Chapter 17 — Quiz: Prospecting and Self-Generated Business

Answer each question, then open the <details> block to check yourself and read the explanation. Scoring guide at the end.

Multiple Choice (11)

1. "Prospecting" in car sales means:

A. Waiting at the front glass for a customer to walk in B. Actively generating your own sales opportunities instead of depending on floor traffic C. Following a customer around the lot until they buy D. Cold-calling random numbers from a phone book

Answer **B.** Prospecting is *generating* opportunities yourself — sphere, database, referrals, content, community — rather than living and dying by walk-in traffic. (A) is the Rick-at-the-window trap; (D) is both ineffective and, for cell phones, likely a TCPA problem.

2. Compared to a fresh floor up, a referred prospect typically closes at roughly:

A. The same rate (~20%) B. A lower rate, because referrals are pickier C. A much higher rate (~40–60%+) D. Exactly 100%

Answer **C.** Referrals arrive pre-trusting — the biggest floor obstacle ("do I trust this person?") is already solved — so they close at roughly 2–3× the floor's ~20%. (D) is wrong: warmer doesn't mean guaranteed.

3. The chapter's recommended way to reach out to your sphere of influence is to:

A. Blast all your contacts "I sell cars now — buy from me!" in one afternoon B. Announce, not sell: share your news, remove pressure, offer to help, and turn the conversation back to them C. Never contact friends about your job — it's unprofessional D. Only contact people you're certain are buying this month

Answer **B.** Announce, don't sell. (A) is the "list bomb" that burns your warmest relationships permanently. (C) wastes your warmest list — every one of them buys a car eventually. (D) means you'll miss almost everyone, since you can't know who's about to buy.

4. An "orphan owner" is:

A. A customer who has never bought a car before B. A past customer of your dealership whose original salesperson has left, and who isn't being worked by anyone C. A customer with no trade-in D. A customer who only buys used

Answer **B.** Orphans are past customers whose salesperson is gone — pre-sold by the store, ignored by the floor, and usually available to a salesperson willing to work them. They close far better than strangers because the store already paid to build the trust.

5. "Positive equity" means the customer's:

A. Car is worth less than they still owe on it B. Car is worth more than the loan payoff, so the difference can act like a down payment C. Credit score is above 700 D. Loan is fully paid off

Answer **B.** Positive equity = value − payoff, when value is higher. It's a strong (and often surprising) position that can fund a trade-up. (A) describes the upside-down position most people are in mid-loan.

6. The single discipline the chapter says makes all prospecting actually happen is:

A. Buying a bigger contact list B. A scheduled, non-negotiable daily prospecting block ("power hour"), done first C. Waiting until business is slow, then prospecting hard D. Strong motivation and a positive attitude

Answer **B.** Prospecting is important-but-never-urgent work, so it gets skipped unless it's *scheduled*. The power hour, done first, beats motivation (which fails exactly when you need it, in a slump) and beats "wait till it's slow" (by then you have no pipeline). (A) doesn't matter without the discipline to work it.

7. Which content mix does the chapter recommend for social-media prospecting?

A. Mostly inventory posts with prices and "come see me!!" B. Mostly helpful and human content, with cars as the minority and almost no hard sell C. Only behind-the-scenes videos, never anything educational D. Buy followers first, then post whatever

Answer **B.** People buy from people they feel they know, and they scroll past ads. A feed that's mostly helpful/human with the occasional car post lands; a feed that's all inventory gets muted. (D) is hollow (and faking endorsements can be illegal).

8. The law most directly governing whether you can send marketing texts and make automated marketing calls to cell phones — with consent rules that have been tightening — is:

A. CAN-SPAM B. The Used Car Rule C. The TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) D. Magnuson-Moss

Answer **C.** The TCPA governs calls and texts and generally requires the right kind of prior consent for marketing to cell phones; the consent standard has gotten stricter. CAN-SPAM governs *email*; the Used Car Rule and Magnuson-Moss are unrelated to outreach. (Full detail in [Chapter 31](../../part-06-ethics-law-professionalism/chapter-31-consumer-protection-law/index.md).)

9. Why does the chapter call a be-back (an unsold customer you re-engage) a prospecting goldmine?

A. Because they always buy on the second visit B. Because the discovery and trust work is already done, they're warmer than a stranger, and they cost you nothing to re-acquire C. Because be-backs never negotiate D. Because the dealership pays a bonus for them

Answer **B.** You already invested hours in the meet-and-greet, needs analysis, and demo; the unsold customer is far warmer than a fresh up and free to re-engage. Most don't return *on their own* — they return when a professional follows up. (A) overstates it.

10. In the chapter's "rings" model of your sphere of influence, the innermost ring is:

A. Familiar acquaintances who just know your face B. Strangers from purchased lists C. Your "champions" — close family and friends who'll buy and actively refer you D. Other salespeople at competing stores

Answer **C.** Innermost = champions (will buy and advocate); middle = warm network; outer = familiar acquaintances who just need to *know* what you do. The strategy is to move people inward over time by being genuinely useful.

11. A self-sourced deal tends to hold more gross than a floor up mainly because:

A. You charge friends more B. The customer trusts you and isn't grinding you against two other stores on price C. F&I products are more expensive for referrals D. The dealership marks them up automatically

Answer **B.** A cross-shopping stranger grinds on price because price is all they can compare without trust. A referred/repeat customer trusts you're being fair and negotiates less hard — so more front- and back-end gross survives. It's not gouging; it's the absence of a trust-contest you'd otherwise lose to the cheapest store. (A) would violate theme #1 and #3.

True / False (5)

State true or false and give a one-line justification.

12. "Prospecting is only worth doing when the floor is slow."

