Every sales professional worth his salt knows customer service is an important part of the profession. However, top-notch sales professionals who excel at their jobs month in and month out go above and beyond what’s expected of them and provide more personalized service to their customers.

For the past 10 years, Samir Yousif has been one of those sales professionals who go above and beyond the call of duty to take care of customers. He’s been employed in the new-car department at Van Autoplex in Kansas City, Mo., throughout his entire retail auto sales career, which means he’s taken care of a large number of customers and sees a lot of repeat and referral business as a result.

Adam Fanning, the new-car manager at Van Autoplex, estimated that repeat customers and referrals account for about half of Yousif’s sales (he’s averaging 14 sales a month so far in 2012). “He has many repeat and referral customers due to his follow-up and always taking care of his customers before and after the sale.” While Yousif does what many successful sales professionals do – visits his past customers when they come in for service and makes plenty of phone calls – what sets him apart is the personal service he also provides.

He watches new inventory closely for cars he knows customers are interested in and will call them when the vehicle they’re interested in becomes available. Also, even though his role is primarily new car sales, he will help his customers find what they’re looking for on the used car lot as well. He said of his personalized customer service, “Everyone I work with gets treated that way.”

His willingness to help also makes him someone the other salespeople at the store look to for guidance. He said oftentimes new salespeople at the store will ask him questions, and if he doesn’t know the answer, he will find out. Fanning said of Yousif, “He is definitely a good help around here. He helps train new people.”

Another key to his success is product knowledge. “Samir is successful month in and month out due to his knowledge of the vehicles and the car business,” Fanning said. “He is always staying up to date on which vehicles are changing and the features and options of each vehicle. He is a great asset to Van [Autoplex] due to his hard work and persistence.”

Yousif said the key to his continued success over the years is prospecting. “You’ve got to keep prospecting … Every time you get out to a restaurant or something, talk to new people and pass out your business card.” Unsurprisingly, his favorite part of his job is getting to meet new people every day, so he’s not shy when it comes to prospecting. He also counts on those around him to send him referrals as well. “[I] talk to friends, tell them [to] send people as referrals … I have two sons – sometimes they send me referrals.”

Speaking of his kids (ages 19 and 23), he said that’s usually who he spends time with when he’s not working. Lately, he’s been encouraging his youngest to consider higher education. As for his own future plans, Yousif said he would like to retire relatively soon – maybe in three or four years – but he’s not entirely sure that will happen.

For now, he’s very happy with continuing to work five days a week at Van Autoplex. “It’s a very friendly environment and [there are] nice people to work with.”

Congratulations to Samir Yousif, Sales Professional of the Month, and thank you to Curtis Daniels for bringing him to our attention.

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Vol. 9, Issue 8