Ali Reda once spent two hours at a charity event with 2,000 people. He walked out with no sales. He felt defeated.
“Why did I just waste two hours?” he remembers thinking. Then he realized he’d gone for the wrong reason. “The intention was not to go sell a car. The intention was to build relationships.”
I’ve watched a lot of salespeople quit on community involvement right at that moment. Ali didn’t. That’s a big part of why he’s the number one car salesman in the world.
Why Most People Give Up Too Soon
There’s no instant gratification in giving back. You show up once, nothing happens, and you decide it doesn’t work.
Ali says it takes two to three years before the business starts coming back. You attend the same event the next year and people know you a little more. The year after, you get more involved. You’re planting seeds. “You need to build it from the ground up,” he told me.
The dealership is designed to get each salesperson to 10 or 12 cars. That’s the dealer’s business model, and it’s not wrong. But it gets you to average. What separates you from average is what you do outside the dealership.
Show Up as a Person, Not a Salesperson
When Ali goes to an event, he doesn’t introduce himself as a car salesman. “You’re simply going saying, ‘I’m Ali Reda, the person that’s giving back, that cares.'”
It’s not about the sale. It’s about your name. People would rather do business with someone they know than someone they’ve heard of.
Keep it local. Ali points out that people with 10 million followers don’t sell many cars, because their followers are all over the country. There’s enough business in your own backyard to last a career.
Where to Start
Start somewhere you already like. High school basketball games. Your kids’ activities. Somewhere you’re already comfortable, so it doesn’t feel like work.
Every community center has a brochure of what’s happening each season. Spring, summer, winter. Pick something.
Find out what your dealership already sponsors. Most stores write checks for $1,000 or $2,000 to local events, and nobody from the dealership ever shows up. Be the one who does.
Call your police and fire stations. Police departments have community liaisons who handle events. Ali says this is the easiest entry point. Meet with the liaison and say, “Our dealership wants to give back. How can we help?” They’ll guide you.
Build a Local Business Program
Here’s one more. Go to local businesses and offer a program for their employees. Preferred pricing. Free pickup and drop-off for service. A free oil change. Whatever you want to put on the flyer.
Then ask them to pass it out. A grocery store with 150 or 200 employees can put it in their employee packets or with their paychecks. Those are people with jobs who need cars, and they live in your community.
One Thing Leads to Another
Go to one event and you’ll hear about the next one. People start telling you where else you should be. Eventually they invite you, because they like your energy and what you bring.
But nobody is going to set it up for you. “They’re not gonna call you. Your mom is not gonna set it up,” Ali says. “There’s no substitution for this work.”
Put in the time for two or three years and you won’t wait on another transactional customer again.
Community involvement is a core module of the 100 Car Club. Explore the training here.