Are You a Pushy Car Salesman?
Talk to the average person on the street about buying a car, and one of the first things they mention is a pushy car salesman. So my question is whether or not you are that pushy car salesman. If you are that type of salesperson, I must ask: how is that working for you? Are you a top producer every month? Are you earning a six-figure car salesman income? Unless you are at the top of your game and have a closing ratio of 65% or higher, you are probably doing yourself more harm than good.
The day of the pushy car salesman is long gone. Car buyers have way too many options for buying a car to be turning them off before you even get them interested. The successful car salesman today needs to be a professional and, to put it in terms you can understand. Stop with the pushy car salesman technique. It doesn’t work anymore (at least in most cases, I will get into that later). It’s time to change your ways and become an educator, consultant, financial advisor, psychologist, and friend.
Pushy Car Salesman Only When Needed
Granted, there are times when customers need to be treated like a 4-year-old and told what they need to do, but for the most part, logic, basic math, and discussion will bring them around. Sure, there are those customers that need to be pushed and prodded now and then, but this should only be in rare situations. The pushy car salesman needs to go away and only come out for those rare occasions when it is necessary.
Go into practically any dealership around the world and listen to a sales manager on the desk, and you will be sure to hear them say, “Control your Customer.” Controlling your customer doesn’t mean barking orders and acting like a pushy car salesman. Controlling your customer is about knowing what type of person you are dealing with and adjusting your style, tone, and words accordingly. If you have a very outspoken, high-energy customer and you are the quiet, timid, and easygoing car salesman, they will probably walk all over you. There won’t be any controlling that customer unless you switch gears and play their game.
The Customer Will Decide
I have said it a million times when selling cars professionally, “People buy from people”. The car salesman needs to be able to change in a second and become the person they need to be when they are with customers. Think about this for a minute, wouldn’t people love to be able to buy a car from their friend? Everyone would think car buying was a breeze if they had a friend in the car business that could sell them a car. Friends are people that you can trust. Friends are people like yourself, and friends are people that will guide you through the car buying process with your best interests at heart. So if you want to sell more cars, become a friend to your customers and not a pushy car salesman.
I am sure you have heard this before, but just in case, I will say it again “Mirror your customer.” When you sell a car to Grandma, you should talk to her in a way that is easy for her to understand. When selling a car to a twenty-something, you should talk to them differently than you would work with Grandma. In other words, become your customer so they can relate to you. When you become your customer, you will relate to them and earn their respect. You will not offend your customer if you talk and act the same way they talk and act. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to relate and respect themselves.
Say Good Bye to the Pushy Car Salesman
People visit fewer dealerships before buying a car today, so everyone who walks through the door or drives on the lot is precious. If we make big commissions, we need to become the person they want to sell them a car. When you get a fresh up or an appointment in front of you, make the changes you need to make to become the person they want to sell them a car. Become a friend and not a pushy car salesman; otherwise, they will make excuses, tell you they will be back, and buy at the following dealership they visit.
Later, Fresh Up on the Lot
KB
Have You Read The Car Sales Book to Make More Sales?
3 Comments
Lance Bell · October 18 at 3:24 pm
John,
I am actually surprised that you even went through with that deal. I know if that was me, I would have brought him back in, and told him that you were not doing the deal at all. The reason is that that person is not an person of integury and would have said that strait to his face!
Also the Management should have put an stop to that deal, but they were probably weak and scared, so they did nothing.
That person is an mooch and all that person is a looser deal and a bad survey!
KB · October 16 at 5:29 pm
Don’t you just love those customers
KB
John O'Neill · October 16 at 4:30 pm
Great article. Controlling your customer is often mistaken to being pushy, I had a customer a while back who couldn’t decide; had shopped his trade in all over the place and kept returning, humming and harring: so I just said to him `Look why dont you just buy the car?’ and he did and became a great referral source.
I recently had a customer who railroaded me: at the time I had just separated from my wife so my defenses were down. Spent an hour and a half with him and finally settled on a vehicle: he added some accessories to be fitted, paid a deposit and before I could draw up a contract and give a final price he was running out the door and said call him the next day. He was on the phone first thing the next morning, being very domineering, asking `does it have Bluetooth’ etc and demanding extra things be thrown in for free when he had already agreed to what was free etc the day before: then accused me of reneging (I had written down what he wanted) and kept responding with `but what I am saying to you is’ ‘Go see your boss’ Asked for it to be emailed then rang me back and demanded `what about the towbar?’ he hadnt mentioned that. Hammered me for ten minutes on the phone for it to be thrown in, I lost count of how many times I said no, the deal was tapped out. Almost had me in tears questioning my integrity and trying to confuse me before finally agreeing to the extra cost at a discount he insisted on. So I sent that through, a little while later my phone rang and his number came up: I let it go to messagebank. No message left. I soon found out we incurred a loss on this car and no commission was coming: on the day of pickup he finally signed the contracts, and lo and behold kept pushing for more `what about floor mats and a dash mat?’ I pointed out they were not part of the deal, and showed him on his contract. Still he kept asking `why cant they be thrown in?’ I pointed out we had lost money on that car, that was the truth: and people typically discard our floor mats in favour of their own, he was a prime example with the last car he had bought. Was a great relief when he finally drove off with smoke coming out of his ears.
A couple of months later he called in saying he needed another ute for his business, as usual he was quite nice face to face: told me what he wanted: and then did his runaway act this time without a deposit and on the phone within minutes. We had worked out a deal with he asked for, quite lean: he then embarked on the same tactics: this time I was prepared and simply said `no, this is it, as far as we can go’. He then started on how he didnt get free floor mats last time and when I reminded him he lost it completely, demanding to speak to the general manager as `he didnt like the way I was talking to him’. He then phoned the GM directly going how he had bought two cars, was going to get more and I didn’t want to help him etc etc. The GM took over from there reluctantly: he rang later that day and changed the accessories he wanted and wasn’t concerned about anything anymore. `Just get it ready’ it was like he was ordering a pizza. Took ten days to get a deposit from him, and on delivery date sent a worker in to collect the car with payment, and a month later still has not been near us to sign the contracts.
Thankfully not all customers are like that 🙂
Comments are closed.