I Object!

By Jack Bennett

What is an objection? There are really very few legitimate objections. Age, bad credit and negative equity are the most common. What most salespeople refer to as objections are really nothing more than excuses.

An excuse is a stall for time or an indication that a person cannot buy without losing face.

Egos are delicate things. If we are backed into a corner, we look for a way to escape. The only way to close a customer in this position is to let them win.

If a car is $10,000, the customer says, "I'll give you $7,000," and the salesperson says, "No, it's going to be $10,000," the customer can never come back and say, "OK." He would look and feel foolish. You need to be able to give him something to justify changing his mind.

When it comes to objections, the salesperson must always agree, repeat or clarify the objection and then overcome it. I have included a few common objections here and good ways to overcome them.

Whenever a salesperson overcomes an objection, he should ask for the order. We always want to move the sale forward. If a customer says, "That's too much," the salesperson, after agreeing, repeating and overcoming, should say, "Let me ask you this, what if I could?"

The customer says, "I want to think it over."

"I think that's fine, I would have to think it over too. It's a big decision. But right now, I'm here, you're here, the car is here. My sales manager is here. Everything you need to make a decision is in place. If you go home and have a question or need to go over something on the car again, who's going to help you? Let me ask you this: What specifically do you need to think about?"

The customer says, "That's too much."

"I agree it's a lot of money, but you've picked out one of the nicest cars in stock. Which of the options would you like me to delete? The automatic transmission, the air conditioning or the power steering? I think a man in your position wants and deserves these options. Let me ask you this: What if I could get my boss to save you another $50, bring the total all the way down to $9,550? Could we wrap this up?"

The customer says, "Is that the best you can do?"

"Yes." You'll be surprised how many customers say, "OK." The problem is that most salespeople keep talking and sometimes talk themselves past the sale. If the customer decides to leave, then the salesperson should get the manager involved. And they should do it like this:

"Is that the best you can do?"

"Yes," the salesman says. The customer stands up and says, "OK, thanks. We're going to think about that. It sounds like a great deal. We'll call you back."

REMEMBER: the salesperson should stay seated! If the salesperson stands up, the customer is in control.

The salesperson then says, "Mr. Customer, please sit down for one minute. I don't make the final decision. I got that price from the used car manager. Let me talk to my general manager. What if I could get him to save you another $100, which would bring it all the way down to $9,450? I could save you the trouble of having to come back later. You'll be driving the car in an hour."

Those are just a few of the common excuses and objections customers have. In the next issue we'll go over a few more.

Good luck and good selling.

A 25-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. jbennett@dealeronline.com