As you may already know, my main function as an automotive sales trainer is to teach the skills necessary to sell a car or truck, new or used. What I teach is not new by any stretch of the imagination. It is what most salespeople have been doing in our industry for decades. It is the same system you sold cars under and probably the same system your predecessor sold under. It is the same "Road to a Sale" you are trying to instill in your salespeople today.
It goes something like this: Be professional, look sharp and have the right attitude. Meet the customer in a timely and professional manner. Qualify the customer so you can fill their needs with the right car, at a price that's within their budget. Present the car in a clear and concise, but exciting Walk-Around Presentation. Go with the customer on a demo ride. Maintain control at the end of the demonstration ride and take the customer on a dealership tour. Sit the customer in the office and make them comfortable.
Begin negotiations, insuring that everything is done in a manner to benefit the customer. Close the sale and move them into the business office.
This certainly doesn't sound like anything really groundbreaking, does it? No. It has always been done this way, hasn't it? "But wait," the salesperson says, "the guy wants to lease? Oh no, what should I do?" And the manager calmly responds, "Oh I don't know, how about we start with a professional meeting and greeting. Then we will qualify the customer and then do a walk-around presentation and then..."
"Oh no! We have a no haggle policy! What should I do?" The manager thinks a moment to come up with another solid plan to sell this customer. "Hmmm, let me think. I know, let's start with a professional meeting and greeting, do some qualifying to find the perfect car for your customer. Then we'll do a walk-around and take a demo drive and when we get to the negotiating, we'll have even less work to do, won't we?"
And last, but certainly not least, the salesperson cries out in agony, "But the guy is shopping us on the Internet!!! What should I do?" "Oh, try this: introduce yourself to them, qualify them to make sure what they found on the Internet is something we can help them with on our lot." (It is easy to quote a great price on a Big Mac if I work at Burger King, isn't it? That's because I can't deliver a Big Mac.) The manager continues, "Find the customer the right car, REGARDLESS of where they did their research!!"
What is it about the Internet that makes salespeople want to change what has worked for them in the past? When I was managing, I rarely had a salesperson come up to me and say, "Oh no boss, he saw our advertising in the newspaper, what should I do?" I firmly believe that salespeople have to start realizing that the Internet is just another advertising tool. My opinion is that for the foreseeable future, most customers are still going to have to come into your dealership to buy a car. If that happens to change, you and I and the industry will adapt. We always have and we always will.
Yes, there are companies right now who claim to make it possible for someone to look at a car on the Internet, type in their American Express Platinum card number and get the car. But even with those companies, I think the customers are still going to have to come to see a dealer at some point. How did they find out about this car in the first place? They were driving home and saw one, looked on the Internet or in the newspaper to see what kind of car it was and then went to your dealership at night when you were closed to see it? But when did they drive it??? In most instances, I will bet that the customer stopped at a dealership and never found a salesperson. Oh, they may have talked to someone but if they didn't buy, it's much more likely that the salesperson didn't do their job. I don't believe there are people who will spend 20, 25 or 30,000 dollars on a car without driving it! Picture this: A guy shows up at your door, rings the bell and your wife answers it. "Miss, here's the new car your husband ordered." "WHAT!!!" Or what about the scenario when the customer says, "Oh, that's not the color I ordered." Or, "That's not the way the color looked on my computer." I don't think someone from the factory in a fancy suit is going to drop the car off at the customer's house. And if he does, is he going to be able to unwind the deal because the guy didn't like the color? I don't think so.
The point is, right now your salespeople need to know how to sell cars. They need to do all the things I have listed above, and do it better and with more enthusiasm than the dealer representative down the street. Because that's still what it takes to sell cars today. Not the newspaper, not Consumer Reports and not the Internet.
Before we look at adapting to changes yet to come, let's keep doing things the right way. The way millions of Americans buy cars every year-from courteous, helpful, knowledgeable salespeople they can trust. You do that and you'll continue to win customers and make money. Yes, the Internet is an unbelievable marketing tool that will change the way the world operates, and in the months to come we will share lots of ways to benefit from it. But until the time when the factory representative in a fancy suit who drops the car off at the Internet customer's house can also field customer complaints, let's keep doing what we're doing. I think we have a great system. Let's work it.
Good Luck and Great Selling.
A 22-year veteran of the automotive industry, Jack Bennett is the author of "You Can and Should Sell Cars," a book which has sold thousands of copies and is being used in sales training by dealers from the Bahamas to Canada. If you have specific questions or require more information about this subject, please check the appropriate box on the reader response form on page 3. jbennett@dealeronline.com