Car salesman needs some advice (minivan, pickup, cabriolet, 4 wheel drive)
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Quick qualifier, so you won't waste your time on browsers: After your opening presentation and six-point walk around (assuming the buyer sits down inside the car at point 6, the drivers door) is the closing question, "what will it take to get you to buy this car today?". Let them tell you what they want, then sit them at the closing desk and wait. It may seem like an eternity, but usually it's a few seconds; remembering that who talks first, loses.
I think "what will it take to get you to buy this car today?" and then follow up with "is that all you got?"will be quite effective.
I sold cars years ago I firmly believe IF your going to sell you need to believe in the product your selling. 100% Read up what your selling compares to what your product. Pros and cons of both. Be realstic with it You shouldn't have to lie if you really believe in what your selling.
I am a new car salesman hire; I pretty much have down my "meet and greet", I just need a little help with "qualifying the buyer" and the "walk around" (vehicle presentation). My first and main question is can somebody help me out by providing me with some good qualifying questions I could ask the customer. Secondly, can somebody give me some scenarios of overcoming customer objections I could use. Maybe even some general tips on turning a shopper into a buyer.
As someone who dealt with car salesmen today and who may or may not be buying a new car in the next few months, here's some advice from a buyer's POV.
Cut it out with the obvious fake flattery. Not interested, don't want to hear it, it's not going to work.
Don't try to identify with me on a personal level. I don't want to be on your Christmas card list. I just want to buy a car. Not necessarily from you, either.
I don't want to hear the words "monthly payment" or "let me check with my manager" out of you. I am only interested in bottom-line price, we're not talking about my trade-in UNTIL that bottom-line price is reached and agreed upon, and I know when you go to talk to your manager, all you're doing is shooting the breeze or gossiping about me.
Do not EVER say "what do I have to do to get you into this car today?" If you say that, it's a guarantee that you WON'T be getting me into a car today. Or any other day. There are tons of dealerships around here. I don't have to buy a car at yours.
I may be female, but that doesn't mean that I don't value safety and reliability over the color of the car. Don't insult my intelligence by asking me what my favorite color is, or by telling me what the most popular color of model X is. I don't give a crap.
When I make an offer on a car, my first offer is my final offer. You're not going to get me to pay more. Period. And unlike many car buyers, if you don't want to sell me X car at Y price, I'll get up and leave. Nothing personal.
Know that by the time I get to your lot, I've already read up on models and narrowed my search down. You won't get anywhere with me by badmouthing the other makes that I'm considering. I'll make up my own mind, thank you.
I don't mean to sound ******y or condescending; I'm just sharing my own personal pet peeves about car salespeople in general.
As someone who dealt with car salesmen today and who may or may not be buying a new car in the next few months, here's some advice from a buyer's POV.
Cut it out with the obvious fake flattery. Not interested, don't want to hear it, it's not going to work.
Don't try to identify with me on a personal level. I don't want to be on your Christmas card list. I just want to buy a car. Not necessarily from you, either.
I don't want to hear the words "monthly payment" or "let me check with my manager" out of you. I am only interested in bottom-line price, we're not talking about my trade-in UNTIL that bottom-line price is reached and agreed upon, and I know when you go to talk to your manager, all you're doing is shooting the breeze or gossiping about me.
Do not EVER say "what do I have to do to get you into this car today?" If you say that, it's a guarantee that you WON'T be getting me into a car today. Or any other day. There are tons of dealerships around here. I don't have to buy a car at yours.
I may be female, but that doesn't mean that I don't value safety and reliability over the color of the car. Don't insult my intelligence by asking me what my favorite color is, or by telling me what the most popular color of model X is. I don't give a crap.
When I make an offer on a car, my first offer is my final offer. You're not going to get me to pay more. Period. And unlike many car buyers, if you don't want to sell me X car at Y price, I'll get up and leave. Nothing personal.
Know that by the time I get to your lot, I've already read up on models and narrowed my search down. You won't get anywhere with me by badmouthing the other makes that I'm considering. I'll make up my own mind, thank you.
I don't mean to sound ******y or condescending; I'm just sharing my own personal pet peeves about car salespeople in general.
I sold VW's back in the 70's when diesel Rabbits were quite the rage and was instructed by the sales manager of the dealership that when a couple came in to look, it would be the wife that actually decided to buy or not. To men, buying a car is an emotional experience, I'd argue most men don't care about safety, reliability, practical concerns. They're too busy seeing fun, performance, youth, speed, sex appeal etc. Men will ask about the monthly payments because they're more likely to stretch the family budget buying the options. Men won't worry about trade-in value in the showroom because they are momentarily infatuated with the new car they just feel they have to have. Women are much more practical car shoppers than men because more women see only the utilitarian aspect of the automobile. It's not an emotional experience, it's an appliance, not much different than a dishwasher. Salesmen are taught to make trial closes at various times during the sales presentation, culminating in the "what will it take" question. If he has done his qualifying and presentation correctly that final close should make the deal. From a former car salesman's perspective, if a buyer cannot respond positively to "what will it take" or "what can I do", they're still just kicking tires and yes, there are a bazillion other dealerships in town. We were always taught to thank such a customer for their business and move on to the buyer that was ready. Since we were on commission, no sale- no paycheck. Appreciated your post, brings back memories!
If you're a new car salesperson, you shoul also become familiar with the competitor's strengths and weaknesses when compared to your product. For example, if you're selling a Mazda3 and the customer expresses interest in the Toyota Corolla, you can point out things the 3 has that the Corolla doesn't unless you go up in options and price.
Know your product, as well as the competition. Memorize the advantages of your product over the competition.
