I recently took a look at study by Ford in which they surveyed recent customers about their buying experience. They gathered their buyers' thoughts on what happened and what they thought should have happened. Their findings were eye-opening in a couple of areas, but the overall conclusion was not that surprising.
Customers want to feel like they are in control of the process. Sounds like a no-brainer, but it also sounds like a tug-of-war that salespeople wouldn't want to be involved with, right?
Didn't I just write a blog on how we as salespeople should not be shying away from direct, tried-and-true closing techniques? Doesn't letting the customer feel like he is in control and them hitting him with a hard close create a tremendous contradiction?
I say no. If control is going to get your customer to decide faster, spend more money, send you more referrals, and be back to buy more cars, that's exactly what we want.
First, let's discuss how we let the customer feel like they are in control while maintaining control ourselves.
Tell them they are in control - I like to "hand control" to a customer almost immediately. I was trained to start the conversation with some cheesy line like "are you here for the big sale?" I hate it, but it can be effective in the right situation and in the right hands. I'm not here to teach you about exceptions, I'm here to give you replicable action items. I often start a conversation with "what brings you out to see us today?" It quickly establishes the knowledge that they chose to be here, I didn't gimmick them in the door. They have control.
My next opportunity comes in the fact finding section of my interaction with the buyer.
We all get trained to ask questions like "automatic or manual?" "2-door or 4-door?" "do you like lighter colors or darker colors?" That sounds like we are trying to pick a car out for them. How about we ask them if there are any particular models they are in to see or what cars have they been looking at online?
And take this opportunity to ask "what kind of budget are you trying to stick to?" So many avoid the budget talk up front, but how many times have you had a customer fall in love with a car with a $500 payment when their budget goal was $325. It's hard to take them backwards, even though you know they are going to go to the next guy and buy the car that costs just $350 a month that isn't as nice as anything you could have shown them.
You have to be nimble. - When you get customers to essentially close themselves on a particular make and model, you must be prepared to present that vehicle in a way that leaves no doubt that it is exactly what they were looking for and then some.
If you are looking at a used car and there is some issue regarding condition that you cannot overcome, you must be able to convincingly make an alternative suggestion to completely change course. If the customer has come in looking at a Ford Fusion and aren't falling in love with the one you've shown them, you are going to have an uphill battle getting them to look at the really nice Chevrolet Malibu that you have.
You have to be direct about the budget subject. If they tell you their comfortable payment range, you have to be able to justify why the vehicle you are offering them is a great value for the budget they have provided you with.
For me, everything still comes down to the presentation. Cars are sold on the lot. They have told you what it takes to sell them. Show them that and something they didn't expect, you should have a sale. Fail to meet even their minimum expectations and all the good will you built up by handing over that feeling of control in the beginning will lead to a buyer that feels very comfortable just walking away from.
Now to the close - I think that some of my constant readers could find this somewhat submissive fact-finding and presentation style contradictory to my assertion just a few nights back that the old-school, hard closes are still valuable tools for the sales professional.
However, the reality is, if you spend most of your time with your customer ordering your them to "walk this way," "look at this car," and "drive this route" you are going to run into increased resistance at the time you ask for the sale. People buy from people they like, and the more in control a buyer feels, the more they will like you, thus making a direct close that much more effective.
Think about your relationship with your spouse. If you let them decide which TV show to watch or where to go on Saturday night date night, don't you notice, if ever so slightly, that they tend to be bigger fans of yours? The same will be true for your car buyers.
Create the mirage, and make sure you offer them water in the desert.
Customers want to feel like they are in control of the process. Sounds like a no-brainer, but it also sounds like a tug-of-war that salespeople wouldn't want to be involved with, right?
Didn't I just write a blog on how we as salespeople should not be shying away from direct, tried-and-true closing techniques? Doesn't letting the customer feel like he is in control and them hitting him with a hard close create a tremendous contradiction?
I say no. If control is going to get your customer to decide faster, spend more money, send you more referrals, and be back to buy more cars, that's exactly what we want.
First, let's discuss how we let the customer feel like they are in control while maintaining control ourselves.
Tell them they are in control - I like to "hand control" to a customer almost immediately. I was trained to start the conversation with some cheesy line like "are you here for the big sale?" I hate it, but it can be effective in the right situation and in the right hands. I'm not here to teach you about exceptions, I'm here to give you replicable action items. I often start a conversation with "what brings you out to see us today?" It quickly establishes the knowledge that they chose to be here, I didn't gimmick them in the door. They have control.
My next opportunity comes in the fact finding section of my interaction with the buyer.
We all get trained to ask questions like "automatic or manual?" "2-door or 4-door?" "do you like lighter colors or darker colors?" That sounds like we are trying to pick a car out for them. How about we ask them if there are any particular models they are in to see or what cars have they been looking at online?
And take this opportunity to ask "what kind of budget are you trying to stick to?" So many avoid the budget talk up front, but how many times have you had a customer fall in love with a car with a $500 payment when their budget goal was $325. It's hard to take them backwards, even though you know they are going to go to the next guy and buy the car that costs just $350 a month that isn't as nice as anything you could have shown them.
You have to be nimble. - When you get customers to essentially close themselves on a particular make and model, you must be prepared to present that vehicle in a way that leaves no doubt that it is exactly what they were looking for and then some.
If you are looking at a used car and there is some issue regarding condition that you cannot overcome, you must be able to convincingly make an alternative suggestion to completely change course. If the customer has come in looking at a Ford Fusion and aren't falling in love with the one you've shown them, you are going to have an uphill battle getting them to look at the really nice Chevrolet Malibu that you have.
You have to be direct about the budget subject. If they tell you their comfortable payment range, you have to be able to justify why the vehicle you are offering them is a great value for the budget they have provided you with.
For me, everything still comes down to the presentation. Cars are sold on the lot. They have told you what it takes to sell them. Show them that and something they didn't expect, you should have a sale. Fail to meet even their minimum expectations and all the good will you built up by handing over that feeling of control in the beginning will lead to a buyer that feels very comfortable just walking away from.
Now to the close - I think that some of my constant readers could find this somewhat submissive fact-finding and presentation style contradictory to my assertion just a few nights back that the old-school, hard closes are still valuable tools for the sales professional.
However, the reality is, if you spend most of your time with your customer ordering your them to "walk this way," "look at this car," and "drive this route" you are going to run into increased resistance at the time you ask for the sale. People buy from people they like, and the more in control a buyer feels, the more they will like you, thus making a direct close that much more effective.
Think about your relationship with your spouse. If you let them decide which TV show to watch or where to go on Saturday night date night, don't you notice, if ever so slightly, that they tend to be bigger fans of yours? The same will be true for your car buyers.
Create the mirage, and make sure you offer them water in the desert.