [Iannone, CEO] and Todd [Hoagey, COO] have a great concept,” he said. “They’ve taken a lot of the games out of the process, which makes the buying experience a lot more enjoyable … For me, it just makes it that much easier to sell a car.”

Interestingly, Himmler was at one time a sales manager but decided to move back to the floor. “I just felt it was to my benefit to go back,” he said. “Sales was really more of my niche.”

It was undoubtedly the right decision. Himmler excels on the sales floor, and Sherman praised him for “his ability to put the customer first and give them the best possible car-buying experience.”

“Reading people is something I guess [I’m] good at, so I’ve been very successful here,” said Himmler. “I know when I have a customer that’s interested in buying a vehicle and not just out kicking tires.” However, he said, “I don’t stereotype … Each customer is an individual. I treat each customer as a buying customer. Whether they can buy a pack of gum or a car doesn’t make a difference. They might be in a situation this year where they can’t buy a pack of gum, but next year they might be in a situation where they can come in and buy two or three cars. So I treat everybody as an equal.”

Although the dealership has a customer care center that schedules appointments for salespeople and handles customer follow-up, Himmler said he likes to be more hands-on and handles as much of his own scheduling and follow-up as possible. When it comes to follow-up, especially with unsold customers, he said, “I spend the time with the customers and learn a little bit about them … The call center doesn’t have all that ammunition, so sometimes me calling and getting somebody back in is easier.”

He estimated that about 20 percent of his business is made up of repeat or referral customers, roughly 60 percent is comprised of fresh ups on the lot and the other 20 percent consists of those customers brought in through the call center.

Himmler said the biggest challenge of his job tends to be educating himself on the always-changing technology in vehicles. That can be difficult for a salesperson to keep up with at a single-point franchise store, so just imagine the challenge involved at an independent dealership that carries hundreds of cars of varying makes and models. “We sell such a wide variety of cars, trying to keep myself current on all the toys that are in cars today is challenging,” he stated. “You do the best you can.” The various navigation systems can be particularly troublesome to learn. “I can see why people get in accidents trying to use their navigation systems,” he laughed.

Another challenge is finding equilibrium between his career and his personal life. In addition to two children in college, this married family man also has a 12-year-old daughter at home who dances and cross-country skis, so he tries to make time to attend those activities. Sometimes achieving “a happy medium” between being there for his customers and being there for his family is difficult. “It’s challenging, like everything else, [but] you’ve got to balance your professional life [with your personal life].”

He referred to the dealership as his “second family” and said one of his favorite things about his job is “the interaction with the consumers and my co-workers … We’ve got a good group of people.”

Congratulations to Patrick Himmler, Sales Professional of the Month, and thank you to Jay Sherman for bringing him to our attention. 

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Vol 8, Issue 2