Forum: Idea Exchange

Topic: Getting Them in the Box

Transition From The Lot To Our Office

No customer ever purchases from us without first doing some kind of paperwork. By deciding NOT to write up one of our customers (for any reason), we eliminate any chance of that customer being able to buy from us today. Trying to determine whether or not this customer is a "real buyer", either by trying to determine out on the lot their desire or their ability to buy today, costs us more money than it ever makes us. With that as a backdrop, here are some suggestions and different ways to help more of our customers get to the write up stage of the transaction.

1) We mustn't ever ask for a commitment to buy today out on the lot. For starters, they can simply tell us "NO!" and take off running! Actually, virtually every one of our customers will be inclined to tell us "NO!" the first time we ask for their business, as objections are a normal part of their buying process. We need to assume the sale and then ask for a firm comittment to buy only in a controlled area like on the demo or in our office.

2) Always make it to our customer's advantage to come in. We don't need to rely on using discount as the only reason to ever come in.

3) Just say: "Follow me!" or "This way!" or "Let's go!" then turn and walk to our office. This is probably the single most effective way to get our customer there. Also, we should try to avoid announcing why or what we're going to do next.

4) Or say; "It's time...to show you just how easy it is to do business here...follow me!" Of course, we'll need to adjust this to the situation and to what our particualr customer has said to us. For example: "It's time...to see how easy it is to make this dream come true!" or "It's time...to put this shopping chore behind you and start to enjoy your new car." This is actually just a cousin to the first strategy and often just as effective.

5) Summarize the buying criteria & how our vehicle fits our customer's needs. Then we say: "Looks like we've found the perfect car for you! Let's go inside and start the agreement and while we're doing that let me get you something to drink, would you like coffee or something cold to drink?" This is a very effective way to get our customer in our office because if they say, "Coffee please!", they've agreed to at least come inside.

6) Use our customer's previous questions or objections if necessary. For example: "Didn't you ask what your trade would be worth? Well, let's go find out, follow me." or "Let's go see what your payments are going to be, follow me." etc.

7) If our customer says they're not ready to buy today, we need to ask "Why?" or "What makes you say that?" But be very careful here! We mustn't be perceived as being pushy or defensive. Then we need to restate their reason and intention of not buying today and make the transition to the office to our customer's advantage.

Examples:

Shop Other Cars

a. "You want to see another car? What other car?" Let them respond. Then tell them, "Good news! You can't make a bad decision! Both the Honda Accord and our Nissan Altima are excellent cars that'll give you many years of good service. I know you weren't expecting to do business today, and that's okay. Still, let's go inside and put together some figures. That way you can make an intelligent decision. Fair enough? Follow me!"

b. "You feel you need to shop other cars first. Just to clarify my thinking, what were you hoping to find in another car that you're not getting in this one?"

c. "I know you feel the need to shop some more. Ours is equipped the way you'd like it though, right?" Let them respond. Then ask, "And there isn't any problem with the dealership, is there?" Again, let them respond. Then we ask, "You like me and the service I've provided you so far, don't you?" When they say they do, we ask, "Have you ever lost your keys?" (or TV remote) "Remember what that was like? You were in your living room, looking under the sofa, looking under pillows, searching in drawers, remember how that felt? Not much fun, was it? Then you finally found them. Remember how relieved you felt? Let me ask you something, once you find them, do you keep looking? What are we doing here? C'mon follow me and let me show you how easy it is to do business with us."

I don't want to do that back and forth, back and forth stuff!

a. "Don't you hate that? Me too! Whenever I'm forced to negotiate that way I always feel like a clown in a circus! If I end up doing that, you have my permission to reach out and squeak my big red nose! Then if they offer us $10,000 off we simply ask, "Should I start making the balloon animals now?"

b. "The only time I end up having to do the back and forth stuff is when I'm helping a customer who's totally unrealistic. Now, although you don't want us to make a killing, you do expect us to make a little profit, right? See, you're realistic...we won't have to go through all that. C'mon, follow me."

This is the first place we've shopped.

a. "That's interesting. What made you come here first?" After we encourage them to list out all of their reasons for shopping us first, we say, "Those sound like good reasons to do business with a particular dealership. Let's put this shopping chore behind you, shall we?"

b. "It's equipped the way you'd like it, right?" Let them respond. Then ask, "And there isn't any problem with the dealership, is there?" Again, let them respond. Then we ask, "You like me and the service I've provided you so far, don't you?" When they say they do, we state, "The hard part of our job is done. My job now, is simply to make it easy for you to take action, on a decision you've already made. Follow me."

c. "Really?! The first place?!! Check this out...at the first place you shopped you found the car equipped just the way you wanted it, in a color you didn't think you'd be able to find, at the dealership that's conveniently located to your office, a sales person who takes their job seriously and will continue to provide you support with your driving needs and I'm confident we can fit it into your budget too! Just think of all the time and hassle you've just saved yourself! Are you always this lucky?" Whether they respond with a "Yeah" or a "Not really", we smile and say, "Well then, follow me!"

d. "Isn't it funny how our first instincts usually turn out to be the best? Let's wrap this thing up so you can start to enjoy your new car."

8) We can use this 1 to 10 scale close instead of the sometimes obnoxious "If I could...would you..." It works like this, we ask: "On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 meaning you love the car and are ready to own it right now and 1 meaning you hate the car and wouldn't take it even if we gave it to you, where would you say you are right now?" When our customer gives us a number we simply reply: "What would we have to do to make it a 10?" Then after they tell us, we simply reply: "Well let's find out! Follow me!"

9) We can use an updated version of "If I could...would you?" that is much harder to say "No" to. It works like this, we ask: "If I could share with you three compelling reasons to do business with us, would you agree to at least keep an open mind?" When they tell us, ''Sure", we simply say, "Follow me!" If they do tell us "No" we can say, "I've heard that our minds are very much like parachutes. They work best when they are open." Pause, smile, and then continue with, "C'mon, let me show you how easy it is to do business here. Walk this way, please."

10) Even the dated "If I could...would you..." is better than not asking for the business at all! Okay, let's all say it together, shall we? "Mr Customer, if I could work out the numbers that are agreeable to you, would I be able to earn your business today?"

Let me bottom line this for us, our job is to make it easy for our customer to say "yes" and hard to say "no".

When we try to get a today commitment out on the lot by asking the very tired "If I could work out the numbers that are agreeable to you, would I be able to earn your business today?", we almost always force them to say "No" and we make it pretty hard for them to say "Yes". Now, I'm not saying that doing it that way never works, it still does work. But do you think they may have heard that line somewhere else before? If it didn't work for the other guy, what makes us think it's going to work for us? And it really only does work after the customer has heard it several other places first and realizes that this is simply as skilled as most cars guys ever get. After a while, the customer just wants to be put out of their misery.

My guess is that if you're reading this article, chances are you don't want to be just another typical car salesman or saleswoman. What you have at your disposal now are what many other sales people across the country use to make themselves stand above the crowd in their niche and to make it to their customer's advantage to get to the write up stage. My suggestion to you is to make these strategies a part of your skill sets as soon as possible.

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