People still buy people but much later in the car buying process

What makes a person buy a similar product from one dealer and not another?

The old saying ‘people buy people’ is as relevant today as it has always been, in fact with car buyers now delaying contact with a dealer until they are much further down the buying process it makes the ‘physical contact’ part more vital than ever.

For example if a potential buyer has done the research, compared models, specification and price and established how far they are likely to travel, not to mention in the modern world already having a confirmed value for their existing car, it is critical that the chosen dealership understands this and ensures the customer doesn’t just end up moving on to plan b.

Of course, like most things, this is common sense but the point is that whereas a dealer during the course of a long presentation may have the time and ability to win a customer around because of a reluctance to repeat the process elsewhere, buyers are now empowered to move to the next dealer. They have already armed themselves with the knowledge of what they want it’s just down to how much they can buy it for and who they will buy it from.

Many typical days in a car dealership begin with a sales meeting where the manager will often discuss the business as a whole, how many cars have been sold, how many have been delivered and what potential the sales team has for selling more cars.

In these meetings it is key that all present understand what is required of them, for instance a very experienced SM I know used to start all his meetings with this line:

“Guys and Girls we are producers, we need to do 3 basic things every day to show that we are actually doing just that. We need to;

A.) Sell a car

B.) Deliver a sold car or

C.) Have an appointment to potentially sell a car.

If none of these three key objectives are being achieved, you have failed.”

This may sound a bit simplistic but it’s very easy to measure and very easy for a sales person to understand.

The key point to remember when setting out to achieve objectives A and C is if you do not create the right impression for a prospective customer and they therefore do not react positively to you, clearly you will not be able to “produce” as they say.

No matter how good value your cars are or how lovely the facilities in your dealership unless the customer responds well to the sales person a deal is far less likely to be completed.

It really is extremely simple. Most people, whatever they want to buy, will usually make up their minds within the first few seconds of meeting someone as to whether they will actually buy anything from them, so that first impression is vital, and costs absolutely nothing.

Ironically enough the most successful sales people I have ever come into contact with are usually people who treat customers exactly how they want to be treated themselves.

Related articles

• Some car sales people still ignoring customers once the deal’s been done (motor-trade-insider.com)

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