There is no doubt that we are facing difficult times.  I am a car sales consultant with a luxury auto company and I have seen many people laid off in the past few months.  I’ve read the e-mails from management asking employees to come up with ways to cut expenses.  Our company Christmas party was canceled just like yours probably was.  The conversations at the water cooler are usually filled with doom and gloom.  What a depressing time to be a car salesperson.  Or is it?

In a time when cutbacks are being made, the fact that you are still employed is a sign that you are doing something right.  Your management sees something in you, but do you see it in yourself?  You may not be selling as much as you would like or as much as you used to, but you need to keep doing the little things that make you successful.  In order to make it in these times you need to work a little longer, make those extra phone calls, learn your product better, sharpen your skills.  Most of all you need to stay positive.  Stay away from the naysayers and stay focused on your goals.  Perception is reality and if you jump on the bandwagon of “Nobody is buying and everything is horrible,” then those are the results that you will reap.

A friend of mine told me that in motorcycle safety school they teach you not to look at an upcoming obstacle because then you are destined to run into it.  Instead, look your way past the obstacle and you will continue on the right path.  Keep working hard, get back to the basics of selling.  Things are getting better, you will make it.