Old School, Meet the New Buyer
How do you get your salespeople to spend quality time with your customers? Customers are flocking to your dealership because they’ve found the exact vehicle they want, at a price they can afford, and to close the deal, the only thing your salespeople need to do is not mess it up.
These customers are usually in a hurry, and many are put off by the “usual sales process.” How do we spend enough time to keep them interested, but still avoid wasting their time? How do we move the salesperson from answering questions to actually asking them? How do we increase the level of comfort between our staff and our clients? Discover what some of our dealers are doing to slow the customer down, increase the customer’s confidence, and dramatically increase sales and dealership profit. It’s an old-school idea with a modern twist.
Early on in your sales process, after the “Meet and Greet,” ask your salespeople to say “Mr. or Ms. Smith, here at XYZ Motors, we have found a way to save our customers precious time during their purchase process. By looking at your vehicle now, my appraiser can perform the valuation while you and I are checking out the vehicles you are interested in. This can save you up to an hour of your valuable time. Where did you park?” “Perfect, show me your car.” The benefits to the customer? They see us saving them time, the most valuable of all resources. And, it allows the salesperson time with the customer to get to know them.
The salesperson, with the customer in tow, does a silent walk around appraisal, (form or smartphone in hand), making sure to ask about parking stickers, sports equipment, soccer balls, racks, etc., that are on or in the vehicle, to gain a level of comfort and find similar interests with the client. The salesperson touches any imperfections without a word and asks what the customer likes about this vehicle and what they are hoping to change with their new vehicle (What’s their pain point?), and then asks for the keys to take to management for the appraisal. After this, your normal sales process can proceed.
This is a great ice breaker and allows your newer sales staff more time to get comfortable with the customer and vice versa. However, the biggest and best advantage is that the desk now controls the keys and the process. They know who has a customer and that the salesperson must come back to the desk to get the keys before the customer leaves. This ensures a 100% trade orders of all customers with trade-ins. This has helped many of our clients’ dealerships dramatically increase used vehicle sales by acquiring more trades. Is there anything more important than the acquisition of quality trade-in vehicles in your store? I didn’t think so. This will not only improve your look-to-book percentage, but also your used vehicle, fixed operations, and overall dealership profitability. Good luck and good selling.