Answer **False.** That's the exact trap — by the time it's slow, you have no pipeline. Prospecting is a *daily* discipline done in good times *and* bad, so a slow week never empties your business.

13. "You should message every contact in your phone the same 'buy a car from me' text to maximize reach quickly."

Answer **False.** The "list bomb" burns your warmest relationships permanently and may break spam/TCPA rules. Mine your sphere one genuine, value-first touch at a time.

14. "Working orphan owners benefits you and the dealership."

Answer **True.** You get warm, pre-sold prospects; the store gets a sold unit, gross, and a *retained* customer (CSI) it was otherwise losing. That's why managers gladly hand orphans to a salesperson who'll work them.

15. "If someone in your sphere says 'take me off your list,' you can keep gently following up since they're a friend."

Answer **False.** "Stop" means stop — immediately and permanently — both because the law requires it (TCPA/CAN-SPAM) and because ignoring it is the exact behavior that makes the profession look bad and destroys trust.

16. "A great delivery has nothing to do with prospecting."

Answer **False.** A great delivery ([Ch 15](../chapter-15-delivery/index.md)) is what *creates* referrals — the Nguyen family sent five after theirs. Delivery feeds the pipeline; prospecting harvests it. They're two ends of the same engine.

Short Answer (4)

17. Explain, in 2–3 sentences, why floor traffic is a "commodity" source of opportunity and self-sourced business is a "proprietary" one — and why that distinction decides whether you have a job or a career.

Answer Floor traffic is a commodity: everyone on the team fishes the same pond, the dealership controls how many fish are in it, and the fish don't trust you. Self-sourced business is proprietary: you built it, only you have it, and the people came looking for you. A floor-only salesperson's income resets to zero each month and depends on the weather (a job); a self-generated pipeline is an asset that compounds and follows you between stores (a career — theme #6).

18. A past customer financed $30,000 over 72 months three years ago, owes about $16,000 today, and the car is worth about $19,000. Are they a good equity-mine prospect? Show the math and write the opening of your call.

Answer Yes — **+$3,000 positive equity** ($19,000 − $16,000), unusual mid-loan and worth a call. Opening, benefit-first: "I was looking at accounts like yours and your car's actually in a strong spot right now — you've built up real equity, which means you've got options you might not realize. No pressure at all; want me to run the actual numbers so you know where you stand?"

19. Name the three "thieves" that steal a daily prospecting block, and give one concrete defense for each.

Answer **Interruptions** → do it before the floor opens / in a quiet spot with a headset, and tell your manager it's your prospecting hour (they'll protect it). **"I'll do it later"** → make it *first*; later never comes. **An empty/uninspiring list** → build tomorrow's list in the last five minutes of today (equity hits, be-backs, follow-ups due), so you start already in motion. (Bonus: lower the bar — "make one call" — to get started.)

20. The chapter claims "the legal way is the effective way" for prospecting. Explain why compliance (TCPA/DNC/CAN-SPAM) and results point the same direction here, rather than trading off against each other.

Answer Those laws exist to stop unwanted, untrusted, mass solicitation — which is precisely the prospecting that *doesn't work anyway* (cold spam converts near zero and torches your reputation). The prospecting that *does* work — personal, permission-based, value-first touches to people with a relationship to you, with "no" instantly respected — is also the *legal* path. People consent to and respond to welcome, useful contact; they sue over and ignore intrusive, useless contact. So ethics/compliance and profit align (theme #3).

Applied Scenario (2)

21. It's a slow, rainy week. Rick is at the front glass saying "nothing I can do, it's the weather." You have a power hour scheduled. Describe exactly how you'd spend that hour — the four activities, in order, and roughly how many touches you'd aim for — and explain in one sentence why this is "controlling your inputs" from Chapter 6.

Answer Run the four-part block: ~20 min following up unsold be-backs from the last week or two (warmest); ~20 min mining the database/orphan list for 5–8 customers near loan/lease end or with equity, each with a real reason to call; ~10 min filming one personal video to a specific prospect; ~10 min on a sphere/community touch plus posting one helpful thing — logging everything in the CRM. Target ~20–40 quality touches. It's "controlling your inputs" because walk-in traffic, the weather, and the ad budget are things you *can't* control — prospecting is the part of the business you *can*, so you work it instead of surrendering to the dead floor like Rick.

22. Your manager hands you a purchased list of 5,000 cell numbers: "Blast them all a trade-in offer text today." Walk through the legal risk, the effectiveness problem, and what you propose instead.

Answer **Legal:** texting marketing to cell numbers without proper consent is a TCPA violation — potentially hundreds of dollars *per text* × 5,000, plus class-action exposure for the store; many of those numbers may also be on the DNC registry. **Effectiveness:** cold, unconsented blasts convert near zero and brand you and the store as spammers, damaging reputation. **Instead:** work the store's *own* database and orphans — people with an existing relationship/consent — with personalized, value-first outreach (equity calls, be-back follow-up, one-to-one video), and route any list-based campaign through the store's compliance process to confirm consent first. Push back professionally by framing it as protecting the store from lawsuits *and* getting better results.

Scoring Guide

  • 20–22 correct: Excellent — you've internalized the prospecting engine. Build your SOI list and power hour, and move on to Part III.
  • 17–19 correct (~80%): Strong. Review any missed items, especially the math and the TCPA section.
  • 15–16 correct (~70%): Passing — you're ready to proceed, but re-read §17.1 (the math), §17.6 (the daily block), and §17.7 (the legal lines) before you start prospecting for real.
  • Below 15: Re-read the chapter and redo the Part A and Part B exercises before moving on. The cost of skipping this skill shows up in your first slow month.