Everyone knows how to boil an egg, don’t they? It’s used in conversation by and about kitchen dodgers as a badge of honour for proud ineptitude in the face of what is the simplest of tasks: “he/she doesn’t even know how to boil an egg”.

So, why does the BBC website devote nearly 2,000 words to the task and Google returns 2,470,000 results for the search phrase ‘how to boil an egg’?

I would pose a similar question of the AM audience: we all know how to sell cars, don’t we?

So, why in this issue have we put together a special feature on the best practice techniques to sell new and used cars, when this bread-and-butter-topic is what makes our world go round?

Two conversations at the weekend reassured me of the value of such an offering. In both instances I was talking to men of mature years, who had bought cars - used but primarily new - all their lives and always through their local dealer.

One owns a three-year-old Volkswagen Golf and the other a slightly older Honda CR-V. Both had taken their cars back to their local, supplying dealer for servicing and repair on every occasion it was required, concerned and proud of driving a properly maintained car with an eye on the trade-in value. 

However, neither has once been approached in these times of trying market conditions by sales people offering and encouraging them to consider trading up to a new car. 

In each instance the cars they own have been replaced by new models in at least the last 12 months, surely presenting an excellent sales opportunity and offering the dealer a chance to bag prime used car sales stock. “The sales staff don’t even look up when we visit the dealership,” one of the owners told me.

So, with these unfortunate examples ringing in my ears I feel justified AM is doing the right thing, dedicating valuable editorial space to the skills, responsibilities and essentials of selling new and used cars.

The information used in the special feature is gathered from Sewells’ reports and best practice tips from our dealer contacts. In future issues and on our website we will continue to highlight both.

I’m confident you will learn from it - or it will give you confidence you are doing the best for your business.

For more on Sewells go to: www.am-online.com/sewells.