Car manufacturers are stepping up the “green” message and are focusing on the mass production of lower emission cars. Car dealers are now being bombarded with the “green agenda” and are being urged to push the sale of low c02 cars. But as this article on TheGreenCarWebsite rightly points out car dealers have little experience of promoting these types of cars. The problem with ‘the green message’ in showrooms at present is that like it or not there are far more pressing issues in the minds of sales teams, such as keeping their jobs and making a living.
Whilst it is true that most dealers faced with new environmentally improved cars in their range (and these will only get more popular as more customers get the message) are keen to develop the green message, they are also unsure about how to best market that message.
In the experience of many dealers, they have to show customers the benefits of buying an eco-friendly model over and above the fact that they are doing “their bit for the environment”.
Let’s face it these cars are generally more expensive than their less environmentally friendly equivalents and staff who are tasked with trying to sell them are often ignorant or uninterested in pushing the message home that “green is the future”.
Perhaps the time has come to incentivise sales staff and give them more detailed training in tempting potential converts into changing their driving habits rather than just the avoidance of the congestion charge, or cheap car tax.
These days sales teams have the prospect of trying to sell maybe 1 or 2 cars in this range and therefore have many more models to sell, with which they do have the required product knowledge to convert into a sale.
Motor industry consultancy Network Automotive is talking to dealers about setting up environmental sessions to educate motorists about greener driving techniques. Colin Bruder, managing director said “A customer who wants a very low CO2 car often also wants to know how to drive it as economically as possible.”
Car salespeople however are often unsure of how to pitch the message and who to pitch it to. So perhaps it’s not the customer who needs educating about greener driving but the salesperson who is selling the eco-car to him.
