Green Pea Diary: "I Got This Guy, See..."
Jack Bennett
"I got this guy, see" This is a line millions of salespeople have uttered to hundreds of thousands of managers in the situation where the customer wants to leave and has yet to buy a vehicle. Instead of running through the myriad of scenarios where a turnover is the only option, I will instead talk about how the T.O. should be handled once the salesperson has reached this point.
The four points of an effective turnover all salespeople should follow:
Know the Customer. This may sound simple, but the problem with most turnovers is that they are performed before the salesperson is ready. Or worse yet, before the customer is ready. There is nothing more important than making sure the salesperson has enough information to help the customer make an educated decision. I suggest a checklist, even if it is nothing more than all of the qualifying questions on one sheet of paper. As salespeople work day in and day out they get complacent, bored, tired or even busy. What that leads to is cutting corners-poor test drive and walk-arounds, or no test drive at all, etc. These are fundamental steps and build value on the road to a sale. But if the proper questions have not been asked and answered, it's no wonder when the salespeople need help. Where does the customer work? Who's the decision maker? What's the motivating factor? The bottom line is, make sure that the salesperson has all the customer's questions answered as well as yours before they get to the point of doing a turnover.
Prepare the Manager. This is really an individual type of procedure because managers think differently from each other and want to handle turnovers differently. Some want to know everything about the customer. Some don't want to know anything. That doesn't take away anything from point number one. A salesperson should still know these things, in case the sales manager asks. When I say prepare the manager, I mean make sure your salespeople aren't just dumping customers on the manager. For instance, the salesperson is standing on the show floor with a customer and the customer says, " I have to leave now." The salesperson turns, sees the manager walking past and says, "Hey boss, will you talk to my customer, he wants to leave?" You may laugh but we've all seen that happen. Make sure that your salespeople understand that the managers need to get ready before they can help close a sale.
Know the Procedures. Every manager or dealership has a different way of doing turnovers. Some want the salesperson to stay in the office with the manager and customer, some want the salesperson to leave them alone. And some want something else. The key is for the salesperson to know. When a salesperson is ready to turnover a customer, the manager says, "Bring them into my office." The salesperson does, introduces everyone and then (A) leaves the room if that's the procedure, or (B) stays in the office. If the salesperson stays in the office, he or she should always stand or sit next to the customer. He is on the customer's side. If the salesperson is supposed to leave the manager and the customer alone, make sure the salesperson doesn't take another customer or leave. I've seen it happen.
Keep Quiet. The most important thing that a salesperson can do when they sit in on a turnover is to be quiet. No matter what the manager says, no matter how far the manager seems to be sticking his foot in his mouth, the salesperson must keep quiet. Your managers are in that position because they are good. They are good salespeople and good closers. They don't need or want to hear anything from the salesperson. You have only one blue Cavalier in stock and the salesperson already asked the customers if they wanted to see a blue one. They said, "no." On the turnover the manager says to your salesperson, "Say, bring up the blue Cavalier for Mr. And Mrs. Jones." And the salesperson says, "Oh no, Boss, they don't like blue." The sale will stop right there. We all know that customers listen to management and will fall in love with the same blue Cavalier they told the salesperson they didn't want to see.
More importantly, when a manager is getting close to closing a sale, the last thing they need, in the heat of the moment, when everything is just right, when the silence is so thick you can cut it with a knife and the customer is about to say,"OK," is the salesperson blurting out, "Can I get anyone some coffee?"
Encourage your managers to get together to develop a simple strategy for turnovers, and share the plan with the salespeople. Once everyone is doing it the same way, the right way, you'll sell more cars.
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.