If you can say "Car and Driver reported we beat them ..." or Consumer Reports gave us a Best Buy rating , you have a better shot than a lot of guys hawking cars these days.
I sold VW's back in the 70's when diesel Rabbits were quite the rage and was instructed by the sales manager of the dealership that when a couple came in to look, it would be the wife that actually decided to buy or not. To men, buying a car is an emotional experience, I'd argue most men don't care about safety, reliability, practical concerns. They're too busy seeing fun, performance, youth, speed, sex appeal etc. Men will ask about the monthly payments because they're more likely to stretch the family budget buying the options. Men won't worry about trade-in value in the showroom because they are momentarily infatuated with the new car they just feel they have to have. Women are much more practical car shoppers than men because more women see only the utilitarian aspect of the automobile. It's not an emotional experience, it's an appliance, not much different than a dishwasher. Salesmen are taught to make trial closes at various times during the sales presentation, culminating in the "what will it take" question. If he has done his qualifying and presentation correctly that final close should make the deal. From a former car salesman's perspective, if a buyer cannot respond positively to "what will it take" or "what can I do", they're still just kicking tires and yes, there are a bazillion other dealerships in town. We were always taught to thank such a customer for their business and move on to the buyer that was ready. Since we were on commission, no sale- no paycheck. Appreciated your post, brings back memories!
That's what I was doing the other day...just comparison shopping...and made that clear to the people assisting me. I appreciate good service and people taking the time to present a car to me, but at the same time, y'all work on commission and if there's a more promising target on the lot...go for it.
That's what I was doing the other day...just comparison shopping...and made that clear to the people assisting me. I appreciate good service and people taking the time to present a car to me, but at the same time, y'all work on commission and if there's a more promising target on the lot...go for it.
If we don't ask the qualifying questions, we don't know where the customers head is at. Brings to mind the easiest deal I had, a guy in his mid 20's showed up with the latest Road and Track issue rolled up under his arm. He wanted to see a new VW Scirocco, which was quite the sports car at that time. It was my turn at the "up desk" and I greeted him as he walked in. He proceeded to take over the sales interview from there and asked me if we had a Scirocco in stock. I took him out on the lot and showed him a grey one with options. I can't even remember if he drove it, but he asked me if we'd take x dollars and I went over to the sales manager to present the deal. Clean deal, with no trade, he even had his own financing. Two days later, he came in and picked up the car, a sweet deal, no dickering, and at the end of the week I had a nice commission. These one-in-a-hundred customers make up for all the tire kickers and credit deadbeats you deal with so often.
I sold cars years ago I firmly believe IF your going to sell you need to believe in the product your selling. 100% Read up what your selling compares to what your product. Pros and cons of both. Be realstic with it You shouldn't have to lie if you really believe in what your selling.
I would suggest that quality dealerships really do train their people in product knowledge and sales technique. Only big volume houses (x cars per year) will hire 10 or 20 new salesmen, give them a 30 minute video to watch and turn them loose on the buying public. They are essentially playing the odds that after a period of time, there will be something like a 90% turnover in the new hires. The newbies might sell one or two cars and quit in discouragement or starvation. What does the dealership care, they've made a profit with very little risk and fresh blood is always on the way. Whenever you see a particular dealership continually running "help wanted" ads, that's their game. You figure, that if a big dealer has maybe 500 cars on the lot with maybe a 2% floor plan, he's paying out over a quarter million a month just in interest on inventory. Add in the rest of the overhead and we may be looking at a million dollar a month overhead. The dealer cannot afford to waste a lot of time with tire kickers.
Last edited by xnyer; 05-13-2012 at 02:47 PM..
Reason: spelling correction
Every dealership from mid range to luxury will teach you a slightly different version of the basic 10 steps to a sale. This will help you become an average sales consultant. In order to move up another level to top producer, you must master the following: 1. personality- attitude sells: sell yourself and the dealership first. Build raport and get their guards down. It's harder for them to say no if they like you. 2. dealership politics- win over mgrs and as many co workers in different dept as you can: this will help with advancement, extra deals, extra favors, etc.. 3. applying indirect pressure on clients- instead of asking why not buy today, ask them: what's holding you from moving forward today or if all the numbers are right, did you want to take delivery today? 4. Networking: make friends with people from other dealership (same brand or your competitor), banks/credit union, insurance company, etc... 5. Great follow up system: call customer and thank them for stopping by that day, mail out cards, email/text, follow up old leads, & always ask for referrals. 6. work the phone: try not to work price over the phone and key thing is to get them in. 7. Know your inventory: what's in stock and what's coming in. Color, options, and aged inventory. 8. Switching cars: every color has it's pros and cons: silver- pros: clean & hard to see scratches cons: hard to see in fog and rain, plain and plentyful. red- pros: sporty & cons: hard to see in the evening sun, tickets, resale value. 9. Know your competitors: again, pros and cons. Set up time bomb by planting info in their head, but never talk bad about the competition. 10. Be aggressive and hussle your way up. Advance to manager/director or high line sales. 11. Learn word tracks of features and benefits. 12. practice overcoming objections: must handle all objections quick and smooth. Example. "I have to talk it over with the wife", great, i know how it is, its a big purchase and i do the same thing. Is your wife close by maybe we can bring the car over to her. 13. ask open ended questions: you want more than a yes/no answer, get them to talk. 14. find clients hot button- safety, performance, style, comfort and focus on these in the walk around. Don't bored the customer with too much info.
Remember, its not what you say but it's how you say it. Perception is everything. You can tell the clients 100 good things about the car and all it take is one wrong word to kill the deal.
I think you know your stuff! you're the kind of salesman I'd prefer to deal with.
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